My People.

This is my Kenzie-girl! She is one of the goofiest people I know, and I really treasured my time with her on the trip. When we were in Beijing prior to going to Luoyang and then again at the end of the trip, we all had hotel room buddies and Kenzie was mine. She and I have many common interests: musical theatre, jazz music, jokes, favorite actors and actresses, Broadway shows, movie genres, and being crazy (as you can see in these pictures).

Us on the rooftop of Maria's Big House of Hope on our last night in Luoyang.

Hahaha... we had a scavenger hunt at Maria's on Tuesday and one of the things we had to do was take a picture in front of Mr. Martin's (the 24/7 on-call doctor at MBHOH) office. Why would we take a normal picture?!

Going into the trip I was asking the Lord to bring me a friend since I was so worried about how I was going to make friends so quickly with people I had never met. God met me where I was and He granted me so much peace about all of that. I knew that He was at work in and through the whole team, especially those first few days. Kenzie and I were hotel room buddies that first night in Beijing and were pretty inseparable for the remainder of the trip.

Mr. Nate Renich (the guy in the front right in this picture) was someone who spoke so much truth and wisdom into me while I was there. He was with our team for our entire stay in China, so we all had ample time to get to know him. Many of my conversations with him were around the meal table and some were while we were out sightseeing. No matter where we were or what we were talking about, he was always ready with a gracious and wise response to my questions. I will be forever thankful for our friendship.

Mrs. Vickie Renich (the blonde-haired lady in this photo. Picture shared from Show Hope's Facebook page) and I worked and talked together on a number of occasions. I always looked forward to any time we could be together. She homeschools their two sons, so it was fun to talk about homeschooling as well. Mrs. Renich has a huge heart and she was always willing to discuss whatever was on my heart and mind.

Here is one of the pictures of the entire team. I truly love these fantastic people. Each one of them has a unique story to tell and I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to be a part of theirs. On our last evening in China we had a team debrief about our feelings regarding returning home and many of these people had similar sentiments to me about it. I truly valued having friends who experienced the same things that I did while over there. It has been a blessing to be able to stay in touch a little bit with them now that we are back to our “normal lives” in the States.

Unfortunately I am unable to share my own pictures of the kiddos online, but here is a link to the Show Hope Facebook Photo Album page ( https://www.facebook.com/ShowHope/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums ). On August 13th they posted an album called “Pool Day at Maria’s Big House of Hope” with pictures of many of the kiddos that I played with while there. I love looking at those pictures and reliving the sweet memories I have of those precious children.

All in all, it was evident that the Lord was at work in the people and kids on this trip. It was mind-boggling to see how He instilled in each of us a decreased anxiety about the travelling, an increase of grace and patience towards each other, and smaller groups of friends for each of us within the greater “family” (team) as a whole.

I cannot very well write a blog post about “my people” without including you all, my prayer warriors, as well, though. I was and still am extremely grateful for your financial donations and prayers for us all as we prepared for the journey, safe travels and good health, our time in China, and then for our trek home. I rested easy knowing that half of a world away there were many people covering me and the team in prayers. A simple thank you seems insufficient, but I suppose it will have to do. Thank you many times over.

And last, but most certainly not least, God. I’m not sure if He should be lumped into this “people” post, but we’ll go with it.

First of all, God is amazing. Truly. He knew just what I needed to be doing this summer even when it was not what I was initially planning on doing. The Lord worked out so many things and removed obstacles to help me go on this journey: showing me the Facebook post less than 2 weeks before the application was due, arranging it so that I could be a part of the team even though I submitted my application a little bit late, having Annika and Mrs. Johnson come to Minneapolis the very day that I needed to get to a post office or government building to apply for my passport, lining up financial donors to help me fund this trip, and working in my friends’ and family’s hearts to come alongside me in prayer. That’s only the start of it.

Ever since I was a young teenager I was pretty scared of the idea of flying in an airplane over an ocean or body of water larger than a lake. The morning of my flights (Friday, June 5th) I was very anxious and just wanted to run, hide, and/or cry. After getting through security at MSP International Airport I felt a wave of peace and comfort wash over me. Even when the team and I were waiting for our ever-delayed flight to Beijing from Chicago I felt ever so much peace. The Lord was faithful to meet me where I was and filled me with the things I needed just when I needed them. He saw me through from the start to the completion of this whole journey. Let me just say that it is an incredible experience to be able to see that when you are following Him and doing His will, He will see you through it giving you exactly what you need to do it.

He was, is, and will always be faithful to each of His children... including me and you. For that I am eternally grateful.

Thanks for reading! I send my love to you and yours, wherever you may find yourselves.

Audrey :)