Two weeks of camp are over

... and the next leg of our adventure begins. On Monday, we will fly to Manila in The Philippines to spend a week with our dear friends, Justin and Erin McDonald. They're in Manila learning Tagalog while they prepare for the mission field, which happens to be a tropical island in the southern part of the country. We will also be visiting that island with them for a few days, so I should be able to post some great photos from the Philippines.

After that, we'll be flying back to Beijing and hooking up with the other Bring Me Hope group, including David and the Bolt sisters, who are located about six hours from Beijing by train. There, I'll be working on the book for three weeks. Dori will be coming home on Aug. 10.

These two weeks have been eye-opening and heart-breaking. There have been some amazing stories happening right before our eyes, and I look forward to relating those to you when we get home. For now, though, I'll leave you with some photos of our time, including two that were taken inside a Chinese orphanage.

This is Jonny doing what he did best: Coloring.

This was taken inside the orphanage in Nanchang.

Two of "our" boys walking to their home inside the orphanage complex.

And every Thursday night, there are fireworks that the staff set off in the hotel parking lot.

Please keep Thinking of us as we travel around Asia and love our Brothers, Sisters and orphans, and anyone else Dad puts in our path to love. We are so blessed to be here, and blessed to have such wonderful families and friends back home. We love you all.

This...

... is Jonny. He's a little slow, but he remembers one phrase very clearly. And he doesn't talk a whole lot, but he repeated this phrase several times into my translator's ear tonight when we asked him if he could remember anything about his childhood. It was the last thing his parents ever said to him.

"Wait here, and I'll come back for you."

A Nanchang Saturday -- in photos

We had some free time today, so set about the daunting task of hand-washing the week's accumulation of dirty laudry. After that, we headed into downtown Nanchang, to an all-too-familiar retail store. There was more than a little irony to shopping at this particular store in this particular country. Then we ate at McDonald's and came home. Enjoy.

The task...

The instructions...

The washing machine...

Add a little elbow grease...

A little music...

And a little more spin cycle... (I really did help, I was just taking the pictures at these precise moments.)

Now we're off to downtown Nanchang and...

That's right, Wal-Mart. The lightning rod of labor unions across the United States, hated for its low wages and low prices. Well, guess what? The prices are even lower in China. Plus, there were these sweet escalators in the middle of the two-story store that were outfitted to accept shopping carts as well as customers. Pretty slick.

And no shopping trip would be complete without candy. Lots of candy.

Tomorrow is a well-deserved and much-needed day of rest, then we start the madness again. Thanks for staying up to date with us, and please continue to remember us in your Thoughts as we labor in love for the orphans. We love and miss you all.

Week one kids are gone

This update won't have pictures because I haven't had the time to process them since we got back from the orphanage this afternoon. We had the privilege of driving the orphans back to their home, since this group lives about an hour away from where we're having camp. What a great experience. We walked them each to their respective houses in the compound, where each house's "mother" met us with a smile, set out stools for us and dished out water and snacks. They were very sweet, and made us feel a little bit better about having to leave these precious kids. One of our girls, the younger one who has, perhaps, experienced more abuse, went with a separate group of orphans to a facility about three hours away. All in that cohort of kids were thin, and several always ate as if it was their last meal, so I'm not sure if I have confidence about her living conditions.

Mom, the orphanage we visited today is where Peam lives, and we had our picture taken with her on the front steps of the main building. I'll send it to you separately.

A little more on our travel plans: None of our flights will need to be changed. Dori is still flying to Manila next week, and I'll be seeing her off and picking her up in Beijing on either end of that side trip. As for me, it looks like I may be traveling to the earthquake zone by train during the week she's gone, then hooking up with the rest of Bring Me Hope for the remaining three weeks of my trip.

Our health has still held out, aside from a few headaches and upset stomachs. So much about this trip is different from last year, however, and it's been fantastic experiencing a completely new side of China. Come to think of it, I haven't seen a white person who was not attached to Bring Me Hope the entire time we've been in Nanchang.

Thank you all for your Thoughts. We are having a wonderful time, and I can't wait to get home and tell you all--over a cup of genuine, strong coffee--what our Father has done and will do with the rest of our stay in the People's Republic.

Nanchang, China: Week one

Finally, my first 2008 post from China! So much has happened already, and so much that we had anticipated has changed. I can’t detail it all here, but hopefully I will have more time to blog later. The local authorities have clamped down on us out of simple suspicion (dozens of Americans and Australians in the rural hills invites all kinds of attention), and there are only three Internet connections in the whole hotel. That's why it's taken this long for me to post an update.

After 32 hours of traveling, we arrived on Sunday evening in Nanchang—actually, in the mountains outside of Nanchang. The setting looks like this:

There are forests of bamboo on the hills—huge bamboo with leaves and six-inch-thick trunks. I’ve never seen anything like it. Then, surrounding the road to downtown Nanchang are dozens of terraced farms like you see in the movies. My translator told me while walking to lunch on Tuesday that this area is one of the oldest in China, with thousands of years of history. As we drive through the countryside, I wonder which abandoned buildings are modern and which are ancient; which terraces were in use last year and which were abandoned before cars and printing presses were invented. It’s certainly a rich place, and much more interesting than last year’s setting.

The hotel we are staying in has four floors of rooms, with the first three overlooking a large plaza where we hold assemblies and play games with the orphans.

It’s oppressively hot outside, and the 10-minute walks to the restaurant where we eat lunch and dinner are among the hottest I’ve experienced. The room that Dori and I are sharing has ice-cold air conditioning, though, so we have a convenient haven when the heat gets the best of us.

Both of us have been healthy and safe since we left California. So far, I haven’t had any problems except a small headache Tuesday morning. Dori had a headache and upset stomach that same day, but after spending the morning in the AC, she was feeling better and downstairs that afternoon, helping our two orphans with their crafts.

This week, we were assigned one translator and two girls as a couple, so the five of us get to go everywhere and do everything together. It’s nice being in the same “family” as Dori, although she can relate to the girls better than I can. I hope to have a couple of boys next week to roughhouse with and toss around in the pool.

Which brings me to the final item I’ll describe in this post: the huge public pool in the center of Nanchang where we’ll be spending a portion of almost every day with the kids. It’s an Olympic-sized lap pool only half filled with water to accommodate children, and the orphans love it. I was fascinated the first time we went there because it’s surrounded by 10-story buildings on every side.

A few things for our supporters to keep in your “Thoughts”:

1) Quite a few things have changed this year from what we originally expecting. Bring Me Hope’s Beijing camp had to move elsewhere for reasons I can’t get into, and it definitely affects what I was supposed to be working on and our travel plans. Family members, we’ll update you by phone on when and where we’ll be going, but none of the big stuff has changed…

2) “What I was supposed to be working on.” Things are a lot tighter than last year, and moving around the country could get interesting. With Beijing out of the question, I’ll be relying on my Father to help me seize the right opportunities and meet the right people. Please keep this foremost in your Thoughts.

3) The leaders of Bring Me Hope. They’re having to adjust and be creative in the face of changes and challenges flying in from all directions, and at a dizzying pace. The Bolts preparing for camp in a city most of us have never heard of, less than a week after they were going full-bore with plans to set up shop in Beijing. With the Olympics in town, things can change at a moment’s notice.

4) Even with all of the difficulties I’ve described, there have already been some blessed, inspiring moments, and we rejoice in the simple relationships that are forming between us and the various orphans who are our entire purpose for being here.

Thank you all for your Thoughts and support. We will try to keep you all as updated as possible through this blog and our e-mail loop at tom.and.dori@gmail.com

We love you; stay in touch.

Two more random photos. This is downtown Nanchang:

And this is one of the little orphans at camp this year. I don't know his name, but he's malnourished and eats more than anyone else--even myself and the other men--at each meal. He weighs around 40 pounds, I'd estimate, and he could sure use your "Thoughts."

Technicalities of traveling to the most populous country on earth, which is also hosting the 2008 Olympics this summer

If that title doesn't say it all, here's what I mean: Please pray for us as Dori and I try to secure visas in order to enter and stay in China for four and six weeks, respectively. Travel plans are the most stressful part of preparing for a trip like this, so please remember us in your prayers as we chase a dozen loose ends and try to tie them.

Who's ready for summer?

The nephew is...

The wife is...

But am I?
A wedding tux to wear.
Six weeks in China.
Tens of thousands of miles to travel.
A book to write.
Please pray for us as we try to do what we know is good, both for us and for the "little children" whom it is our duty to visit and encourage and wrestle with and cry over and bid goodbye.
We have a lot to do.
And love.