Page 20 - Clearwater Christian College 2006
P. 20
“After witnessing to
my helper Phoebe,
the next best thing
was holding a red
panda.”
-Helena Hansen
Faith Henry
The journey began on July 1. The first flight took us to Los
Angeles for the connecting flight to Seoul and then to Cheng
Du. After twenty-seven hours, we landed in China on Sun
day, July 3. Upon arriving, we were told we would be teach
ing the next morning at 9:00 AM. None of us were ready,
because we had previously been told that we would begin
teaching on Wednesday. So, the first day was used for in
troductions and attempts to bridge the language barrier.
The first weekend, we visited a Buddhist monastery in
Xian Du and the Panda Preserve. At the preserve, we saw
red pandas and black and white pandas. We also interacted
with the locals. The people were so astonished at seeing so
many Westerners that they gathered around us, wanting
their pictures taken with us, and trying to converse with us.
The second weekend was a trip to Xiling Mountain or
“Snow Mountain.” Most of the adult teachers had hotel
rooms, and the students and a few adults slept in tents and
sleeping bags on a concrete floor. Unfortunately, it rained
the entire weekend.
The last week went quickly. It became increasingly dif
ficult to think that I would probably never see these people
again. Students had come to mean so much to me. I was
leaving people, knowing they were not any closer to coming
to saving faith in Christ. I felt very much like a failure until I spoke to an “under The Buddhist monastery in
cover” missionary. He said that he’s found it takes at least four interactions with Chris Xian Duan has a special
area for people to offer in
tians before a Chinese person comes to Christ. I am thankful that I was able to plant, cense to their gods. China
feed, or water! team visited the monastery
their first weekend in China
The team arrived in Los Angeles on July 24. I started to cry when I saw the US
flags hanging from the ceiling in Immigration! China gave me a great appreciation
for what a wonderful country we have! -excerpts from a letter Mrs. Cheryl Schlosser sent to her supporters
