Liz adjusted the strap of her backpack. “Well, here we are at our apartment building!” she said to the other China team members.

“Wow—that was an amazing observation. Are we really here, Liz? Thanks for letting me know. I would have walked right past it, even though the bus let us off at this precise address.” Richard hefted his suitcase and walked behind her.

“Not to worry, Richard— just check in with Liz for all your travel destination needs,” Liz laughed.


“Let’s see how well she gets us to Wal-Mart today,” Thomas joked.

“Save your breath, boys—I’m confident in Liz’s navigational abilities. After all, she got us through that airport, didn’t she?” Sandy said.

The group walked into the lobby. “Well, ladies, this is where we leave you. We need to meet downstairs in an hour for our orientation meeting. We’ll be finding out what we need to know to teach school here.

“Sounds like a plan, Richard—see you in a bit,” said Liz, as they turned to the
elevator.

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to be teaching English here in Dongguan,” Sandy said as they rode up to their apartment.

“And I didn’t think I’d be coming at all,” said Liz. “There were so many people who gave me money—some checks were big, and some just gave me a couple of dollars. You knew that Sunday was the deadline for our money to be collected. Well, I went to church that morning, but I didn’t have it all. I thought, this is going to be a very sad day. After a while, I said, “Lord, here I am in Your house. Instead of expecting to receive a blessing from You, I’m focussed on feeling sorry for myself. Maybe You don’t want me to go on the team this year.” Then, after church that night, just as I got into my car to go home, a lady came up to me and gave me a check. She said she was going to give it to me last month, but somehow it got misplaced. Then, this morning, she was sick and didn’t come to church. She thought the deadline was past, but when she saw me going to my car, she thought she’d at least tell me about it. The Lord brought in all of the money I needed to be able to go on this trip, in His timing, of course. He must have some amazing things planned for me in the next few weeks. I’d better pay attention so I don’t miss any of them!” The girls got to their apartment door, unlocked it, and went in.

“Wow—this is nice.” Sandy said as she walked through the rooms. “We have our own kitchen and bedroom.”

“Did you think we’d be sleeping on the floor?” Liz asked.

“Well, I just didn’t know what it would be like. Hey....I get this bed,” Sandy flopped down. “Ouch—these mattresses are hard, like they’re solid wood! How can I sleep on this for five weeks?”

“No more sleeping late for you, Sandy!” Liz laughed.

“Just because you’re an early riser,” Sandy threw a pillow at her. “I’m glad we have a day to explore before school starts. I do feel sorry for these kids, having to go to school in the summer.”

“Chinese parents really want their kids to learn English.” Liz said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Liz looked at her class of Grade 4 students, wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt, and gave a small smile. “Good morn-ing... my name is Miss O-wens and this is Miss Lew-is. We are your tea-chers for sum-mer school. Now, you say your name for us.” That sounds silly, like I’m talking to babies, Liz thought. But these students were used to hearing English spoken by Chinese, not Americans. They would have to get used to her accent.

“Tommy”... “Betty”...“Cinderella”... Liz and Sandy looked at each other but did not laugh. The kids continued, “Pink”...“Annie”... “House”... “Joanie”...“Fork”...“Harry”... “Frank”...“Jennie”. A girl at the back was crying.

Sandy walked to her desk. “What is wrong?” she asked.

“Teach-uh, she not want to sit by boy, only girl,” one girl said. Several others began talking at once, nodding and frowning. “Boys with boys, and girls with girls,” someone called out.

“Class,” said Liz, “I am going to leave you where you are. But, we are going to be in two teams. This side of the room will be the Awesome team,” she pointed to the right, “and this side,” she pointed to the left, “will be the Cool team. If your team is the most quiet, you will get a point. If your team is the first to be ready for work, you will get a point. If you speak in Chinese when you are supposed to use English, the other team will get a point. If both teams are noisy, or not ready, teachers get a point.” Sandy cheered and waved her hands. The students looked at her and laughed, then quickly looked at Liz. She gave both teams a point. “At the end of summer school, the winning team will get ice-cream.” She waited until the cheering stopped. “Remember, you must help your own team to win. Harry, I’m sorry that you are not listening to me. The Cool team just earned a point.” The students on Harry’s team began chattering in Chinese and frowning at Harry. Liz gave another point to the Cool team. Harry’s team stopped their noise.

After a break outside, the class wrote, in English, about themselves and their families. “Mom is very beautiful.” “Dad is very beautiful.” Sister is very beautiful.” “I like sun.” “I like toys.” I like candy.” Liz and Sandy saw many of the same sentences as they walked around the room.

“Please put down your pens,” Liz asked, and noticed the Assistant Headmaster had come into the back of the room, and was listening. Why was he there? Was he already checking up on them? She tried to sound confident as she continued. “What are some other words we can use to tell about people?” “What are your family members like—what do they like to do?” Liz and Sandy had fun laughing with their students about some of the new words they taught them.

“Now,” Liz said, “we are going to write your sentences again, but you cannot use these words: beau-ti-ful, very-y, good, like, mom, or dad. Let me see how different you can make them.” Before they had finished, it was lunch time.

Later, back in their apartment, Sandy collapsed on the sofa.

“What an interesting day!” She flung out her arms and closed her eyes. “I love our students, don’t you, Liz! I did have to get after Harry two times—he didn’t want to do any writing. I don’t think he wants to be here, do you?”

“Probably not,” Liz got a glass from the cupboard. “Would you like a drink?”

“Oh—yes please!” Sandy took the water from Liz and drank the whole thing. “Ahhh...that’s better—thanks. What did the Assistant Headmaster want? I was nervous with him there, but I saw him smiling after awhile.”

“I was too, at first—then I sort of forgot about him. I think he just wants to find out what the kids are doing. He’s probably visiting the classes that the boys are teaching, too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m glad we have some time today to go exploring—it’s nice to get outside, even though it is so crowded out here,” Sandy said. “Why are so many people carrying umbrellas? There are no clouds anywhere!”

“It keeps them cooler in the sun, and keeps them the girls’ skin nicer.” Liz said.

“Look at that family riding the bike. Can they get anyone else on it?” asked Tom while they waited for a taxi.

“Let’s see...they have a dad, a mom, and three kids...maybe they could fit a dog or two on there, but that’s about it, I think,” said Richard.

“Ohh—I want to ride one of those!” said Sandy, pointing to a moped. “Where do you rent one?”

“They’re like a taxi, only you sit on the back. Maybe we’ll rent them on the way home from the mall,” said Richard.

“Here’s a taxi now,” Tom said, opening the door. “Be sure to give him this,” he handed Richard a small piece of paper.

“Wal-mart, please,” said Richard, handing the paper to the driver. “Thanks for getting that name in Chinese, Tom. I know that the taxi drivers might drive us the long way if they think we don’t know where we are going. I don’t want to pay any extra money!”

“Richard,” said Sandy, as everyone settled in for the ride. “the Assistant Headmaster came into our class yesterday and stood at the back of the room.”

“Oh yeah—he’s been in our room a couple of times already.”

“What does he want?” she asked.

“Probably just wants to see what we are teaching his students,” said Richard.

Do you think he’s going to report us for talking about God?” asked Sandy.

“Not if we’re following the rules, and teaching about our country’s traditions, too,” said Richard.

“I learned a lot at our opening meeting. Wasn’t that funny about the kids’ names?” said Sandy. “Why would they choose the name “Fork” for their English name?”

“I guess they like the way a name sounds, though they may not know exactly what it means,” said Liz. “Remember when we were at The Great Wall last week? We saw a boy with a t-shirt that said, “Lovery is sharing an umbrella”, and another one said “Meels Knave”. I think whoever makes the shirts has tried to translate American, and people buy them just because they know it is American. They love things from America—especially coins.”

“And, don’t forget the two cans we saw...one said “Recycle”, and the other said, “Unrecycle”, Richard said.

“Pretty clear, though, I’d say,” said Tom. “I wouldn’t have a clue how to say it in Chinese.”

“Back to what we were talking about earlier...won’t it be weird teaching about Santa Claus?” said Sandy.

“Santa Claus...Santa Claus...who’s that? Oh—the guy in the red suit!” Richard laughed.

“Very funny, Richard!” Sandy frowned.

“It’s OK, Sandy. We can teach about Jesus’ birth, too, as long as we balance it with the story of Santa. Same with Easter—we can teach about Jesus dying on the cross as long as we teach about the Easter Bunny, too.” Liz said.

“So we can’t really witness to them, or tell them about our salvation?” asked Sandy.

“Only if they ask us,” Richard said. “And,” he continued, “There is the free-talk time in the evening for older students. They can come back to the school to talk to us then. Let’s pray that they ask lots of questions!”

“Hey—are you sure this taxi driver isn’t going the long way to the mall? I’m getting hungry!” Tom said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’m excited about celebrating birthdays today, and it isn’t even my birthday,” Sandy said, dropping the bags of supplies on the teacher desk.

“This cake sure looks different than the ones we make at home, especially with all of this fruit on top—I hope it tastes OK. I don’t think that this whipped cream icing is going to last long, though,” Liz said.

“That’s OK...it’ll taste good, I’m sure. Those party hats and noise makers were sure expensive, weren’t they? That’s obviously an American thing. Oh well, it will be fun anyway.” Sandy said. “There—everything is ready, and just in time, too. Here they come!”

The students crowded around the table, pointing and chattering. Liz sent them to their seats. “Harry, please sit down. We’ll tell you all about it when everyone is ready.” Harry slowly walked to his seat, looking back at the table.

“Today we’re going to show you how we celebrate birthdays in the States. I want you to tell how old you are, and when your birthday is, like this- “I am 9 years old and my birthday is July 2nd.’” The students laughed.

“Teach-ah, you not 9 year old!” said Harry.

“Oh, I know, Harry--I gave you an example.” Liz smiled. After everyone had finished, Liz continued. “Pink, Tommy, and Fork have birthdays during summer school, so we will practice singing a new song to them. It’s called, ‘Happy Birthday’. Listen while Miss Lewis and I sing it for you. Then we’ll do it together.”

After practicing a few times, Liz said, “OK, now when we get to the part that we put in the names, we’ll add everybody’s name. Let’s see how fast we can say them.” When they were finished, Sandy said, “I think we were doing more laughing than singing by the end! We’re going to eat now, and then play some games. We made you a special treat today-- it’s called Jello. You don’t have to eat it all, but I would like everyone to try it. So, please line up by the table, and you may have one piece of cake and some Jell-O.”

“Teach-ah, Jell-O funny!” said Annie, and the students laughed and nodded, sliding their plates quickly back and forth, watching the Jell-O wiggle and bounce.

“Class,” Liz said, “you need to stop poking and playing with it, and start eating it. It will melt.”

“Maybe next time we should have them make it, too.” said Sandy.

After cleanup, with the students back at their desks, Sandy said, “Miss Owens and I have a little present for each of you... it will help you to remember us when we are gone. But first, we’re going to look at the money we use in America. Does anyone know what this is called?” she asked, holding up a penny. After she had described and named the coins, Sandy said, “I’m going to give you the coins to look at. You must then hand them on to the next person. When all of the coins are back, we will give you your present.

“Look at the faces on the coin, Teach-ah!”

“Who are faces, Teach-ah?”

“Why is penny bigger than dime, Teach-ah?”

When everyone had asked their questions, Liz picked up the last of the coins from Betty. “Thank you, Betty. I see you handed them to me in the order of their value.” Betty smiled and looked down at her desk. “Now it’s time for me to give you your gift.”

“Yea!” shouted Harry, and the others turned to look at him. He mashed his hand over his mouth and frowned.

“Who can tell me what your gift is?” Sandy asked, after the coins were distributed.

“Quat-ah, Teach-ah!” the students called out.

“How much is it worth?”

“25 cent!”

“Very good. Please take good care of your gifts, and put them in a safe place. Remember, no one is to take anyone else’s gift,” said Sandy.

Liz said, “I’m going to teach you a new game that we play at parties in the States. It’s called ‘Musical Chairs’. First of all, let’s put all of our chairs in a circle. Harry, would you please stand up and put your chair in the circle? We’re going to play this game together....thank you, Harry. Now, turn your chairs around. I’m going to take my chair away and put it back at my desk, so I won’t have one. We are going to walk around the chairs, like this. When I say, ‘Sit’, everyone sits down on the closest chair. Will everyone get to sit down?”

“No, Teach-ah”

“How many won’t get to sit, Pink?”

“One, Teach-ah”

“That’s right. And, every time we stop, we will take out another chair. This time I’m going to play music. When the music stops, sit down. If you sit down before I stop the music, you are out. Let’s try it one time.

When the music stopped, everyone rushed to sit. “Oh-oh—looks like Cinderella is out. That’s OK, Cinderella—that was just a practice time. Do you have questions? Are you ready? Let’s go.”

Finally, the last two people were House and Harry. When House lunged for the last chair, Harry stomped off, scowling. “Harry, if you choose to stand over by the windows, you will miss out on the rest of the party.” He walked slowly back to join the others.

The day went by quickly, and soon the class was cleaning up to go home. Suddenly, there was loud yelling from the back of the room.

“Teach-ah, Julie take my quat-ah!” Harry screamed.

“No, Harry, I saw you put it in your pocket—maybe you forgot. Here, I will help you look for it,” Julie offered.

“No—you take quat-ah!” Harry yelled.

“Harry,” Liz walked back to him. “Let’s check your pocket first, then we’ll look in your desk again.”

He tried one pocket—no quarter. When he pulled his hand out of the second one, he had a smile and the quarter.

“You need to apologize to Julie for accusing her,” said Liz.

“I sorry, Julie,” he said.

“That OK, Harry—I’m glad you found your quat-ah. It was nice gift, wasn’t it?”

Harry nodded. The bell rang.

“Class, it’s time to go. Have a good afternoon. We will see you tomorrow,” said Sandy.

“Julie, may I talk to you for a minute,” Liz asked. Julie waited, twisting her backpack strap, looking down. “Julie, thank you for being kind to Harry when he yelled at you,”

“OK, Teach-ah...” she took a step back.

“You may go now,” said Liz, and Julie ran from the room.

Liz frowned. Julie seemed afraid, as if I was going to ask her more questions, she
thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Well, no one has shown up yet. I don’t think anyone is coming to Free Talk tonight—why don’t we just leave,” said Sandy.

“I don’t know,” said Tom. A door creaked, then slammed. Suddenly, an older girl came into the room.

“It’s Rose from our class,” said Richard softly. “Hi Rose. Did you come to hang out with us?”

“What is ‘hang out’, Teach-ah?”

“That just means to chill,” said Tom.

Rose frowned. “Tom is just trying to confuse you. It means that everyone sits and talks about different things...about whatever they want to talk about,” said Liz.

“Oh...yes...I think,” said Rose.

Tom and Richard talked to her about their class. Sandy and Liz told about the fun with Jell-O in their class. Rose she looked down at her shoes. Liz wondered why Rose had come...she didn’t look like she was enjoying the conversation.

“I...” Rose glanced at the open door, and lowered her voice. “I tell you I am Christian.”

“What! I mean, you are! That’s wonderful, Rose! I’m so glad you told us. When did you become a Christian?”

“Last year—I tell my cousin, Julie. She become Christian, too. She want me to tell you—she afraid to tell you.” Rose clasped her hands together, “Please do not talk to her about it. She will get in trouble with her family if they find out.”

“We won’t tell anyone, Rose. I’ve noticed that Julie is different from the other students. She is very kind...especially to a boy in our class named Harry.” said Liz.

“Yes...Julie pray for Harry—she say he need Jesus, too.”

“Yes, he does. Let’s pray for him right now,” said Richard. “Jesus, help Harry to become a Christian. Thank you that Rose was bold tonight to tell us about her salvation. Please give Rose and Julie strength to be Christians. Help their families to be saved some day, too. Amen.” As they lifted their heads, they looked straight into the eyes of the Assistant headmaster. Rose ran from the room.

“Welcome, sir,” said Richard. “Thanks for coming by. This is our Free Talk time. Was there anything you wanted to talk with us about?”

“Tell me what you believe about your God,” he said.

“Uh...well...,” Richard cleared his throat.

God, please help Richard to say the right things, Liz prayed. She felt like she had on her first day of teaching.

“...I’m glad you asked, sir. We believe that God loves us very much, and wants us to be His children. But we were born with evil hearts, and we can’t change ourselves. God had one Son, Jesus. He sent Jesus to earth to die and take all of our sins on Himself. But, we have to accept what Jesus did for us.”

“That very interesting. I like to hear more, but another time. Thank you for coming—you good teachers.” He bowed slightly, then left. The group looked at each other.

“Uh, maybe we should head back to our rooms now,” Tom said.

“Good idea,” added Richard.

The quiet group walked back together, each with their own prayers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t believe we’re leaving—I’m sure we just got here!” Sandy zipped her last suitcase.

“Mine will barely close!” Liz said. “I’m should have brought a half-empty one. I didn’t think that the kids would give us so many presents. Oops—I heard the bus honk—let’s go!”

“Oh—I hope I have everything,” Sandy said as the girls got on the elevator.

“I think that the blessings we got far outweigh anything we would leave behind,” said Liz.

“That is true,” said Sandy. Tom was in the lobby, waiting.

“What’s true?” asked Tom. “That I’m hungry already?”

“Oh Tom, how can you joke now? It’s a sad time—we’re leaving.” Sandy sniffed.

“Just wait till you get outside,” Richard said, taking some suitcases from the girls. “I’ll put these on the bus...you’d better say goodbye.”

“We did yesterday,” said Sandy.

“Well, go look.”

The bus was surrounded with their students. They saw Liz and Sandy, and surged around them. After a last round of hugs, the girls joined Tom and Richard on the bus.

As the bus rolled away, Liz nudged Sandy. “Look, they’re following us.”

One boy ran ahead of everyone else, crying and calling, “Teach-ah, I love you! Please come back!”

“It’s Harry!” Liz, said, tears streaming down her face. “Look—he’s holding up his quarter!” She waved frantically at the boy. “Oh Jesus, please help him to become a Christian.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hi Sandy, it’s Liz Lewis. I just had to tell you this over the phone. Remember the headmaster from our school in Dongguan? Yes! Well, Richard just found out that he accepted Christ!