The big Chiner

 

NI HAO! (hello from CHINA!)

Well I endured a VERY cold month in China! Yikes… I thought I was
going to skip winter for the second year in a row, but I was sadly
mistaken! We were up in the Norther China Desert area for the month! Lots of cold cold winds, sometimes even snow! I am very glad however to be back in Hong Kong with warmer weather and only wearing one layer of clothes as opposed to everything I owned! 

I had a GREAT month! Lots of long trian rides, one time even over night twice….30 some hours. But we had beds and bunk mates to keep us company! Once we were up north we divided up into our teams and all went to little towns throughout the area. Team KARIS went to 4 small towns that were all very similar looking, but all had a completely different feel. The first town we went to we were not welcomed at all. It was a transfer city where there were not a lot of friendly faces. We then decided to pack up and move onto the next town. Here we felt a little more comfortable, a few more English speakers. We stayed in one of the worst hostels China could of provided for us, where we did not shower for 7ish days. Our hair looked great. BUT we LOVED IT…even if we say we didn’t. It was here in this hostel where I turned 24! YIKES! Two of the girls on our team had made friends with the bakery lady and they got me an awesome cake covered in frosting that ended up tasting like perfume… but thats besides the point! The thought that counts!! 🙂

Up until this point we had noticed that there were two men dressed nicely driving a shiny black VW that seemed to be appearing everywhere we were going. Well… turns out that it was the PSB! The secret police of China following our team around trying to prevent us from disrupting their country! HA it became more of a game though… every corner we turned they were there. Every hotel we pulled up to their cars were already there waiting or they were right behind us. 

 

One day we decided to break all the rules and go and worship in the town square. Braedon grabbed his guitar and Brandon, Cindy & I followed along! Cindy and I walked around the square 7 times singing and dancing while praying for hearts to be opened to what they were about to hear. Meanwhile, Braedon and Brandon found a cozy little spot right in the center of town and started singing and playing guitar. It was AMAZING. After Cindy and I had made our 7 loops we joined the boys in singing and drawing a crowd. They played for 2 hours or so and within that they drew a very nice size crowd. People of all ages came to listen… not sure what they were listening to, but little did they know a little bit of every word was seeping into their hearts little by little. They enjoyed the music and our smiliing faces, and although they could not communicate with us they smiled back and we were able to see God working in each one of them (without them even knowing). We had done what we had come for and  were planting seeds for the harvest! 

 We enjoyed meeting people in each and every town. There were always young people, like high school age wanting to meet us and practice their english with us. That is how we started getting involved with the numerous schools we came to and taught english, taught them songs and dances, played games and talked to them in groups for an hour or two. One day we decided to teach the class the HOKIE POKIE. We started with the left hand in then the right and continued on until it was time to “put your head in” and since they did not speak english they did not know what we were saying…so basically it looked like we had all just bowed in unison. In which case they all started to clap and cheer for us thinking we were done. It was quite FUNNY.

We made friends with the different restaurant  owners in the area. Eating lots and LOTS of noodles and dumplings! I think I would be okay with never eating them again. Although through all of this hard work I still can not use chopsticks for the life of me.

 

All in all our team REALLY was able to bond though out the month we were in China. We were not allowed out after dark in most areas because it was very dangerous for us we were told, even by the town head police at one point. So we were able to get to know eachother and our little corks and funny things that we all bring to the table! Life was rough at times, but would not trade out any of the memories!! I love my team and I love the growing hearts of the young Chinese people. I learned A LOT about myself and about how HUGE Gods LOVE IS FOR HIS PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. I am glad that I was able to show the people of China along with my team a little of GODs Love he has for them, whether or not they were aware that we were doing it. Something as little as a smile can bring light to a dark place and we were here to plant that seed for all to see! 

LOVE YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH! I have many more stories and amazing things that have been happening! Email me if you would like to hear them! [email protected] I would love to share!

 As for now this is GOODBYE from China/ Hong Kong! OFF TO KENYA & some warm weather!!