In The Field, From Guest Blogger Dale

We started early again this morning with a majority of us coming to the "field" to till and turn soil to prepare it for planting / farming. A few of the group stayed behind at the center to finish up the murals and painting. The field is a small piece of land (they tell me it is about 5,000 sq ft) that the Center rents from a local church. This is the first year they have done this and the plan is to plant vegetables, peppers, and peanuts.

The youth from the Center joined us on the bus and are having a day out – which is loads of fun for them – although with 20 teenagers swinging hoes and shovels we have had to keep the center youth away from the field. I have to say, the Union U'th have done an amazing job this morning – they have almost finished tilling the field (4 hrs of good hard labor – I will send some pictures when I get back into range of a better cell signal). They are going much faster than the Center leaders expected so we might have time this afternoon back at the Center.

One last thought – during our evening meeting last night the U'th had an opportunity to share what this trip has meant to them – it was wonderful to hear the U'th share how they felt humbled by serving the lowest of society – that they felt like they were being the hands and feet of Christ – that it was hard sometimes and sometimes they failed to serve but were able to go back the next day and try again and there was joy in serving others. Some amazing sharing.

We finished up at the field by about 3:00 today and took the bus to the center to join the other team and I have to admit, I was amazed at what they had done to transform the upstairs music room. 
 
Above are a few pics from today's activities. Church that owns the property / field that we worked today – interestingly – this isn't a "registered" church but is allowed as a "worship" center – but notice – no cross outside – only a cross inside.

An English Song In Jinan

An English Song in Jinan from prayerknight1 on GodTube.

Union U’th: What Are We Eating?

The cuisine this trip has been very local Shandong… or even Jinan, food. To give you an idea of our diet, below are a few pictures. Lets just look at breakfast… about the only Western item is bread, which can only be toasted in a toaster oven that only heats things up. It doesn’t really toast. The first pic below shows Joseph wrestling with the toaster.

The remaining pictures illustrate a variety of Chinese dishes including one that looks like veggie scrambled eggs. Of course there is also old faithful fruit that is quite fresh. We learned that Shandong apples are often exported to Japan. (Yesterday we tried home grown cherry tomatoes at the centre that were incredibly fresh and sweet.)

And finally, okay okay, there is one other Western item at breakfast: Coke and ice cream. But honest, Karl is… um… the only one having Coke floats.

Put Into Practise…

Today the Union Youth brought their projects to completion albeit for
some artwork to be added to the Music Therapy Room. Amazingly, when we
walked into the room this morning, we were shocked to see the first coat
of paint dry, smooth and looking quite good. (In fact, Steven had a theory that another team of painters came in during the middle of the night to fix our work!) We insisted on applying a
second coat that will need until tomorrow to dry. We're excited to see what the finished, dry product wil bring. We will then add music
themed artwork to the walls.

Meanwhile, the Roof Team completed their white painting that was touched
up by the Art Team's finesse. We had to drag Uncle Dale and the Roof Team away from
painting the roof kicking and screaming as they drained the paint trays
down to the last drop. The Roof Team were especially helpful with
cleaning rollers and brushes for which the rest of us were extremely
grateful.

At left, the Art Team work on their wall art while selecting
scripture… Charlotte reading from a Chinese Bible and Matthew reading
from an English Bible. I walked up the stairs as the two were searching for a piece of scripture. To listen to each of them compare what they were finding between the Chinese and English translations of the Bible was extraordinary. How many "Youth" on this planet have the ability to interact in such a way? Amazing to have that diversity and talent in our
midst. (Thank you to both of them!) In the Music Therapy Room, we each wrote our favourite pieces of scripture on the walls prior to applying the second coat… and third coat… and fourth coat… uh, no matter how hard we tried, we couldn't paint over the Word of God. 

We had a late lunch, again sitting together with the centre youth and
staff. The afternoon included games, drawing, face-painting with worship
music mixed alongside. (At left: two teams compete in a game while Athena offers one of the centre youth a marker during the drawing competition. Below: one of the products of the face painting.)

Tuesday U’th, From Guest Blogger Dale

We
had another great day of hard work and interaction with the youth at the
center.  We arranged to get to the center
early this morning – and you would have thought the Union U'th would have
complained – in reality most of them were excited to start early to allow them
to finish up their murals and painting. 

The
crew finished up painting the entire downstairs (light blue) and the entire
roof (white) along with some beautiful murals along the stairways and
hallways.  We worked hard until lunch and
had lunch with the youth from the center then back to work painting to finish
everything up.  The rest of the afternoon
was spent interacting with the youth doing games and face painting.  And for all of the youth and even the staff
it was the first time they have ever had their faces painted – loads of fun
that turned into a full-fledged party at the Center. 

While
this was going on a few of the senior youth left the center and did home visits
with 2 local (and very poor) families that have disabled children – very
touching visits – amazing what these families have to face in China –
everything from being shut out by their relatives to being disassociated by
their neighbors (due to the shame of having a mentally disabled child).  We are now out at dinner and soon head back
to the hotel for our evening debrief and discussion time.  See attached a few pictures from today's
activities. 

Do Unto Others…

The pictures attached pretty much speak for themselves. Sunday night the group was split into four work groups so that upon arriving at the centre Monday morning the teams were able to start work right away. On the main floor Team 1 was tasked with re-painting a mural at the back of the centre's stage. They also filled in cracks and holes in the walls. Team 2 worked on painting the Music Therapy Room, with paint that was very watery and quite a challenge to apply. We know that God has a plan, we're just not sure what that plan looks like. Team 3 involved decorating the stairway with various artwork. Team 4 sanded and painted the roof, which up until this point had been bare concrete. (Above: re-painting the wall mural and painting artwork on the walls.)

We had lunch with the centre's kids, mixing the Union Youth amongst them. We wanted to make every effort to bring down barriers between the two groups. This seemed to be quite a success and by after lunch their was quite a bit of mingling. In addition, after lunch the Union Youth played a walking game that the centre kids enjoy on a regular basis. (Above: painting artwork on the walls, including selecting scripture verses. Below left, many hands make light work; below right, Steven helps one of the autistic youth learn how to paint.)

Above: various team members pose in front of their first two white coats of paint on concrete; above right and below, at the start of, and during, the walking game.

Post-game time involved visitors from a Jinan Youth Christian Fellowship group. Various songs of worship were played by the Jinan Youth, Union Youth and Centre Staff… we even heard a Chinese version of Amazing Grace. The Union Youth shared stories about their lives followed by the Jinan Youth who also gave testimonies about their lives and faith. Parents will be happy to know that many of the Union Youth pushed the envelope with their mandarin skills: it was inspiring to watch and hear. A great day of service and fellowship enjoyed by all. (Above: snapping pictures of the Jinan Youth and Union Youth post-fellowship. Below: group photo before everyone departed for the day.)