Day 5 ~ Monday 7/31 ~ Opening Ceremony & Placement Testing

We're back in our rooms for a very short break ... this morning was the opening ceremony at the high school which was awesome! As we got settled in and waited for the start, I spied some very good looking Americans with their Hua Mei fans:

There were many welcomes from many people involved ... Hua Mei, Luxian #2 School officials, Chinese government officials .... here was a picture from one set of those introductions and welcomes:


Then "The Band" who is with us blessed us with some Christian rock ~ the DC Talk version of Lean on Me, The Reason, and the teachers joined them as we sang God of Wonders to the students ... definitely a highlight moment of the whole trip. The communication through music seemed more special than all the talk that proceeded it!

In the back left is Matt on drums, the left forefront has Maurice running powerpoint, Dean the leader has the guitar, Kevin is playing the bongos, and Nate is on keyboard:


In just 1/2 hour, we will conduct a brief placement test of all 300 students and organize them by abilities for our 12 classes ... 1 being the newest learners and 12 being the most experienced. Ryan is teaching in 9 and I'm teaching class 10.

My co-teachers are Carey from the UK and Beryl from Canada. Carey and his wife Hilary have been in Chengdu for 2 years learning Chinese and teaching English at a University. Beryl attends a Chinise Chirstian Church in Toronto (their whole team of 17 are Chinese who live in Tornonto). We also have 6 teachers from Singapore, 4 from Los Angeles, and 1 from Switzerland.

After the placement tests, we jump into Lessons 1 and 2 ~ "My name is" ... Please pray for all the teams to work cooperatively and effectively and for the students to let go of their stress of getting everything perfect. We so want them to have fun while they are learning and practicing.

This next picture is of Hermann, the leader of the students / school, talking to the students after their placement tests and announcing how the next morning will start off. Hermann is very loved by all the students, speaks wonderful English, and is a fine, fine leader in many ways:

After another wonderful dinner at the hotel, Brian led our devotion ...

As part of the devotion he lead, Brian shared several scriptures, and also read the following: "While attending a university in London years ago, one young man became interested in the Christian faith. Upon his graduation, he was almost convinced but was still seeking evidence that this faith was practical and true. He accepted employment in East Africa and for seven months lived in the home of a Christian family. As soon as he discovered they were followers of Christ, he decided their home would be the ideal testing ground for the evidence he sought. Unfortunately, as the months passed, he saw nothing that attracted him. The family was apathetic toward him and their faith. They didn't reach out to him or to others, and they were casual about their commitments in general. In fact, they complained about any sacrifices they had to make on behalf of others. They never connected with him. Consequently, this student's interest in God turned to disappointment. He left his pursuit of Christ and went a different direction, moving back home to India. He eventually led a revolution. This young man's name was Mahatma Gandhi."

Hmmmm ... is our faith "real" ~ does our love of God translate into a love of people and a desire to connect with them in meaningful and supportive ways? Our lives are our message... the love of the Lord that overflows and is shared with all around ...

All is awesome ~ love from the team!
Sherrie