We received our first email from our team of young people heading out to Maria’s Big House of Hope to serve the children there!
By: Anna Haas and Caroline Greene
Thursday night the team met up in Newark where we ate dinner together and got to know each other. Then Friday morning we began our journey to Beijing. After 13 hours of flying we were greeted by Mikey Shook and Emily Richards who took us to Hope Healing Home. Upon arrival, Robin Hill gave us a tour of the home. We were able to spend some time with the babies before heading to the Mongolian style tents, called yurts, to sleep. 
Early Sunday morning, we attended an international church service and then spent the afternoon at the Great Wall. At the Great Wall, we all got our first chance at bargaining and practicing Mandarin phrases. Below is our first team picture at the Great Wall.
That evening we caught the overnight train from Beijing to Luoyang, where many of us had to embrace the squatty potties and very friendly fellow travelers.
This morning we arrived in Luoyang and came to Maria’s Big House of Hope. We will be here for a week and have many exciting activities planned. We look forward to getting to know each other better as well as the babies and nannies!
These are our awesome team leaders Katie and Wendy that have been doing an awesome job at leading our trip.
Please pray for the team while they are over there!
