“Well, how was China?” Yes, we are back. I think last night was our final night of sporadic wake ups. Trusting it was anyway :0) Our family was able to be with our home church for last night’s activities. It was then I realized how difficult answering this simple question would be. “Well, how was China?” Where do I begin? What is the emphasis? Highlights? Do you really want to hear the ups & downs? Are you asking to be polite? How much time do you have?! I feel to some I talked your ear off with rambling. To others I feel I didn’t share enough. This will be my attempt to give a decent overview of what we experienced as a family, ministry, & missions team together in China. Much hard work & sacrificial giving went into making this trip a possibility. Christ blew our minds moment after moment, provision after provision, till everything was raised & purchased. Some of you sold your couches; some sold riding lawn mowers; some made homemade jellies for us to sell; children gave through their local church VBS offerings; countless others gave of what they had & many even gave when they had not. Watching my own children creatively paint, work, cook, bake, etc. to help fund it was truly a blessing. Therefore, I begin with “Thank You, people of God who prayed, gave, & served with us. The eternal fruit of this trip, some seen, & most not yet known, is attributed to your heavenly account”. “ (Phil 4:17) We spent 5 days training together with Bring Me Hope summer staff in Beijing. This group of folks would be divided into 4 separate locations to run the camps. Our group, under the leadership of Camp Director James Blankenship of Elyon Outreach Ministries from Laurel, MS was being stationed in XinZheng outside ZhengZhou @SIAS University. We had such a great chemistry between our China & foreign leaders. Our home for the next four weeks would be “The Castle”. After cleaning & stocking the rooms in which our volunteers & campers would be living for a week, we awaited their arrivals. Volunteers would come in on the weekends & were orientated & prepared for the week to come. Mondays were when we finally received the orphans & the real FUN began. Our theme for the camp was CHOSEN. James & I were able to get direction for a story & lessons through the life of David for teaching these children. Six lessons were taught. We were able to break CHOSEN down as an acrostic topical outline which went right along with the story. I was so pumped how James seamlessly wrote an original paraphrased version of the story of David. The outline was as follows: C- Chosen :0) (Monday 1pm) H- Healthy Perspective (Monday 7pm) O- Only One You (Tuesday 9am) S- Special for a Purpose (Tuesday 4pm) E- Empty Pieces (Wednesday 9am) N- Need a Plan (Thursday 9am) As I said, this is an overview. :0) Mondays we introduced volunteers to translators & had them ready for their kid(s) to complete the family group. We were able to take them swimming (many for the first time). Family group photos were eventful. Especially the first when the “Great Dust Storm of 2013” came through, actually cutting my wife’s head. Haha. Most nights ended with movie time as the translators & volunteers were able to meet & discuss the day. Then, we as staff met and completed any specific tasks which may have been necessary before the following day. Tuesdays added Craft time. Which my wife, Melisa beautifully handled. She does such a great job leading and orchestrating these crafts which brought out the lessons being taught all week & placed in a memory book for each child to take with them. Tuesday evenings were a blast as we allowed the children to step into the shoes of David and “slay” Goliath. (a huge slingshot & water balloons) So much Fun!! Wednesdays were prolly the most challenging yet rewarding. Our family groups went out on a Family adventure to a local amusement park. There the children were able to ride a roller coaster, carousels, go karts, and many other great games. Our last week proved to be the most difficult as we had 10 children in wheel chairs. Some staff & volunteers were a bit discouraged before we went & wondering if it would be possible. James & I met the night before to discuss if we should. We then shared with our people that no doubt it will be the hardest hour & a half of work, but lets step back & see it through the eyes of these kids, who may never have an opportunity to do this. It proved to be one of the best times of the summer. Wednesday afternoons each family group shared their Life Charts together & really got to the hear the stories and hearts of each child, translator and volunteer. Brokenness, Healing, & Understanding would come out of this. Wednesday evening Talent Shows had us rolling with laughter, staring with shocked faces, and even weeping in amazement as some walked on their own, danced, sang, completed puzzles, showcased their magic tricks, performed skits & etc. Thursdays was the most moving of the nights. Coronation Night. They began dressing up as princesses, knights, and as some of the strangest characters. Ryan (our Chinese speaking translator) in a dress was prolly my favorite. LOL! We gave each volunteer the opportunity to stand & call their child by name to come & be crowned either King or Queen. Of course all the while, Audio A’s “Kings & Queens” is jamming in the background. We then had a dance party & cake to close out the night. Beautiful! Then Fridays. Here in the U.S. we long for Fridays. This summer in China... dreaded ‘em. We had our last craft time & assembly together. After lunch, the bus would arrive and we would have to walk our kids out. Hearts broke. Hands pried apart. Deafening Cries. Our hearts longing to snatch each one up & say “No. I won’t let you go.” & hearing their hearts cry out to hear the same. We would stand in a weeping silence as we watched the bus drive off with the children we fell in love with. Yep. That was our Fridays. However, immediately following the departure were some of the best worship services I have been a part of. Realizing His love & care for them is much deeper & greater than ours. We placed their lives and our hurt in His hands & asked for the strength to go through it again week after week. Friday nights were closed out by honoring the translators, who gave of their time and gift of tongues to be the voice for each foreign volunteer & Chinese orphan. Saturdays began it all over again with the work, cleaning, recouping, and preparation. I truly wish this overview would do it justice. A few churches have requested for us to come in and share in greater detail. I hope you can attend one such event to hear the stories (even from the eyes of our children) of what the Lord accomplished this summer. Maybe your church would like to schedule such an event. Just let us know: tory@brokenvessels or booking at brokenvessels. Getting you to fully understand what it is we went through, would simply be inviting you to join us if we go again next year. Be praying for us as we seek the Lord’s face for direction & provision in this matter. So, “How was China?” To be totally honest, we personally will only begin understanding the true magnitude & impact it had on our lives as we live out the days, weeks, & months to come. Thanks and blessings to you all. Letting it be seen in 2013, The Tory Dardar family & Broken Vessels Ministry
Posted on: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 02:35:10 +0000
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