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Yesterday, my tutor told me that the father of 2 of the boys who had come to our Bring Me Hope summer camp this summer had fallen out of a tree and landed on the back of his head. He has no hearing out of his left ear, which is bleeding profusely, and he is in the hospital for an undetermined amount of time. His family is in trouble because now neither he nor his wife can go to work as she has to care for him in the hospital. They are a poor family with no resources, no money, and no no options. Amy and I are going to the hosptital on Thursday night to see the boys and meet their parents. We’re hoping they will let us help in some way.

We’ll keep you posted.

After a three-week visit to the U.S., Amy has finally made it back home. Her first stop was to Azusa Pacific University in California to visit our second oldest son, Luke. She had a great time hanging out with him, going to class, drinking coffee, and even visiting the beach. It was encouraging for both she and Luke to be together.

From there, she made her way to Minnesota where she was able to spend some time with our oldest son, Jacob. He is currently living in our house, and together they were able to enjoy the old homestead which included raking the yard, tearing down part of the swingset, weeding out the garden, and drinking coffee every morning with Jake in the screenhouse. She also went to classes with Jacob at Northwestern College, and tagged along with him on Wednesday night to “Youth Crew.” They had a blast too!

Finally, Amy, Jacob, and Rachel (Jake’s fiancee) drove out to Sioux Falls, S.D., to celebrate her mom’s 85th birthday with her whole family. All of Amy’s brothers and sisters pitched in to make this whole trip possible, and we are so grateful to them! Amy had a precious time with her mom, and she was so encouraged by her whole family. Thanks guys!!!!

Now Amy is back home in Kunming. We are so happy to have her back. In fact, we’re headed outside together right now for a walk in the sun.

Isaac and Nattie had been outside playing today for about an hour, and we were just beginning to wonder where they were when they suddenly rang the doorbell. When I answered, Isaac said, “We just met a Chinese friend out here and she’s coming up to meet the family.” I asked him if it was ok with her parents to come to our house. Without hesitation, he assured me that it was not problem. A few minutes later, they arrived at our front door and then I realized why it was not problem. The girl they had met was a high school student who was enamored by the little foreign kids. In the short time they had known her, Isaac had given her the Enlish name “Sally”, and she was thrilled to death.

Well, Sally was introduced to our family, and stayed to chat for about half and hour. She speaks pretty good English, and is excited for us to meet her parents. We are looking forward to meeting them as well so that we can develop a friendship with them. There is so much that we can learn from new friends like Sally and her parents. Nice work Isaac and Natalie!

It wasn’t very long ago that our neighbors to the north in Sichuan province were devastated by a horrendous earthquake. Sichuan’s capital, Chengdu, was almost at the epicenter,  and many families were suddenly torn apart by the effects of the earthquake. Since that time, we have felt many less violent tremors as far south as Kunming. We are reminded that life is very fragile. As we watch the news of the devastation in Haiti, our hearts go out to the people there who are in need of so much help.