Sunday, July 29

It's been another amazing two days. On Saturday, we had the morning to sleep in and rest--much needed after a busy and full week with the children. In the afternoon, we visited Tianamen Square and Forbidden City. We stopped several times to have our pictures made with Chinese families and children. They love to have English conversations with Americans, and they love to have their pictures made with us.

We ate dinner in a great restaurant. Do you sense a theme here? I've never seen university students eat so much. After stuffing ourselves, we moved next door for the Chinese Opera. It was different, but good. They served us Chinese tea and snacks. It was a great time.

Today we worshipped at Beijing International Christian Fellowship. We connected again with other ACU students, as well as with Tim and Becky McDonald from the International Academy of Beijing, the school where 4 of our ACU students are teaching English this summer. I'll be meeting with Tim next week to discuss other ways in which our students can be involved with this Christian K-12 school. The school is growing, and they're now expanding to a second campus.

We also connected again with John and Lisa Bentley and 5 of their children--Ian, Oliver, Reed, Orly and Levi. Emily, their oldest daughter, is in Canada and will return the week of Aug. 5-10, while we are with John and Lisa at Harmony Outreach in Langfang. We all went out to dinner at TGIF. It was great to have fajitas, quesadillas, hamburgers, and chicken strips. Joan Bower also joined us; she's been the assistant to the US Ambassador to China for the past 3 years. She leaves now for another post. She's a great Christian sister, who has done amazing work here in Beijing. She was a great help in making our visit last summer a reality. People here are still talking about the visit of the Christian delegation last summer.

Today I learned of opportunities to come next summer and officially help with the Olympics. I can't get into the particulars now, but it's a promising mission. We've also been invited to return and continue our assistance with the orphanages. That makes the most sense at this point, but we'll certainly be open to the Lord's leading. The students are encouraging me to make this an annual trip.

Remember me telling you about the students I met at McDonald's? I met them again today. My daughter, Katie, joined me, and we had a great time talking about life, meaning, belief, and what it means to be a good person. We walked them to their English class where we were invited to speak briefly to their 200 classmates. Katie and I introduced ourselves, and we were able to tell them why we're here in China. What an opportunity! I've invited these two new friends to spend tomorrow with us before we leave for Xi'an. They're excited to be able to practice their English, and we're excited about visiting with them again.

Today I was also approached by a Chinese talent agent about doing a national commercial for CCTV (Chinese Central Television). It's a commercial for the 2008 Summer Olympics, and they're needing a tall American guy for the shoot. I'm supposed to call her today, so who knows what might happen.

For all the parents of students who are traveling with me, please know that Rebecca, Lauren, Julianne, Korie, Kellie, Katie, Jenny, Colin, Preston, and Cassey are doing really, really well. They're learning so much, and their lights are definitely shining brightly. They'll have much to share with you in two more weeks, so get ready to give them a great deal of time and attention.