It has been a while since my last entry. Things are fine here, but we have had some extra activities and the internet has been very unreliable.
On the weekend our host took us to a scenic area about 30 minutes from Dangtu. There we climbed a high hill to see a pagoda, were able to overlook the Yangtze River. Although the mist and perhaps smog were heavy, the high water level was obvious, as water lapped on the sides of buildings and trunks of trees.
On Sunday we attended the church service. The text for the day came from Philippians chapter 3. The large sanctuary was packed. Afterwards we were again treated like guests of honour. We have posed for many pictures, and were toured around to rooms that were closed in previous times there. We came upon women busy making vibrant coloured costume with the aid of treadle sewing machines. We were told that they had a youth event on Monday and Tuesday. We also heard children’s choirs practicing for the big event.
On Monday a representative for the Amity foundation made a site visit. We spent time with her, talking of our experiences after she visited with students and our classrooms. We were disappointed that the computer crashed when she was there, so our last class was not what we had hoped. She helped us to get many of the technology problems resolved, so perhaps it was for the best. Her comments were insightful and positive
On Tuesday we made arrangements to attend the youth event at the church during our lunch break. We were ushered to the choir loft in the front for front row seats. The music, singing, dance and costumes were amazing. We found the time uplifting!
I won’t test the internet connection further right now. So I will post this before I lose it. Blessings from Dangtu, Jan Hazlett