Hello there, and Happy June!
I cannot believe that I am already 5 months into this journey. Thank you all for your support and prayers during this year so far. I can truly feel them and God working through them.
I wanted to give you all a brief glimpse into what month 5 in China looked like. We changed things up a bit, split into all guy and all girl teams, and aptly dubbed the month “Man-istry” and “Woman-istry.” After a few days of debriefing in Kunming, China we split into teams and were off. The squad had been given the sole task of getting ourselves to Lanzhou, China by a certain date; didn’t matter how we got there or what we did along the way. We were able to choose our own teams, and I was lucky enough to spend the month with 4 incredible ladies: Rosie, Josie, Arlene, and Jenny. It was evident from the onset that God has specifically chosen each of us to be together and I was so lucky to spend the month laughing, crying, and living life with each of them.
Lijiang, China
As a team, we decided to start our journey in Lijiang, an older town nestled in the mountains of Southern China. We had no agenda, except that of our Father, while we still felt as a team we were being called to women’s ministry, specifically in red light districts. God had some other plans in store which were bigger and better than anything we could have dreamt up for ourselves. I will just tell you one of the many stories we have from Lijiang of God blowing our expectations out of the water…
One of our first days in Lijiang my squadmate Katie contacted us about a girl that her team had met in Lijiang before they had left. She was also a believer, staying there for a few weeks working at a hostel. She had some Kingdom contacts that she thought we could meet with. In China you would think it would be rare to meet another Christ follower, yeah think again. Katie gave us the girl’s number and email, but we couldn’t seem to get in touch with her. We even tried to find the hostel she was staying at. I’m pretty sure the hostel owner thought the 5 American girls roaming around her business looking for someone we had never met were a little bit off of our rocker. Maybe we were, but we had high hopes that we would find her. The second night in Lijiang, after being dropped off near our hostel by some friends we had met on the train to Lijiang(mentioned in previous blog), we came across a hostel we had not seen before. We thought, “why, not?” and we walked in, never expecting to stumble upon the girl we had been searching for. Josie jokingly called out her named, to be met with a cute face poking around the corner answering, “Yes?” with a puzzled look on her face.
In China.
Where barely anyone speaks English.
Where our normal modes of communication had failed us.
Where we knew no one, not even the person we were looking for.
God answered our cry and formed a beautiful friendship.
We spent the next few days hanging out with our new friend who I feel I will see again one day, somehow or another. We ended up spending a whole week in Lijiang, loving on the people we had met and experiencing our Father in so many ways. I wish I could share more with you all, but for the protection of those I met, I will not share those experiences at this point in time.
Panzhihua, China
The team spent one night in Panzhihua, as a sort of in between before our next city, and honestly I did not like it. It was very industrial, and we may or may not have stayed in a “hotel” that seemed more like a brothel. I also left my phone in a cab in Panzhihua. Not too many fond memories from that place.
Chengdu, China
The next morning we were off on a train to Chengdu, our next destination. The team, unlike most of our squad, decided to visit less cities so that we could experience each city more and spend more time there. Chengdu was a breath of fresh air. We stayed in what was probably the nicest hostel I have ever stayed in, complete with a full coffee shop and incredible staff who would go out of their way, including walking us in the rain to get food. We got to know some of the people staying and working at the hostel, as well as got to see PANDAS! We watched movies and drank free coffee all day. The whole team left Chengdu refreshed and loving our Father even more.
Lanzhou, China
Finally, we were off to our destination city, Lanzhou. We took a very long, 21 hour sleeper train to get there. We had a few days until meeting up with the squad. We explored the city, found a great burger place, saw a movie, all the while growing and learning from each other, meeting more locals and resting in our Father and what He had done in and through us this month.
I cannot tell you how thankful I am to have had a month with those 4 ladies getting to know each of their hearts, hearing their stories, and living a joy-filled month with them. We had amazing conversations about life, the Word, ministry, the Race, dreams, visions, hardships, the list goes on. We are now together with the whole squad (minus our Canadians who are back in China because of Visa complications) spending a free week in Kazakhstan. After our week here we will get into new teams and start ministry for this month. China was a beautiful country, filled to the brim with even more beautiful people. A month spent learning more about ourselves, about each other, and our Father above. Please continue to pray for China and for my squad as we move into our next month of ministry! While the Race has had its ups and downs, I am still so glad to be where I am, and so privileged to get to love on the people in each country we visit. God’s children are so precious and so unique and I am consistently blown away by how I am shown His goodness through them.
Love you all! That’s all for now!
XOXO
Kara
