Changsha

Hi!!! We made it to Chengsha. We had a great flight and are now in an amazing apartment. Thought we'd add another picture of us from yesterday. Yes, we are really standing on the Great Wall of China!

For those who don't know, we are staying with a missionary family in their spare apartment. They are with International China Concern here in Changsha. This is the same organization caring for Simon. They have two apartments here because they home school their kids. So, they offered to let us sleep in the guest room. Quite amazing. It has created a couple of problems. First, our guide didn't know where to go. Usually, all adoptive parents stay in hotels. Go figure, the Spricks would do something different. Also, she is not in a hotel nearby. Hopefully she'll be able to work something out in that regard. Finally, we need to register at the police station. The Chinese need to know where we are. Hotels normally do this for you, so. . . we have 24 hours and they are closed on Sundays. Go figure.

We are going to settle in here. The Reigers gave us some soup as well as bread, fruit, and peanut butter. Oh so sweet! Leila will meet us at 2:00 (that's 1:00 a.m. for all those in Eastern time zone) and hopefully we can find a bank that is open on a Sunday. Some banks are known for giving counterfeit money, so we'll just have to trust God on this one.

We'll probably post again before bed. I'll add a couple more picture of our adventures yesterday.

Prayer Requests

Pray that all the little details with us staying here fall into place.

Praise God for the Reigers and their hospitality!

It's Simon's last day at the orphanage, pray that he enjoys it and God prepares his heart for his new mama and baba.

Our lunch

The long flight begins: 13+ hours to Tokyo!

Gary begins his ride down the mountain.

We arrived at immigration in Beijing. Yes, I am a foreinger.