We're Here!

Here are all our bags:  4 of our own - One of which has nothing but food, medicine and herbs, 3 bags to leave at the orphanages, 1 rolling carry on, and 2 backpacks.  

       After years of prayer, months of preparation, weeks of packing, and days of traveling, we have finally made it to China! We arrived at our Beijing hotel last night after a long day of traveling - a car ride to the airport, a plane from Birmingham to Atlanta, Atlanta to Tokyo, Tokyo to Beijing and then finally, a bus ride to the hotel.  The kiddos were awesome on the planes!

Emily loved getting in this position to sleep.  It was quite humorous watching her get settled.  

Caleb, our rule follower, always read the safety card when the flight attendant told us to.  

And sweet Adelynn sporting her new earphones!

Who wouldn't be completely happy with a wealth of movies from which to choose!  I followed the advice of my sweet hubby, sisters, and friends, who told me to let all my rules on media go out the window. Having kids and eating gluten free actually worked in our favor on the plane.  My world traveller husband had pre-ordered our special meals and so they were always delivered to us first.  Emily kept us rolling with all her questions.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Are we there yet?
• How many more monkeys? (side note in case this makes no sense to you: Our children's favorite TV show is Curious George.  When Caleb was about 3 years old we were trying to think of a way to help him conceptualize amounts of time so we would tell him an hour of time was 4 monkeys meaning 4 episodes of George.  It stuck and to this day, our kids all ask us how many more monkeys - meaning how many more 15 min increments)
• Upon receiving her food she asked, "what is that?"
• After leaving the Tokyo airport she inquired, "are we still in Japanese?"
• Are we ever going to get off this airplane?
• What would happen if I had to go to the bathroom on the airplane?
• Are we in China yet?

We had so many blessings throughout our travel and we give Him all the praise and glory.  It starts with our sweet parents taking us to the airport on Monday morning.  Next, we were greeted by a delightful Delta agent who casually overlooked our super heavy bags.  We were surrounded by very kind travelers on all the planes.  While she was sleeping, Emily even stretched out her feet on the lady next to us and she didn't mind at all.  People continually complimented us on the children and I reminded them that we were only X many hours into the flight and I could not promise that they would remain happy and quiet.  However, I was pleasantly surprised.  They were real troupers.  The Tokyo airport even had a children's play area which was a nice reprieve from the small airplane seats. 

 The kids were able to run and jump and play and slide and just generally get some energy out.  We then boarded our third and final flight of the day and landed in Beijing 4 hours later.  We made it through customs without a hitch - even my herbs made it without a question which is a miracle in and of itself.  We were greeted in Beijing by Lily and Helen who brought us our hotel that we will call home for the next few days.  We recount our many blessings and give credit to our great God for orchestrating all of these details.  

You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts towards us; none can compare with you!  I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are many more that can be told. 

Psalm 40:5

Stay tuned for more news on our adventures in China!

Embarking on the Journey

Matthew 28:18-20 - And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

It's that call, simple and true, that has been ringing in our ears and ruminating in our hearts since Ashley and I each began to follow Christ as our Lord and Savior. We have patterned our lives to make disciples and to preach the Gospel "in season and out of season." (2 Timothy 4:2)

Hudson Taylor the father of modern missions to China said, "The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed."

So what do you do when you have an ordinary life sometimes defined by the mundane, yet Christ who has lavished His extraordinary grace calls you to such a high calling. You go!

And that's what we have decided to do, to use every opportunity to go, to go and make disciples of all nations. We are needy, that's for sure - needy of God's grace, mercy, goodness, splendor, and glory. But as Hudson Taylor said again, "God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him." And so we are leaning on the everlasting arms of Christ our Savior and following His call to minister in China for six weeks.

On May 19, 2003 The Lord called us to began a new career path for our family, one which would embrace ministry to orphans through the Gospel of Christ. We have seen The Lord do so many extraordinary things through the ordinary ministry of Lifeline Children's Services (www.lifelinechild.org) and especially in the country of China.

It only made sense; therefore, that when offered with the opportunity to sabbatical after 10 years at Lifeline, instead of collecting seashells by the seashore, that He would call our whole family to China. And tonight, with the children asleep, all the bags packed, and every last detail completed or forgotten, we anticipate the journey ahead. We know that our Lord will do more than we could ever ask or imagine for His glory and our hearts are very full. (Ephesians 3:20)

Please stay tuned as we share our adventures in the pearl of Asia, the Middle Kingdom of China. Please pray that He will use us for His glory and be encouraged to live out the Gospel around you.

We will be leaving tomorrow, Monday, May 27 for Beijing via Atlanta and Tokyo. And then we will be visiting the cities of Zhanjiang, Chengdu, ChongQing, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong. At every stop we will have opportunities to minister to orphans through training, equipping, and nurturing. And along the way we pray that through words and actions we display the glory of our extraordinary God.

On behalf of the Newells,

Herbie