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Over the River and Through the Woods
Sunday the 16th of June.
Today, John and I hiked 14 kilometer over the hills and through the woods to another city. It misted and rained pretty much the entire time— a wonderful alternative to the heat stoke we would have suffered had we hiked on a sunny day. It was the same trail I explored last month. This time the trail seemed to slip by unnoticed as we lost ourselves in conversation.
John, at 71, keeps a pretty mean pace. If Christ doesn’t come first, I hope I am this mentally and physically active at his age. As we walked along he told be about his new aspirations for creating a series of English teaching videos and getting a Chinese university to produce it. This would just be another project added to the many that he has started and passed along during his ministry. Neat to see someone who is willing to imagine and then create. And one thing is for sure, there is a lot of room for imagining and creating in China. That is one of the exciting things about pioneering.
John has been in and out of China since the 70s. He co-founded China Hope channel. He lead out in radio ministry for a time and just about anything else you can imagine, he has done it. The mission field has a way of calling out of you more than you realized you were capable of. God uses what is available and does great things. A missionary has to learn how to be malleable clay in the Potter’s hands.
China is still a home for the pioneers, the Paul Bunyans, Robinsons and Crusoes and Johnny Appleseeds; the builders, the explores and the planters.
The trail meanders its way up and down the hills, through the forest and by quiet streams. The water was pure and transparent, giving a real sense of undisturbed wilderness. For a large section of the trail we only saw two people. What a blessing to find solace so close to the city. The trail that we followed met up with a large pathed trail, which traverses more than 100 kilometers.
Once a year, teams of four race all 100 kilometers. They only finish if the entire team crosses the line. They start on Friday and walk through the night, steering off the trail for a short catnap, whenever exhaustion gets the best of them. They have until Sunday to complete the distance. It sounds intense!
On that particular section of the trail we passed large groups of mountain bikers and walkers. It’s obviously a very popular route.
We arrived at our destination about 4:30 hrs after leaving the house. We entered the bustle of the city and wandered around, half looking for a place to eat and half looking for a bus to get home on. We found the bus first.
We became keenly aware of our unpleasant scent as we entered the bus and did our best to find a less occupied area before sitting down.
Arriving at home, we took quick refreshing showers and sat down for a nice lunch of flavorful rice and veggies that Coney had whipped together.
Happy Father’s day!
