China Trip - Day 5 at the Ranch
We left for the ranch at 6:30 after another breakfast in the hotel. Sleep the night before was very short, between the noise from outside the room and our lack of ability to get comfortable. I got to skype with Adam, Alex, and Sandy for a little bit.
We drove out into the country and stopped first at the farm. There were lots of cattle, a few donkeys, and dogs. All of them are raised there to be sold in the meat market (yes, even the dogs.) Actually, I won't be surprised if we eat some dog in the next few days. In fact, I sort of hope we will, but I don't want to know about it until afterward.
Dr. Kim had us pray for the farm there and the workers who live and work there. He showed us a small house where believers meet weekly. I thought we would be working there, but we were just there to visit. After prayer, we loaded back up on the bus and went out to the ranch, where they had a lot of work for us to do. The main work of this day was building a rock wall, as well as taking care of some of the horses, cleaning out a barn, and moving some dirt.
Before we worked, Dr. Kim walked us up the hill to a place where three crosses stood and he shared his vision that some day there could be a church camp on that ground that would serve this region and the North Koreans. We all prayed for the future of the land there and sang How Great Thou Art together.
I volunteered to drive the tractor, which was very strange compared to the tractors I've driven before. The brake was on the right, the gas in the middle, and the clutch on the left. That was sort of hard to get used to. I spent a lot of time starting and restarting, but I never wrecked it (although I did come close to hitting the bus once!) Because of the hilly and rocky terrain, it was a challenge to drive it around. Later I will post a video someone took of me driving the tractor.
We had lots of big rocks to move, and nothing but our own strength and a couple of crow bars. The ranch has a lot of development remaining, and we are just getting in on the beginning of it. There used to be a church that met in the upper room of the horse barn, but it was reported to the authorities and they shut it down.
In the middle of the morning, they brought us bread made by the handicapped workers at the bakery. Lunch was peanut butter and jelly, although we also had moon pies for dessert. We ate in the upper room, and enjoyed the fellowship, even though we were all dirty and ready to get cleaned up.
Everyone had a great time building the wall and working together. We got to meet our friend Zai Ben, who is a believer. He wanted his picture taken with all of us. He lives in the ranch in a small apartment for part of the year (which we also have some pictures of to post). I found out he watches LOST, which I saw the Chinese version of there. He told me I could have it if I wanted, but I hated to take it from him. Plus, they won't play in American DVD players anyway.
The greatest fun of the day came at the end. We were trying to get on the bus, and there was no driver to be found. Some people thought he was asleep on the bus. I wondered if he might have passed out, so we banged on the windows, trying to get in. Finally, we looked for the smallest guy and tried to put him through the open window, but he was stuck halfway through. Then we found an even smaller guy, and he slid right in. Just then, the driver came walking up the hill and saw us. He was not amused. It's sort of my fault, because I was standing there helping those boosting up the guys. And so today I learn another lesson of missions: patience. Whether it's moving rock, building a wall, cleaning up horse manure, or waiting until your driver shows up, things don't happen immediately. Everything in time, but rushing it can actually set you back. I just hope the driver isn't upset with us for the fact that we sent a guy in the bus. We really were concerned about him, afraid that he might not be ok. But there probably could have been a better way to handle the situation.
Broken Bridge - During World War II, it was shot up and there are a lot of holes. The advice given to us was Don't get close to the edge, and there should be very few pictures taken. We shouldn't wave either so that there isn't too much attention drawn to us. Well, walking across the bridge didn't seem to phase me at all that we were within a stone's throw of North Korea. The Tumen river is the border, and the bridge has a huge chunk gone in the bridge, making it impossible to get across. We stood there for awhile looking at the North Koreans on the other side. They gave us a little attention, but didn't seem to care that we were looking at them.
Back to the hotel to get cleaned up and ready to go out to eat with a translator. We will be ordering our meals on our own with a translator tonight. I wonder what we'll get to eat?
We drove out into the country and stopped first at the farm. There were lots of cattle, a few donkeys, and dogs. All of them are raised there to be sold in the meat market (yes, even the dogs.) Actually, I won't be surprised if we eat some dog in the next few days. In fact, I sort of hope we will, but I don't want to know about it until afterward.
Dr. Kim had us pray for the farm there and the workers who live and work there. He showed us a small house where believers meet weekly. I thought we would be working there, but we were just there to visit. After prayer, we loaded back up on the bus and went out to the ranch, where they had a lot of work for us to do. The main work of this day was building a rock wall, as well as taking care of some of the horses, cleaning out a barn, and moving some dirt.
Before we worked, Dr. Kim walked us up the hill to a place where three crosses stood and he shared his vision that some day there could be a church camp on that ground that would serve this region and the North Koreans. We all prayed for the future of the land there and sang How Great Thou Art together.
I volunteered to drive the tractor, which was very strange compared to the tractors I've driven before. The brake was on the right, the gas in the middle, and the clutch on the left. That was sort of hard to get used to. I spent a lot of time starting and restarting, but I never wrecked it (although I did come close to hitting the bus once!) Because of the hilly and rocky terrain, it was a challenge to drive it around. Later I will post a video someone took of me driving the tractor.
We had lots of big rocks to move, and nothing but our own strength and a couple of crow bars. The ranch has a lot of development remaining, and we are just getting in on the beginning of it. There used to be a church that met in the upper room of the horse barn, but it was reported to the authorities and they shut it down.
In the middle of the morning, they brought us bread made by the handicapped workers at the bakery. Lunch was peanut butter and jelly, although we also had moon pies for dessert. We ate in the upper room, and enjoyed the fellowship, even though we were all dirty and ready to get cleaned up.
Everyone had a great time building the wall and working together. We got to meet our friend Zai Ben, who is a believer. He wanted his picture taken with all of us. He lives in the ranch in a small apartment for part of the year (which we also have some pictures of to post). I found out he watches LOST, which I saw the Chinese version of there. He told me I could have it if I wanted, but I hated to take it from him. Plus, they won't play in American DVD players anyway.
The greatest fun of the day came at the end. We were trying to get on the bus, and there was no driver to be found. Some people thought he was asleep on the bus. I wondered if he might have passed out, so we banged on the windows, trying to get in. Finally, we looked for the smallest guy and tried to put him through the open window, but he was stuck halfway through. Then we found an even smaller guy, and he slid right in. Just then, the driver came walking up the hill and saw us. He was not amused. It's sort of my fault, because I was standing there helping those boosting up the guys. And so today I learn another lesson of missions: patience. Whether it's moving rock, building a wall, cleaning up horse manure, or waiting until your driver shows up, things don't happen immediately. Everything in time, but rushing it can actually set you back. I just hope the driver isn't upset with us for the fact that we sent a guy in the bus. We really were concerned about him, afraid that he might not be ok. But there probably could have been a better way to handle the situation.
Broken Bridge - During World War II, it was shot up and there are a lot of holes. The advice given to us was Don't get close to the edge, and there should be very few pictures taken. We shouldn't wave either so that there isn't too much attention drawn to us. Well, walking across the bridge didn't seem to phase me at all that we were within a stone's throw of North Korea. The Tumen river is the border, and the bridge has a huge chunk gone in the bridge, making it impossible to get across. We stood there for awhile looking at the North Koreans on the other side. They gave us a little attention, but didn't seem to care that we were looking at them.
Back to the hotel to get cleaned up and ready to go out to eat with a translator. We will be ordering our meals on our own with a translator tonight. I wonder what we'll get to eat?
posted by Central Christian College of the Bible at
2:45 AM
