I'm writing to you this week from a high-speed train en route to Beijing from Xi'an in central China. Our 6-month mission to China is divided into 3 segments of 60 days each, outlined by the restrictions of our visas. This past week marked the end of 4 months since we left home, and we needed to exit mainland China to “reset” our visas and prepare for the final 2 months of our work in Beijing.
Prior to leaving this past week, we had three more opportunities to share our music as a family. Olivia and Jake were invited to perform at the Haidian Church Children’s Day celebration service. Ali had another concert with the orchestra from the Central Conservatory of Music, this time performing newly composed pieces from Chinese composers (the music was unlike anything she has played or we had ever heard before - definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience!) The whole family was invited to perform a lunchtime concert to support a local piano store, owned by a Christian man who serves on the worship team at the church.
Jake and Livy might have been the only foreign kids in the church program, but they certainly were not the cutest. The preschool choir stole the show!
Our friend Sam (middle left photo) invited us to play some music and share about our family's life and faith. He uses his piano retail business to help parents develop music in their kids, and he is open about his faith with his colleagues and customers. And ... we got to play on Bosendorfer & Steinway grand pianos - both worth over $100,000USD! (the kids did great, even with the army of "paparazzi" that seems to follow them everywhere they go - notice the line of cameras in the middle right photo)
Our first trip out of China involved ministry (in Korea), so we decided to take this second trip for some vacation and fun as a family. We flew from Beijing to Hong Kong, then from Hong Kong to the city of Xi’an in central China, and returned to Beijing via an ultra-modern high-speed railroad. This past week was definitely the most unique summer vacation we’ve ever had as a family. Many of you already saw our posts on social media (since Hong Kong has free access to the internet), so we'll keep this update short from our days away from Beijing.
Hong Kong's beautiful skyline, intense heat & humidity, British influence (a rugby stadium, lower left, was viewable from our hotel room), and Disneyland - we packed a lot of fun into a few days.
Xi'an is home to the Terracotta Warriors ... the UN lists this staggering archaeological site as one of the world's most amazing, and these thousands of clay soldiers & horses were created to protect the tomb of China's first emperor around 200 years before Christ. We also found a nice hotel in Xi'an with a peaceful Chinese garden - the perfect place for some rest after a few busy days in Hong Kong.
We return to Beijing to serve at the 2nd annual Haidian Church Football Camp … we hope and pray the next few days will be filled with lots of smiles, tired feet, and families being drawn to the love of Jesus expressed through the game of soccer.
We look forward to seeing you all in about 2 months … please keep praying for God’s protection and continued open doors to serve many people here in China.
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