I’m back in Hong Kong and connected again to the internet! Praise God! I missed you all so much. Here is the entry that I wrote on December 15th.
Last night I was throwing up at the hostel. Tonight as I write this, I’m half sitting-half lying on my tiny sleeper bed on a train headed for Hong Kong (feeling better I might add). Above me lies another teammate and below me is someone I don’t know. Two feet across from me is another bed holding another stranger. I’m eating Ritz crackers like they are going out of style (comfort food of course). Squad C boarded the train at noon and will arrive tomorrow at 1pm.
This month has probably been the hardest month for me. China was nothing at all like I expected. My team was met with cold, angry stares everywhere we went. We were treated like oddities and felt like a sideshow at a circus. We were used to dirty roads but surprised by the constant spitting that took place. People hawked loud spit balls and blew their noses on the streets and no public area was off limits. Most babies clothing had a slit in the backside of their pants so that Moms could bend them over on the street and they could “drop a load”.
It was very cold outside and many of us got sick. To top it off smoking is huge there. A lot of the population lights up. Normally this wouldn’t bother me but we’ve been in a lot of confined spaces with smokers and it’s caused us many painful headaches and many breathing problems.
Wanna be a missionary? I guess I’m writing this so you’ll realize that it’s not always exciting, sometimes it stinks. If nothing else, it caused me to spend a lot of time crying out to Jesus and digging into His word.
Our main ministry for the first half of the month was helping students practice English, building relationships with them and talking to them one on one about the Lord. It was strange not getting to tell everyone what we were doing there but it would have put our contacts in jeopardy. So we were advised to go off privately and talk to students that were asking us about God.
The second part of the month we stayed with a newlywed couple from Mexico and a man from Peru. All three are missionaries and we woke up to worship with them every morning. We spent much time pouring into them and they took such good care of us. I will miss helping out at their restaurant and visiting with some of the locals.
Here are a few fun highlights of the past month….
1. A special Thanksgiving party with my squad complete with feathered construction paper hats and a thanksgiving skit.
2. Decorating a small Christmas tree and apartment (thanks to the friends we stayed with the second half of the month).
3. Yak pizza- Sounds gross but tastes so good. (Yaks look like really hairy cows).
4. Riding horses in the grasslands of a Tibetan village.
5. Seeing snow.
6. Climbing the Great Wall.
I will post pictures as soon as I’m given the thumbs up. Check out my teammates latest blogs to get more info on our last month. You won’t believe some of the stories you’ll read. I’m thankful that our time of ministry is nearing an end in China. On Saturday we leave for the Philippians and I can’t wait!
P.S. A special CONGRATS to my sister Liz who will be going on the World Race October 2008!
