NEW PASSWORD! Mango
Once again password= Mango
Finally posting a blog! Sorry for the time it has taken. And this will probably be a long one!
It has been 10 days since I have been in China! (I guess technically 11 now because it is midnight here while I am writing this) That is crazy to think about and even crazier that there is still over 10 months to go! Admittedly it still doesn’t feel real.
It is probably time I gave an update on what’s been going on! I have been trying to figure out how I want to do these blogs and figure out a structure but that does not seem to be happening yet. Maybe I will get a structure down. Also, if you have any questions feel free to ask me! I will do my best to respond to them and hopefully it will give me some blog ideas!
The best ways to reach me is text, WhatsApp, facebook, or email.
So, the main questions… what has been going on? What are you doing?
Let me first say. These are hard to answer. For several reason.1) figuring out what to say in a manner that is safe for all people involved, not just my group. 2) So much has been going on! These last 10 days have been so busy and so filled with crazy new experiences that I don’t even know where to start! 3) what we are doing is not typical and these 10 days could be way different than the rest of the race! 4) I’m still trying to figure a lot of this out as well! I don’t know how long to make stuff, how short to make stuff, how often is too often to post. Along with, “will my internet even be good enough today”.
So, first update, here goes nothing.
We landed in Shanghai on the 6th and stayed there for a couple days, stayed in a hostel for my first time! While we were there we celebrated a birthday, and visited some cool places, the worlds largest Starbucks reserve and the Bund. We prayed for a Muslim friend we made at the hostel and got his business card, did a prayer walk around a park- I will go into the more in another post. Then we left and headed to a new place.
Due to the things that took place at this location I will not tell the name of the city or people.
We took a train to get there. My first long train ride, 15 hours! (I have since realized I like the train, but NOT trying to sleep on them!) On the train a teammate of mine and I met some cool people. One guy who didn’t speak any English, and my translator app was not working :(, and one guy who spoke kind of broken english but enough for us to talk. Both of these guys ended up buying us drinks on the ride so I never went thirsty! And i have one of their business cards and have emailed a little but back and forth!
Once we got to this new place things started off crazy!
We couldn’t find the place we were staying. Went to a help center where we ended up meeting some amazingly kind people, one of which was the daughter of a government official. They helped up find the place.
The place we were staying was suppose to be in an art studio, turns out it was being renovated so that didn’t end up happening and we ended up staying with a family. Which, can cause some trouble but thank the Lord no problems.
The family ended up being one of the most kind people I have ever met and some AMAZING things happened with them. More about that later as well.
But back to the order of things.
We ate a late lunch at their place. Turns out they were going to make us food everyday! Major blessing and was something we didn’t expect! Before dinner they took us to an ancient Chinese village and it was awesome to see it.
The next day we got to spend some time with the family, and thus began the start of life change, for us and them! They showed us some kung fu and we practiced putting out a candle with a movement of our hands… well it’s hard to explain but basically we used the force to put out a candle. Then for Lunch we all made dumplings together! Then we went to visit our friends that helped us earlier. We ended up praying for the daughter of the government official and God took away stomach pain she was about to go to the doctor for and then one of my teammates was having bad stomach pain as well and God really promoted me to give her my Bible and then we prayed for her and her pain was gone.
The next day we practiced more Tai Chi. Went to a museum with the family. Then we went to a Chinese Tai Chi champion’s dojo. While we were there God revealed himself to our host dad by healing his back in an unexpected way, while we were praying for someone else.
This is where the flood gates of bringing Jesus to them were opened and what led to a night, the day after, of the whole family accepting Christ and now being connected with our SQLs connections there!
The day after that we went to visit our host father at his work and then went to see one of the best calligraphy masters in china.
The day after that the guys had a man day and went to the Shaolin Temple.
We said goodbye to the host family the next day and left them with the resources we were able to. Went to get on our train, which there are some stories within that day as well. To be told later.
We are safe and sound at our hostel in our new place for the next week give or take.
It is almost 2am so I am ready to head to bed. Early start to the day tomorrow! Be on the lookout for more blogs to come! Feel free to reach out and comment on the blog!
Some prayer requests:
Team unity- this is a huge one for us. We are all very diverse and have some work to do to grow closer together.
For me to grow closer to God and be able to hear Him more and more clearly everyday as well as to walk in love and discernment. Seeking to increase in knowledge and walking in the fruits of the spirit more and more.
Also, that I would really start to feel more trust for my team. Trust has always been a bit of a struggle for me and I am really struggling to feel comfortable around people that I am still getting to know.
Goodnight! And thank you all so much for the prayers and support! I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for you all!
