I'm Home

Well I made it home, safe and sound. The flight was good and went pretty quickly. I was so happy to get to San Francisco and see Chad. He was there with roses in hand for me, what a great husband I have! As expected I crashed within the hour of me getting home. I have been doing a lot of sleeping and I am sure that will continue for the next few days. Luckily I have a good 7 weeks to recover before I go back to work.
Saying goodbye to my teammates was really hard. We became pretty close during our 11 day trip. They are all very special people that will always be important to me. I came home from the airport to realize that today (Sunday) would be filled with MORE goodbyes. As some of you know our church has been preparing for a pastoral change. Two years ago our church, Los Gatos Christian Church, merged with South Valley Christian Church to become Venture Christian Church. Both senior pastors stayed on board for two years until a new senior pastor could be found. Well Chip Ingram will now be our senior pastor effective this Wednesday. Today was the last day for Pastor Galen and Pastor Dave. Both have played a big part in my walk with Jesus. Pastor Dave was the first pastor I came to know after I was saved at South Valley. Pastor Galen was there to greet us with open arms as we changed churches two and a half years ago. Both of these men are amazing examples of Christ and their sermons have helped me grow spiritually. We said goodbye to them today and we had a great service celebrating their many years of work in the church. It was hard because I am very excited to see was Chip will do in our church, but I will miss both of our former pastors very much. Pastor Dave will stay in San Jose but Pastor Galen will move to Colorado. I was very excited to hear that Galen's heart is find a ministry that worked with helping the hurting. This includes the widowed, the handicapped, and the orphaned! When I said goodbye to him I said I know exactly where your heart is because that is where my heart is also. I can't wait to hear what God does with him and his wife. Perhaps God will use me in a similar way. I would love that!
I miss China very much. A part of my heart was left there and I know that part will always stay there. I can't wait to go back!!! Anyone on board to go back with me?!
Thank you for praying for my safe return. I love you all very much!
Vanessa





This is one of my new shirts that I bought at the orphanage. On the front it says I Served in a Five Star Country and on the back it has James 1:27 in Chinese. I wore it home. At the Beijing airport a woman was reading it. She asked "are you Christian?" I said "yes I am." Under her breath she murmured "me too" while pointing to herself and nodding yes. She then showed her young son to show him that we were Christians just like her and her family. This was such a great example of how there are people who love the Lord in China but they have to keep it a secret. How blessed we are to live in a country where we can worship the Lord without fear of persecution.