Due to my team’s delay getting into China because of visa issues, we spent the first 2 weeks of December in Hong Kong, rather than spending the whole month in mainland China.
The following dates and details outline my two weeks in mainland China. The names of the cities are abbreviated instead of written out for security reasons. You will get the picture pretty quickly that for most of my time in China I was on a bus, train, or subway…sigh.
December 18
- Left Crossroads in Hong Kong at 6:15am
- Bus to Tuen Mun MTR station
- Subway from Tuen Mun to Lo Wu (1 hour) to cross the border into mainland China
- Train from S to GZ (1.5 hours)
- Tried to get train tickets to KM, but didn’t get them in time for the 2:00pm train
- Train from GZ to GZD (10 minutes)
- Tried to get tickets for the 3:45pm train, but could only get 5 tickets instead of 7
- Metro back to GZ (20 minutes)
- Got tickets for the 9:10pm train to KM
- Train from GZ to KM (26 hours)…I slept for 23 of the 26 hours
- Arrived in KM around 11:30pm
- Ashli thought she lost her sleeping bag, so we searched the car where we were and finally found it under a bed on the floor (thank you, God!)
December 20
- Left the train station a little after midnight with nowhere to sleep overnight
- We were approached by several Chinese women offering to take us to find a hotel (they get commission if they bring customers in), but we made our own way to find a hotel for the night
- Found a McDonald’s after checking into the hotel and ate our first “real” meal in over 24 hours
- Back at the hotel and in bed around 2:00am
- Woke up at 5:00am to shower and be packed to leave the hotel by 6:00am
- Bought train tickets for the 8:30am train from KM to D (7 hours)
- Arrived in D late afternoon and took a bus to our destination (45 minutes)
- Met with our contacts and got briefed on our assignment for the next 3 days
- Assembled packages for the gift drop mission
- Went to sleep in real beds!
December 21
- Left our lodge around 7:45am
- One hour bus ride to the D bus station, and then a 90 minute bus ride to B
- Searched for a place to stay for our 3-day excursion. With the help of translation books and hand signals, the third hotel we found gave us a room.
- Settled in the room (all 7 of us) and found food for lunch
- Headed out into the rural parts of B to drop the packages we assembled. Each package had a DVD of the Jesus film, a tract explaining the Christmas story, and a booklet that answers common questions about the Christian faith all in Chinese
- We spent the afternoon trekking through the villages meeting people and slipping the gift packages into obscure locations so that they would not be found until after we left
- Enjoyed a meal in the home of a Chinese couple who were very welcoming and kind to us even though we could barely communicate because of the language barrier
- Took a tuk-tuk back to the city of B at the end of our day and then walked to our hotel to crash for the night
December 22
- Day 2 of the gift drop mission
- We headed out in the morning to get started, but I succumbed to traveler’s diarrhea and had to return to the hotel for the day (miserable!)
- The rest of my team ventured further into the rural mountain villages and dropped more gift packages
December 23
- Last day of the gift drop mission
- Another day of hiking through villages, meeting the Chinese men, women, and children
- We were treated to apples, oranges, peanuts, and sugar cane
- Successfully dropped over 150 packages to plant seeds of faith and spread the Gospel in the far reaches of southwest China
December 24
- Packed up and made our way back to D by bus (90 minutes)
- Arrived in the city of D and made a shopping trip to Wal-Mart!
- Bus back to our base (45 minutes)
- Time to celebrate Christmas! We had a delicious dinner and some wine together as we recounted our adventurous journey and laughed about all the ridiculous things that happened
December 25
- Christmas morning! Packed and ready to leave at 7:00am.
- Bus to D (45 minutes)
- Train to KM (7 hours)·
- Waited at the train station for 5 hours and ate McDonald’s for Christmas dinner (pathetic)
- 9:50pm train to Beijing (40 hours)
December 26
- Train ride to Beijing (40 hours continued)
- Slept, ate, sang songs, played Mafia, read, watched a movie, and prayed
December 27
- Arrived in Beijing early afternoon (40 hours complete!)
- Tried to get taxis to take us to our hostel, but the drivers kicked us out because our bags were too big (this was all very dramatic)
- Attempted to buy subway tickets, but couldn’t figure out which line to take
- Started walking to get a bus to the hostel, but a kind Beijing volunteer asked us if we needed help and he led us to the right subway station (walked for over 20 minutes with all our bags)
- Subway- switched lines and then got to Qianmen station (30 minutes)
- Walked another 20 minutes to Leo Hostel and collapsed of exhaustion
December 28-31
- Enjoyed Beijing despite the frigid temperatures
- Visited Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, the Pearl Market, and delighted in a few trips to Starbucks
- Spent time with all of my iSquad friends and got plenty of rest
- Rang in the New Year with our own countdown because no one else in China was celebrating
January 1
- Packed up and flew from Beijing to Seoul to Manila! GOODBYE, CHINA!
Needless to say, the majority of my time in China was spent traveling. But God still used that time for me to read, journal, listen to music, and grow closer with my teammates. We even made some friends during our travel days and were able to have some conversations. People were eager to practice their English with us!
Our three days of ministry was memorable and meaningful. I love thinking about those people who may have or may still be finding the gift packages we hid in their villages. I pray those packages are opened and that Jesus is discovered and accepted. His love changes lives, and I hope the message is spreading throughout those villages we visited as people share the DVDs and the booklets. We may never know how our visit through the mountain villages of B impacted the kingdom, but I pray it is for eternity.
