The Ingersolls - Missionaries to China

Spring Greetings from China,

Some of you have already gotten the news that the Ingersolls have wandered off again to China, and like the last time, it happened rather suddenly.

Many of you haven't heard from us for a long time and a few of you have written asking what happened to us. Actually we are doing very well, maybe too well, because we never seem to stay in one spot long enough to getting around to writing. I think we have been to Ecuador a couple of times since you last heard from us, and now here we are in China. I’ll let Scott fill you in on a little of the background, and add a few days of my diary at the end to let you know a little of what we have been doing here. Scott has his own way of writing, so their may be some overlap, he gets a bit to wordy, but you can always throw it in the trash can.

China, Here We Come Again!

Hello from New Horizons School,

Life is just moving to fast for me these days. I just returned from two months in Ecuador the end of March, and in less than two weeks, found myself back in the land of the dragon, wondering if I was dreaming. If there was any doubt, the cool, drizzly overcast weather that welcomed us our first morning left no doubts as we stepped out of the airport hotel in Guangzhou, headed back to the airport to catch a domestic flight up to Changsha on the last leg of our trip.

Before leaving for Ecuadorthe first of February, Samuel Wang came to the house for a visit. He had just arrived from Chinato take care of some business for the school, and we were part of that business.

For those of you who don't remember, or didn't read our China Adventures back in 2003 when we were teaching English in Yueyang, Samuel Wang was our then next door neighbor who talked us into embarking on that unforgettable adventure, which has ultimately led to our being here at this time now.

Samuel's big burden back then, was to start a training school to teach Chinese young people the methods and give them the needed tools to evangelize China. With one point three billion people and most totally ignorant about a loving, caring God after so many years shut off from the rest of the world, it is no small undertaking to get the good news of salvation spread across this vast country. As you might imagine, it is going to take an awful lot of people to accomplish the job, and at present, with no official Adventist school in the country at any level, let alone a Bible training school, it seemed an impossibility, but now that has changed, and New Horizons School will be having its third graduation in a couple of months. The main emphasis of the school is evangelism, but other subjects are also taught. The ages of the students range from the mid-teens, too married families and already young people from the school are fanning out across the country sharing what they have learned, as well as supporting some of the many small home churches as opportunity permits.

Starting a school from scratch is no easy task, even if you have had the training for such an undertaking, and Samuel had no experience in such an endeavor, his first love is teaching, and he is one of the best teachers I know, but Administration? Finances? Construction? The list goes on and on, but somehow he is doing it all. Not without mistakes, and problems, there have been some real trials and heartaches, but this year there are over a hundred students from all over China, and five huge building projects are simultaneously going up and are at various stages of completion at this time with the church and adjoining building scheduled to be dedicated in July, and that is where we enter the picture.

Ingersoll’s Third Adventure to China from Herb’s Diary

April 8, Sunday

We were up just before six, dressing, loading the Mercedes, me watering plants etc. Instead of leaving at 6:30it was 6:50. Got to Arthur’s at 9:30and then took off for the airport. Got to airport in good time, breezed through all the hoops and was waiting to take off on the first leg of our third journey to China. Plane on time, which took us to St. Paul, Minn.We had miles to walk to where our next connection was to be and finally I asked a golf cart driver to help us which was a good thing for we had over another quarter mile to go and they were already boarding, which is typical travel experience. The plane took off on time with over 11 hours of travel on the first leg of our trip. All went well and we slept a lot and they gave us fruit meals each time supplemented with some food we had brought along. Since it was the next day when we arrived and even that almost gone I will jump to one almost lost day some where over the ocean.

April 9, Monday

Where did most of Mon. go during our travels? We arrived in Narita Tokyo and did not have a long wait before boarding our next plane to Guangzhou. The one nice thing is Daniel Butler was there to greet us and after such a long time renew our acquaintance. The last time we saw him was in Malawi Africa when he and Ellen came from Riverside Farms for a vacation and we took them up Mulanje and to the lake cottage. That had to be some time during 1978-79 over 29 years ago. He and Scott did a lot of talking, but I had a hard time hearing the discussion. That flight was something over five hours and we arrived there at 10:30at night. They took all our fruit from us, and all of Daniels soy beans he was bringing for the school to plant. Dan was hoping someone might be there to meet us, but no such “luck.” We learned that they did come but later. While at the air port desk they arranged for us to stay at the Air Port Hotel about 10 min. drive from the air port. They loaded all our katundu (luggage) in a vehicle and took us to our destination. We got a very nice room for $44. on the fifth floor. It was raining with a heavy sky just like we remembered China. We tried to get on the internet to contact Ellen and were successful in sending her a message asking for the phone number of our contact. Shortly after, our contact called us and said she was sorry for missing us, but she had our airline tickets for 2:00pmtomorrow. Shortly after that Ellen called. We finally got to bed sometime after midnightwhich was actually noonback home.

April 10, Tues.

I awoke early, 6:00am, while everyone else was asleep and did my routine of exercises and prayer. The rest stirred some time after 7:00. We wondered what to do about breakfast since all our fruit had been taken. But again not for long as the phone rang saying they were bringing us up our breakfast from the hotel dining room. The first trays delivered were very Chinese, steamed buns and all, but after a short time a tray of fruit arrived. After eating Dan and I decided to take the trays down to the lobby and I stepped outside to take a deep breath, and take a closer look at the weather. As I walked out the door, a young lady stepped out of vehicle and acted like she knew us, and it turned out that she did know Daniel for it was Ling Ling. She accompanied us to the room and we were later joined by her mother and other two sisters. Lovely people; the mother is or was a Bible Worker. They took us to the airport in two vehicles and saw us off on the last leg of our journey to Changsha. Esther’s brother was there to greet us and take us to the school three hours drive away. We stopped along the way to eat at a very nice restaurant. It was about 7:00then and we were all hungry. Today Scott broke his 100% raw food diet 13 days short of one year. We arrived at the school some time after 8:30. ready for a good night rest.

Being Stretched to the Limits

Some of you are probably wondering why in the world we are in China this time, and that is a good question, so I will attempt to explain.

Samuel liked the way dad landscaped our house and yard, and asked if he would come over to the NewHorizonsSchooland do the landscaping for the new school campus, particularly around the new church complex so things would be looking good for the dedication coming up.

To say dad felt overwhelmed with the prospect would be an understatement, and even at this time he is finding the project daunting. He has always enjoyed working with flowers and plants, but it has always been on a very small scale, and done slowly over a long period of time with plenty of time to think his way through each flower bed or rock garden. He took a year deciding on how to lay out the walk way leading to our front door, using a garden hose bending it this way and that from time to time to get just the right twists and turns before finally putting it in. Now he has been given several acres to beautify, with no machinery or equipment to work with except for a few primitive tools, namely shovel, pick, a type of hoe, and a piece of metal used like a machete (they don't know what a rake is). He does have hundreds of willing hands at times, but no way to communicate with most of them, and roughly two weeks to do the job. He has had to fall on his knees more than once and ask the Lord how in the world He got him into such predicament, but God always knows what he is doing, so it will be interesting to see what he pulls off this time!

A master plan is needed, but there is no plot layout showing the placement of the various buildings and roads, so he has resorted to drawing primitive sketches of the different areas to try to get some idea of what he wants.

Complicating the situation is the fact that construction is still going on. The church, his main concern, is still surrounded by scaffolding as they are installing the window glass, and preparing to repaint the outside.Bags of materials and piles of sand and gravel are covering much of the area he is to be working with. Several days of work bees have cleared up a lot of the broken brick and building debris scattered all over, and some of the piles have been moved. A large front end loader was brought in to level the hillsides and fill in the low spots, so things are happening, but again, one of the big challenges are the communication barrier.

I was asked to plan out the irrigation system, but until there is some kind of a plan and layout to know what is going where, it is not possible to install that yet either, so we are in somewhat of a catch twenty-two with time running out. We have told Samuel the landscaping is the last thing to be done and the construction has to be finished first, but I'm not sure that has sunk in yet and we are well on our way into our second week and only have two weeks to go before leaving, so now you have an idea of the challenges we are dealing with. There are plenty of side issues going on, but I won't get into that at this time.

There is one thing we do need and that is your prayers for the success of this school. The Devil is actively trying to destroy what is happening here which should come as no surprise, and a war is being waged behind the scenes. Without Divine intervention, very shortly this school could be brought crashing down. The one consolation is that God is still in control, but he has chosen to work through feeble humans that have their own problems and when poor choices and decisions are made, there are consequences to pay and lives can be destroyed in the process. So when you kneel beside you bed tonight or in the morning, or better yet, drop to them right now and pray for this one shining light in the vast country of China, asking God to bless this school and over rule in the destructive forces that are attempting to destroy it. The power of united prayer is our only help at this time, and you can be a part of it.

April 11, Wed.

Crawled out of bed at 5:00 a.m.I was groping around in the dark with my little book reading light when Dottie told me to turn on the light, which she then did for me. I had not wanted to bother her, but she was awake anyway. We had clothes piled around the room with no closet &few drawers to put anything. Esther had shown Dot a closet in another room with hangers so we started hanging things up and taking them there while putting socks and underwear in a shallow desk type drawer. Other things we left in our travel bags realizing we were going to be camping more or less for the next three weeks. We finally settled down to studying the SSL and prayers. We dressed, got water to drink from where we were shown and kept busy puttering around until 7:00when we went to breakfast led by Samuel. When we arrived at the dining room the students were already eating but stopped long enough to give us a big handclap welcome. We were lead into a little room off the dining room separate from the students. There we were given a big bowl of rice porridge, along with a banana, steamed bun, and finished off with an apple. It was good, but we are used to more fruit. Now what? Where do we go from here? By the way Scott and Daniel spent the night in a dormitory room together. Samuel took us all for a walk to see the church under construction as well the sight where the dorm, administration building, and cafeteria were being constructed simultaneously. Five new large building all going up since July of last year and now I am here to landscape them in less than three weeks including walks and roads; impossible! None of the buildings are completed as yet.

About then the police arrived and wanted to see our pass ports and write up a record of our presence. Shortly after that, Samuel guided the four of us into a class room where English is taught to meet with Samuel's brother in law, and another office chap to discuss why we were there and what we hoped to accomplish. Samuel dismissed himself to go teach a class. We were there until nearly noon while Daniel tried to explain his desire to make beds and desks for the dormitory by welding and shaping steel with the hopes the school could come up with a design to make it into an industry. They were not buying into the idea very easily. I said we were wasting our time just talking &would need to get some materials and demonstrate. At that point Dot and I dismissed ourselves and got ready for lunch.

Lunch consisted of three steamed vegetables with soup and rice and again the steamed rolls. D &I needed to nap while Daniel and Scott took off to the big city to find materials. As usual, I didn’t sleep long and got up while it seemed like Dot slept on and on. I went out three times and meditated while sitting next to the building in the sun occasionally checking on Dot who never woke up. Samuel and Esther were talking about their future when I finally broke in and told Daniel I needed some sort of a blue print to look over the lay of the land &buildings. We went to the office and made copies of a crude plan that really was not much help since it was not very accurate and then he and I walked over to the church grounds again to discuss the possibilities for beautification. It all looks overwhelming to me. We went across the road to the dorm that is nearly completed, Samuel thought that area should be laid out and landscaped now including drive, walks and all. He wants to bring in a large crew and I will just direct them as to what to do, no problem. Clean this area up put a tree there, some shrubs over there and presto it is all done in a few days. What is the problem? There is nothing really to it with my ability to visualize. The fact that I took over a year just laying out our short walk way at home means nothing.

I woke up at 3:30and started writing yesterdays activities about 4:30 so let me finish. Coming back with Samuel we were nearly to the gate when the chap we met with this morning stated motioning for me to follow him. We went to his office and with a translator showed me pictures of grass planted last month which we could purchase as sod. Actually that took some time trying to figure out where he was going. We talked with the young girl translating after we finished with the business at hand and got better acquainted. She teaches English and some other things. Then Dot and I came to the room to pray and figure out what we were really doing here. This is too fast a world for us! Samuel stopped by to say it was supper time. We told him we just wanted fruit but we could not find any so went to the dining room and ended up eating too large bowls of noodle soup again and didn't even get an apple. This diet around here tastes good, but does not meet our standard for health.

We came to the room and I got the computer out to start writing up our days of travel here. Dot was tired and went to bed around 8:00while I wrote for a while and also got sleepy so hung it up just before nine.

April 12, Thurs.

It was not a good night. We took turns getting up about four times each to pass water and in the process I finally have a bowel movement which was good. This traveling business can really get one out of routine. Scott and Dottie are having a problem with diarrhea and I am having just the opposite situation. Today it seems like I sort of fluffed off but not really. After breakfast that is served at 7:00 each morning I took the camera and decided to photograph everything that would need some landscaping. Wow! What a mess everything is with all the building still going on. There is no building completed, building trash in every direction. Anyhow Dottie went with me and when finished we returned to the room and downloaded my 48 pictures on the computer and scanned through them briefly. Samuel came and said he wanted to take a test and wanted me to sit in as a witness like I did once before and then signed papers stating I saw no cheating during the test time. So I finished washing out a shirt that was to dark to be washed with the other clothes Dottie put into the washer and went looking for Samuel. I had a book to read to pass the time but never found him. About the same time Esther erupted across the campus by the gate yelling at Samuel’s sister who is the gate keeper. You could hear her for a mile away I believe. I went to the back of the building and sat on a step facing the morning sun and started praying for Esther. I then moved to the little garden in front of the old building and sat on a low cement wall that circled a evergreen tree and started reading my book. Instead of Samuel finding me, Esther found me. She approached meekly and said, “Pastor, could I talk with you for a while.” I invited her to sit with me and asked what was on her mind. She proceeded to unload all her frustrations with Samuel and his relation. We talked to some length. Dottie came along and joined us fairly early into our talking. We had a prayer and she seemed to be a lot calmer. It nearly 12:30 and most people were finished eating, but we went and ate. After eating Dottie came to the room to read and take a nap. Scott was away on another trip with the men trying to find materials to make beds for the new dormitory. I only napped a few minutes like I do but I thought Dottie like the day before would never wake up. We seem to be behind on sleep of maybe it is turning our clock ahead 12 and turning our nights into day and days into nights is the problem. I went out and came back three times before Dottie finally came to life again. I keep trying to visualize how to landscape this place. It is Sat. night so I am finding it difficult to recall what we did that evening, but I think I went on the computer and was checking and reading mail. Anyhow, enough said for Thursday.



April 13, Friday.

It wasn't until this evening that we lived through Friday the 13th without realizing it and actually it seemed like any other day. Who came up with it being a day of bad luck? After breakfast I managed to capture Scott to join Dottie and me in going to the church area and do some brain storming for the landscaping. We stepped it off and did some possibility thinking. Scott pointed out some things I had not observed that would need special attention because of dirt level being different. What I want to do is make the one area into a park with benches scattered about so people can enjoy relaxing while waiting for church to begin or for a place to just meditate any tine they have free time for doing such things. We even talked about how a fountain would be nice. After lunch Samuel came to the cafeteria and said we needed to be leaving soon for Yueyang where we would be spending the weekend. I am going to bed and this will need to be finished later. It is 10:00 and we find ourselves going to bed earlier and waking up early. Dottie is already asleep.

We left just after 2:00 and needed to be at our destination not later than 3;30; wherever that was. Samuel started driving but realized we would never get there as slow as he drives, so Daniel took over and as Dottie said we flew. We were all hanging on for dear life as he hooted his way past pedestrians, animals and weaving his way through traffic. Even I felt he was taking some real risks more than once. He would have no problem in Taiwan. We arrived on time if not before. We ended up at the old city school Scott taught at during the week and all three of us taught on Sundays. Everything looked about the same but we didn't see anyone we knew, just hundreds of little kids dashing about since school was just letting out for the weekend. They are required to pick up, sweep, mop, straighten up desks, clean blackboards etc. so that all is in order for the new week. About the time we were looking for a toilet we heard someone shout from the fourth floor and start descending and dashing in our direction. It was one of the former teachers. Shortly after that Mrs. Xaio and some of the other teachers appeared from other schools they now teach at. We were guided into the old committee room we were so familiar with and sure enough there was the watermelon, bananas, apples and tea waiting for us. You have to be careful how much you eat at such times for you might end up in a restaurant 20 min. later with very little appetite for a twelve course meal. Anyhow it was exciting to see our special Chinese friends once more. We were there at least an hour waiting for people to arrive and then we loaded into vehicles. Both Mrs. Xaio and Mr. Lee have new Hondas now. We were taken to a fancy restaurant where they pushed two large round tables together to sit the 16 of us. We ended up with 16 different dishes being served. It was quite a feast, greasy and hot as in pepper. It was like being back in China again and as matter of fact we were. We loaded up again in the vehicles and true to form, headed for Kite Park as I call it which runs for a mile with palm trees, musical fountain that operates on weekends and special days under colored lights. There we walked again as we had done a number of times in the past. We were picked up at the far end just in time as it started sprinkling &raining almost immediately. From there we were carried to the Xaio home for more treats. After a short time it was time to go and this time it was to a hotel which was first class years ago but quite rundown now. The three of us were originally to stay in their home, but when all the Wang family were present plus Daniel Butler, that was too much. We were on the 14 floor high above the city. We were tired so did not waste too much time going to sleep in spite of the lumpy beds and dirty carpets.

April 14, Sabbath

Awoke early and packed up our stuff. We were notified that our friends were coming to take us out for breakfast. We ended up at a greasy spoon for noodles. The three of us declined and said we just wanted fruit. Mrs. Xiao disappeared and returned with watermelon, bananas, apples, white buns and something like angel food cake as well as a bean drink. Not in a habit of eating on Sabbath, our stomachs wondered what was coming in. We returned to the hotel with the idea of having a Bible study. We started with Samuel leading out when Mrs. Xaio came in with a lady and her child who wanted to meet us. After introductions Samuel started again from the beginning but needing to modify the language for the non Christians. At some point Mrs. Xaio left, then returned again with one of her students. We went through the process of introductions and picture taking again. This time Samuel closed his quarterly and Bible and said it was not a good topic for our group now so Pastor Herb, would you take over and share some thoughts on any topic you would like? Wow! that was a sudden turn in activity. Now I am on the spot so I started talking about spring time and what it means to the farmer who needs to prune fruit trees and vineyards and why it was necessary. Then I carried the thought on to removing thing from our lives that were keeping us from been good citizens or the kind of people others respect.

By this time it was time to go, but where we didn't know. Again we loaded into three vehicles and took off to see some the beauties of the town and then on to Mr. Lee's new school. From there we headed on roads that were familiar because we were on our way to the old school where we lived and taught. They now have nearly 4000 students of university age learning how to enter the business world such as airline hostess and receptionist, etc., all girls. We were invited to the reception room where they had watermelon, bananas and apples waiting for us, and then told us about the school and its operation. When we finished there it was Noon. We went out the gate and over to the little restaurant we so often frequented at Mr. Lee's invitation in the past. We must have had eight or more dishes but part of them were pork and fish. Our hosts were anxious to get moving again, but we wanted to walk down “Main” street and see how many old friends we would find. Being the weekend and noon, many of the little shops were closed and we only saw part of those we were looking for. Two of the most important people for me were not around. At the end of the street we had walked so many times before, we were picked up and whisked away to visit Mrs. Xaio’s new University under construction and in partial operation. From there we were taken to what was supposed to be some beautiful hills, all in flower, but they were not yet in color so all of us piled back into the old mission vehicle while the others went on their way. Before getting back to New Horizon School we stopped at a hospital to visit a couple who are teachers here. She just had a baby boy a few days ago. They were hesitant to stay in a private room because of the cost, but Samuel told them to go ahead and splurge, and the School would pick up the $8.00 a day tab. As you can see, prices are just about the same as those in USA???

On the last lap of our return we had a flat tire and no tools to remove the lug bolts. Since it was near a little town, someone brought an adjustable wrench, and helped remove the spare which was as flat as the tire on the vehicle. Just then a chap arrived that Samuel had called who was making the pews for the church. He had some old tools, but not the right ones, so he took the spare tire and Daniel to get it inflated. When they returned, they brought a lug wrench and installed it, but just as they were tightening the bolts, the spare started hissing and going down. When removed, we found a big cut in the side wall, so much for that tire! About then another vehicle arrived, it was the tire repair man, good timing! He took our flat tire back to the garage to be patched because of the big nail we had picked up. Eventually we were back on the road and got home about 6:00. Some went to a late supper but Dottie and I settled on two bananas and an apple which we ate in our room. That was the excitement for this Sabbath day, certainly different.

April 15, Sun.

We left home one week ago today but it seems like a much longer time. I keep waking up about 3:30 in the morning which might be the finish of my afternoon nap back home. From there on it was not good sleep. We got up finally about 5:45. At 6:15 Samuel asked me to join him for morning worship with the students. I hardly had my hair combed. As we were ascending the steps to the meeting hall, he said, “I want you to speak to them first.” “What! About what?” “Just share a few things on the topic you did yesterday.” We walked in and he said, “I have asked Pastor Ingersoll to share a few thoughts with you this morning,” with that, I was on. Are we back in China again or what? You always get such long periods of time to think through your thoughts! Then he spoke a few minutes and we went to breakfast. After breakfast Samuel came and said, “The students are all headed to the church to clean up around the building so you need to be there and tell them what to do.” “Really.” When we reached the church site, Samuel was speaking with the Contractor and asked me what my plans were for landscaping. We just arrived Tuesday night and saw the place Wednesday morning and after three days I needed a master plan drawn up for the landscaping of the Church, which I didn't have. Friday I was trying to find a program for doing something on the computer like “draw”, but I only had a “paint,” program, and the school had nothing. Actually my brain was blank as I stood there looking things over like I had done last week just getting orientated. Finally I took a few measurements again and came back to the room and spent the morning drawing a possible plan with a ruler and pencil somewhat to scale. Most of what I did was free hand however. Now I need to have Scott and Dan make observations. After lunch we came to the room and I spent some time catching this diary up to date and then had Dottie proof read it before E-mailing our trip from start to the end of yesterday to Abrams, Arthurs, &Clarks. Then we took a walk to the church to see what the students had accomplished. Just as we were going we met Apple one of the students who also teaches Chinese. I said that I thought all Chinese could already speak Chinese. She assured me like in any language there is always room for improvement. Her boy friend has come for a weeks visit. They come from up north. He appears to be very intelligent as well as being a good Christian.

Down at the work sight around the church there was a lot of brick and half brick lying around which need to be removed. The students formed a huge line from the back side of the church to the outside gate and passed the bricks two at a time along the line. Others started cleaning the orange orchard behind the church. Little equipment in much of China but lots of people power. Everything is so crude whether it is hoes, knives for slashing grass, or even brooms. Even the builders laying up the wall use a huge heave hammer to break up boulders into the right sizes. China makes all the modern tools to sell to us in the USA, but have very little up to date items at the grass roots of the common people. Much of the way they do thing is like the days of my childhood when certain tools were limited. The gap between the rich and the poor is far greater that in the US or Europe. Africa seems ahead of China in some ways when it comes to rural areas.

I wasn't sure I wanted to eat at supper time, but when I got started I couldn't get enough. We are not used to eating three times a day. Scott drove Esther to Yueyang to take Houpu back to school and to do some shopping. They returned just in time for supper. Well, that is it for this day so am signing off.