China - Day Four

Some of the city names I have been told to omit by The Salvation Army. This is to keep the precise region we were were working in confidential.

Day Four

We began the day off in Hong Kong. So before we went to the airport I made my way down to what has become known to me as the universal language--basketball.



I found out that ten feet in the US is ten feet in China.

Later that day we boarded the plane for kunming. After about a three hour flight I was on the ground in mainland China. We flew into Kunming. There we were met at the airport by Jerry the projects officer. The rest of the development staff met us at dinner that night.

From my journal:

"After dinner I was ablet to lean back in my chair and have some personal conversation with Puisi. She is the director of development for The Salvation Army in China. She is an incredible woman. Until the age of 29 she had not received a degree. She went from Hong Kong to Australia to study. While there she attended an anglican church. She was not impressed because the status of church members and what they did for a living was a very big deal. She wanted religion that was practical to her. She gained a degree in nursing and later a Masters in public health. She began attending The Salvation Army corps and became a soldier. She went to work for world vision. She worked for them for several years but The Salvation Army came looking for her. Since she was a soldier she agreed strongly with the mission of the army. in 1997 she started work in Kunming China. She was the army in all of China. One person among a billion. That is the spirit of this woman. She knows she can make a difference. It is to her credit that today there is a staff of 10 in Kunming and 8 in Bejing."