Blogs

Top Hearted Posts

Ryan Roe Travels to China for a Mission Trip

by on ‎07-14-2014 11:37 AM

The day after Ryan's high-school graduation party, he left for China on a cultural mission trip with a group from our church. Our son, Eric, went on the same trip eight years earlier and had such a great experience. Here's Ryan's story:


 


"I’m sure it takes a lot of guts for a mom to let her son travel to the opposite side of the earth at my age, but luckily I’ve been blessed with a mom that has the guts to stand in front of millions of viewers every day.
I couldn’t be more thankful to have experienced the things I did in China.


My experience in China was exciting, humbling, and all together a life changing experience. Our team of 20 people traveled to Guilin, China in mid-June and stayed there for 18 days.


For the first week we visited many different English classrooms of freshman and sophomore classes at the Guilin University of Technology. We played games, shared our thoughts and ideas, and built relationships with the people of this magnificent country.


We spent so much time with the students visiting Chinese markets, famous parks, and even inviting the students to stay with us in our hotel at night. I’ve been very blessed to go to many of the places I’ve been to, but nothing compares to the connection I have with China because I’m not just a tourist to the students, but I have an everlasting friendship with many amazing people in China that has and will continue to prosper.


It was so encouraging for my Chinese friends and me to be able to open up to each other and share our hearts because of how we trust each other and we could see each other as God see’s every one of us on all sides of the world: his equally important and worthy children. Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers throughout the summer, and though I so badly want to go back, I’m glad to be back home where I belong."









Counting our blessings, 


Mary Beth and Ryan Roe