Day 6 @ Sweet Spring

Today was the last day of classes, we definitely had mixed emotions. On one hand we have finally arrived at the end of our week 1, on the other hand we knew this might be the last day that we'll see some of the kids (Not all the kids will come to church on Sunday). It was a half day session and thanks to pastor and pastor's wife, they actually took care of the whole program and all we had to do was to take pictures with the kids.



This past week was a rather memorable week. Getting to know all these kids was a wonderful experience. One of the biggest lessons that we've learned this week was that - even though most of the kids here are not coming from wealthy families, yet they are so joyful! They might never have what the kids in America have, but they might have what the kids in America do not have. No matter how tough and challenging this past week might have been for the team, it was a blessing to be in the life of all these wonderful kids....... for just one week of their lives.



In the afternoon the youth group of the church had a bike ride and a BBQ at a church member's house. Since we had no plans for the afternoon, we were invited to go with them. It has been a long while since both Syd and I had Taiwanese BBQ so it was a neat experience.

When we were given the choice to ride the bike or not, both Syd and I immediately chose NOT RIDING. We were then assigned to ride in a comfortable car with cool A/C. During one of the pit stop, one of our team members got too tired from riding the bike, then being a supportive pastor, I jumped in and offered to take over the bike. When I told Syd about my decision to ride the bike, there was a look on Syd's face which translated into, "Are you out of your mind?" The car took off without me and I joined the 20-people bike team and started riding.



Unfortunately the section that I was riding was the uphill part. Five minutes into the ride I was already tired. But how could I possibly have given up at that point? How embarrassing would it be? I convinced myself that I simply had to tough it out. Well, that didn't last long. I rode for maybe 12 minutes before I had to pull over and ask for someone else to take over. So there I was, took over for someone else thinking I was there to help. Yet, I quickly needed someone else to help me.



Here comes the even more embarrassing part. The car which Syd and I were riding in took off first and they stopped at a 7-Eleven to get some drinks for me. At that time Syd called me on the cell phone to see how I was doing. Well, I was doing just fine because by the time she called, I was already back riding in another car. So what is the moral of the story? Well, once you turn 30, don't try to do the things you used to do when you were 18.



Once arriving at the destination, we started a wonderful BBQ. There were a lot of food and also a lot of flies. While some people were cooking, others were busy keeping the flies away. And YES, the picture above shows all the flies that got stuck on the sticky paper. Imagine another three full sheets of flies. That was how gross it was.



It was definitely good to spend some time with the host church before we take off tomorrow. Can't believe the week had come to an end.