Good morning guys! Or whatever time of day it might be for you. I am excited to give this shout out to ya’ll and check in after a month-long internet absence. I knew that China-country was a closed nation, but I didn’t figure that would keep us from blogging! I mean, come one, blogging is what World Racers do, right? Oh well. As it turns out, Facebook is blocked in China also. You need a VPN to be able to access it. Sorry I didn’t give you all a heads up. I wasn’t expecting it either.
Our ministry last month was incredible. Jah-Jah and I were nannies, cleaning house and watching some missionary kids. We also taught/supervised at an international elementary school not far from where we lived. If you can imagine Jah-Jah and I attempting to control a mob of fifteen Chinese kids who speak English as well as we speak Chinese – chasing them around the buildings, getting them to wait in line, and keeping them from unleashing their Kung Fu on each other – then you have a pretty good idea of the organized chaos that took place within those walls.
The girls worked with a ministry that reaches out to prostitutes, attempting to get them out of the brothels and provide them with jobs and a place to live. I know it was an emotional ministry for them, but they were glad to be a part of it. Overall, it was an incredible month. Maybe even our best one on the Race. We had dinner at a different family’s home at least twice a week. We roomed with some crazy cool guys our age who were practically doing the same things we’re doing. Like I said, maybe the best month on the Race.
But all good things must come to an end. We left our city of ministry and caught a train to Beijing. I saw the Great Wall, climbed the Great Wall, ran with a French Triathlon guy along the Great Wall, and decided that I pretty much love the Great Wall. In Beijing we also discovered “Bouza,” a warm Chinese roll with meet cooked inside served fresh and purchased for the equivalent of 17 cents. Talk about sweet manna from heaven! Yep, Jah-Jah, Jordan, and I made the “Bouza guy” a wealthy man during the two days we were in Beijing.
From there, we caught a flight to Manila, the gorgeous capital of the Philippines, and have remained here these past four days. Our team is focusing on finding “unsung heroes” this month as our primary ministry. UH’s are small-scale missionaries who have various ministries on the islands, are relatively unknown internationally, and might benefit from the assistance of a World Race team. Our mission is to find them, help them, and see if they might make a good potential WR contact for future teams.
Currently, we have our own house, protected by two massive dogs, a Rottweiler and Mastiff. We buy our own food and pretty much manage our own ministry. So far, things have turned out great! We could really use your prayers in finding unsung heroes. Right now, God knows where they are and we do not. Pray that He leads us to them.
I’m also going to attach a blog or two that I wrote while in China (just to fill you all in a little more on some of the incredible things that happened while we were there). For now, we plan on remaining in the Philippines until early December. So, for the next month, this tropical island in the Pacific is going to be home. Rough living, I know.
So yeah, that’s pretty much it. Remember us in your prayers. I hope things are going well back in the states. And I look to forward to seeing you all before the end of this year, Lord willing. God bless guys. I’ll catch you later.
Your brother,
Seth
