After a nice buffet breakfast, we drove a few miles through heavy AM rush hour traffic in search of an easy access to the Dong Guan Church. It was built in 1917 by Mennonite missionaries and for the next several years served as the “mother church” of missionary work in the area. We were met by several elderly ladies who welcomed us by singing in Chinese “Silent Night” and in English, “Amazing Grace”.

Our final stop of the morning was at a large new church. Built in 2003, this structure has sanctuary seating for perhaps 1,000. We were welcomed by Madam Zhang Yan Min, one of the church pastors, and five young woman singing hymns around a magnificent new grand. In response to an invitation from the singing ladies of Mu En, our group reciprocated by a nice rendition of the “606”—the “Praise God” closing song in many US services today. Following the visit to the sanctuary, we were invited to a warm meeting room for some snacks and additional briefing about the Mu En Church.

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This was the day we would make a round trip to/from Daming, about 50 miles away, and the site where the W.C. Voth famly served as Mennonnite missionaries in the mid-1920s.

We arrived in Daming some 50 miles away at 10 AM and proceeded directly to the complex housing the former Mennonite mission. There we met Messrs. Li Da Qing, General Secretary of the church, and Zhang Bo Sheng, a church spokesman. Nearby was a large red-brick church built in the past few years, but now used largely as a Christian training center with some 60 local residents in regular attendance. More than 30 “Bible training classes” have been held at this church since its return. In a corner of the complex we viewed the “memory stones” of the three toddlers who died in Puyang, viz., children of the Voths, the Browns and the Kuaffmans. We were told that Daming County now has some 10,000 Christians who meet regularly in 47 “prayer points” around the county.

This was to begin our three-day visit to Puyang and Daming, sites where Mennonite missionaries worked in the 1911-48 period before being expelled by the new Communist Government.

At the Zhengzhou train station we met our local guide, “George” who would accompany us to Puyang/Daming. After breakfast, we made a brief visit to the impressive Henan Provincial Museum which focused on the long and rich history of this area, termed by the some as the “cradle of Chinese civilization.”

Back on the bus we entered the major N-S toll road that extended from Beijing in the north to Guangzhou in the south. Along the way we were treated to good visual exposure to agriculture on the country’s North China Plain—an area not unlike that of central Kansas—with cold winters, hot summers, generally fertile soil, minimally-adequate rainfall and farmers in a constant battle with the elements. The typical cropping pattern here features wheat and then a second crop—corn, sown in early spring and harvested in the fall.

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It was a relatively light “day” in terms of planned activities, but something the group welcomed after the rather busy program of previous days.

On this last full day in Beijing members of our group continued to explore this city—having gained confidence in the workings of the well-developed, and reasonably-priced taxi system. Some did some shopping; some explored the tourist-oriented areas characterized by fast food establishments and high-end boutiques; several visited the Beijing zoon for a look at that unique animal that is an icon of China—the panda!

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Last weekend we got to attend a local Catholic church service with some of our host families from our home stays.  Many of the women in our group were lent traditional dresses to wear, similar to prairie dresses.  As we began to set out for church, one of the women in the community saw that some of us were not wearing the traditional dresses, so we were quickly ushered into her house and put into dresses.  Five minutes later we were back on the path walking to church, wearing long heavy dresses with blankets over our shoulders as shawls.  After the service I had a couple of women come up to me saying how proud they were of Lesotho and how happy they were that we were wearing the traditional dresses.

The church service itself was like a celebration.  A choir made up of young men sat in the first few pews and led singing accompanied with movement and dancing.  Towards the end of the service there was a particularly enthusiastic song, and throughout the sanctuary we heard sporadic high-pitched yelling noises made with the tongue and whistling made by women that added to the spirit of the music.  We were warmly welcomed by everybody in the church, and throughout the service it was apparent that the Holy Spirit was present among the people.

Leah Bartel

The following is an entry from my journal. On this particular day we were still in the village of Tlokoeng, near the city of Butha Buthe.

Thursday, January 5:

I received a lesson in humility early in the day. Lineo (one of our host sisters) taught Terra and I how to sweep the proper way. A small crowd gathered in close to watch. They wanted to see how the Americans would perform the task. First, Terra and I had a go at it without any instruction. An onslaught of laughter followed our attempts. Not accustomed to being laughed at, I could feel my cheeks getting red. All I could do, however, was to suck up my pride and adjust my technique to fit their advice. (The Basotho are quick to give advice). Their laughter was then accompanied by shouts and cheers of encouragement. I think something invaluable can be found in a culture that so easily laughs (at others and themselves).

Natsha Orpin

“It smells like Africa!” Mariah exclaimed on the first night we were here. And yes, it does- as hard as it is to believe, we are really in Africa. After an almost-15 hour flight, we landed in South Africa and were immediately impressed by the fresh air and vastness of this beautiful place. The next morning, we made our trek into Lesotho. I was the first one to be sick in Africa (which is very fun while traveling). Bill only turned on the windshield wipers five times, although it didn’t seem to be raining…(everything is on the opposite side here, so turn signals can easily be confused with the windshield wiper switch).

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This was a busy day of worship, wonder at what we were observing–and some winter in the form of continued chilly weather–a daily high in the upper ’20s!

At 7:50 AM we were in our bus and headed for the 8:30 service at the large Chong Wen Men Church in central Beijing. The church was established in 1870 when it was called Asbury Church–the first church constructed by American Methodists in northern China.  Like many churches across China, this one was closed to Christian service during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) when it served the state as middle school. It was opened in 1982 and now holds five services on Sundays–four in Mandarin and one in Korean.  About 3,000 believers are, as the church literature states, “plugged into ” church activities here. Some 300 new believes are baptized each year.  Additional to the Sunday AM services, the church sponsors a Bile study on Tuesday, a “Spiritual Growth meeting” on Wednesday, prayer meeting on Thursday and “sisters’ and “youth” fellowships on Friday. The church complex also includes a book store where Bibles (all Chinese; Chinese-English, etc.) are available at reasonable prices. We also saw CD’s, “Songs of Love” by the church choir for a reasonable RMB 10 (about $1.30) each, a few of which our group purchased.

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This is Saturday and a day dedicated to some serious sight-seeing–the Great Wall, a jade carving factory and retail outlet, the Ming Tombs. Overnight a light snow had fallen in the city but this did not significantly impede traffic. The temperature was in the mid-20s as we began our 25-mile drive north to what Astronaut Neal Armstrong callled the “only man-made strcture” he could see from his space craft. Our BC group was in high spirits to see what was probably the touristic highlight of this Interterm adventure. The common saying in China is “One hasn’t seen China until one see the Great Wall!”

On this cold, gray day, with light snow continuing to fall, tourist traffic to/at the Great Wall was lighter than usual. This structure, undulating like huge a dragon across the mountainous terrain of north China, dates from abut 200 BC and at one time snaked over some 3,000 miles from the Gobi Desert in Western China to its eastern terminus on the shores of the East China Sea.  Today only a small length of the Wall has been rebuilt. The part we were visiting was characterized by high, unevenly-spaced steps–some as high as one’s knee–and proving a particular challenge to the short of stature! The Wall-perhaps 25 feet high and 30 feet wide at the top–is a breathtaking achievement!  It is believed that as many as one million workers (perhaps 20% of China’s population at the time)  labored in its construction.

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Day 4 of our Middle Kingdom adventure!  Beijing weather this morning was typical early January–no snow, but chilly, with morning lows of 16-18 degrees F. and a modest breeze from the NW. The overall health of the group was very good–probably a solid 8.5 ranking on a scale of 10 signifying perfect health and 1 a near-death situation!

This was the first day of our “business/economics” related meetings. Enroute to our first meeting with the American Chamber of Commerce, Guide Bill spoke of the growing problem of educated unemployed in China–of the 2010 university graduating class, no more than about 50% had secured jobs within the first year after graduation. Our Chamber meeting was held on the 6th floor of a gleaming newish glass and steel office complex in Beijing’s central business district. Our host, Mr. Matt Wisla, Vice-president of the Chamber for Communications and a 7-year “veteran” of his work here, provided a very fine overview of the structure, objectives and modaliteis of the American Chamber in China. He noted some 1,200 US companies now operate here, ranging from the “big boys” (General Motors; Caterpillar, etc.) to the small companies seeking market niches to source local production for manufacturing operations in the US.  The overall objective of the Chamber was “To help US businesses succeed in China”.  He spoke of the Chamber’s work in advocacy, networking with US and Chinese interests, and provision of information relating to the Chinese business environment. With regard to the latter he spoke of an annual “white paper” comprising some 30 chapters and 400 pp. with assessments and recommendations useful to American business operating in, or contemplating operations in, China. He mentioned close cooperation with the American Embassy in Beijing–with recently-departed Ambassador Jon Huntsman and newly-appointed Ambassador Gary Locke.

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