Today was an emotional day because the group from Shadyside left us for their pilgrimage to Jinan. We will miss not only their contributions to our group discussions but also their laughter in our social gatherings. God has blessed us with their presence and we ask for Him to watch over them.
We completed the writing of our prayer requests, which were distributed during the morning devotional. Rebecca circulated the link for the Spiritual Directors International for those who may want to learn more about spiritual direction. The link is http://www.sdiworld.org. She also gave each one of us a wooden cross from Korea, where she currently has a ministry to teach English.
The morning devotional was devoted to pilgrimage, whereby a pilgrimage leads us down a road, and we take the light of Christ with us. We talked about where we saw God in each person we encounter along the way. Peter saw God in each of us, including the bus driver and the officials who yelled at us at the memorial to the Nanjing Massacre. We went around the room to mention how we saw God in each member of the Shadyside group.
Xiao Jun Yue shared his story with us. He said the English Exchange camp not only helped him with his spoken English and the opportunity to rejoice in the growth of his spiritual life but also the opportunity to renew old friendships and make new ones. His friends at the English Exchange camp have encouraged him to improve his spoken English. He said he will tell the people at his church his friends at the English Exchange camp are great.
Jeff led us in a song and dance of an African song "We Are Marching in the Light of God."
After lunch we broke into two separate discussion groups, one for the Chinese participants and a separate group for the American participants. We discussed what group re-organization would work best for the benefit of both groups with the loss of the Shadyside group and the weekend departure of other members. We came together for our end-of-day devotional so that we could rest before sharing a dinner with our Chinese participants. The devotional focused on the scripture passage "Who do you say I am?" The devotion helped us to look back and remember the good things that were said. Xiao Jun Yue led us in the singing of the song "Emanuel."
We rested for an hour before we went to dinner at the Dong Bu Shi Fu Restaurant. We hosted our Chinese participants to a traditional Chinese dinner with lotus, eel (long fish), beef, broccoli, seaweed, tofu, rice, watermelon, xiang gua, egg soup, and other delicacies. We shared the evening with Fan Jing Fang and her son Xie Shu Yang. The evening ended with a trip to the shopping district known as Confucius Temple. Shi Li led us to the statue of Confucius and through the streets in search of bargains.
On a side note, the evening was special for Marie Melrose, who renewed her friendship with a friend she had not seen in many years. It is with sadness that we contemplate checking out of the hotel in the morning, but another venture waits us in Jiangyin.
Virginia Dilkes
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