This is the second issue of my series called “Revisited” where we go back to the countries I went to on The World Race to see how God has been working around the world, whether we are there or not. This issue is about “Big Red” (Summer Olympics ’08), for the month of November. Let’s go…
Hong Kong à36 hr. train ride àCity of the Bronze Horseàbus rideàCity of the Crooked Eyeàcramped SUV rideàCity of the Fire Dancersàbus rideàCity of the Blowing Hornàbus rideàCity of the Silver Stars and Swansàbus ride backàCity of the Bronze Horseà24 hr. train rideàBeijingà24 hr. (miserable) train rideàHong Kong
Phew! One way to describe this month is “Rock Star.” It was like being a band on tour, staying here and there for a few days, then packing back up and settling, getting to know a few people here and there. There was our amazing brother, The Shark, and his wife. There was Peter and his wife. The high school kids we met on one of the buses and their many friends. So many smiling faces that we will never forget.
Though I can’t go into too much detail for security reasons, I do want to tell you a little bit about The Shark. He grew up in a different country, and he does not speak even a tiny bit of English. But we could hear the passion in his voice even before his words were translated. He had been given a huge gift from The Lord several years ago: a giant heart for the people of “Big Red.” His passion for young people to come to know Jesus Christ was inspirational, and really gave us a desire to support him and help him in his ministry. And it was a pleasure to pray for him and his wife, as they had been trying to have a child for a while now. So you can imagine how excited we were when we heard, a few weeks after we left “Big Red,” that they had become pregnant shortly after we left! God is blessing The Shark in big ways as he continues to serve The Kingdom. Please pray protection, safety, and boldness over this family, our brother and sister.
Peter and his wife were really fun to hang out with. We just happened to meet up with Peter one day as we were eating our usual beef noodles. He took us around town to show us all of the historical things, and even took us to a few Muslim temples that were over one thousand years old! He was able to get us into a few high schools to speak (and sing “My Heart Will Go On”) to hundreds of students (who looked at us like celebrities) where we tried our best to expose the students to the gospel. We had a traditional dinner with Peter and his wife, where they named all of Team Karis with “Big Red”-ese names! My name is Dai-Bau, meaning first treasure (Brandon was named Ar-Bau, meaning second treasure, haha). It was great to meet this man and woman, and we continue to pray that The Lord will reveal himself to them more and more through other Christians in the future.
Our time in “Big Red” was difficult, as it was hard just to find an English-speaker, let alone tell them about Jesus Christ. But we realized that this month was about more than evangelism. We learned how to intercede for people in prayer, and how to really become intimate with our God. And as a team, we learned through brokenness and helplessness that we need each other as a team. November was the month that Karis really became a family, willing to put ourselves at the bottom of the totem pole in order to serve and love and care for each other. Overall, as hard as life was in “Big Red,” with sickness, frustration, and fear, we grew in ways we never expected, and we had a blast becoming brothers and sisters along the way.
Actually, one year ago to this day, I was celebrating my 23rd birthday with my team! 
We had to travel back to the City of the Bronze Horse to meet back up with the other teams before heading to Beijing, so we were blessed to have some amazing food from The Shark and his wife, as well as watch one of my favorite movies, “Hook.” That will certainly go down as one of the best birthdays I have ever had (right after my He-Man themed birthday…). And it was made so good by my brothers and sisters from G Squad.
Though I do not see myself returning to “Big Red” anytime soon, I still have flashbacks of all of the good memories of being there, and I remember all of the good things God is doing even when He’s not legally allowed to do it.
Thanks for reading.
