So as we come to the end of 2011, and therefore the start of 2012, I'm reminded of all that we have done in the past year, and all that will happen in the next.
This past year:
January - I went to Jinghong, China for almost 3 weeks with a great group of ladies to work in an orphange
What an experience! I didnt know it at the time what exactly that experience was going to lead to
February - a short month with nothing memorable happening (at least nothing i can remember right now)
March - started researching options to do missions in China
we welcomed a 7 year old boy into our home
April - (March 30 actually) first conversations with ICC began
May - we received our application package
we went to court and the twins became ours!!! forever!!!!
Andrew took me on a great bday/Mothers day/anniversary trip to the mountains for the night
June - family trip to Fairmont - twins came with us this year
started looking at the application package - it was WAY more in-depth then I imagined
we said goodbye to our 7 year old (he went back to live with his mom)
July - Calgary Stampede
NKOTBSB (yes, I went) concert with a great friend
application was sent in
Andrew left town for work
August - LOTS of company! The Lees from China, my cousins from Winnipeg and my in-laws from NL
Andrew came home for 4 days while the Lees were here, otherwise he was out of town all month
first SKYPE interview with ICC (Andrew returned home only hours before our interview)
September - Andrew went back to Ambrose for another semester
second SKYPE interview with ICC
we welcomed the sweetest girl ever into our home - 8 years old
October - we received our 344 question 'test', completed it and returned it
November - we had our 3rd interview - follow up from the 'test'
December - we received our acceptance letter from ICC!!
we said goodbye to our wonderful 8yr old (she went to live with her grandma)
the World Jr Hockey tournament was played in Calgary...we had a chance to take in some of the games
So that is 2011 in a nut-shell, kinda. I thought the application was a long process but now comes the planning and making sure everything is in place. AAAHHH!!! so very much to do!! We will be making day-by-day plans for what needs to be accomplished in the next 6 months (want to have everything done by July1).
We still are not seeing eye-to-eye on the fate of our house. This is causing me stress :( Im looking at my home and all its belongings thinking about how much to sell it all for. Dont be surprised if you come into our home and it looks like a store with price tags on (almost) everything. Although this 'store' will have a buy now, take later policy on some of the items (like beds and couches).
We had a conversation with our team leaders in Changsha and were able to ask more questions and gain more information. The process for our work visa is going to take about 3 months and they need all our original documents. There is a team from Canada going there in April, so hopefully they can take our documents into China with them. Ruth is going to look at apartments for us and take video or pictures of the places so we can choose somewhere to live. We should be able to get a 4 bedroom place. All ICC staff live in the same complex.
Okay, so now I feel like I'm rambling with no real focus on this whole blog post. That actually pretty much sums up whats going on in my mind: so many thoughts, no rhyme or reason between them, all jumbled, bouncing all over the place...
This weeks prayer requests:
* our house
* setting up a calender with all that needs to be done and when
* sleep!!
* Andrew's schooling for this semester
So now I'm going to go. Hopefully my mind will be more focused next time I decide to blog. Thanks for sticking with me and reading all the way to the end :)
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Understanding Why
Why? Why? Why? That is a very common question these days - from family, from friends, from our kids. Everyone wants to why. Well, Andrew found the perfect scripture to explain why (I'll get to that in a minute). "Why" can not always be answered in worldly terms. Sometimes 'why' is just because. Sometimes 'why' is a feeling you cant explain. Sometimes 'why' is faith. Sometimes 'why', just is.
Why do I feel my heart is in China, just waiting for my body to arrive? This is one of those things that I just cant really explain. I have never had a heart for China. Well, until October 2009, that is. When I left China at the end of October 2009, my heart stayed. I was reunited with my heart in January 2011. I captured it, and brought it back to my body. But for some reason, I couldnt hold on to it and convince it to come back to Canada with me. So, I conceded and left my heart in China, knowing one day I would get it back again. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE my life here in Canada. I love my friends, my family, my job, my country. There is just something about China that has captured my heart.
Why are we moving our kids to the other side of world? I cant think of a better way to teach our kids compassion, acceptance, growth, humility, character, responsibility, FAITH! Yes, this can all be taught in Canada. But for our family, God wants (us) to teach them all this by moving to China and serving the 'un-serve-able'. The lost. The forgotten. The orphaned. The unwanted.
Why China? Why not reach out to those in Canada? Some of us are called to serve in our neigbourhoods, in our cities, in our provinces, in our country. Then there are those of us who God knows is crazy enough to serve in those countries no one really thinks about going to. All mission work is valuable!! No matter where God puts you! Reach out to all those you encounter. When God says something, you do it. Dont ask why. God said China. So we said okay.
Why are we giving up our security, our stability? We arent. It's just changing. We can have security and stability in China. Its our choice. China is no more dangerous then it is here. There are just way more people so it seems worse. I know we will have a very stable home/life etc in China.
Why are we leaving our families? To serve where God wants us to. To serve other families. We are leaving our extended families, our church families, our family of friends, but that is no different then those who move to another province. They lose all the same things.
I'm sure there are more 'whys' left to be answered. If you have anything you want to ask, ask! If there is a 'why' on your list, we'd be happy to answer it for you.
Now for that verse: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying 'Whom shall i send? And who will go for us?' And I said 'Here am I. Send me!' " Isaiah 6:8
He called. We answered.
Thanks for reading.
Why do I feel my heart is in China, just waiting for my body to arrive? This is one of those things that I just cant really explain. I have never had a heart for China. Well, until October 2009, that is. When I left China at the end of October 2009, my heart stayed. I was reunited with my heart in January 2011. I captured it, and brought it back to my body. But for some reason, I couldnt hold on to it and convince it to come back to Canada with me. So, I conceded and left my heart in China, knowing one day I would get it back again. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE my life here in Canada. I love my friends, my family, my job, my country. There is just something about China that has captured my heart.
Why are we moving our kids to the other side of world? I cant think of a better way to teach our kids compassion, acceptance, growth, humility, character, responsibility, FAITH! Yes, this can all be taught in Canada. But for our family, God wants (us) to teach them all this by moving to China and serving the 'un-serve-able'. The lost. The forgotten. The orphaned. The unwanted.
Why China? Why not reach out to those in Canada? Some of us are called to serve in our neigbourhoods, in our cities, in our provinces, in our country. Then there are those of us who God knows is crazy enough to serve in those countries no one really thinks about going to. All mission work is valuable!! No matter where God puts you! Reach out to all those you encounter. When God says something, you do it. Dont ask why. God said China. So we said okay.
Why are we giving up our security, our stability? We arent. It's just changing. We can have security and stability in China. Its our choice. China is no more dangerous then it is here. There are just way more people so it seems worse. I know we will have a very stable home/life etc in China.
Why are we leaving our families? To serve where God wants us to. To serve other families. We are leaving our extended families, our church families, our family of friends, but that is no different then those who move to another province. They lose all the same things.
I'm sure there are more 'whys' left to be answered. If you have anything you want to ask, ask! If there is a 'why' on your list, we'd be happy to answer it for you.
Now for that verse: "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying 'Whom shall i send? And who will go for us?' And I said 'Here am I. Send me!' " Isaiah 6:8
He called. We answered.
Thanks for reading.
Friday, December 16, 2011
A New Adventure Begins...Amazing
Now the hard part starts. Now the fun part starts. Now the stress starts.
Lets back up a little bit. Since my last post, there has been nothing to blog about (regarding our journey, anyways). We had our interview and were now waiting to hear from Jannene (our main contact with International China Concern). Jannene decided that this particular time was when she was going to visit China. That didn't fit well with our schedule. LOL She was going to be gone for 2 weeks. We never prayed for patience, but God decided to give us a lesson in patience anyways. It felt like she was away for 2 months, not 2 weeks. It was all I could do not to email Jannene to see if she had received our assessment from Compassion Services. We had to trust God that everything was getting in place, and we would hear at the exact right time.
Fast forward 2 weeks. I'm sure I'm checking my email every 5 minutes, by now, to see the name JANNENE WALL in my inbox. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Remember: Jannene is in Australia. There is a 15 hour time difference. So basically when I was checking my email, it was the middle of the night there. I didn't care! She should've been up! I know, thats ridiculous, but I'm impatient, hence God trying to teach me the slightest bit of patience. Tuesday night I was up until midnight. I checked my email until about 12:30am. That was a decent hour in Australia. Nothing. I finally drifted off to sleep with visions of China running through my head.
Wednesday morning (December 14, 2011) I woke up (at 7:30am, & if you know me, that's early) and, of course, grabbed my phone, and checked my email. I saw the greatest sight! JANNENE WALL and the subject line read: Acceptance International China Concern. I was shaking. I opened the email and read these words "I have now been able to complete your application process and have attached our acceptance letter." And then I opened the attachment and read "Congratulations, I wish to advise that International China Concern is now in a position to accept your application for longer term service." I couldn't breathe. I was in shock. The information we had been waiting for was here. They accepted us! All 6 of us! I ran downstairs to tell Andrew. He was concerned that I was up already. I gave him a hug. He said he was scared. LOL I told him the news. I think it was all we could do to not cry. Jacquelyn was in the living room with us. I told her next. She jumped up and down with joy. Next I told Brendin. He wasn't so enthusiastic.
We called our parents and siblings. Everyone was filled with mixed emotions. We were (are) too. Next came the call to my best friend. She was the only one that received the news in person (so handy that she lives around the corner from me and was able to swing by right away). A few more calls to close friends, then it was public. Facebook public. Tears of joy and sadness came. And I had to leave for work for the next 5 hours. How was I going to concentrate?? It was hard, but I did.
Thanks for all the comments on Facebook. I am amazed and honored by all the wonderful comments on my status. You will all be missed terribly!! Knowing this is God's plan for us, actually has me feeling at peace about it all. A very strange feeling.
Okay, enough rambling, and on to some details. We are looking at leaving in August 2012 (after August 5). We have a few more papers to sign with ICC. We will be signing on for a 2 year term. I'm sure it will be the first of many 2 year terms. We have been given the names of the team leaders for the Changsha project. They are Ruth and Mike. This couple will now be our contact, 'go-to' people, from here on out. They will be able to help with us all our preparations in China - visa's, living arrangements, job descriptions etc. Its a little over-whelming, all that needs to be done. It will take us the next 7 months to get everything in place.
We have a LOT of things to get in place before we leave. This list can also serve as our prayer requests :)
And then of course there's the goodbye party :) maybe that should be a :( ?? Prepare yourselves for a big party - there may not be a BIG party, but you can still prepare yourselves for one :)
So now we prepare ourselves, our children, our home, our friends, our family. This is truly a huge adventure we are embarking on. I am amazed at all that has happened in the past 2 years to prepare us for this move. I can not believe, that after living in Airdrie for 31 years, I am willingly moving to China. Amazing how God can work in someone and prepare their hearts.
I will go for now. I will continue to keep you updated with prayer requests, praises and just general 'stuff' about our adventure. Thanks for all your support and prayers. You will all be missed more then you know!
Lets back up a little bit. Since my last post, there has been nothing to blog about (regarding our journey, anyways). We had our interview and were now waiting to hear from Jannene (our main contact with International China Concern). Jannene decided that this particular time was when she was going to visit China. That didn't fit well with our schedule. LOL She was going to be gone for 2 weeks. We never prayed for patience, but God decided to give us a lesson in patience anyways. It felt like she was away for 2 months, not 2 weeks. It was all I could do not to email Jannene to see if she had received our assessment from Compassion Services. We had to trust God that everything was getting in place, and we would hear at the exact right time.
Fast forward 2 weeks. I'm sure I'm checking my email every 5 minutes, by now, to see the name JANNENE WALL in my inbox. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Remember: Jannene is in Australia. There is a 15 hour time difference. So basically when I was checking my email, it was the middle of the night there. I didn't care! She should've been up! I know, thats ridiculous, but I'm impatient, hence God trying to teach me the slightest bit of patience. Tuesday night I was up until midnight. I checked my email until about 12:30am. That was a decent hour in Australia. Nothing. I finally drifted off to sleep with visions of China running through my head.
Wednesday morning (December 14, 2011) I woke up (at 7:30am, & if you know me, that's early) and, of course, grabbed my phone, and checked my email. I saw the greatest sight! JANNENE WALL and the subject line read: Acceptance International China Concern. I was shaking. I opened the email and read these words "I have now been able to complete your application process and have attached our acceptance letter." And then I opened the attachment and read "Congratulations, I wish to advise that International China Concern is now in a position to accept your application for longer term service." I couldn't breathe. I was in shock. The information we had been waiting for was here. They accepted us! All 6 of us! I ran downstairs to tell Andrew. He was concerned that I was up already. I gave him a hug. He said he was scared. LOL I told him the news. I think it was all we could do to not cry. Jacquelyn was in the living room with us. I told her next. She jumped up and down with joy. Next I told Brendin. He wasn't so enthusiastic.
We called our parents and siblings. Everyone was filled with mixed emotions. We were (are) too. Next came the call to my best friend. She was the only one that received the news in person (so handy that she lives around the corner from me and was able to swing by right away). A few more calls to close friends, then it was public. Facebook public. Tears of joy and sadness came. And I had to leave for work for the next 5 hours. How was I going to concentrate?? It was hard, but I did.
Thanks for all the comments on Facebook. I am amazed and honored by all the wonderful comments on my status. You will all be missed terribly!! Knowing this is God's plan for us, actually has me feeling at peace about it all. A very strange feeling.
Okay, enough rambling, and on to some details. We are looking at leaving in August 2012 (after August 5). We have a few more papers to sign with ICC. We will be signing on for a 2 year term. I'm sure it will be the first of many 2 year terms. We have been given the names of the team leaders for the Changsha project. They are Ruth and Mike. This couple will now be our contact, 'go-to' people, from here on out. They will be able to help with us all our preparations in China - visa's, living arrangements, job descriptions etc. Its a little over-whelming, all that needs to be done. It will take us the next 7 months to get everything in place.
We have a LOT of things to get in place before we leave. This list can also serve as our prayer requests :)
- we have to decide on the fate of our house - i want to sell it (profit will be used to pay our debts, take us to NL to see Andrew's family and get us to China...anything left will go into an untouchable account for when we return to Canada to live - we will have money for rent or a down payment)...Andrew is talking about renting our house
- the fate of all our belongings - what do we sell, what do we store, what do we take
- research and decide on a home schooling program for Brendin and Jacquelyn
- prepare and send out prayer cards
- prepare and send out partnership letters
- find out what odd things we need to bring (shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant etc)
- banking!! is there a bank in Canada that has an agreement with a bank in China so that we are not charged a million dollars in service charges for accessing our money
- renewal of everyone's passports
- work visas so we can enter China
- and the list goes on and on and on
And then of course there's the goodbye party :) maybe that should be a :( ?? Prepare yourselves for a big party - there may not be a BIG party, but you can still prepare yourselves for one :)
So now we prepare ourselves, our children, our home, our friends, our family. This is truly a huge adventure we are embarking on. I am amazed at all that has happened in the past 2 years to prepare us for this move. I can not believe, that after living in Airdrie for 31 years, I am willingly moving to China. Amazing how God can work in someone and prepare their hearts.
I will go for now. I will continue to keep you updated with prayer requests, praises and just general 'stuff' about our adventure. Thanks for all your support and prayers. You will all be missed more then you know!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Now We Wait...
From my understanding, we had our LAST interview last night!! The interview was for me and Andrew, but done separately. My interview was about 35 minutes and Andrew's was about 40 minutes. You will all be happy to know that we are not insane (not clinically anyways). This interview was a follow up from the 344 personality/stress questions we answered about 6 weeks ago (scroll down and see the post i did about the tests).
We were asked to clarify some background information, such as, how many siblings we have, their age, what our upbringing was like, what are parents were/are like. It was pretty basic stuff. Glad i had a good childhood! I was also asked about my church life, and what I'm involved in with that. She came to the conclusion that we are a busy family. Um, yeah! After we went through all this, she got to the the results of the 344 questions. I hope you're sitting down, as this may come as a surprise (ok, not really). The results showed that I am an over achiever and a perfectionist and that Andrew has a big heart and is a people person. I know you are all completely shocked by these results! lol At least we know they are accurate! We were told that we were just out of the normal range for these things, but not so much that it was concerning. She said that we both have to be aware of our boundaries and we have to be able to say NO if we are getting over whelmed. She also said that I have to be comfortable if people do not do things as I would or I do not do things perfectly in a foreign country. I understand. I'm WAY better then I was a few years ago!
Too bad we had to pay $380 Australian dollars to find out what we knew already. Oh well.
So now we wait. Again. The lady will type up our results by the end of the week and send them to our contact person, Jannene, with International China Concern. Hopefully Jannene will get the results by next week. Once she gets them, she will have to review them and then give us, as she said, 'the green light'. Its coming to end, and a beginning. So much more to do once we get the 'okay'.
In preparation for going to China, we have started our Mandarin lessons. So far we can say 'Hello', 'How are you?', 'I'm good', 'I am (insert your name)', 'Good night' and 'Good evening'. We are also learning the Chinese vowels. There are 6 vowels. Each vowel has 4 tones (sounds). Then there are a double vowels. We've learned 3 vowels and about 10 double vowels. Yeah. Wish us luck!
So, that my friends, is all I have to say for now. Hopefully we will know by Christmas what our future looks like. Thanks to all of you for praying for us. We really appreciate it.
We were asked to clarify some background information, such as, how many siblings we have, their age, what our upbringing was like, what are parents were/are like. It was pretty basic stuff. Glad i had a good childhood! I was also asked about my church life, and what I'm involved in with that. She came to the conclusion that we are a busy family. Um, yeah! After we went through all this, she got to the the results of the 344 questions. I hope you're sitting down, as this may come as a surprise (ok, not really). The results showed that I am an over achiever and a perfectionist and that Andrew has a big heart and is a people person. I know you are all completely shocked by these results! lol At least we know they are accurate! We were told that we were just out of the normal range for these things, but not so much that it was concerning. She said that we both have to be aware of our boundaries and we have to be able to say NO if we are getting over whelmed. She also said that I have to be comfortable if people do not do things as I would or I do not do things perfectly in a foreign country. I understand. I'm WAY better then I was a few years ago!
Too bad we had to pay $380 Australian dollars to find out what we knew already. Oh well.
So now we wait. Again. The lady will type up our results by the end of the week and send them to our contact person, Jannene, with International China Concern. Hopefully Jannene will get the results by next week. Once she gets them, she will have to review them and then give us, as she said, 'the green light'. Its coming to end, and a beginning. So much more to do once we get the 'okay'.
In preparation for going to China, we have started our Mandarin lessons. So far we can say 'Hello', 'How are you?', 'I'm good', 'I am (insert your name)', 'Good night' and 'Good evening'. We are also learning the Chinese vowels. There are 6 vowels. Each vowel has 4 tones (sounds). Then there are a double vowels. We've learned 3 vowels and about 10 double vowels. Yeah. Wish us luck!
So, that my friends, is all I have to say for now. Hopefully we will know by Christmas what our future looks like. Thanks to all of you for praying for us. We really appreciate it.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Time For An Update
I heard the other day our packages arrived in Australia!!!! Yay!!! Apparently it will take 2 weeks for the agency to tally the results and give them to International China Concern. I'm hoping those 2 weeks includes our Skype interviews we need to have with Compassion Services (the agency that tallies our questionnaires). If I'm counting the days from the time they said they received the packages, then by November 18, 2011 we should be done with the main paperwork and should have our 'yes' or 'no' and a potential arrival date in China.
We began Mandarin lessons last week. We learned what we already knew: how to say 'hello' and 'how are you?'. We learned how to reply 'i am fine'. Lets hope that is really how I'm feeling when they ask! LOL We are taking lessons from a girl who lives in Calgary. We are doing the lessons via Skype and we are following along on a website. Click here to view the website. Yes, it is in Chinese. Click on START. Then go to 01, then the first link under that. That is what we learned last week. Mess around with the links on the right side and see what you may learn. (When we pulled this website up on our main computer, it came up in English. I'm not sure how that happened, but maybe it will happen for you too) Andrew and I are taking the lessons then will teach the kids. They are excited to learn! So if you call here and we answer 'ni hao' just repeat - we are just saying 'hello' :)
Hopefully in 10 days or so I can write again saying ICC wants us to come out in August 2012. We are feeling very confident that they want us to come work for ICC, but there is that side of us that feels we should be a little cautious. With all the time and effort we have put into this, combined with all the positive feedback we have received from ICC, we cant believe this will turn out any other way.
Anyways, check back in a couple of weeks...
Until then, we continue to covet your prayers for clarity, contentment, peace, patience (I hesitate to ask for patience as God always gives you a lesson in patience! lol) and protection. Thanks everyone! We love you all.
We began Mandarin lessons last week. We learned what we already knew: how to say 'hello' and 'how are you?'. We learned how to reply 'i am fine'. Lets hope that is really how I'm feeling when they ask! LOL We are taking lessons from a girl who lives in Calgary. We are doing the lessons via Skype and we are following along on a website. Click here to view the website. Yes, it is in Chinese. Click on START. Then go to 01, then the first link under that. That is what we learned last week. Mess around with the links on the right side and see what you may learn. (When we pulled this website up on our main computer, it came up in English. I'm not sure how that happened, but maybe it will happen for you too) Andrew and I are taking the lessons then will teach the kids. They are excited to learn! So if you call here and we answer 'ni hao' just repeat - we are just saying 'hello' :)
Hopefully in 10 days or so I can write again saying ICC wants us to come out in August 2012. We are feeling very confident that they want us to come work for ICC, but there is that side of us that feels we should be a little cautious. With all the time and effort we have put into this, combined with all the positive feedback we have received from ICC, we cant believe this will turn out any other way.
Anyways, check back in a couple of weeks...
Until then, we continue to covet your prayers for clarity, contentment, peace, patience (I hesitate to ask for patience as God always gives you a lesson in patience! lol) and protection. Thanks everyone! We love you all.
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Time For A Video :)
A friend of mine found this video and sent it to me. I think it is a really good over-view of China. It covers different cultural norms and also some information about China. I am pleased to say that while watching this, I didnt really learn anything new. This is good for me because it means I know stuff about where I hope to be living. LOL I hope you will all take time to watch this and learn a little about China.
Andrew and I start Mandarin lessons on Thursday. Hopefully we will be able to take the lessons, learn them, then teach the kids. Everyone is excited about learning Mandarin. There may be a new language being spoken if you ever enter our home.
We still havent heard back from Compassion Services (the questionnaires). Its only been 10 days. Hopefully they will receive the packages by the end of this week. We are so anxious to hear back. I have started to purge and post things on Kijiji to sell in hopes of hearing "We want you guys in China next summer".
I know God is teaching us many things through this process. One thing He is teaching us is to be patient. He is also teaching us to grow together as a family and to rely on Him. We are learning what its like to live on minimal income. One thing we were asked in our interviews was how we felt about living on faith, in regards to our finances. Well, for the past couple of years that is exactly what we have been doing. God has slowly been taking more and more income away from us and showing us (ok, me) how little we actually need to live with. As I said, I'm even starting to sell things on Kijiji. Dont be surprised if you come to visit us in the spring and we are sitting on the floor because we have sold everything. We are really learning how to live with less. And it feels great!
Anyways, thats all for tonight friends. Hope you all have a great week. Hopefully I will have an update for y'all next week :)
Andrew and I start Mandarin lessons on Thursday. Hopefully we will be able to take the lessons, learn them, then teach the kids. Everyone is excited about learning Mandarin. There may be a new language being spoken if you ever enter our home.
We still havent heard back from Compassion Services (the questionnaires). Its only been 10 days. Hopefully they will receive the packages by the end of this week. We are so anxious to hear back. I have started to purge and post things on Kijiji to sell in hopes of hearing "We want you guys in China next summer".
I know God is teaching us many things through this process. One thing He is teaching us is to be patient. He is also teaching us to grow together as a family and to rely on Him. We are learning what its like to live on minimal income. One thing we were asked in our interviews was how we felt about living on faith, in regards to our finances. Well, for the past couple of years that is exactly what we have been doing. God has slowly been taking more and more income away from us and showing us (ok, me) how little we actually need to live with. As I said, I'm even starting to sell things on Kijiji. Dont be surprised if you come to visit us in the spring and we are sitting on the floor because we have sold everything. We are really learning how to live with less. And it feels great!
Anyways, thats all for tonight friends. Hope you all have a great week. Hopefully I will have an update for y'all next week :)
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Dont Judge, please
Okay. I know this may post may cause some uneasy feelings, but I feel I need to discuss it.
Im sure you have all seen, or heard, what happened in China last week regarding the toddler who was hit by a car. If you havent seen the video you can YouTube it and find it. I read the comments below it and, quite frankly, it made me mad!
People are saying that it is a lack of compassion and they are saying that they dont know how anyone can just go by and not do anything. They are also judging the Mom for not knowing where her daughter is.
Has anyone ever taken the time to learn what the Chinese culture is like? Us North Americians can not fathom walking past an accident and not doing anything about it (in fact, today I called 911 on my way to work as I drove past a semi on fire to make sure help was on the way), but that is how we are raised.
Yes, there were camera's filming. But the people dont know if it is working or not. True, there are cameras everywhere in China, but how many actually work? Who knows?
A friend of mine, who lives in China, sent me an email the other day saying that her Mandarin tutor risked her life on the way to the session. What you ask was so life-threatening? The young lady helped an elderly lady walk across a busy intersection. Yes, something as simple as this is very dangerous in China. The older lady could pretend to fall and break something then blame the young person and try to sue her for damages, the elderly lady could walk really slow and be hit then blame the good Samaritan. Unreal to us, but very real to them. My friend said that her tutor did help, and nothing happened. This is a PTL moment.
With this in mind, maybe its not so hard to see why so many would walk past a young child and not help. If you can imagine the possible implications of helping someone walk across the street, what worse implications could be made about a child laying in her own blood? You and I know that the person helping wasnt the one who hurt her, but what if the camera in the market was a fake? How would anything be proven that you werent the one who hurt her? Especially if you were in/on a vehicle...
As far as wondering why the Mom didnt know her child was gone: this happened in a market place. The family was most likely working in the booth. Kids are always with their parents in the booths from the time they are born. This is their second home. As infants it is very common to see the child in a cardboard box to keep them safe, but as they grow, they are allowed to wonder. I have seen this. The mom wasnt be negligent, by Chinese standards.
I could go on and on, but what I want to say is basically this: dont judge another's actions if you dont know them or their culture. Yes, this is very very sad, and yes, I cried watching the video, and yes, if I was there I would've stopped and helped the child. When I am in China and I see a child hurt, my natural instinct will be to go help with no regard to the fact that I could go to jail for it. The Chinese's first thoughts are not about purposely ignoring the situation. I believe their first thoughts are "If I go help, I may be blamed and then sent to jail. Then what will happen to my own family?" The Chinese ARE compassionate! This family is compassionate. How do I know that? I dont really. But I can assume they are compassionate based on the fact that the child is FEMALE. This is important when many girls are abandoned and regarded as worthless.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. And please pray for China, that they will start to treat accidents differently, and that just because you are helping doesnt mean you are guilty. Please pray that the people that witness an accident will be bold enough to help out.
Im sure you have all seen, or heard, what happened in China last week regarding the toddler who was hit by a car. If you havent seen the video you can YouTube it and find it. I read the comments below it and, quite frankly, it made me mad!
People are saying that it is a lack of compassion and they are saying that they dont know how anyone can just go by and not do anything. They are also judging the Mom for not knowing where her daughter is.
Has anyone ever taken the time to learn what the Chinese culture is like? Us North Americians can not fathom walking past an accident and not doing anything about it (in fact, today I called 911 on my way to work as I drove past a semi on fire to make sure help was on the way), but that is how we are raised.
Yes, there were camera's filming. But the people dont know if it is working or not. True, there are cameras everywhere in China, but how many actually work? Who knows?
A friend of mine, who lives in China, sent me an email the other day saying that her Mandarin tutor risked her life on the way to the session. What you ask was so life-threatening? The young lady helped an elderly lady walk across a busy intersection. Yes, something as simple as this is very dangerous in China. The older lady could pretend to fall and break something then blame the young person and try to sue her for damages, the elderly lady could walk really slow and be hit then blame the good Samaritan. Unreal to us, but very real to them. My friend said that her tutor did help, and nothing happened. This is a PTL moment.
With this in mind, maybe its not so hard to see why so many would walk past a young child and not help. If you can imagine the possible implications of helping someone walk across the street, what worse implications could be made about a child laying in her own blood? You and I know that the person helping wasnt the one who hurt her, but what if the camera in the market was a fake? How would anything be proven that you werent the one who hurt her? Especially if you were in/on a vehicle...
As far as wondering why the Mom didnt know her child was gone: this happened in a market place. The family was most likely working in the booth. Kids are always with their parents in the booths from the time they are born. This is their second home. As infants it is very common to see the child in a cardboard box to keep them safe, but as they grow, they are allowed to wonder. I have seen this. The mom wasnt be negligent, by Chinese standards.
I could go on and on, but what I want to say is basically this: dont judge another's actions if you dont know them or their culture. Yes, this is very very sad, and yes, I cried watching the video, and yes, if I was there I would've stopped and helped the child. When I am in China and I see a child hurt, my natural instinct will be to go help with no regard to the fact that I could go to jail for it. The Chinese's first thoughts are not about purposely ignoring the situation. I believe their first thoughts are "If I go help, I may be blamed and then sent to jail. Then what will happen to my own family?" The Chinese ARE compassionate! This family is compassionate. How do I know that? I dont really. But I can assume they are compassionate based on the fact that the child is FEMALE. This is important when many girls are abandoned and regarded as worthless.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. And please pray for China, that they will start to treat accidents differently, and that just because you are helping doesnt mean you are guilty. Please pray that the people that witness an accident will be bold enough to help out.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
No Turning Back Now
A quick update: I sent off the assessments yesterday. Sent them AirMail so they will be there in 7-10 days. Hopefully they will still process things quickly on their end. Apparently we will have a 45 min Skype interview (each) with someone about our assessments. After that, they will talk to International China Concern. I'm not really too concerned, but your prayers would still be welcomed!!
The closer we get to finalizing all the paperwork, the faster time seems to go. Does that make any sense? What started out as 2 years to plan is now all of a sudden down to about 10months. Seems like a very short time to get things in order. However, I know that if this is in God's plan for us, then he will make all things go smoothly and 10 months will be more then enough time.
Anyways, thats all for today. Hope you are all having a wonderful month. Thanks, again, for your support. Love you all :)
The closer we get to finalizing all the paperwork, the faster time seems to go. Does that make any sense? What started out as 2 years to plan is now all of a sudden down to about 10months. Seems like a very short time to get things in order. However, I know that if this is in God's plan for us, then he will make all things go smoothly and 10 months will be more then enough time.
Anyways, thats all for today. Hope you are all having a wonderful month. Thanks, again, for your support. Love you all :)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Questions Questions Questions
For those of you that have been wondering about my Facebook questions, here is the explanation. Today we completed our Personality Assessment Inventory. This assessment apparently will tell the evaluators something about our personality and somethings about who we are as people. We completed this questionnaire as well as a personal inventory questionnaire.
The personal questionnaire was pretty basic. General questions about who we are, our upbringing etc. This Personality Assessment Inventory, on the other hand, was a little different. It was 344 questions where we had to answer using the following scale: F (false, not true at all), ST (slightly true), MT (mostly true) or VT (very true). We had to use the the HB2 pencil and color in our choice. If we wanted to change our answer we had to put a X through the wrong choice and shade in the proper choice. Some of the questions were okay, others were right out in left field and some were just plain stupid.
Here is a sample of some of them:
The next step is to send these forms back to the company (which is in Australia). Once they are returned, they get marked, then we have a Skype interview. That will complete the process and this company will send their 'results' to International China Concern. We will then wait to see what ICC has to say.
Thanks to all my friends for supporting us through this journey (even if you dont really want me to go :D). I look forward to sharing more with you! It will be about 4 weeks before we hear back from Australia. Please pray for us to be content while we wait (waiting is not one of our strong points) for the 'results'.
The personal questionnaire was pretty basic. General questions about who we are, our upbringing etc. This Personality Assessment Inventory, on the other hand, was a little different. It was 344 questions where we had to answer using the following scale: F (false, not true at all), ST (slightly true), MT (mostly true) or VT (very true). We had to use the the HB2 pencil and color in our choice. If we wanted to change our answer we had to put a X through the wrong choice and shade in the proper choice. Some of the questions were okay, others were right out in left field and some were just plain stupid.
Here is a sample of some of them:
- I have visions in which I see myself forced to commit crimes
- Sometimes I can not remember who I am
- My favorite poet is Raymond Kertezc
- Sometimes I get ads in the mail that I don't really want (dont we all??)
- Since the day I was born I was destined to be unhappy
- My favorite sports event on television is the high jump (isnt everyones??)
- I can relax even if my house is a mess (yes, I answered this one with a ST)
- I think I have 3 or 4 completely different personalities inside of me
- I can often feel my heart pounding
- I have great plans & it irritates me that people try to interfere
- People say I'm a perfectionist (VT, I know)
- I've heard voices no one else could hear
- I don't mind driving on freeways
- My favorite hobbies are archery and stamp-collecting
- I've had times when my legs became so weak I couldn't walk (only after a mountain race!)
- Most people look forward to the dentist
- My best friends are those I use drugs with
- I'm the target of a conspiracy
- I frequently have diarrhea
The next step is to send these forms back to the company (which is in Australia). Once they are returned, they get marked, then we have a Skype interview. That will complete the process and this company will send their 'results' to International China Concern. We will then wait to see what ICC has to say.
Thanks to all my friends for supporting us through this journey (even if you dont really want me to go :D). I look forward to sharing more with you! It will be about 4 weeks before we hear back from Australia. Please pray for us to be content while we wait (waiting is not one of our strong points) for the 'results'.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Learning New Things
ok, friends, here goes nothing...i have never written a blog or anything of the sort, so I'll see how this goes...
I decided to start a blog to, mainly, keep everyone "in the loop" about our journey to China (with a few 'extras' thrown in every now and again).
For those of you that dont know about God's plans for us, here is a little recap of the past couple years (it will be short!)
I will be home schooling all the kids. Brendin will be in grade 8, Jacquelyn in grade 6 and the twins will just do pre-school things. We have been given the advice that perhaps the kids take some time off from intense school work to get involved with the community and to learn the language. Neither Brendin nor Jacquelyn want to take time off school so I will have to come up with a happy medium for schooling and learning to live in China.
So, this is where we stand: both skype interviews went well and everyone is excited for us to come to ICC, we have been put on the internal email chain for ICC so we can become a part of the ICC family, we have the assessment packages and just need to complete them (& return them)
Please (continue to) pray for our family and that we would be, in fact, following where God is taking us. Also, please pray for protection over our family as we know Satan does not want us doing the work of God and he will do all he can to stop us. We have all felt out own attacks in the past few weeks/months and are expecting it to only get worse.
Thanks everyone for your support! Hopefully I can keep up with this blog and keep you up to date on our lives and how God is working in us all.
I decided to start a blog to, mainly, keep everyone "in the loop" about our journey to China (with a few 'extras' thrown in every now and again).
For those of you that dont know about God's plans for us, here is a little recap of the past couple years (it will be short!)
- we had our first 'taste' of China in October 2009...we fell in love with the country and the people
- we felt, almost immediately, that God wanted us in China
- over the following few months, we investigated some options for a work visa in China...they all bombed...
- I (Darc) returned to China in January 2011 where I volunteered with an orphange
- it clicked! China + Orphanage = The Inkpens :)
- we investigated more options and were put in contact with International China Concern (ICC)
I will be home schooling all the kids. Brendin will be in grade 8, Jacquelyn in grade 6 and the twins will just do pre-school things. We have been given the advice that perhaps the kids take some time off from intense school work to get involved with the community and to learn the language. Neither Brendin nor Jacquelyn want to take time off school so I will have to come up with a happy medium for schooling and learning to live in China.
So, this is where we stand: both skype interviews went well and everyone is excited for us to come to ICC, we have been put on the internal email chain for ICC so we can become a part of the ICC family, we have the assessment packages and just need to complete them (& return them)
Please (continue to) pray for our family and that we would be, in fact, following where God is taking us. Also, please pray for protection over our family as we know Satan does not want us doing the work of God and he will do all he can to stop us. We have all felt out own attacks in the past few weeks/months and are expecting it to only get worse.
Thanks everyone for your support! Hopefully I can keep up with this blog and keep you up to date on our lives and how God is working in us all.
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