Here are some pictures from China. I know that it looks like we only played all month (haha), but you understand that I cannot post ministry pictures or photos of friends, places, etc. Oh, except where we were truly tourists. I think you’ll guess where that is (hint: Great Wall). And to give you a bit of background, we stayed in Hong Kong for about a week, debriefing with the January team in Hong Kong before they left for the USA in mid-November.
Then we traveled to mainland China, spending the first few weeks there together as a squad, participating in a cultural exchange program–we attended morning classes about Chinese culture (calligraphy, language, tea making and drinking art, history and philosophy, art and embroidery museums, etc), and in the afternoon we taught English corners, where we chatted with the students, helping them with their language skills. During English corner, we were not allowed to talk about the Lord. However, this time was the perfect way to make friendships which we prayed would turn into eternal friendships one day. In fact, we were blessed by leading a couple new friends to know and believe the most important One!
After the cultural exchange program, our individual teams parted ways. My team went a long distance to a surprising friendly (but extremely different from other parts of China…or anywhere for that matter) culture. During this time in China, we did a lot of pouring into the Lord–as a
small team and as individuals. We also prayer-walked and prayed over
our foreign friends who live there permanently. We also helped them in our friends in their local business, which supports their ministry.
Then we took a vacation to visit the Great Wall of China.
Oh, and the best part–when I arrived back in Hong Kong, I was able to import my favorite Book back into the mainland! This day was a dream come true, especially after reading Brother Andrew’s books (such as The Narrow Road and his first book), and Brother Yun’s book Heavenly Man.
Hope you enjoy China, our Thanksgiving celebration, and our effort to find Christmas in a “god-less” society. Please remember to pray for God to rule in their hearts, the new and soon-to-be friends we made there, and our foreign friends living there. Thank you!
1-Our squad’s first sleeper train to mainland China (Don’t let the pretty picture fool you; people spit, men smoke, and children pee on the floor…all just inches away from you…or less. My team of five people spent FIVE NIGHTS on these trains…most rides we took were roughly 27 hours. Notice, the higher you are, the less space you have. I was on the top bunk (again) on my last sleeper train experience…the one where I became intensely sick and only spent two hours actually in bed).
2 (bottom center)-Thanksgiving at KFC (after a morning at the university) consisted of one small piece of chicken and the smallest helping I’ve ever seen of mashed potatoes (mostly gravy actually…very salty). I went back and got a small fries and a small sundae as a special Thanksgiving treat.
3 (bottom right)-Later that evening (after English corner), we celebrated our own Thanksgiving fun times and service. We had hats made by Jessie & Lauren. Mine was “Muslim hugging arms” because I have a passion for Muslim people to know the Lord (and can spot them from a mile away, even though they look different in various cultures), and because I love to hug.
4 (top right)-Entertainment was a skit created by our squadmates in 5 minutes, and performed with much joyful laughter in the audience.
5 (top center)-This drawing is “me”…Just before one of my team’s overnight train rides, we were waiting in the lobby at 5 a.m. for the train to start boarding. Out of nowhere and without any warning, a dozen or so high school art students began to draw each of the five of us and our luggage. The funniest part, they were totally unashamed about staring at us, and even sat down in the seat next to us and stared, just inches away. I was laughing the whole time….although this picture’s details would imply otherwise. (Life is often a choice: “Laugh or Cry” as my friend says). Also I don’t think these Chinese students were used to drawing western noses. Altough the long nose is a compliment in many Asian cultures I’m finding out….Including the Philippines, where my new friends were encouraging their shy granddaughter to eat her vegetables so she can have a long nose like me. That made me laugh as well.
1-When we helped our friends in China decorate their apartment, we were able to be around more decorations than we saw all the time while were in China to date.
2-I took a brief detour to a different part of China, where I was able to visit some ‘old college friends’ from the States. Here is their Christmas tree…ahh, it reminds me a bit of home. It was really great to see my college friends!
3 & 4-The Great Wall of China (a “secret” part…we were the only people there that day). And here’s a view from inside one of the GW towers. Beautiful. And this was the cleanest air I breathed in all of China! Made the cold worth it! And I loved the trail hiking to get up to the Wall.
1 & 2-When we arrived back in Hong Kong, we saw ‘real’ Christmas decorations, a nice treat after mainland China without decorations. Pictured below are the massive real live fir trees and beautiful-voiced church choir, both of which we saw at the Hong Kong airport the day we headed to the Philippines.
