Heading Home

Sunday, June 24th, was another day of touring.  Our team attended a church service at an international church in Beijing.  The Chinese people are not allowed to attend this church but can attend another state sponsored church.  However, foreigners are allowed to attend.  We had to show our passports to get through the doors.  It was a thrilling experience to worship with so many other believers from other countries who happen to now live in China or are visiting for a time and was a wonderful way to begin our day.

Next, we ate at an authentic Chinese restaurant with our able-bodied tour guides, Josh and Matthew Moody (Dr. Bill and Ana Moody's sons - both Bill and Ana are doctors at Shepherd's Field).  The boys ordered a delicious meal with many different dishes.

Matthew, the Moody's oldest son, attends Wheaten in Illinois

Lunch in Beijing



This gave us energy to tour the Forbidden City which is in the middle of Beijing.  The Forbidden City is a sprawling complex of buildings built for royal dynasties of the past and is a major tourist attraction for any visitor to China. 

A familiar sight at the Forbidden City

Beautiful Chinese architecture



Golden roof line

We rounded our day out with rides in rickshaws through a place near the Forbidden City called Hutong.  These are homes that are of the "old style" of Chinese architecture with the slanting roof lines, many alley ways, and courtyards opening to multiple family housing.  This was a fun and interesting tour, and we made quite a sight winding our way through the streets of the Hutong village with nine rickshaws of laughing and smiling Americans.

Haggling for a good price on the Hutong Tour

The back of one of our drivers bicyling through the Hutong village

Kathy and Justin enjoying the ride

These two days of touring provided our group with a snapshot of Chinese culture then and now.  It was such a valuable piece to our trip because it helped cement our hearts to the orphans of China by getting to know the culture in which they live. 

After getting home from our Sunday touring, we all packed and took quick naps.  At 2:30 A.M., our bus again picked us up, and this time took us to the airport for our early morning flight home.

We are safely home and getting back to Indiana time.  In the coming days, we will add more pictures.  So stay tuned!  Thank you for following our journey as we strived to become the hands and feet of Jesus to orphaned children half a world away.

At the airport on our way home.  Mike symbolizes how we were

all feeling at this point - tired, humbled, hearts full for the orphan,

thanking God for all he has done this past week.

The Great Wall

Since the village is short-staffed and it is the weekend, the staff prefers that our team does not visit the children’s homes today and tomorrow.  This makes us so sad, but we do understand that the children need some down time to rest and have a semi-normal life on the weekends instead of having visitors constantly coming in and out.  This was the perfect time to do some touring and see China. 

A Chinese structure on our way to the Great Wall

A very fun metal tree sculpture outside our bus window on the way to the Great Wall

This is the entrance to the Great Wall.  This little walkway is full of souvenirs 

The cable car that took us up to the Great Wall

Our team ventured out to the Great Wall today and, oh boy, was it fun!  We took a ski-lift up the mountain to hike the wall, and the view was spectacular.  There were two choices after that about coming down.  We could either ride the ski-lift back down or drive a toboggan down the mountain.  We all chose the toboggan.  It was a hit because it was so much fun!  We then visited a pearl market where they had some tourist-type things to purchase for our loved ones back home. 

On the wall

On the wall

On the wall

This is the section of the Great Wall we walked on

Our Indy group just after walking the Great Wall

KFC in China

Our team had a marvelous time today; however, our thoughts and our hearts were never far from Shepherd’s Field and the children here.  It seems that often our conversation turned to talking about the village.  It is difficult knowing we are on the grounds and can’t see the children except if they happen to be outside playing.  But this time is useful to soak in the culture of China.  Doing that helps cement our love of China and its people in our hearts.  We can take that love back with us to continue to help the orphans of Shepherd’s Field.  Our teams’ hearts are full, and we can hardly wait to share all we have seen and done here in China when we return home. 

Bittersweet day

There were balloon creations

Face painting for Philip

More face painting

Today, Friday, was such a bittersweet day.  We enjoyed the children so very much, but we knew it was our last day interacting with them, and our hearts were heavy.  Our group had an end-of-the-week celebration for the children who had come to our classes each day.  There were balloon animals, bubbles, water balloons, face painting, ice cream treats, chalk drawing, and singing and dancing.  What fun we all had with the children!  Both the Ohio team and the Kentucky team helped out.  We will surely miss these wonderful people who have served alongside us this week.

Throwing water balloons

We also ate yummy treats

At the water balloon table 

Then we spent the afternoon in the individual homes holding the babies and playing with the young children.  This is definitely one of the most joyful yet heartbreaking parts of serving here at Shepherd’s Field.  The children want our attention, and it feels good to hold and play with them, but at the same time it hurts knowing they don’t have a family of their own to do that for them. 

The need here is overwhelming at times.  The village is very beautiful, and the children’s basic needs are met.  Nutritious and delicious food is served.  School is provided.  The homes are comfy and welcoming.  But, something is missing.  That something is the fact that each one of these precious children needs a home.  Some are too old to be adopted now.  Others have special needs that are too severe for adoption.  But most of the children are adoptable and need to come home to their forever families.  It hurts our hearts to know that they are still orphans.  And it hurts our hearts to know that some will never be adopted.

At night, we helped serve food at a cookout given by the Ohio team.  The children had a great time and went away full and happy.  Deidra, Amanda, Ted, and Heidi (from the Ohio team) sang praise songs and then ended the concert with our kids’ songs we have sung all week.  The children got to their feet immediately and began to dance and sing along with us.  We have loved singing with them all week long and will miss that activity.  We have fallen in love with all of the children here, too.

We are winding down our stay here.  Tomorrow we will be climbing the Great Wall, with more touring on Sunday, and flying home on Monday.  Where did the time go?  We have seen and done so much this week.  It has been a very emotional week in our lives seeing the orphans first hand and the people who work so hard to take care of them.  When we fly home on Monday, it will be with hearts open wide for the orphan. 

The Agape House

One of the five homes at Agape House

A living room of one of the homes

A bedroom scene

These two, Clay and Jewel, are such amazing people.  They once worked at Shepherd's Field Children's Village and now are house parents at Agape house.  They have such a big, big heart for orphans in China.  Our group fell in love with them immediately

We had the opportunity to go to The Agape House this morning to visit Clay and Jewel Floch, who used to run Shepherd’s Field, but felt led by God to be more hands-on with the children opposed to the more administrative role they had taken on at Shepherd’s Field.  They have an amazing little village they run.  All of the children have Brittle Bone Disease.  They have 5 houses, and 2 of the houses have children in them.  They are houseparents in one house with five children under the age of 8, all girls and one boy—Ruby, Charlotte, Olivia, Addison, and Joseph.  Joseph is the oldest and he is 8.  He was quite spunky!  When we opened the door and walked in, he was sitting on the floor and said, ‘Hi!  Come on in!’  We wanted to take him home immediately! 

Some of the sweet little girls who live with Clay and Jewel

Our group with Clay and Jewel's foster children at Agape House

Such sweet children and their foster mommy, Jewel

Clay and Jewel gave us a tour of each of the houses, and at the school there were 7 or so kids, all in wheelchairs.  We listened to them sing some songs in Chinese to us, and then we sang a couple of worship songs in English.  Then we went back forth, singing ‘This is the Day,’ together.  Three of their kids also play the piano, and they played some songs for us.  It was amazing sitting there, listening to them sing and also heartbreaking at the same time, knowing that some of them will not get adopted before they turn 14.

Beautiful children of Agape House singing for our group.  It was so moving.

Our group with those beautiful children

We ate lunch at the Bread of Life Bakery that some girls 18-25 run in the village.  They made American pizza for us, which was absolutely amazing!  Cheese, pepperoni, sausage, and veggie.  The veggie was very yummy!  They all were really, but especially the veggie. 

Two Stacy's - one China Stacy and one US Stacy.  China Stacy once lived at Shepherd's Field, and now she lives at Agape House and works in the bakery.




After lunch, we went back to Shepherd’s Field because Kelli and Staci were leaving to go pick up Kelli’s passport because it was finished!  It was a very good afternoon!  She can now spend the rest of the trip focusing on loving the kids and not worrying about getting that taken care of.

This afternoon, we had our program with the kids and then we watched ‘Curious George’ with them and brought them McDonald’s.  They all really enjoyed their meals.  For the kids who couldn’t come, we took the food to their houses for them. 

Who is that character? 

This evening we spent some time as a group, laughing and enjoying our time together!  It’s hard to believe our trip will be coming to an end soon and we will have to say good-bye to the kids after tomorrow, which will not be an easy thing to do.  But, they have left an impression on us and they will forever be in our hearts!

Another Great Day with the Children

 Singing, dancing, praising

Singing with Moses

We’re at the halfway point of our journey.  Our internal time clocks are just about adjusted to the time change.  Today has been a long awaited part of the week.   We got to visit the clinic which cares for the littlest ones here in the village.  The children are well taken care of by the doctors here.   The chicken pox virus has not found its way inside yet, thankfully.  The children are just so precious and handing them back over to the nannies was very difficult.  We are sure to return there tomorrow!

Working with the children this morning

Vivian made Amanda smile 

The children continue to come excited to the teaching time each morning.  They have already learned the songs and enter the activity room singing them before we even get started!  Two of the children here, Seth and Eric, were ecstatic to be a part of the Creation Train.  “All Aboard….Choo Choo!” Today many of them finished up the Creation T-shirts they have been working on this week.  They were so excited to put on their shirts and show them to the others.  The lesson room is now covered with fish and penguins that the kids enjoyed making as part of the craft.

Doing crafts with the children 

This afternoon we were able to return for another power trip to Wal-Mart.  We were able to purchase additional supplies and needs for the village and the children here.  After dropping off the supplies back at the village, we ventured out for dinner at University City, a local spot with a mixture of restaurants with American and Chinese cuisine.  This time we did not have an interpreter which made things a little more interesting when ordering.  We appreciate the signs and menus with English translations!

Eating at Hollywood

Practicing for the concert for Friday night beside a table with the other half of the donated items we were able to purchase at Walmart

Our daily schedule continues to be fluid and ongoing and has kept our trip exciting.  Tomorrow, in the morning we are scheduled to visit the Agape House and in the afternoon, we hope to have McDonalds with the kids and enjoy a movie with them.

The group was filled with praise when we learned that Kelli received her passport and visa today. She will return to Beijing tomorrow to pay for her visa, but she will be returning home with us on Monday!

Getting to know the children

It is now Tuesday evening in China, and our team has had an amazing time working with the precious children here in the village.  We began our Monday morning taking a small tour around the grounds and then we joined a group of children by the wall who were riding tricycles and playing.  Soon after that, we held our classes inside the outreach center where we sang, danced, played games, and did crafts with all of the children who were school age - all of the children school age , that is, except for the ones who were ill with chicken pox!  Chicken pox is currently going around the houses, and many children have come down with them.

Another team from Columbus, Ohio is here and they are helping out in the mornings with our teaching.  It has been great getting to know them and sharing our time here in China with them.  This team also has three people who speak Chinese, so that has helped tremendously when we teach the children.

Monday afternoon was spent visiting the babies and toddlers inside of the houses while the school age children attended school.  That was such a sweet, sweet time of loving on the little ones by our group.  Oh, how wonderful it felt to hold and hug all of those little children. 

Tuesday turned out to be a slightly different kind of day.  We taught in the morning, and that went very well.  The children had already begun to recognize us, and that made the morning go very smoothly.  What a joy it was to sing with all those little faces smiling and singing and praising. 

Then most of our group headed to the local Walmart to do a shopping spree for the village.  It was a fun experience for our group, too.  One interesting thing in the store were the people and cart movers.  The carts lock into the ramp as they go along much like an escalator.  We ended up on an hour-long time crunch and had to fly through the store.  Since our six carts were piled high, our group received a lot of curious looks. 

A couple of us didn’t go to Walmart, but instead we headed to a Beijing police station.  Kelli’s passport and driver’s license went missing our first night here, so after looking for it and not finding it, she needed to get the process started to get another passport and visa.  We stopped by the police station, got a police report to take to the American Embassy, which was closed early today, so she will travel back to Beijing tomorrow to apply to expedite the process.  Could you keep her in your prayers so that the process goes quickly and smoothly? 

Shepherd’s Field is such an amazing place to spend a week.  Our team is so very glad we have come.  Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support.