I can hardly believe month 2 of the
race is over. It has flown by and at the same time, it seems my team
and I have been together for much longer than that. This last month
was crazy, but incredible. We (my team and I) finished debrief in
Hong Kong and actually just headed across town to work with an
incredible organization. We were so blessed to get to spend a week
with really great people helping to do great things. The organization
works to bring resources to the people who need them most. These
resources come to them from all over (such as from a clothing company
who have too many t-shirts, or a bank that upgraded its systems and
now has working, but 2 year old computers). We worked on various
projects from making Christmas Cards to moving furniture. We were
partnered with team Alethia for that part of the month and really
enjoyed getting to know a new team.
After our first week we went into
mainland China! I was probably most nervous about China when I left
the US, and yet I was very excited to finally get there and start our
next ministry. Libre, Alethia and Quake (a third team) participated
in a culture exchange at a university. We spent the mornings taking
courses from Chinese professors on various topics, and even took a
few field trips! We went to a tea house, museum, high school, and
learned a bit of Chinese. The afternoons were spent with our new
friends. Everyday I would meet someone for lunch to hang out and
speak English. The students were so eager to speak to us and learn
about America. I was suddenly the most popular girl in school (along
with the other 17 people in my group of course). So we would eat
lunch in their cafeteria and then go to the park or into town to
spend time with these people who we quickly got very close to. I
really cannot describe how wonderful this ministry was. We just got
to be Jesus’ hands and feet, to love these girls exactly for who they
are and let them know they are loved and beautiful. I’d love to post
pictures of some of my friends, but due to privacy issues and such I
cannot. From 4-6 everyday we had English Corner, where students came
to practice English and make American friends. This was challenging,
as we pretty much answered the same questions many times everyday
(Did you have a part time job in college? Do you know Micheal
Phelps?), but it is also where we initially met our friends. The
evenings were spent either with our new friends or as a team. It was
a huge blessing and unforgettable to be part of that program and get
to have that experience.
After the culture exchange was over the
entire G-squad met up in Beijing. I really liked the city, it was way
more western than I thought it would be and very easy to get around-
very reminiscent of Europe Semester:). We got to see an acrobatics
show, climb a secret section of the Great Wall, see the Summer
Palace, shop in the Silk/Pearl Market and of course, went to visit
our close friend Micheal Phelps at the water cube in the Olympic
Village (note to all my wonderful supporters: All the money I spent
in Beijing was personal money, your donations are being used for
ministry purposes:)) We had a great time, heaters in our rooms, and a
24 hour train ride to get back to Hong Kong.
So now I am back in HK and so glad to
be wearing a t-shirt instead of ALL the clothes I brought for a year
😉 We had a Thanksgiving feast of pizza when we arrived and spent
much of the weekend reconnecting with friends and family via the
internet:) We leave tomorrow (Sunday 11/30) for Kenya!! I have no
idea what the internet will be like and our team knows nothing about
what next month holds other than we are not partnered with another
team and could be in a city called Wabuye. I will hopefully have
another chance to write soon. Hope you all had a wonderful
Thanksgiving.
