It's Sunday!

It's Sunday and we are off to church!  

We took a taxi this morning to Shamian Island.  Shamian Island is almost famous in the Chinese adoption community.  Years ago, the US Embassy was located there along with the White Swan Hotel.  Because so many families would stay on the island, it became very adoption-friendly.  It became known for its beautiful scenery, great shopping, and restaurants.  However, a few years ago, the US Embassy moved off of the island and the White Swan Hotel closed for renovations.  Today, most adoptive families visit the island to shop and sightsee.

We arrived on the island a few minutes before 11:00 and attempted to find the Christian Church.  The island was bigger than I had anticipated and we had a difficult time finding the church.  We walked for a while, trying to find someone who spoke English, and trying not to roast in the heat and humidity.  We finally managed to find the church.  We walked in and found it to be packed with people.  It did not appear that there was an empty seat anywhere.  Nevertheless, people slid down their pews to make room for us.  Josh, Abby, and I sat on one pew and Anita and Will sat behind us.  As soon as I sat down, I felt such peace.  How amazing that God is God, whether we are sitting at First Methodist in Albany or whether we are sitting in a church on the other side of the world in China.  And as I watched Abby listen to the prayers and music, I was overcome with emotion to realize that she may be hearing about God and Jesus for the first time in her life.  (Of course, my state of awe and amazement was quickly cut short as Josh poked me in the side and said, "MOM, this is in CHINESE....when can we GO???"). We stayed though the prayers and music and a bit of the sermon and then scooted out into the courtyard of the church to wait for Will and Anita.  All in all, this was an amazing experience....I am so glad we went!