Day: March 30, 2013

I must decrease, He must increase ~ John 3:30

We landed late into Jinan by about 45 minutes to an hour. Other than turbulence we had an easy flight. It seemed as though every ten minutes a recording asked us to fasten our seatbelts and not go to the toilet. If we were in the toilet, we were instructed to hold onto the handle. At one point I thought to myself, “I have heard that recording so much I wonder if they’ve forgotten to turn it off?” Meanwhile, Immigration, Customs, the bus into the city and hotel was smooth as silk. Our bus was made in China and oh my gosh it was monstrous. I think it was the aircraft carrier of buses – a helicopter could have easily landed on top.

After checking in we had dinner at the hotel – a Chinese buffet with a combination of Japanese, wanna-be western and Chinese dishes. The food was quite good and the Peking duck excellent. And honest, this was the only Coke anyone had all day. One thing for sure, we will not starve on this trip and the hotel is far better than anyone expected. Everyone was excited to be together for dinner and we welcomed Terry who had just zipped down from Beijing on a million mile per hour maglev train.

After dinner we had a team meeting. We opened in prayer, with the eldest of the youth and the youngest of the youth praying. Ryan delivered a message in relation to why we’re here this week: to serve, not play video games, or use technology, or text on our phones, or even think about video games. A devotional booklet was handed out for us to use during the week. We tossed around various mantras such as “I will not complain” when we get tired or hungry. One of the youth reminded us of the scripture, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40.

Truly I tell you, it was inspiring. We concluded with everyone saying a one or two sentence prayer that started with the second eldest youth and concluded with the second youngest youth. We wrapped up around 9 PM, sending everyone off to bed for 10 PM lights out. Tomorrow morning breakfast is at 7 AM for an 8 AM departure so we’re wondering the halls enforcing the curfew. Which reminds me, I gotta go…

All systems go for Youth Group to Jinan

The Union Church Youth Group is on their way to Jinan. Pictured here before boarding the Airport Express, all kids are accounted for and ready to roll. We had a reasonable start, meeting in Central at 9 AM, and now at noon are about to lift-off on China Eastern Airlines.

We’ve had an uneventful morning with the usual fiascos, such as the airline insisting that no where in the world would they undertake a group check-in. This was after Dale dutifully collected all the passports, and then subsequently handed them back out. I’ve learned that our host, Percy, lived a swallows flight from my childhood home in Toronto years ago. Percy and his wife, Connie, are leading the charge for us this week as we venture into exciting corners of Jinan, China. Karl reports, “all systems are stable and a go.” Stay tuned for more details.