I spent one week in New Zealand taking four Chinese officials around NZ. Sadly it was just for six days so it wasn’t really enough time for them to see a lot of New Zealand but they enjoyed it very much. Towards the end of the trip, they were really missing their rice and noodles.
After the officials left to go back to China, I spent a couple of days with Ruth in her university, it was very good to catch up. Then I went to Brent’s and spent 12 days there. It was a lovely time, I watched all the sheep, ducks, cows, and the beautiful scenery. One day, I went down to the duck pond at 12 midday and sat there looking at everything God made. When I looked at my watch again, it was already 3 in the afternoon! It was such a relaxing time just watching the grass grow. No words can explain it. After visiting Brent, I went on to Andrea’s and spent 12 days with her. One highlight for me was going to church and spending Easter in NZ because it has been many years since I was home for Easter.
One morning, I got woken suddenly at 4am. I sat up in bed with my eyes wide open and said “What is it Lord?” All I heard was danger, so I started praying and kept praying until 6am. At 7:45am, Andrea had to take the kids to the school bus. When she got outside she saw that the road had fallen away. The hillside looked like it was rolling carpet coming down to our driveway and the little cottage on the hillside had moved and had lots of cracks around it. The slip had caused the road above to drop 2 metres and the people who lived on the other side of the road couldn’t get out by car. The slip was only a matter of metres from my bedroom. I believe it could have come fast but the Lord saved us. The cottage on the hill was rented out but it isn’t safe to live in anymore and there is now a notice on the front door of Andrea’s house to say it is unfit dwelling until the grounds and house get checked so Andrea and the family are staying in a motel until they can get back in the house.
The day before easter, I took my grandchildren fishing when I got bitten twice on the ankle by a white tail spider (as we call it in NZ. It is a spider with a white spot above the tail and it is very poisonous). I didn’t notice anything strange at first but then after a day or two, my foot so swollen I couldn’t get my toes to touch the ground. The two bites were infected by now and they were very itchy. I was given antibiotics on the last day before I left NZ and was worried about coming back to China with it but it is getting better now.
The trip back to China took me a total of 25 hours. By the time I arrived back in Yang Chun, I had taken a taxi, two buses, a plane, train, ferry and san-ren-che. It was a long trip. When I arrived back at the Children’s Home, the babies were all well and the staff are all good. No big major problems. God bless, please keep praying for us.