Sunday, June 28, 2009

the home stretch....

it's official!
the team is on the tail end of their time in guilin!
by this time in the trip, the team probably feels like they have been in china an entire year. with the long travel, packed schedule and the stress of sleep deprivation, they will hardly realize their time in guilin is coming to a close. only 2 more days and they will be headed to beijing and then home. it's crunch time! think of them specifically that they can be brave and plant seeds of hope and love in their friends!
surprisingly my dad has been able to send a few text messages to my phone and has been giving me some updates as they travel and spend time with friends.
this past weekend (saturday night our time - sunday morning china time) i got a text as the the team filled a bus to full capacity with friends and headed to the Li River. truly one of the most famously photographed sites in all of china (second to the great wall), it is a beautiful and picturesque trip on a river boat through scaling Guilin mountains.


it is a time when the team can relax with their friends, share what's on their heart and have some time to talk one on one.

it's also a time to kick back and relax...maybe even sample some of the local snake infested drink of choice...if you don't know what it is, don't ask :)

some of my favorite shots of the river boat include our sweet kate. here are a few that i love:





as the team's time in china runs to a close, please keep remembering them and thinking about them. the transition back into our life here is different for everyone, and it's not always an easy, or fast process, but it begins before they even leave china. there is a lot of heart processing and self examination that takes place during such a dramatic and life changing trip. they are faced with the thoughts and ideas that they have learned and will need you to help bring their stories home. telling their stories will help make them into more than a story...it will enable each of these teens, college students, and adults to transition back into their everyday lives in a much more un-ordinary way. because after all, we need a little more of the un-ordinary to help us see more of what Dad is trying to teach us.
keep remembering them.
with love, angie

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