China!
We cross the border as a squad into China from Hong Kong. We are all going different places in China. My team is going to Shenzhen, China. It’s the tech capital of the world. We have Matt, JD, and Emily coming with us for the first couple days. Then they move to the next team that’s in a different part of China. Shenzhen is not far off the border of Hong Kong. We get there and we take a fast train to Shenzhen. We take a subway and we go to Longhua. We get off and we take a couple steps and there’s mopeds trying to get us to take ride. Everyone is starring at us. It’s definitely a different place from Taiwan and Japan. We get there and try to find our hostel we booked. We have a little trouble finding it. We go to Mudra Coffee shop and that place became like home to us. We meet the owner Alice, she speaks a little English. Matt our awesome team father speaks Chinese to his best. Alice is amazing! Let’s us bring our bags up and has such hospitality towards us. We find the hostel but, it’s a bunch of men smoking and starring. It’s a really “shady” place. It had a very uncomfortable feel to it. I didn’t think it was that bad. It had barely running toilets and everything was gross. I felt bad for the men living there. Prayers! We stay there for one night. We then meet in the morning as a team. It’s an ATL month. Ask the Lord, witch means we literally ask God what to do for the day or week. This month we talk about abandonment. Me and Jordan are outside in the morning and I’ve come to love this man today. He’s in the special forces in the National Guard. I bought a pack of cigarettes in Japan because I made a pack that I would only smoke when I drank. There were about 5 cigarettes gone from the pack. After staying in the smoke filled place, I feel like God wants me to let this habit go forever. Me and Jordan are standing over a 7 story balcony and I throw them off. I’m sure someone picked them up that lived there. It was beautiful! We pray into the morning for Gods guidance. We are looking for a place to stay in a China on a budget. We head back to Mudra for the day. Homeless in China. Awesome! Jesus was homeless. It’s awesome. We look at air bnb, go out and venture out, and ask people in the coffee shop. I love this coffee shop. Me and Heidi got to share the gospel to Candy and Over. Pray for them! We eventually get a lead to a hotel down the street! Weyoo hotel. We get settled in and have nice hot water! So awesome! Great place. Four guys in a room, four girls in a room. I love having the team leaders with us, such a blessing. We get food in China that night as a team. The food is amazing here! Steam buns and noodles! I love beef noodles! So cheap and good! We go out as a team and I can still feel a tightness about our team. We wake up to a meeting the next morning. We are in the room with the leaders and our team. It was a long and hard meeting. A lot was brought up and not seeing eye to eye but, all figured out. We definitely needed this for our team. God at the center and ask him. It was like an ice breaker we needed. We never really had rhythm in our team. Leah was the centerfold and there were things God wanted to show us. We pray as a team. I’m in Mongolia writing this today and every single thing that was prayed for was answered! God is good! We wrote our prayers down and looking at them now is amazing. We then go and find out there is continental breakfast! It was so good! We stay there for two more days. We explore for new living options! We can’t afford the place when the team leaders leave. We meet all new people including Goodwin, Jacob, Alvin, Girls from Denmark trying to find there hostel, and many more. I can feel God is present in my heart meeting these people. I keep reading scripture and asking questions. God is totally captivating my heart in China. I’m bursting into life into the kingdom. Life is so beautiful! Walking these streets with Joy straight from the source. We even got to see “The Green Book” for Jordan’s birthday. Such a good movie. God was moving in China. I keep smiling! It’s amazing what a smile can lead to. Dressing out in faith for God daily. Seeing our team leaders and learning from them is so awesome. Watching Matt in China is like watching a kid at the zoo. He is hilarious! You can see Christ in this mans eyes, he’s been such an inspiration for my journey. Watching him having a ball in these streets turns my head and I join in! It’s literally a party! C’mon. God is so Good! We are back at the coffee shop when the leaders leave looking for a place. Me and Ari look at a place out of budget. Me and Heidi then find a nice place one town over. A really beautiful air bnb. We leave Longhua but are close to come visit. We stay in the air bnb and it’s right in Shenzhen. Shenzhen is a place of Gold. It’s literally a bunch of 25 year old entrepreneurs in suits. The town is full of youth and I love it here. The town is also full of lust and people believing in themselves. It shows. People are taking pictures of us and with us. Everyone say “We’re so handsome or beautiful”. It’s all for show in China. People living for themselves. God is good and can change that! People are so friendly here! God help this place, your people are amazing! We meet the next morning and team differences arise again. We all have individual things God is walking us through and team matters. I literally start to have a huge heart for these people over a couple days! We meet Heidi’s friend Pansy the next day. We had such a great time with her. I’ve fallen in love with this woman. Such a big heart. Pray for her! We went to the hot springs for her birthday. So fun! She is amazing and takes us out to a hot pot. We go to an international church “underground” church the next day. So many different nationalities there! We got to meet so many people there. I started to feel and ear ache in Longhua. It’s getting much worse at this point and I figure it’s an ear infection. It hurt very bad. I was getting dizzy because the middle ear is responsible for balance. It was terrible! I had to sit out from team activity for a couple days. We have a connection with English teachers and a man named Mike. I didn’t get to spend to much time with him because of my ear. He was awesome, and blessed us in many ways. I’m sick so I hangout at home and I meet a man that works at the store next door. We talk over translator and the second thing he sends me is “we are friends”. I needed this. I loved this man! He light me up and we get food and talk over a translator! It’s amazing! I eventually go to the doctor and it’s a nice doctor. Visiting a doctor in China is far cheaper than the states. It’s an ear infection with antibiotics. I start to feel better. I can feel a change in our team! We do feedback and people are changing for the better. I now love feedback, it’s a chance to improve yourself and others in a God changing manner. I’m back to health and I love this place. I workout the next morning and God is so good! Ari is a dance teacher in L.A. and she finds a dance studio and teaches! This town is lighting up our team! We find this awesome pizza place D.A.I. and we meet Daniel and he’s from England. He was so funny. He likes to have beer with me and Jordan. One night we meet these fine fellows from Boston and Japan. We had a great time! The last day we meet with Jacob and Alvin. Two English teachers and business man. We play games and had tea with them. So amazing! God is totally opening me up like a book! I’m telling my team things I’ve never said out loud before. We literally are family in Gods kingdom! We say goodbye to everyone at once at Mudra Coffee as we depart to Xi‘an for a couple days. There was so many different people at one table! I love everyone of them! We then take off to Xi’an. We take a 12 hour hard seat train overnight. We are going to Xi’an to do some sight seeing. It was hard to rest in the train. Not much sleep. It was an experience. We get off and take a bus to our air bnb we found. We get off the bus and a young man wants to take a picture with us. He walks us to our air bnb. We get by our place and wait for our host. We get surrounded by a village of people amazed by seeing us! Some of these people have never seen a white person before. So overwhelming with love. It’s a beautiful air bnb. We do team time. We do testimony’s witch we say our life story and where we’re coming from. We get to know our team mates even more! We want to go visit national park the next day. It’s my day to lead. We switch off days to run activity the team does. I point at a sign that says Route 66 at the air bnb and ask Ari if she’s ever been there. I look at a empty bottle of wine and say we should get some wine. We leave and get off the bus and Jordan wants to use the ATM. I see a sign and walk up to it. It says “Flying Tiger CrossFit”. No way! I get so exited and run down there! It’s so beautiful. I love CrossFit! I get so exited. On the subway to the park I’m sitting there and I see this kid smiling at me. I ask his dad if he speaks English. He does and his name is Andrew and his son Leo. They say they can take us around to the park and get lunch! He shows us his favorite food and buys us lunch! He says he wants to visit Route 66 one day and gives us a bottle of Wine! Crazy! C’mon. He takes out for dinner. He’s such a blessing. A crazy day. The next day I go to CrossFit and it’s so fun. The WOD is so hard. I’ve lost muscle over the months. We eat at the best local foods. So good! Everyone here is amazing! We then find out Ari is going to be our team leader! So beautiful, she’s amazing! Love her. We take off! We then take a 30 hour hard sleeper to Beijing for a couple days. We get there and it’s beautiful. It’s an abandoned mall that is still lit up. Looks like the mall never took off or is about to. Our host is so beautiful, we find out she’s a believer when we leave! We see the Great Wall and meet and Jacob from Ecuador on the bus. We get supper with him! I meet a friend on the bus that gave me his Great Wall certificate. I feel like I left some of my heart in China. Such culture and hospitality. God definitely had plans for me and our team. God gave me a heart for this place and his people in China! We are then off to debrief in the countryside of Beijing! Till my next blog!
Much love!
