Our time in China has been extremely fun and exhausting. My team has traveled all over the city of Harbin, meeting different people, participating in the traditional moon festival, counting houses, hanging out at universities and just getting to know many different college students in the area. Well we have meet some pretty incredible people this month and I want to share them with you so that you can keep them in your prayers as the Lord works on their hearts. Many of them are not Christians but we have had the opportunity to witness to many of them and hope to do some more this up coming week.
-
Polly: I met Polly during the Autumn festival when we went to the Buddhist temple. She speaks English amazingly well and is just so fun to be around. She is majoring in business administration and is hoping to work abroad somewhere else. She has no fear to joke around with us and make fun of any of us, especially Will. She is not a Christian but instead believes in “science” thought she is willing to listen to what we believe. Polly can be described as elegant, intelligent, witty, girly and just hilarious. Please pray that the Lord will open up her heart to the gospel!
-
Celine: She is our Chinese contact for the month. She was assigned to take us around the area and be there to help us with whatever we need. She translates for us and just help us do anything that we need to do. Celine is so much fun to hang out with. She has done an amazing job of showing us around China, buying traditional Chinese food to try, help us maneuver our way around Chinese media and just hang out with us. Celine recently became a Christian and such a passion for Christ. She is majoring in English and hopes to study abroad in England next year. She is one of my favorite Chinese people!!!!!
-
Happy: I met Happy at our university that we have been assigned called Li Gong. She is really fun to be around. She is a Christian though her views on religion are a little different than normal. She is studying communications and she loves American music, coffee and shopping. We took her and her friends out to coffee and had a blast talking about school, boys and life. She taught me how to write my name in Chinese which was really cool. She will be coming to church with us on Thur. Please pray that the Lord continues to grow his love and joy inside of her that she may be an example to her friends.
-
Sarah: Sarah is one of the teachers at the kindergarten that we taught at. She took all the girls on my team and other team we work at out to a very nice lunch last Friday. Though she does not speak a lot of English, she has a loving and gentle spirit that loves on people well! Our teams had a lot of fun talking with her and building up our relationships. Sarah has also become good friends with Celine which is exciting because it gives Celine an opportunity to witness to her.
-
Paris: Will met Paris when he went to the English corner the first day we were in China. She helped to show us around China during the autumn festival. She is good friends with Polly and is such a sweet and loving girl. She just loves to be around people, laughing and she LOVES karaoke. Shes become a very close friend very quickly and just wants to have a genuine relationship with all of our team. She had been to church a couple of times and was asking us some really good questions about the bible. Pray that she continues to go to church and Lord continues to touch her heart
-
Daisy: We met Daisy when we went to a university to hold a bible study. She is a law student in Harbin and she asked some really intriguing questions about the gospel and why we need to believe in it. She was soooo excited to meet Americans and had such a sweet and gentle spirit about her. We have been really sad that we have not been able to talk to her more but we are really excited the seed we planted will grow and flourish.
-
Winter: We met Winter through Happy. She is a Christian and has such a joy about her which is awesome! She was so excited to meet us and share her life and her faith with us. She had many questions about the bible and Christianity. She just had such a joy about her that you didn't see in a lot of other students and I believe that it is the joy of Christ inside of her. We are having dinner with her tonight and I am so excited to get to know her better.
-
Andy: Andy is connected with the church we have been working with. He became a Christian a year ago when the last world race team was in Harbin. He is a fun loving, outgoing and caring person. He is the type of person that no matter who you are, you can't to like him. He is learning to become a pastor and is being discipled by our contact Jake. He hopes to be a pastor in another country which is so exciting. Its been really exciting to build a relationship with him. Andy and Will have gotten very close and it will be really hard for us to leave.
-
Jenny, Lola and Tom: We met Jenny and Lola the first day. Jenny came up to us while we were walking down Central Street and just started a conversation. The next Saturday we went to Sun Island with Jenny, Lola and their friend Tom. We had a blast eating a picnic lunch and explore Sun Island. We just chatted, walked around, took pictures and enjoying each others company. When we were getting ready to leave, Jenny told me that she just wants to hang out with us forever.
-
Frank: We met Frank when Emily and I were talking to some girls in the cafeteria at a university. When he saw Kyle and Will, he was so excited to meet foreign men and want to be friends right away. Over the last two weeks, Kyle and Will have been mentoring him and investing in his life spiritually. Frank is a believer but he has a very shallow faith. This last week Kyle and Will have had a bible study with Frank and his roommate every morning. Frank went from being very fearful about his faith to stepping out and wanting to learn more.
-
Amy: Amy and I met an English corner this Tuesday and she and I had an instant connection! She loves history and sees it as a story which helps us understand where we came from just like me. She has a passion to travel and just explore the world and it was so much fun to talk to her. She and I have started emailing back and forth with each other and are becoming pen pals. Pray that I can be an example of Christ to her and that the Lord can work in and through our relationship.
??I pray that this gives you a picture of my journey on the world race thus far and that you can be praying for these people as they continue through their lives, growing and changing everyday.
