Our Chinese All-Nighter

You know you’re tired when you look at two flat wooden tables pushed together and think, “man, that would make a sweet bed.” But travel days will do that to you. Hello, World Race.

Our journey from Harbin to Beijing was much better than anticipated. We learned a lot about traveling on trains in China and were much more prepared the second time around. After getting about three hours of fairly interrupted sleep on the train, all the while tangled in a Chinese man’s feet, and then about three hours on top of a wooden table in our hostel’s lobby with nothing but my Northface jacket and my 8-inch blow up pillow, I was ready for an exciting day full of showering and napping. And McDonald’s.

Harbin was special but challenging. I can’t say I’ve fallen in love with China the way I fell in love with Guatemala, but I did make a few close friends that have made it difficult to leave.

My team’s translator and guide, Victoria, became our friend instantly. Her sweet personality and cute laugh are just a few of the reasons why my team fell in love with her. Her friends April and Crystal joined us as we taught a few daycare classes and did other types of ministry, and they were the culprits of our “Chinese all-nighter,” that time our group spent the night in a KTV (a karaoke bar.) By the way, future racers, apparently AIM frowns upon that. 🙂

Dina became my friend instantly because we have the same quirky personality. When our team did Zumba ministry (yep, we actually did that), Dina danced her heart out for hours. She introduced me to my favorite street food of all time – fried sweet potato tenders. These things are so good that I almost missed the bus because I ran back to get seconds.

And then there’s Alice. Sweet Alice. She is my Chinese sister. We spent a lot of time together, unable to say a whole lot due to the language barrier, but the connection was thick and indescribable. It was actually kind of bizarre how close we got. We even traded scarves – super cute. Alice is not a believer, but she went to church with us this past Sunday and tears were flowing wild and free. The Spirit was working in her heart, and it was so beautiful to be a part of it. It was my most cherished memory from Harbin by far.

Yeah so we went to church in China. It was awesome. We couldn’t understand anything, but there was worship music and a sermon – the setup was similar to church services back home. It was amazing to watch other believers doing their thing on the other side of the world. God is here in China and he’s moving hardcore. It’s awesome to see.

On one of our hour-long bus rides home, I was lucky enough to get a seat and I watched as the big city lights passed me by. In a brief moment when there was just enough space between skyscrapers to get a glimpse of a few stars in the sky, it hit me: we live in China! I was reminded that this life we get to live is pretty darn awesome. But I just got used to living in China, and now we are preparing to pick up and move to Thailand. Constant adjustments… thus is the race I suppose.

My heart breaks knowing I may never see some of my Chinese friends again, but how lucky am I to even have such close friends in China. I know these goodbyes are going to shatter my heart at the end of each month, but I am so blessed to have the opportunity to build such rich relationships in the first place.

Zaijian, China.

Thailand, here we come!