We have had another great day in Nanjing China.
At breakfast the Shadyside missionaries made travel plans. They are to leave Thursday morning by China Air. They will see the site of the Shadyside Hospital, which was built in the 1930s and used during World War II as an internment camp for the confinement of “enemies of war” by the Japanese forces. The internees were primarily American civilians who worked in China at the time of the bombing of Pearl Harbor (more about that later).
The morning matins were centered on faith. The scripture reading was Mark 5:24-34: “If I but touch his clothes I will be made well.”
The morning workshop centered on building relationships. We discussed how complex the simple things are. We take things for granted within our own culture, and this practice makes our life simple. But, when we move into another culture, the very things that we take for granted place roadblocks toward good relationships. This was discussed in small groups with our Chinese friends.
Lunch was served at the Nanjing Bible College. We had eel and several other delicacies.
After lunch we took a bus to the Nanjing war museum for the Nanjing Massacre, in which 300,000 Chinese civilians were murdered. It was pretty graphic, with the actual movies of the event that were taken by the Japanese war photographers, who spared no details. The penultimate part of the presentation was an actual mass grave of 10,000 people. The last part of the presentation was a flock of real live white doves. The most striking part of the museum was the theme: We forgive, but we do not forget. From the presentation, it appears that the Chinese really mean it. They really do forgive.
We had dinner back at the Bible college. As a special treat for the departing Shadyside missionaries, the Chinese hosts brought in McDonalds hamburgers.
The evening vespers centered on faith. This time the scripture reading was James 5:13-15: “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders to the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.”
As an aside, Anna Marie Melrose told us of her experience as the child of an American missionary in Hainan. The Japanese started the invasion in 1937 by bombing Hainan and Shanghai. Her father stayed behind, but she, her mother, and two sisters left for Hong Kong and then to the States. After the Nanjing Massacre, in 1937 her parents returned to China. The Japanese occupied the country but were not at war with the U.S. They worked in Hainan until the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her parents were captured and put in the internment camp. President Roosevelt put the Japanese Americans into an internment camp and then arranged a prisoner exchange. Her parents were released.
Tomorrow our friends from Shadyside will go to see the site of the Japanese internment camp, formerly known as Shadyside Hospital.
Bless them on their journey.
Dan Ernsberger
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Group Journal #3 (Tuesday, June 29, 2010)
We had another busy and exciting day here in Nanjing.
After breakfast and morning worship, we attended the graduation service for the Jiangsu Bible School. Twenty-six young men and women received their degree to work in the church and other church-related organizations. Along with an RAB (Bureau of Religious Affairs) official and the head of the Jiangsu TSPM (Three Self Patriot Movement), our own Peter Lim was asked to share some words of wisdom with the new graduates. It was an inspiring and moving service enjoyed by all.
After lunch, we headed to the new location of the Amity Foundation Press. The massive scale of the operation blew us all away. Besides printing up to four million Chinese Bibles a year, the Press also prints around 8 million more Bibles in Spanish, Russian, Swedish, nine Chinese minority dialects, Portuguese, a plethora of African languages and many, many others. We were able to observe the process of printing from blank paper to completed book and browse around the compound throughout the process. It was truly amazing to imagine the impact that this press has had in its roughly twenty years of existence!
Following supper, we finished the day pondering the love that God has for us and all of God’s creation. We celebrated the bonds that God has established between us and our Chinese friends. And we had a time of group prayer in both languages.
We look forward to more opportunities to share in the universal love of Christ as we continue our adventures tomorrow.
Evan Schneider
After breakfast and morning worship, we attended the graduation service for the Jiangsu Bible School. Twenty-six young men and women received their degree to work in the church and other church-related organizations. Along with an RAB (Bureau of Religious Affairs) official and the head of the Jiangsu TSPM (Three Self Patriot Movement), our own Peter Lim was asked to share some words of wisdom with the new graduates. It was an inspiring and moving service enjoyed by all.
After lunch, we headed to the new location of the Amity Foundation Press. The massive scale of the operation blew us all away. Besides printing up to four million Chinese Bibles a year, the Press also prints around 8 million more Bibles in Spanish, Russian, Swedish, nine Chinese minority dialects, Portuguese, a plethora of African languages and many, many others. We were able to observe the process of printing from blank paper to completed book and browse around the compound throughout the process. It was truly amazing to imagine the impact that this press has had in its roughly twenty years of existence!
Following supper, we finished the day pondering the love that God has for us and all of God’s creation. We celebrated the bonds that God has established between us and our Chinese friends. And we had a time of group prayer in both languages.
We look forward to more opportunities to share in the universal love of Christ as we continue our adventures tomorrow.
Evan Schneider
Group Journal #2 (Monday, June 28, 2010)
Hello friends of the 2010 China English Exchange Program:
Our group is now teaching and forming relationships in the attractive and moutainous city of Nanjing, China. We arrived in Nanjing on Saturday afternoon. After Peter Lim and Don Snow gave us informative orientations, we had dinner hosted by Reverend XinYi An, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee TSPM and Chairman of the Jinangsu Provincial TSPM. He proved to be a very gracious host. On Sunday, we attended worship at St. Paul's Christian Church in Nanjing. Pastor David, one of our participants, and the main pastor of St. Paul's were gracious enough to debrief with us after the service.
The Opening Ceremony for our program took place on Sunday afternoon and evening. Reverend XinYi An and Rev. Jeff Ritchie gave inspirational speeches. Jeff made reference to Ephesians 4:15-16, which I have also heard at a recent sermon at my home church, Peachtree Presbyterian. In this verse, Paul reminds us that "speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." The Bible says that we will grow as we build each other up in love, as love is the most important bond to have with others. Programs like ours are important in joining the churches across the world as we see how our faith and values unite us.
On Monday, Dr. Rebecca Ritchey led us in our morning devotional. Then, we introduced ourselves to new members of our whole group and to the small groups with which we will work this week. We also began studying Don Snow's book "Encounters with Westerners". I have been impressed with how well our Chinese brothers and sisters learn conversational English in a supportive environment and how much our group from the U.S. has already learned about Chinese language and culture. After enjoying lunch and fellowship, we took a day trip to the Sun-Yat Sen Mausoleum. We were fortunate enough to have our new Chinese friends there to teach us about the mausoleum's history. They also gave us some practical words and phrases we needed in order to do our souvenir shopping, or in my case, my botted water shopping. :) I personally am proud that I have learned to count to ten in Chinese, with the help and patience of Pastor Grace, who studied with me during our bus ride.
In the evening, we enjoyed dinner followed by our evening devotional. Erin Raffety played lovely flute music for us. Rebecca encouraged us to reflect on our day and also to share some of our experiences with the group. I have been moved by the life and faith stories of my group members. They have inspired me to continue to serve God through my instruction, travels, and written accounts.
Thank you all for your support, thoughts, and prayers. We will send another account soon.
Sincerely,
Margaret Robbins
Our group is now teaching and forming relationships in the attractive and moutainous city of Nanjing, China. We arrived in Nanjing on Saturday afternoon. After Peter Lim and Don Snow gave us informative orientations, we had dinner hosted by Reverend XinYi An, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee TSPM and Chairman of the Jinangsu Provincial TSPM. He proved to be a very gracious host. On Sunday, we attended worship at St. Paul's Christian Church in Nanjing. Pastor David, one of our participants, and the main pastor of St. Paul's were gracious enough to debrief with us after the service.
The Opening Ceremony for our program took place on Sunday afternoon and evening. Reverend XinYi An and Rev. Jeff Ritchie gave inspirational speeches. Jeff made reference to Ephesians 4:15-16, which I have also heard at a recent sermon at my home church, Peachtree Presbyterian. In this verse, Paul reminds us that "speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." The Bible says that we will grow as we build each other up in love, as love is the most important bond to have with others. Programs like ours are important in joining the churches across the world as we see how our faith and values unite us.
On Monday, Dr. Rebecca Ritchey led us in our morning devotional. Then, we introduced ourselves to new members of our whole group and to the small groups with which we will work this week. We also began studying Don Snow's book "Encounters with Westerners". I have been impressed with how well our Chinese brothers and sisters learn conversational English in a supportive environment and how much our group from the U.S. has already learned about Chinese language and culture. After enjoying lunch and fellowship, we took a day trip to the Sun-Yat Sen Mausoleum. We were fortunate enough to have our new Chinese friends there to teach us about the mausoleum's history. They also gave us some practical words and phrases we needed in order to do our souvenir shopping, or in my case, my botted water shopping. :) I personally am proud that I have learned to count to ten in Chinese, with the help and patience of Pastor Grace, who studied with me during our bus ride.
In the evening, we enjoyed dinner followed by our evening devotional. Erin Raffety played lovely flute music for us. Rebecca encouraged us to reflect on our day and also to share some of our experiences with the group. I have been moved by the life and faith stories of my group members. They have inspired me to continue to serve God through my instruction, travels, and written accounts.
Thank you all for your support, thoughts, and prayers. We will send another account soon.
Sincerely,
Margaret Robbins
Monday, June 28, 2010
Group Journal Addendum
June 28, 2010
Dear friends of the China English Exchange,
The first installment of our Group Journal did not introduce who we are. You who are receiving this are friends of one or more of the participants. But just to let you know the “players” whose names you may not know, here they are:
Pennsylvania:Wanda Sowell, Sharon Taylor, Dan and Barbara Ernsberger, Susan Tusick, Mike Vetovich, James Salyers, Will Scott
New Jersey: Pam Bowman, Evan Schneider, Erin Raffety
North Carolina: Anne Gordon
Georgia: Virginia Dilkes and Margaret Robbins
Texas: Suzanne Rosario-Davis
California: Marie Melrose
Kentucky, but currently living in South Korea: Becky Ritchey
The Outreach Foundation: Peter Lim and Jeff Ritchie
Some additional tid-bits from our time in Shanghai:
Erin Raffety was the one whose baggage was taken by someone else. Talk about a non-anxious presence! She was amazingly calm. Erin and husband Evan had to spend the whole day at the airport waiting for the bag’s return, but “all’s well as ends well.”
Wanda Sowell discovered a foot massage place on a previous trip and got 3 of her Pittsburgh gang to get a foot massage the first night. “Best $20 I ever spent,” says Wanda.
Pam Bowman remembered a “Friendship Store” (shopping area) from previous trips and gathered a group after dinner Friday night to see what bargains were available there. Glad we have people who like to shop and who can let us non-shoppers go back to our hotel!
Those of us who went to the “Bund” area also stopped by the main offices of the National China Christian Council. Mr. Ou En Lin, head of the office of Overseas Relations for the Church, gave us a tour of the refurbished “Holy Trinity Church,” which is on the same compound. It was returned to the Church by the government a few years ago, and they have been restoring this wonderful sanctuary. Two of our group members who have been to Cordoba, Spain, said that the architecture reminds them somewhat of the church in Cordoba that was once a mosque then became a church.
We were able to purchase Christian materials at the bookstore at the Church’s headquarters, and Peter also led us by a foreign language bookstore where members found all sorts of other interesting books.
The rain certainly didn’t inhibit this group!
Jeff
Dear friends of the China English Exchange,
The first installment of our Group Journal did not introduce who we are. You who are receiving this are friends of one or more of the participants. But just to let you know the “players” whose names you may not know, here they are:
Pennsylvania:Wanda Sowell, Sharon Taylor, Dan and Barbara Ernsberger, Susan Tusick, Mike Vetovich, James Salyers, Will Scott
New Jersey: Pam Bowman, Evan Schneider, Erin Raffety
North Carolina: Anne Gordon
Georgia: Virginia Dilkes and Margaret Robbins
Texas: Suzanne Rosario-Davis
California: Marie Melrose
Kentucky, but currently living in South Korea: Becky Ritchey
The Outreach Foundation: Peter Lim and Jeff Ritchie
Some additional tid-bits from our time in Shanghai:
Erin Raffety was the one whose baggage was taken by someone else. Talk about a non-anxious presence! She was amazingly calm. Erin and husband Evan had to spend the whole day at the airport waiting for the bag’s return, but “all’s well as ends well.”
Wanda Sowell discovered a foot massage place on a previous trip and got 3 of her Pittsburgh gang to get a foot massage the first night. “Best $20 I ever spent,” says Wanda.
Pam Bowman remembered a “Friendship Store” (shopping area) from previous trips and gathered a group after dinner Friday night to see what bargains were available there. Glad we have people who like to shop and who can let us non-shoppers go back to our hotel!
Those of us who went to the “Bund” area also stopped by the main offices of the National China Christian Council. Mr. Ou En Lin, head of the office of Overseas Relations for the Church, gave us a tour of the refurbished “Holy Trinity Church,” which is on the same compound. It was returned to the Church by the government a few years ago, and they have been restoring this wonderful sanctuary. Two of our group members who have been to Cordoba, Spain, said that the architecture reminds them somewhat of the church in Cordoba that was once a mosque then became a church.
We were able to purchase Christian materials at the bookstore at the Church’s headquarters, and Peter also led us by a foreign language bookstore where members found all sorts of other interesting books.
The rain certainly didn’t inhibit this group!
Jeff
Friday, June 25, 2010
Group Journal #1 (Friday, June 25, 2010)
Dear friends of the China English Exchange of the Outreach Foundation in Nanjing, China,
We are sending this regular update on the China English Exchange to you who are friends of the members of the Outreach Foundation’s group in China from June 23-July 3, with about 1/3 of us staying another week. Thank you for your interest and your prayers. We need both!
We arrived in Shanghai yesterday in two shifts. The earlier bunch of us (13) arrived in the afternoon where we were met by Outreach Foundation staff Peter Lim. On the way to the Majestic Plaza Hotel we passed by some of the venues of the Shanghai World Expo that is drawing thousands of people each day. We checked into the hotel and ate at a dumpling restaurant on the Nanjing Road shopping street.
Meanwhile the 4 who were arriving later finally got into China, but the bag of one of the participants was mistakenly taken by another person, and it wasn’t until today, June 25, that the person was located and the baggage retrieved!
Today was our first full day in China. It rained off and on all day, but that didn’t stop 3 souls from going to the Shanghai Expo while the rest of us walked along the famous Bund in the morning and saw the Shanghai Museum in the afternoon. The Bund, by the way, is the waterfront area of Shanghai that has buildings dating from the era when Britain, French, and other powers dominated the life of Shanghai. This area was restricted to non-Chinese, a fact that was greatly resented by the Chinese.
After lunch at a southeast Asian restaurant we visited the Shanghai Museum, which is a wonderful treasure-house of Chinese culture, ancient and modern. The China Expo attenders returned, and we continued the “non-Chinese” theme for food as we had supper at a Turkish Restaurant. From Saturday on we will be eating Chinese food morning, noon, and night, so this was a good day to do something different.
Tomorrow we head for Nanjing and our orientation to the materials we’ll be using in the English Exchange next week. The members of the group are enjoying each other, and all are great sports.
Look for the next installment of this “Group Journal” on Monday.
Jeff Ritchie
We are sending this regular update on the China English Exchange to you who are friends of the members of the Outreach Foundation’s group in China from June 23-July 3, with about 1/3 of us staying another week. Thank you for your interest and your prayers. We need both!
We arrived in Shanghai yesterday in two shifts. The earlier bunch of us (13) arrived in the afternoon where we were met by Outreach Foundation staff Peter Lim. On the way to the Majestic Plaza Hotel we passed by some of the venues of the Shanghai World Expo that is drawing thousands of people each day. We checked into the hotel and ate at a dumpling restaurant on the Nanjing Road shopping street.
Meanwhile the 4 who were arriving later finally got into China, but the bag of one of the participants was mistakenly taken by another person, and it wasn’t until today, June 25, that the person was located and the baggage retrieved!
Today was our first full day in China. It rained off and on all day, but that didn’t stop 3 souls from going to the Shanghai Expo while the rest of us walked along the famous Bund in the morning and saw the Shanghai Museum in the afternoon. The Bund, by the way, is the waterfront area of Shanghai that has buildings dating from the era when Britain, French, and other powers dominated the life of Shanghai. This area was restricted to non-Chinese, a fact that was greatly resented by the Chinese.
After lunch at a southeast Asian restaurant we visited the Shanghai Museum, which is a wonderful treasure-house of Chinese culture, ancient and modern. The China Expo attenders returned, and we continued the “non-Chinese” theme for food as we had supper at a Turkish Restaurant. From Saturday on we will be eating Chinese food morning, noon, and night, so this was a good day to do something different.
Tomorrow we head for Nanjing and our orientation to the materials we’ll be using in the English Exchange next week. The members of the group are enjoying each other, and all are great sports.
Look for the next installment of this “Group Journal” on Monday.
Jeff Ritchie
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Upcoming Cross-Cultural Experience
From June 23 through July 5, a team of eight individuals from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Shadyside Presbyterian Church will attend a culture camp in Nanjing and visit our historical site of the Shantung Compound, where Shadyside Presbyterian Church built a hospital as part of a Presbyterian Mission Compound in 1924. The team was commissioned during worship on Sunday, June 20.
Our group will send updates back home to people that are praying for our trip. Please visit this blog again soon to read about the team's experiences. Thank you for your continued support and prayers for the China Partnership Project.
Our group will send updates back home to people that are praying for our trip. Please visit this blog again soon to read about the team's experiences. Thank you for your continued support and prayers for the China Partnership Project.
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