Walking The Wall!

 

Our last full day in China was spectacular!  We walked the Great Wall!  In fact we spent five hours walking the wall.  The day was perfect.  God gave us a glimpse of His glory in crystal clear blue skies and crisp, but not cold temperatures.  After taking a team photo, we split up to investigate and enjoy this extraordinary antiquity.  There is nothing in the world to compare with the Great Wall!  Ask your team member to tell you their impressions of this truly amazing place and see some of their photos. 

 

Heading up the Great Wall

The Wall was not crowded and each of us took this totally unique opportunity to walk the Wall along the crest of mountains and view the beauty of the gorgeous landscape.  The periodic quiet solitude with the soft breeze rustling through the almost bare trees restored our souls and we praised the Creator for His blessing to have this chance to explore the Wall for ourselves.  We took hundreds of photos.  Leslie gets the prize for climbing the highest and hiking the longest distance on the Wall. 



Picnic on the Great Wall

Several hours later, we happened to meet and shared a picnic of pomelos.  What a fantastic memory to have picnicked on the Great Wall!  Linda and Barbara had gallantly lugged the big, heavy, delicious fruits in their backpacks for us.

Tonight we packed.  With some trepidation, we weighed the suitcases and were relieved that they were all under the maximum 50 pounds.  Yeah!

While we hate to leave China, we can’t wait to see you and share some of the many stories and life long memories we have made during the past 12 days.

Mary for the China Dolls

 

Sunny Sunday in Beijing

A bright, clear, sunny day greeted us this morning when we opened our window curtains.  It has turned quite chilly and a mild breeze puts a crisp bite in the air.

Services at Beijing Chongwenmen Three Self Church

At 10:00 Grace and Rebecca met the team, Dennis and Jeremy in the lobby to take us to church.  The team teased Grace about the big comfortable bus that transported us.  Could it be that the luxury vehicle was used because Dennis and Jeremy were with us?  :-)   We happily took advantage and hope Dennis and Jeremy continue to get the royal treatment this week!  While the bus was comfy, it was not as “interesting” or fun as some "creative" conveyances some teams have enjoyed in the past.

 

Dennis and Jeremy with the team

The historic Chongwenmen Three Self Church is located down an interesting hutong street.  The church was established in 1870 when it was called Asbury Church.  It was the first church constructed by the American Methodist Church in Northern China.  We were warmly greeted and escorted to a pew that had earphones for interpretation.  Almost the entire service, including the sermon, were conducted by women.  This is not particularly unusual in China where there are many more women believers than men.
 

Loraine with Lynn interpreting 

Loraine and Mary left the group outside the church because they were scheduled to teach at a friend’s house church.  The rest of the team enjoyed lunch with Grace, Dennis, and Jeremy.  After lunch, the team returned to the hotel to begin packing. 

 

 

Mary with Rebecca interpreting

Grace had invited us to dinner at a restaurant where an M from Australia performs.  She has an amazing voice!  However, the team decided to rest up at the hotel for our excursion to the Great Wall in the morning.  The restaurant visit is something we can look forward to for our next visit!

Please remember Dennis and Jeremy to our Father tomorrow and during the week as they will doing His good work.

Mary for the China Dolls

 

Amazing Grace on an Amazing Day!

Group back rub!  Great Fun!

All day Saturday we were at a house church teaching a very special group of women.  Grace was expecting about 30-35 women but there were 50+ in the morning.  During a delicious take-out lunch, some women needed to leave and others arrived. 

Linda in discussion group

After each talk, we broke up into smaller groups with each team member doing a Q&A and a discussion of the talk just presented (with interpreters). 

 

Words fail me it was such an amazing day!  It was a tremendous privilege to be used by our Father to help these beautiful women.  One of the team said, “I couldn’t believe what I was saying.”  I know the feeling.  When we are here, God uses each of us in His way to do His work with His words.  Every one of us will have many rich stories of the discussions in our small groups.  Ask us about them when we return home. 

We were told that there are seven house churches just in this building alone!  Praise God for all His work in China!

Deep Prayer

Tomorrow we will go to a Three Self Church with Grace, Dennis, and Jeremy.  Today Jeremy and Dennis went to the Great Wall.  We hope the air was more clear out at The Wall than it was in town.

Small group break out discussions

Mary for the China Dolls

Fabulous Day at Forbidden City!

Entrance to the Forbidden City

We woke this morning to a gorgeous crisp fall day.  Our driver, Mark, picked us up at 10:00 a.m. to take us to the Forbidden City.  The Forbidden City has no equal.  It is unique in the world.  Besides being enormous, it is steeped in history.  Parts of the complex have been beautifully restored and they continue to work on restoration in an effort to preserve this irreplaceable piece of antiquity.

Tiananmen Square

Three hours was the time allotted, and while we saw much of the compound, we had to rush through some of the most interesting parts, including the personal living quarters of the Emperor and his family.  We did take a little time for a picnic lunch in the Emperor’s Garden.  That only seemed fitting since we are princesses, daughters of THE King.

Mark met us at the back gate and escorted us to the Emperor’s Garden across the street.  There wasn’t enough steam left in our engines to climb up to the temples at the top of the hill, but what we saw of the gardens was very beautiful, quiet, and serene … especially after the hustle and crowds in the Forbidden City.  On a future trip it would be wonderful to take an morning or an afternoon to stroll through the gardens and climb up to the temple for a spectacular overview of the Forbidden City.

Old City Gate in Tiananmen Square

We returned to the hotel via taxi to drop off our backpacks, then walked over to the brightly lit shopping street near the hotel looking for a new restaurant for dinner.  It was a surprise to run into Jeremy and Dennis having dinner with Grace and Andrew, the GPiH China staff.  Since the restaurant was crowded, after greeting everyone, we moved on to another restaurant nearby. 

It will be early to bed tonight because our alarms will ring us awake at 6:00 a.m.  All of us will be teaching tomorrow at a house “club.”  Please pr*y that our words will be His words and that He will use us to the maximum for His honor and glory.

Love and blessings,

Mary for the China Dolls

Thrilling Thursday

Beautiful ladies hungry for God's wisdom

The morning started out a little rocky with some confusion about our pick up time, but quickly smoothed out to be another fabulous day!!  Leslie and Mary taught a lovely group of women at a friend’s home.  After the teaching session we enjoyed a fabulous Chinese pot luck lunch made especially for us by our Chinese sisters.  For the first time, Leslie ate lotus root stuffed with meat (delicious!), kim chee (Korean, I know), and beautiful beet soup.  After lunch we had a Q&A session for several hours.  The Q&As are always very interesting because the questions reveal the women’s true hearts and hurts. 

After a dinner of enormous bowls hot mystery soup at our favorite noodle restaurant, Loraine and Barbara went to teach a lovely B*ble study group.  We love the small group settings for their intimacy and openness.

We continue to be amazed at how easy the Chinese people are to love.  Their genuine warmth and thoughtfulness are refreshing and so very welcome to us, so far away from home.

Tomorrow we will walk the Forbidden City!  Yeah!  No matter how many times you visit there, it is always fascinating! … unless your feet hurt.

Love and hugs,

Mary for the China Dolls

Wonderful Wednesday, some of it anyway

Leslie, Linda, Grace and Mary visited with a business group in downtown Beijing in the morning.  Linda and Leslie gave excellent talks about how “God Transforms Us” (Linda) and “Parenting with a Purpose” (Leslie).  Grace anticipated a group of about 10 people but the Father surprised us with over 20.  I love it when He does the math! 

Business Bible study group

At 2:00 we dropped Linda off at the MK group where she met Barbara, Loraine, and Rebecca.  Barbara taught, “You are not Alone,” Loraine taught, “The Lies We Believe,” and Linda spoke again.  The hostess of this group is a wonderful energetic woman who our team quickly learned to love.  The teaching finished about 6:00 then our hostess invited Barbara, Loraine, Linda, Rebecca, and a few of the women to a scrumptious dinner  where the team had the opportunity to try some mysterious delicious new foods.  When the team arrived back at the hotel, instead of being justifiably tired, they were glowing and excited about the fabulous memories they had created during the day.

Meanwhile, Grace, Leslie, and Mary took Leslie to see a doctor about the painful flare up of hitting a nerve in her arm.  After waiting several hours, Leslie was seen by Dr. Bernstein (no kidding), who checked her arm.  They had a nice little chat and he soon released her.  All that took the balance of the afternoon, about the same time as in the US ... plus lengthy taxi rides, of course.  It was clear that your prayers were heard when Leslie woke this morning with reduced pain.  While the pain is still significant, the intensity has reduced measurably. 

While the rest of the team was with the MK group, Leslie and Mary returned to the hotel from the hospital.  They investigated the large and very interesting grocery store in the basement of the hotel building.  It was fascinating to see what a typical Chinese deli, meat department, and even unusual vegetables look like.  Then they went upstairs to check out the latest fashions and shoes in the five story mall below the hotel floors.  The price tags all read, “Look but don’t buy.”  ;-)

Please continue to remember us to the Father.  We all need His protection, His wisdom, His insight, His strength, His stamina.  May we do no harm in our ignorance of this intriguing and very different culture. 

 

Mary for the China Dolls

Monday in the Hutongs

It was another outstanding and beautiful day in Beijing!  The sky is trying to stay blue.

After a hearty breakfast at the large hotel buffet, a van picked us up for a trip to the Rear Lakes hutong area.  This large crescent shaped lake is exactly what you might think China looks like.  Almost the entire lake is surrounded by white marble railing broken up by lovely picturesque arched bridges.  Weeping willows gently sway and provide speckled shade.  It’s beautiful!  The lake was first formed during the Wei dynasty around 250 B.C. when water was brought to the area from the western suburbs as part of a conservation project.  In the 12^th century, the dynasty leaders adopted the area as their imperial playgrounds.

There is a lovely old street of charming shops in the area and there is evidence that they are building two additional shopping streets in the same ancient style.

After spending several hours enjoying the picturesque Rear Lakes, the van took us to Dashilaner Street, another interesting hutong style shopping street surrounded by fascinating hutong alleyways. 

We enjoyed dinner and a rest at McDonalds.  After “friendly” negotiations, getting in and out of taxis, we returned to the hotel tired but happy.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to spend the afternoon with five princesses pr*ying, encouraging, and Q&A.

 

Mary for the China Dolls

Extraordinary Sunday in Beijing!

It was an extraordinary day!  One of those days when everything comes together perfectly.  Our Father rained His gracious blessings on us.

 When we peaked through the window curtains this morning, the sun was bright and the sky was clear blue for the first time this trip!  The 11:30 service at the government Hainain Three Self Church was in English.  It was quite a moving experience to sing familiar hymns, including Amazing Grace, worshiping our Lord while in China.

After leaving the church, we prayed (literally) that we would find two taxis to take us to the Temple of Heaven.  Since the Temple park is HUGE and there are several entrances, we were a bit concerned that half of us would “be delivered” to one entrance and the other half would be dropped off at the opposite end of the park.  Our Father brought two taxis at the same time and they followed each other to the front entrance.    

The weather was absolutely perfect to spend the day walking through the Temple park.  It was ideal for taking photos so we took hundreds of them. ;-)  The temple complex of trees, buildings, and highly decorated corridors are very beautiful, but what was the most fun and fascinating was watching the Chinese people playing in the wonderful weather and gorgeous setting.  Groups of people were sitting on railings playing cards or selling lovely items they had made.  We saw a darling little woman all dressed up in costume singing.  Another lovely woman did a traditional fan dance to recorded music.  In the distance we heard beautiful music so we walked over to investigate.  There was a small band with a director playing while hundreds and hundreds of people gathered around and sang.  It was fabulous!  After the band finished, recorded music started and hundreds of people did line dancing.  Leslie and Linda joined the dancing to the delight of the local people.  My face still hurts from smiling so much.

Again our Father provided two taxis somewhat close together to take us back to the hotel.

Dinner was at our favorite noodle restaurant in the hotel with a little Cold Stone ice cream for dessert.

We are enjoying the way Grace has arranged our teaching schedule to be more concentrated, thereby also concentrating our free time together. 

Thank you for your continued prayers.  God’s loving hand was certainly with us during this very special day where we made wonderful life-long memories.

Love and blessings,

Mary for the China Dolls