China biking trip creates unforgettable memories

The 35 participants in Zion Lutheran School’s recent trip to China are all in different stages of recovering from jetlag. They would all agree that a disrupted sleep pattern is a small price to pay for the incredible memories created in their 12-day biking trip to rural southern China.

Some of the memories include: participating in the rice harvest, seeing fields of sugar cane, impeccable vegetable gardens, 155km on mountain bikes (and sore rear ends!), water buffalo, school visits, smiling faces, Gold Mountain houses, nine-course Chinese dinners, temples, pagodas, the delicacies at the Taishan wet market, Stanley Market, Fat Angelo’s Italian food, KaiPing Middle School exchange, interviewing rice farmers, a foot massage, a wheelchair presentation, rural villages, basket weaving, squatty potties, journal writing, red shirts, hotels, host families, church in Chinese, sunsets, Mr. Jesse going head over the handle bars, exhaustion, exhilaration and a whole lot more!

Highlights of the trip included having the opportunity to meet ten of the high school students for whom Zion Lutheran School is providing three-year scholarships. It was particularly insightful to visit five of the Chinese students in their homes, enabling the participants to see firsthand the realities of the students’ home lives. In Deqing, the students were able to present a wheelchair to a crippled man living in a remote village. The funds for the wheelchair were raised by Mrs. Roesler’s second grade class’s “Chores for Change” project. Their efforts brought much joy to the whole family!

The group was blessed by the opportunity to explore a different culture and share a bit of love along the way.