The Great Wall, and the GREAT WALL. Days nine & ten.

It is hard to leave this place. Although I have formed real bonds with the students, that isn’t why it is hard. Although I loved China, that isn’t why it is hard. Unlike Africa, it isn’t because of the sweet brown faces of the babies I have gotten so attached to. It is because of the sinking feeling of the lack of the Gospel in this place. It is because so many of the people we saw all over this city, will live and die without knowing the God who saves. The ones we saw as we walked to and from our hotel each day. The ones who served us our meals in the tiny restaurants. The people we sat (or stood) next to on the bus. So many of them. So lost.

We left the city and headed back to Bejing. Since we had a NINE hour layover, we were able to have a driver take us to see the Great Wall! What an awesome surprise! However, we realized on the way there that our awesome surprise was likely to turn out slightly less than awesome. It is the rainy season here, and this particular day was apparently the most rainy day of the rainy season. But, how many times to you get a chance in your life to see the Great Wall of China? So, off we went. The green ponchos, on top of our already nasty bodies and clothes (you just cant stay clean here because of the pollution) were a really nice touch. In hindsight, I would not recommend a hike up the Great Wall, in the POURING down rain, with thunder and lightning, up “over one thousands steps” to anyone with a fractured knee, much less a fully functioning brain.

A few of the "over 1,000 steps"

We made it to the top, drenched. I am sure it is an AMAZING sight…….on days when it isn’t a monsoon and the fog mixed with pollution causes you to not be able to see much farther than what is directly in front of your face. So, we snapped a few pictures and headed back down to haggle with the many, many angry women in the many many shacks at the bottom of the Wall that sell souvenirs.

We made it back to the airport after having to detour because a couple of large trucks were stuck, and floating in water ahead of us……I told you it was a monsoon.

(We later found out that the storm that day wasn't just a regular storm, but a deadly one : Read article "Heaviest Rainfall in 60 Years" here.)

Our flight to Korea was slightly delayed because of the weather, but we made it safely. Here we had a TEN hour layover, but, it actually worked out great because we were able to go to a hotel near by and get a few hours of sleep and a much needed shower after the mess in Bejing…..and a Korea stamp in our passports. ;-)

Currently we are on the lonnnnggggg flight home. 14 hours in the air is a long time, but it passes pretty quickly.

We were able to see the Great Wall, which is clearly a once in a lifetime opportunity, but we leave this country with a burden. These people have no knowledge of God and there are very few people here who can teach them. The concept of God and eternity, was left behind a couple of generations ago, and now the new generation sees it as a joke. A funny thing that the very old people used to believe. The walls between these people and the Gospel are high, and they are thick. But, God has broken down some of those walls, as only He can do, and I pray that all over China, the walls will continue to come crashing down until they have all heard.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?
 ^{Romans 10:14-15}