Beginnings
Before I went to China in 1987, I knew nothing about the country; I knew it had a long history and a deep culture and that it had been closed for a long time, but I didn't really know why. I had never traveled abroad beyond limited excursions into Canada and Mexico, though I had done a fair amount of travel in the US, But when it was announced that there would be a fact-finding tour in China to explore possibilities of WMU conducting tours of China, focusing on the areas where Lottie Moon had worked, I knew I wanted to go. Gratefully, I was one of the staff members selected. This trip changed my life.
In summer 1987, WMU, SBC, conducted a fact-finding tour in China to explore possibilities of organizing tours of China for the purpose of seeing the places where Lottie Moon and others ministered in Shandong Province, worshipping with Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ in churches reopened after the Cultural Revolution, and gaining cross-cultural understanding of China, a country with a long history and deep culture, but which had been closed for many years and was now opening up to exchanges with the rest of the world