Its been 2 weeks since we have arrived here in China. So far it has been a roller coaster of emotions and things to do. My team is so amazing, and it has been really awesome to see where their strengths lie. Each person I have seen in action and their love for people is so amazing!! I am so blessed to be apart of a group of people who have decided to follow God and even in their weakest times, still love on people!
The first two nights as a ministry we went tract-bombing. We went and spread literature to people in the dead of night. All night we were dodging cars, flashlights and dogs as well. At one point me and my teammate Ravi were walking and a bunch of cars passed us and slowed down, and we had to try and act natural because the penalty for us getting caught is imprisonment or deportation. It was such a crazy experience, but the most important part is that people that may have never known the gospel may known Christ because of the risks we took.
Its so crazy to think a guy from Nebraska was doing this, but whats even cooler than that is there are people here who are doing this full time, and no matter what happens they have taken the call to risk everything for Christ. I am so blessed to know these people, and even though it was a short time I made some friends for life!!
We started off with a bang for sure, but it has calmed down since then haha! We have been in Western China and in the mountains as well. We have been doing relational ministry mostly, getting to know some of the locals, as well as praying for the places and the people, even though there is a language barrier. We have met some really awesome people and the kindness they have shown us has been amazing!
For me personally it has been amazing to experience the culture that is China. So many people, and being around muslim and buddhist at all times is a new as well. I have loved the food, the scenery and most of all what God has been doing. I would be lying if I said it has been all fun and games for me though. If you have followed on my pre-race blogs than you will see that I have struggled with self image and how I see my self. This has made some days a struggle. I have found myself separating from my team because I don’t feel like I am apart of them, or deserve to be apart of them. I have been sick the past week and have hardly had any energy at all, so when we went to a mountain I only made it part way up. It has been trying, but God has really been showing me his love in a way that I had forgotten.
He has shown me that even in the times I feel like this, that if I pass through it I wont be alone. That loneliness doesn’t define me, and I know it sounds like I should know this by now, but I always pushed it off until now. I love people, and God is showing me that my heart for people is bigger than I had known. There are things that I am praying about that I believe is my calling, but I will post that later because I am focused more on where I am now!!
Thank you all so much for your prayers and support, this is such a blessing to be apart of!!
Right now I am at 9700 and i need to be at 13000 by October 31st and fully funded at 16500 by December 31st. You guys have been so amazing and have blown me away so far, so it you could prayerfully consider supporting me financially the rest of the way I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much you guys are AMAZING!!!
