Here's a newsletter I've made for Australia about my experience in China last summer.
Dear people,
I, Joel Anderson, had a huge experience to visit China.
It all started when I was a teenager at 14 years old, I had
a passion for China. I was hoping to go there and this year of 2013, I already
did. It took me a few ways to practice speaking in Chinese for almost four
years and I persevered.
As my mom, Sandi, and I were preparing for the trip, we
worked so hard to support the people with disabilities in China and I had
confidence and a little overwhelming. We’ve had funding in our trip, including
sightseeing. Angela Neve, Janice Chan, Andrea Moriarty, Kim and Jon Bennett
were a part of this trip.
As we arrived in Jiaozou, China, we were a part of the
BEACON team to give the orphans with disabilities hope. The place in Jiaozou we
went to a special needs orphanage for children. There are lots of boys and girls. Some of them have autism, some who don’t
speak, and some were in wheelchairs, and most of the children want to have a
loving family and they want hope and to know about God.
We spoke to the caregivers, families, and students all about
our journey and we had a translator to interpret for us in Chinese. We
motivated the orphans with music and creativity and social skills. I gave them
more hope and love by painting murals outside the children’s’ rooms the
hallways on the top floor where the orphanage was. I painted lions, tigers,
monkeys, and pandas, as well as Noah’s ark and other animals in China on a
piece of fabric to hang on the walls.
Before I was heading for China, I had to paint the china
animals and Noah’s ark on long sheet of fabric. Kelly Greene helped me a lot
with the backgrounds on every fabric. We had made a great team on working on
the murals.
We had great sightseeing tours of the Great Wall of China,
Hutong Alleys, the Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. The
Great Wall of China was a challenge to lose weight by means of exercising by
climbing up from turret to turret.
We had fun getting around in China. We rode on taxis and rickshaws
and it was exciting.
We went shopping in the silk markets. I was looking for a
Chinese tang shirt. The color I wanted for the shirt is blue but we couldn’t
find it good and cheap enough so we bartered for a reversible black and red
shirt. Also we found a set of old Chinese coins and a fan with pictures of
Beijing on it. It was a difficult challenge to see which product in china works
best for me. So far I’ve bought a tang shirt, a set of chopsticks, a Chinese
chess set, a fan, and Chinese coins. What a lot of souvenirs I have!
We had a great adventure in China. It makes us feel special
that God used us.
