Holy Words long preserved for our walk in this world
They resound with God's own heart
Oh let the ancient words impart
Words of life words of hope
Give us strength help us cope
In this work where e'er we roam
ancient words will guide us home
Ancient words ever true
changing me and changing you
we have come with open hearts
oh let the ancient words impart
Holy words of our Faith
handed down to this age
came to us through sacrifice
oh heed the faithful words of Christ
Holy words long preserved for our walk in this world
they resound with God's own heart
oh let the ancient words impart
Ancient words ever true
changing me and changing you
we have come with open hearts
oh let the ancient words impart
This morning we got up, ate a fast breakfast, and hopped on the bus headed to the International ch*rch in GZ.
How choked up I was to hear the congregation singing SAVIOR, HE CAN MOVE THE MOUNTAINS - MY GOD IS MIGHTY TO SAVE!
Looking around, the ch*rch was filled with all nations all singing to the Savior. This is a glimpse of Heaven!
The ch*rch was so filled with people that we set up camp in the back which was good for our family. Ian was taking it all in. I observed moments of curiosity and moments of completely closed off. He wanted to do what our family did at first. He stood with us to sing and he came in front of Lily to see her face as she sang - he was curious about her singing and me singing. After a little bit, he lost interest and went to sit down against the wall. Then he noticed a bin of books - Bibles. He went over and opened one up. Have you ever witnessed someone open a Bible for the first time? It was a moment. I hope I never forget! I prayed through it as I watched.
And then just like that, he closed the book and opened another and saw that it was the same thing and then got up and walked away to see what else he could explore.
There were several different points of announcements. They were interesting. One of them was that everyone needed to remember to bring their passports as the people at the doors are required by the law of the land to check the passports to allow entrance. As I looked out over the congregation, it occurred to me that this was a very powerful ch*rch. They come and are filled up to GO OUT each week and make an impact. The sermon reflected that - POWERFUL and IMPACTING and ENCOURAGING and INSPIRING! I'm not going to blog about much more that was said during the morning, but honestly, it makes leaving here even harder.
Before the sermon, the kids were all dismissed for Sunday School. I took Sammy and Titus to their class while Lily, Phoebe, and Ian head upstairs to the older Sunday School classes. I felt like I should go check on them so as I got off the elevator, I saw Lily and Ian right there. I asked Lily what was going on and she said Ian didn't want to go. So Ian and I headed back to the service. Phil got a Bible that was English/Chinese and showed Ian where we were reading. Again, he was curious for a few moments and then his heart closed and he sat back and went to sleep for the rest of the time. Phil moved his arm any time his snoring was loud enough to hear.
Jemma put money in the offering basket that came around - not often you can have an opportunity to freely give to a ch*rch in China! What a privilege.
After the service, I went and picked up the little ones and the teacher said that Titus was a real leader and so well behaved and helpful and so good. (I was pleased and a little surprised.) Sammy was helping collect crayons when I called his name. Both boys learned about the Good News and made wordless books. Phil picked up the girls - Phoebe learned about prayer and Lily learned about the end times. They all seemed refreshed and excited.
We took the bus to Shamian Island and Phil grabbed subway sandwiches and drinks for us that we all sat and ate in the local parks area. We saw several brides and also had our picture taken by countless people. We shared the drinks as a family. Then we went to Amy's Place to get our list taken care of for souvenirs! Each person shopped and then we stopped at Michael's Place to get Bunny Squeaker shoes for Jemma - PERFECT to remind her brain that she has a right leg and can use it!!!
We made our way over to Jenny's - finally after 3 adoptions! We picked up Ian's Bible that he doesn't know we have for him and we will wait to give it to him until he's ready. Phil also got one so that as we go to ch*rch in the U.S. We got another pair of squeakers for a friend of ours and then started heading back to the group meeting spot. Phil ran into A Gift of China to get a couple of things and then met us at the entrance to the island and we took the bus back to our hotel. Everyone was dripping with sweat again so we promised swimming.
I asked Phil if he dared me to just jump in. Of course he did and so I jumped into the deep end and swam down to the family. We enjoyed lots of play time, including a couple of races. Oh and Ian dunked Titus and learned that's not a nice thing to do when Titus started bawling. Ian was so sweet to comfort Titus and wipe tears and all that and Titus gave him big hugs.
Daddy told Ian to get out of the water because it was time to dry off. Ian has been ignoring us more and more (usually regarding the iPad) so we took the opportunity to allow some natural consequences for Ian. Everyone dried off and we all gathered our stuff before Ian got out of the water. We all started to leave the pool and he motioned that he was cold and wanted a towel but Phil and I pointed that we were all leaving. He walked with us and then went inside where the air conditioning was and was even colder.
After we got to our room, we met up with 3 other big families on our floor and worked out dinner plans and then I took some time with just Ian and google translate. I asked him if he knew why he didn't get a towel at the pool. He looked sad and shook his head no. I typed that Dad had said to get out of the water and he did not. I told him that everyone was drying off with towels while he stayed in the water. He nodded his head yes and still looked quite vulnerable. I typed that Mom and Dad want to take care of him and give him a towel so he wouldn't be cold, but that he would have to listen to us and obey so we can do that. He grinned and nodded and said OH! He looked so vulnerable and ashamed during the conversation but so encouraged at the end. I hope we can continue to show Ian what it means to have parents and be part of a family!
The kids played with the other kids in the hallway and in the play area in 1310 and in the 1308 apartment! There are 18 kids (soon to be 19) and everyone had so much fun! It has been a blast! All the dads went out in the storming rain and got dinner and brought it back to 1308 and all 27 of us ate together. Phil fell pretty bad on the way back in the rain - it is just so slippery when it's wet! I'm hoping that he will not have too much soreness in the days to come.
We put the keds to bed fairly early and Phil watched Captain America and I blogged. Jemma was so overtired that she seemed to have a hard night sleeping - up several times.
Minus Phil and Lily - I don't have that picture yet.
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