My Mission Trip to China...

Well like I mentioned yesterday, Im off to China in two weeks time. This will be my first mission trip and while I must admit I am a little nervous, I am also really excited about the ways in which God can use me while I am over there. But no matter what happens, its definitely going to be an amazing experience! The below image shows where in China I will be.

My schedule for the trip is as follows:

2nd April - Fly to Hong Kong
3rd - Meet with mission team and fly to Xi'an in the afternoon.
4th - Orientation and travel to Sanmenxia.
5th - Tour of the welfare center
6th - 10th - Work with the children in the welfare center
11th - Rest day
12th - 14th - Work with the children in the welfare center
15th - Work with the children and debrief session in the afternoon.
16th - Travel back to Hong Kong via Xi'an
17th - Team ends after breakfast

The focus of the center I will be working at is abandoned children and young people who are disabled. Actually I have been using the incorrect term a lot, they are not actually orphans, but abandoned children. A lot of the people cared for at the center were left there by their parents. This is something that weighs quite heavily on my heart, the fact that a parent could even consider abandoning their child...but nevertheless I just hope that the time I can dedicate to spending with these children can make a difference in their lives and show them that there are people out there that do love and care for them.

The welfare center I will be traveling to is a new center which only opened last year, so we will be only the second group to travel there. But being a relatively small city, its really going to be different to what I experienced on my previous trip to China, where I was mainly visiting the larger and more well know cities.

So at the moment I am going through my preparations, my flight has been paid for, I go to pick up my VISA today, and this weekend I need to start purchasing things I need to take. One of the big things they ask us to bring is toys for the center, but I will most likely buy these in China.

So no doubt on return from my trip I will upload some photos to my blog to give you a glimpse of the wonderful experiences that Im sure to have!