This past week marks the beginning of my final 11 weeks of the race. I cannot believe there are only 11 weeks of this 11-month journey left. I am beginning to prepare for what life will look like when I get home and I am also looking back over the last 11 months and all God has taught me. So for the next 11 weeks I will be posting once a week with some things God has taught me in each month of this journey.
Crowded streets below hazy skies greeted us on our first day in China. I have never seen so many people in one place or been to such a large city as Harbin, China. Red lanterns swinging from rafters, sweet ice cream sold on autumn nights and the soft sound of traffic below our apartment are some of the things I remember most about China.
China was the first month of my journey and taught me some important lessons that I would need for the rest of my year. I learned that ministry does not always look like what I expect, but in that I can always find purpose. I learned that I am passionate about building relationships with people and having dinner and talking about life with new friends gives me great joy. I learned that dreams could become reality when I found myself walking on the Great Wall of China.
In China I learned that the smallest moments that seem so insignificant are often the moments that make the greatest impact on my life. I learned that it is the people that make a place great.
I miss my incredible friends, Calvin, Leo, Andy and so many others. I miss eating dinner at all the different noodle and rice restaurants and the incredibly cheap and delicious street food.
I love that even in a big bustling city, people are still incredibly helpful. When I was on a bus on the way to the train station, loaded down with my pack and about to pass out from the heat on the bus, a sweet Chinese woman helped me take my jacket off without dropping all my bags. At one of our favorite restaurants, “Mamma’s Noodles” mamma, as we affectionately called her, would help us cut our noodles so we could divide up the big steaming bowls.
I love all the curious smiles from people we bumped into while getting on and off buses in the city and the strange looks we received when Vallory and I went to the grocery store to buy five jars of peanut butter. I will never forget walking through the doors of a Chinese church that was literally underground in the basement of a building.
Despite the freedom we experienced while in Harbin, the church there has undergone some persecution recently. Please be praying for this city and for the Christians there to have strength in the midst of trials.
