Once we had completed the cultural exchange program Team Awaken chose to do an ATL (ask the Lord) for our remaining time in China. We had about 10 days before we were to rendezvous with the rest of the teams in Beijing, so we set to work seeking the Lord and His plans for our time in China.
We met as a team each morning and evening to share what the Lord had been speaking to us as individuals and as a team. I felt that the Lord was using the time as a time for healing and refreshment for both myself and other members of the team. We had been on the race for roughly 6 months and had been going, going, going and it was the perfect opportunity to settle and remember why He had led us here.
As we sat in one of the first team meetings I was struck by the way my teammates operated so fully in the spiritual realm. The majority of the time I am a black and white, physical person. I was not experiencing the full manifestation of the Holy Spirit and was frustrated with myself and asking the Lord why I was unable to hear and see some of the things they were experiencing. His answer came in the way of Ezekiel 3. I had read days earlier about Ezekiel and his calling to be a prophet; when he was called the Lord silenced his lips and asked him not to speak again until he was released.
I felt that the Lord was calling me to the same kind of obedience. His quiet whisper came and revealed that it is impossible to operate fully in the spiritual when I am so busy talking in the physical. This may come as a surprise, but I am a pretty chatty person. ☺ I like to talk, I process things verbally, and I love interaction with those around me. The call to be quiet came as a surprise to me, but also as a revelation. I was having trouble hearing properly when I was so busy talking.
So the Lord shut my mouth. For about 48 hours. The longest 48 hours of my life. I would never have dreamed it would be so difficult to be quiet. But the Lord moved so powerfully those 48 hours that I would gladly do it again.
The first morning of my quietness I decided to join a teammate on a trip across town to a local campus. Our mission was to get a feel for the spiritual climate on the campus and see if we could build relationships and do some ministry while we were there. 
Instead of chatting with Elizabeth and commenting on the sites, the people, etc…while we traveled across town I found myself praying for every person on the bus with us. I found myself waiting for the prompting of the Spirit before acting and began to see with my “spiritual eyes.” We arrived on the campus and instead of commenting on the clothes the students were wearing, what they were eating, and how cold it was, I prayed for the Spirit to lead us to specific people, I prayed for the campus, I prayed that the chains that bind the Chinese people would be broken. Slowly, as the day went on I was operating in the spiritual realm that I so often missed. Praise God!
The Lord released me from quiet the next day, not without missing a call from my poor parents, but I learned so much about the heart of God in those hours. I learned how much I love to hear myself talk, how important words can be, and how the Lord longs to just have us sit and hear his voice. It was a time for my flesh to die and for my spirit to be fed.
I praise the Lord for those hours and am committed to “checking out” of the physical world more regularly.
One day in a fit of needing something Western and “normal” Jane and I set out in search of peanut butter. We were browsing the aisles of a local store when Jane came across 2 white people! This was most exciting as we were becoming lost in a sea of Asian faces. Becky and Matthew were truly a gift from God; not only did they point us towards peanut butter, but they also were missionaries working in China. 
They both taught English at a nearby boarding school and we became fast friends over Subway, American magazines and many laughs. We were so blessed by their encouragement, tour of the city and our first good Chinese food. Please pray for them as they use their love of the Lord as their weapon in a dark city.
Overall, our time in China was not at all what I expected, but the Lord was so faithful and gracious. I was thrilled to return to Hong Kong and some sort of normalcy, but I brought many valuable lessons from God with me.
Please join me in praying for the Chinese people, the missionaries serving there and for all of the friends we left behind.
