Day 5 of week 2: On our way home

Today, the second group of children left to return home early in the morning. We ate a quick breakfast, gathered their belongings and sent them on their way. One interesting thing happened during all the commotion, which was the emotional breakdown of my toughest child during these two weeks, named Jake. He was barely touching his food at the 6 a.m. breakfast--poking it with his chopsticks, really. I asked my translator if he thought Jake was sad, and he said he didn't think so. But, 30 seconds later, we both watched a tear slide to the tip of Jake's nose.

I had made a difference.

These two weeks have taught me so many things, and I expect it will take months to unpack all of them out of the bag of memories that I will carry home with me. Dorinda and I can't wait to come home and see our families, sleep in the same bed again and be able to drink the tap water if we wanted to. But a part of us enjoyed being needed so much, being in a place and time where we knew we were doing God's will, obeying Him, pleasing Him. That is a great feeling, and rare.

We have had fun these two weeks...

But it is time for us to return, and we are ready. Thank you so much for your prayers, your correspondence and your enduring support. We hope to see you very soon.

From Beijing, this is Tom Pfingsten reporting.