On May 12, 2008, a magnitude-8 earthquake hit Sichuan, resulting in major disasters and staggering property losses. Over 100,000 people were killed and injured. Seeing the shocking scenes of grief and tragedy that were transmitted by TV and Internet reports, overseas Chinese flocked to donate money and offer help. The Go and Love Foundation also contributed to the disaster relief fund immediately and made close connections with Sichuan local co-workers in the post-disaster reconstruction institutions. At the same time,

the Foundation also decided to mobilize brothers and sisters in North America to participate in the disaster-area housing reconstruction service.

More specifically, the Foundation dispatched a housing reconstruction team from USA to Mianyang, Sichuan, to help rebuild houses in this earthquake disaster area from April 16 to April 28, 2009. The team was composed of 10 people from Parkside, Chagrin Falls, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Milpitas and Mountain View, California.

I led this team of nine brothers and one sister, who became the jewel of our team. Only one other member of the team could speak Mandarin, and the rest of the team members spoke English only. Among the team members, there were two construction contractors, one carpenter, and one church-maintenance worker. The four of them knew how to build a house, and the other six members could only offer labor in construction. The age span of the team covered all spectrums. I am the oldest; four members are middle-aged, and five are young. Several younger team members were so full of curiosity and fond of exploring around that they often went missing during our journey, constantly getting themselves in trouble and making it necessary for us to get a headcount regularly to make sure no one would be left behind.

The ten of us first flew to Shanghai’s Pudong Airport to assemble, and then we took a late flight to Chengdu. Thanks to a local brother who came to the airport to meet us, although we were physically exhausted, our hearts were filled with joy, when we saw hospitality of friends in such a distant place. We were happy to see our luggage arrive safely with us. At noon the next day, we each ate a bowl of beef noodle soup, which cost the equivalent of $1 USD. Locals said it was not spicy at all, but our tongues were so numb from the spiciness of the soup that we could hardly speak.

Our team spent several days participating in light-steel-framed-house construction. On the first day, we rented two four-wheel-drive SUVs and drove three and a half hours on a bumpy and muddy mountain road to Yuli, a town hit hard by the earthquake and located at 2900 meters above sea level. We drove all the way up the mountain. The poor road conditions made the driving very risky. So bumpy was the ride that one minute our heads would ram into the roof, and the next minute our buttocks would bang against our seats, followed by our incessant groans. A local brother and a young sister from the Yao ethnic group accompanied us to Yuli from Mianyang. The sister’s English was not very good, but her singing was wonderful. Together we sang songs and exchanged language lessons. These happy moments made the danger and hardship of the trip insignificant for us. When we finally arrived in Yuli, our backs and bones ached as if we had been treated for three hours by an incompetent massage therapist.

After a delicious organic lunch prepared by the villagers, we began to work. In the courtyard, there was a light-steel-framed house with external walls already set in and an unfinished interior. There are four advantages of a light-steel-framed house: It is easy to build; its construction time is short; its cost is low, and it is earthquake-resistant. The mountains surrounding Yuli produce bamboo, which is a low-cost building material. External walls of the houses in Yuli were built with bamboo, but the bamboo was freshly cut and untreated, making it susceptible to mold and worm damage. As a result, it can last only for a maximum of three to five years. Our task was to help solve this problem by enabling the bamboo walls to maintain a lifespan of ten to fifteen years.

Fortunately, we came well prepared. The day before, at the hotel, our experts did research on the Internet and agreed on a solution. Now after confirmation at the scene, we offered the solution to the local brothers. They were very happy when they heard about it. We felt that it was a worthwhile trip and that our long and hard journey paid off. We visited a temple commemorating DaYu on our way down the mountain, and discovered that Yuli is the hometown of DaYu.

The following two days, we went to Shifang to help the local villagers build a light-steel-framed house. We participated in erecting the steel frame, placing beams, pouring cement, moving bricks, and building brick walls. There was only a lot of steel frames laying on the ground at the time of our arrival. But at the time of our departure, the house already took shape, and one of the walls was almost completed. What with the rugged ground of the construction site, as well as the heavy and sharp steel beams, we could have easily got ourselves injured if we hadn’t paid attention. Despite this potential risk and heavy sweat streaming down our exhausted bodies, however, our hearts were filled with joy and thanksgiving. He not only used us in the reconstruction of the disaster area but also guarded our safety. We all were reluctant to leave and wished that we could stay for two more days to complete the house.

On the last day in Mianyang, we were invited to a nearby kindergarten to teach English. To prepare for this task, we specifically requested a young brother to be responsible for developing teaching materials before we started the trip. We divided more than 100 lovely children into five classes, and each class had two of us as teachers. We used varied methods in teaching the children English letters, numbers, children's songs, and so on. Additionally, we taught them to play musical instruments, and we also played games with them. We all enjoyed the experience so much that we didn’t even want to stop. The school’s principal assigned a teacher to each class to maintain order, so the teaching went very smoothly. At noon we had a communal pot lunch at the school. It was a special experience for some of us to eat dishes contained in buckets.

In the afternoon, the school arranged some performances by the students, teachers, parents, and the community’s ancient Chinese music orchestra. We all enjoyed the entertainment together. Afterwards, we reciprocated their wonderful performances by singing three songs. One of them was a song we taught the children that morning, so we invited the children to join us. As we were singing and dancing on the stage, with the children following along off stage, we could see that their parents were enjoying our performance in great delight, and their enjoyment made us perform even more heartily. At the time of our departure, we were all reluctant to part with them, and we hoped that in the future we would have more opportunities to meet these adorable children again. We also especially thanked Principal Wong and her father for their warm hospitality.

On the way back, those adorable children and their angelic smiles lingered on our minds. Vince, a young American brother who had been seeking direction in life, found that the children liked his class very much, especially when he played guitar to accompany the songs. Through this volunteer service, Vince was greatly encouraged and moved, so much, in fact, that he resolved to dedicate his future goal to bearing witness by teaching foreigners English. We were all very happy for him and thankful to Vince’s big family at Parkside and to our Father for giving him this opportunity.

One more interesting event is worth recounting here. Two young brothers went shopping in Mianyang one night. They bought two cute folding bicycles at a very cheap price and planned to bring them back to the States. The next day, we heard that the local co-workers lost two bicycles about a week ago. These two admirable young brothers thought for two days and decided that the bicycles were not easy to carry when added to their other luggage, and it would also be inconvenient to travel to several other cities with the bicycles. At this time the Holy Spirit may have done the work, for they decided willingly to donate the bicycles to the local co-workers. This really was a wonderful event. We offered our thanks to Him for this act of kindness and for the safely return of all of us.

This housing reconstruction service promoted physical and spiritual growth among our team members; brought love to Sichuan; and, together with local co-workers, provided material and spiritual service to people affected by the disaster. The Go and Love Foundation will continue to provide similar services next year in other areas. The services include housing reconstruction, summer English classes, kindergarten classes, and other classes. We welcome you to participate.