China Trip 2009 update...

I thought I would update everyone on our China orphanage trip that is coming up next week. We are leaving Thursday, July 2, and have been planning for our third trip to the Chaoyang, Liaoning orphanage. However, it seems that H1N1, otherwise known as Swine Flu, had a different idea. The province we were to visit has had 10 confirmed cases of the swine flu, supposedly brought back by students visiting the west, and the provincial government recommended closing orphanage to outsiders. We were told that the orphanage director petitioned for permission on our behalf, but was turned down.

Fortunately another orphanage has opened up their doors to us. The Jiangxi province has not had any documented cases, plus it is a much poorer region, and so their restrictions are fewer. We will be working in the HengFeng SWI (social welfare Institute). We have never been to this part of China, so are looking forward to seeing a new area, but not looking forward to the heat and humidity of the south at this time of the year. Actually we are very thankful that doors opened up at such a short notice, as the situation could have been much worse. We are very disappointed that we won't be able to see the "Faces of Chaoyang," but know that God has great plans for us.

Please keep our travel in your prayers, as this part of the trip can be quite complicated. We anticipate having our temperatures taken while still on the tarmac in Beijing, and have also changed our trip itinerary to allow for extra "quarantine" days in Beijing, just in case. Usually we site see at the end, but it made sense to add it to the beginning as a precaution. Also, check back here daily, as we plan on blogging our journey, but we have also been told that when the hotel in HengFeng has the air conditioning on, the Internet doesn't work. This could be interesting....