Saturday, August 2, 2008
A new brother... and a new destination!
Well, I think all of you who are reading this know, but we passed our adoption court date, and our little boy (well, he's 9) in Ethiopia is ours now!! We are so incredibly happy, and cannot wait to go get him. We are not sure when we can go to get him, but we may find out this coming week! But as for now, here is a picture of my precious new brother..
A few pics
In Hong Kong!! Our plane to my city.
After 3 plane rides totaling 20 hours, we finally made it!
This was the night after we got there. I prayed with the guy in gray, left of me. He is a new brother!
Me in front of my amazing city, filled with so many amazing people.
Friends on the beach.
Monday, July 14, 2008
China Part I - Han
Hello blog!
Well, I have not posted on here in a while--a long while. I have had intentions to though!! I have gotten complaints from people because I say "I'll post again soon" and don't.. So, sorry about that! But for now I want to share a story from my trip.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now first off, from the moment I step in the airport, I think about my mission to wherever my destination may be. I pray about the people I will minister there, for God to prepare their hearts and minds to our message. I know that we are supposed to be on mission all the time, and I am a strong believer in that, but for some reason when I'm on a mission trip I think and pray about the ministering I will be doing at my destination -the plane ride is just a means to get me there, and It never occurred to me to pray for who God would have me minister to on the plane, or on the way to my destination. But from now on I will be, thanks to an encounter with a 19 year old Chinese exchange student named Han.
As I walked down the isle to my plane seat on the first flight, I came to my row. I saw that I would be seated in the middle, between a woman at the window and a young Chinese guy on the isle. I did the usual, shoving my backpack into the tiny space they give you under the seat in front of you and wondering why I packed so dang much in my carry on. As the plane got into the air, the guy to my right, Han, started a conversation. I was glad, and we started to talk. I found out that he attends an American university in the north, but that he is from China and was returning to his family's city very close to the city I was going to. We talked for a while, then there was a little bit of silence. Then I had that feeling-that feeling that you know God is going to ask you to do something, and that you will feel extremely guilty by not following through. God was asking me to evangelize to Han-- to figure out his "status" on what he believed. I knew I had to. I knew if I didn't at least figure out if he was a Christian or not I would feel like crud later, so, I took a deep breath (wondering what I was getting into) and opened up the door..
"Soooo... do you go to a Church near your school?"
"Oh-ah, no, I don't do Church." He said, being caught a little off gaurd.
"OK. Well, what do you believe about God?"
He went on to tell me that in his mind there is no God, and that he believes strongly in evolution; he is a science major, so he basically believes everything he learns about evolution from his textbooks at his secular school. I told him I was a Christian.
Me: "Hmmm, ok. I tell you what, how about you tell me your beliefs and then I get to tell you my Christian beliefs?"
He said ok, and told me his beliefs. From the Big Bang, to us coming from monkeys, to there being no God, he believes it all, along with some weird mystical beliefs his Grandmother taught him. Well, that set it off for me. I literally dropped an Evange-Bomb right on his brain. (You can always carry those bombs on the plane, right? :P) Poor guy. He had no idea what kind of Creationist-God loving-always-open-to-sharing-my-faith- (especially with Chinese students!) kind of chick he was sitting next to. I took him %100 through creation to salvation. It was incredible, and as I talked with him I found myself getting more and more energized and into it with every word I was saying. I loved every minute of it. It started to be more of a God ad creation vs. evolution discussion/debate and I made big points on how,
"You're a smart guy, Han. I mean, you're a science major, you know about all of the intricate tiny cells in our body, and how detailed science is. These kind of things can't come from some random chance of chemicals blowing up out of no where- there had to be, and there is an Intelligent Designer behind all of this. And He loves you, and He sent his Son to die for you, and..............."
And on I went. He would try and tell me how evolution just had to be the way, but I was the only one with proof that creation was the way. His main issue was faith in the unseen, but I told him how evolution is totally faith in unseen things, and that it is just a theory with barely any true evidence. It was amazing, and I really encouraged him to find and get a Bible and start reading through the gospels. I would have loved to have had a Bible to give him. He said he would try to get one, and that he was interested in what I was saying. I gave him a salvation bracelet a team member sitting on the row behind me had, and he loved it. I got his e-mail address, and I am going to e-mail him soon. I would love to get his address in America and send him a copy of the movie "Expelled," ( I haven't seen it, but heard it is awesome and amazing how the evolution theory is busted and creation points to God.) or maybe some of the books or DVDs called "Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution". I told him about those resources and he was interested. He also told me, though, that "I don't think I could really be a Christian since there aren't very many at my university." I told him that I'm sure that there is a church near his university and Christian groups within his school. Another funny thing he said was "Yeah, my friend has a Bible in Chinese, and I was reading it one time, but I think I want to get an English Bible because the Chinese one was boring." LOL. Hmmm. Well.. OK then! Good luck to ya! Ha, I can just imagine the poor guy starting and reading through Leviticus or Numbers imagining how on earth Christians read that. I told him that the Gospels were a great place to start. =)
Another cool thing was that we were on the same following flight from LA to Hong Kong as well. We were not near each other, but since he was by himself, he came along with the college team and I. It was so neat because he knew that we were all Christians and from the same church, and when I introduced him to our team they were so inclusive and awesome to him, so I think that really gave him a great impression of what being a Christian is about. One guy on our team who brought his guitar got it out while we were waiting at the airport and played a few things, then he even let Han do some stuff on it since Han played guitar too! I think he really liked the team.
Please pray for Han. Please pray that God would be tugging at his heart from the words he heard on that plane ride, and that I would be able to reach out to him more via e-mail.
Well, it you've stuck with my long post 'till now I commend you. =) I learned that even an hour into a mission trip God will be moving in big ways, and that we are on mission to everyone we meet not only at our destination, but to the people sitting next to us on the plane, to the airport workers and the flight attendants. Even if it is a simple smile and thank you, and something to make them wonder what is different about you, we are on mission. We are on mission no matter where we go.
Well, I have not posted on here in a while--a long while. I have had intentions to though!! I have gotten complaints from people because I say "I'll post again soon" and don't.. So, sorry about that! But for now I want to share a story from my trip.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now first off, from the moment I step in the airport, I think about my mission to wherever my destination may be. I pray about the people I will minister there, for God to prepare their hearts and minds to our message. I know that we are supposed to be on mission all the time, and I am a strong believer in that, but for some reason when I'm on a mission trip I think and pray about the ministering I will be doing at my destination -the plane ride is just a means to get me there, and It never occurred to me to pray for who God would have me minister to on the plane, or on the way to my destination. But from now on I will be, thanks to an encounter with a 19 year old Chinese exchange student named Han.
As I walked down the isle to my plane seat on the first flight, I came to my row. I saw that I would be seated in the middle, between a woman at the window and a young Chinese guy on the isle. I did the usual, shoving my backpack into the tiny space they give you under the seat in front of you and wondering why I packed so dang much in my carry on. As the plane got into the air, the guy to my right, Han, started a conversation. I was glad, and we started to talk. I found out that he attends an American university in the north, but that he is from China and was returning to his family's city very close to the city I was going to. We talked for a while, then there was a little bit of silence. Then I had that feeling-that feeling that you know God is going to ask you to do something, and that you will feel extremely guilty by not following through. God was asking me to evangelize to Han-- to figure out his "status" on what he believed. I knew I had to. I knew if I didn't at least figure out if he was a Christian or not I would feel like crud later, so, I took a deep breath (wondering what I was getting into) and opened up the door..
"Soooo... do you go to a Church near your school?"
"Oh-ah, no, I don't do Church." He said, being caught a little off gaurd.
"OK. Well, what do you believe about God?"
He went on to tell me that in his mind there is no God, and that he believes strongly in evolution; he is a science major, so he basically believes everything he learns about evolution from his textbooks at his secular school. I told him I was a Christian.
Me: "Hmmm, ok. I tell you what, how about you tell me your beliefs and then I get to tell you my Christian beliefs?"
He said ok, and told me his beliefs. From the Big Bang, to us coming from monkeys, to there being no God, he believes it all, along with some weird mystical beliefs his Grandmother taught him. Well, that set it off for me. I literally dropped an Evange-Bomb right on his brain. (You can always carry those bombs on the plane, right? :P) Poor guy. He had no idea what kind of Creationist-God loving-always-open-to-sharing-my-faith- (especially with Chinese students!) kind of chick he was sitting next to. I took him %100 through creation to salvation. It was incredible, and as I talked with him I found myself getting more and more energized and into it with every word I was saying. I loved every minute of it. It started to be more of a God ad creation vs. evolution discussion/debate and I made big points on how,
"You're a smart guy, Han. I mean, you're a science major, you know about all of the intricate tiny cells in our body, and how detailed science is. These kind of things can't come from some random chance of chemicals blowing up out of no where- there had to be, and there is an Intelligent Designer behind all of this. And He loves you, and He sent his Son to die for you, and..............."
And on I went. He would try and tell me how evolution just had to be the way, but I was the only one with proof that creation was the way. His main issue was faith in the unseen, but I told him how evolution is totally faith in unseen things, and that it is just a theory with barely any true evidence. It was amazing, and I really encouraged him to find and get a Bible and start reading through the gospels. I would have loved to have had a Bible to give him. He said he would try to get one, and that he was interested in what I was saying. I gave him a salvation bracelet a team member sitting on the row behind me had, and he loved it. I got his e-mail address, and I am going to e-mail him soon. I would love to get his address in America and send him a copy of the movie "Expelled," ( I haven't seen it, but heard it is awesome and amazing how the evolution theory is busted and creation points to God.) or maybe some of the books or DVDs called "Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution". I told him about those resources and he was interested. He also told me, though, that "I don't think I could really be a Christian since there aren't very many at my university." I told him that I'm sure that there is a church near his university and Christian groups within his school. Another funny thing he said was "Yeah, my friend has a Bible in Chinese, and I was reading it one time, but I think I want to get an English Bible because the Chinese one was boring." LOL. Hmmm. Well.. OK then! Good luck to ya! Ha, I can just imagine the poor guy starting and reading through Leviticus or Numbers imagining how on earth Christians read that. I told him that the Gospels were a great place to start. =)
Another cool thing was that we were on the same following flight from LA to Hong Kong as well. We were not near each other, but since he was by himself, he came along with the college team and I. It was so neat because he knew that we were all Christians and from the same church, and when I introduced him to our team they were so inclusive and awesome to him, so I think that really gave him a great impression of what being a Christian is about. One guy on our team who brought his guitar got it out while we were waiting at the airport and played a few things, then he even let Han do some stuff on it since Han played guitar too! I think he really liked the team.
Please pray for Han. Please pray that God would be tugging at his heart from the words he heard on that plane ride, and that I would be able to reach out to him more via e-mail.
Well, it you've stuck with my long post 'till now I commend you. =) I learned that even an hour into a mission trip God will be moving in big ways, and that we are on mission to everyone we meet not only at our destination, but to the people sitting next to us on the plane, to the airport workers and the flight attendants. Even if it is a simple smile and thank you, and something to make them wonder what is different about you, we are on mission. We are on mission no matter where we go.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Back in Mei Guo
Hey there!
Well, I am back in Mei Guo, the land of the blonds and the home of my family. ( My real home is in China. =) Ha!)
The trip was amazing. That is the word I keep using, and it describes it very well. It was sad to have to leave. It was hard - hard saying goodbye to new friendships, hard leaving that hurting and lost country that is in such thirst for truth right now. The people there are so so sweet. That is part of the reason it is so difficult to say goodbye to new friends, even though I know we will still keep in touch and see each other more. One of the hardest parts was when a couple of friends the team had made were at the hotel when we left. They were crying as we hugged and as they were waving to us as the bus pulled out. I won't lie, I cried too! Many of us were. (At least most of the girls. =) ) I could have cried a lot more, but I made myself stop. It is just so easy to share and be friends with people in China. They have such a sweet, simple, caring nature. I wish people in America could be more like the Chinese. Life would be much simpler, and it would be so much easier to love and reach people. It was also a great time to be in China. With the huge earthquake, after shocks still going on while we were there, and the death toll creeping over 88,000, I was able to have some great conversations with people about faith, and the urgency to need a Savior. More stories to come about all of that.
I love the song "God of This City", by Cris Tomlin. It was on the Passion CD this year, and it says
You're the God of this city, You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation, You are
You're the Light in this darkness, You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless, You are
There is no one like our God, there is no one like our God
For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in
this city
Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done here
That is so true about City X, and for me it was one of the songs that I thought of as a "Song of my trip". (That is not the city's real name, btw.) I really felt like there was unfinished business when we left. Obviously there always will be more and more work to be done, no matter where we go on this globe..
I will post more about the events of the trip through out this next week. Thanks for checking up on me, and for your comments and words of encouragement!
Well, I am back in Mei Guo, the land of the blonds and the home of my family. ( My real home is in China. =) Ha!)
The trip was amazing. That is the word I keep using, and it describes it very well. It was sad to have to leave. It was hard - hard saying goodbye to new friendships, hard leaving that hurting and lost country that is in such thirst for truth right now. The people there are so so sweet. That is part of the reason it is so difficult to say goodbye to new friends, even though I know we will still keep in touch and see each other more. One of the hardest parts was when a couple of friends the team had made were at the hotel when we left. They were crying as we hugged and as they were waving to us as the bus pulled out. I won't lie, I cried too! Many of us were. (At least most of the girls. =) ) I could have cried a lot more, but I made myself stop. It is just so easy to share and be friends with people in China. They have such a sweet, simple, caring nature. I wish people in America could be more like the Chinese. Life would be much simpler, and it would be so much easier to love and reach people. It was also a great time to be in China. With the huge earthquake, after shocks still going on while we were there, and the death toll creeping over 88,000, I was able to have some great conversations with people about faith, and the urgency to need a Savior. More stories to come about all of that.
I love the song "God of This City", by Cris Tomlin. It was on the Passion CD this year, and it says
You're the God of this city, You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation, You are
You're the Light in this darkness, You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless, You are
There is no one like our God, there is no one like our God
For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in
this city
Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done here
That is so true about City X, and for me it was one of the songs that I thought of as a "Song of my trip". (That is not the city's real name, btw.) I really felt like there was unfinished business when we left. Obviously there always will be more and more work to be done, no matter where we go on this globe..
I will post more about the events of the trip through out this next week. Thanks for checking up on me, and for your comments and words of encouragement!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Coming Home
Ni hao!
Well, it is late-late here, and our trip has gone by extremely fast. It has been a wonderful trip and I have been making some great relationships. It was really hard to say goodbye to friends today. Very tough. I'm excited about seeing all of you guys, but am very sad to leave. Our bus leaves the hotel at 10 am tomorrow morning. (9 PM Thursday at home.)
Well, see you guys on your side of the globe pretty soon! Thanks for your awesome support on this trip-I know our whole team could feel it. Love ya!
Well, it is late-late here, and our trip has gone by extremely fast. It has been a wonderful trip and I have been making some great relationships. It was really hard to say goodbye to friends today. Very tough. I'm excited about seeing all of you guys, but am very sad to leave. Our bus leaves the hotel at 10 am tomorrow morning. (9 PM Thursday at home.)
Well, see you guys on your side of the globe pretty soon! Thanks for your awesome support on this trip-I know our whole team could feel it. Love ya!
Monday, May 26, 2008
2nd Tuesday Update
Our trip is going great still! I have been able to make some great relationships and witness some great, interesting, and crazy things. I cannot wait to post more about each day when I come back!! It's hard to believe that it is Tuesday morning here and we leave on Friday morning. This trip has gone by way too fast!!
I think I left off on Saturday on my last post. Saturday we went to an English corner/church in the morning. That went pretty well, though the conversations in my group weren't totally as focused on what I hoped. That afternoon was the beach party for all of our Chinese friends we had made throughout the week. We had Chinese barbeque, volleyball, soccer, frisbee, and tons of fun things to do. At the end of the night a man who helped host the party set up a huge screen with a projector and we watched "Bee Movie" in Chinese. =P The people loved it! They chose that movie because it is for all age levels, funny and easy to understand. At the end of the night we had a bonfire down closer to the water, but that didn't turn out quite how we planned. It is a long story that I will have to write more about later, but we had a few "tree huggers" and "save the earth people," which turned into 3 mad men with gasoline and fire! But nothing bad happened, just a semi fight. The wood was too wet to light, so that was about the end of the party and most people left. That night a couple of team members and I were had a great conversation with a student who seemed to be in her twenties. She is the most searching person I have ever seen-she knows she needs God, but has so many questions about faith, and she is really frustrated.
Sunday morning we went to the International Christian Fellowship, and then I went to an English corner in the afternoon. I have been able to have some really great converstions with people at these corners. On Tuesday night I spoke with a new believer, but recently I've either been talking to people who are not Christians, but have very limited English, or with people who are Christians and have some really tough theological questions. But overall I think we are having a great turn out!
Monday we went to a tourist island and then Stephen and Brett, a couple of my friends who are staying here for two months, arrived and we made some plans for a puppet show that we are doing tonight. Tonight (Tuesday) is the show for 2,000 people. WOW. We have a couple of songs and a skit that we are performing, then a really good musician on our team is playing and singing.
Please pray for my team. Almost all of us have felt gross at some point this weekend, and one guy is pretty sick right now. Thanks!
Sorry for not being able to post pictures.. I want to, but haven't been able to find the time to upload them.
Hope that you are all doing great!
I think I left off on Saturday on my last post. Saturday we went to an English corner/church in the morning. That went pretty well, though the conversations in my group weren't totally as focused on what I hoped. That afternoon was the beach party for all of our Chinese friends we had made throughout the week. We had Chinese barbeque, volleyball, soccer, frisbee, and tons of fun things to do. At the end of the night a man who helped host the party set up a huge screen with a projector and we watched "Bee Movie" in Chinese. =P The people loved it! They chose that movie because it is for all age levels, funny and easy to understand. At the end of the night we had a bonfire down closer to the water, but that didn't turn out quite how we planned. It is a long story that I will have to write more about later, but we had a few "tree huggers" and "save the earth people," which turned into 3 mad men with gasoline and fire! But nothing bad happened, just a semi fight. The wood was too wet to light, so that was about the end of the party and most people left. That night a couple of team members and I were had a great conversation with a student who seemed to be in her twenties. She is the most searching person I have ever seen-she knows she needs God, but has so many questions about faith, and she is really frustrated.
Sunday morning we went to the International Christian Fellowship, and then I went to an English corner in the afternoon. I have been able to have some really great converstions with people at these corners. On Tuesday night I spoke with a new believer, but recently I've either been talking to people who are not Christians, but have very limited English, or with people who are Christians and have some really tough theological questions. But overall I think we are having a great turn out!
Monday we went to a tourist island and then Stephen and Brett, a couple of my friends who are staying here for two months, arrived and we made some plans for a puppet show that we are doing tonight. Tonight (Tuesday) is the show for 2,000 people. WOW. We have a couple of songs and a skit that we are performing, then a really good musician on our team is playing and singing.
Please pray for my team. Almost all of us have felt gross at some point this weekend, and one guy is pretty sick right now. Thanks!
Sorry for not being able to post pictures.. I want to, but haven't been able to find the time to upload them.
Hope that you are all doing great!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday Update
Hey Everyone!!
So far so good on our trip! Sorry for not being able to post more. We have been super busy!
We landed on Monday, and spent the last half of the day having an orientation and getting settled in.
On Tuesday we woke up early and prayer walked a local fish market, which is like a whole different world. They literally sell things that you could never imagine there. As we walked, I noticed the emptiness in the workers eyes. This is life for them - every single day. Some arrive as early as 5 am.
On Wednesday we prayer walked a local huge Bhuddist temple and climbed the mountain it is located on. Being in the temple is always oppressing... between the smell of incense, the chants and huge idols, it is crazy. It is so so sad watching these people worship and work so hard for these ugly, scary, deformed chunks of rock. The people are so poor, yet still bring offerings of bags of fruit and other things to give to Buddha. It is crazy.
Later that day we girls on the team went to a fabric and silk market, where we picked out silk and are having custom traditional dresses made. (Mine is actually a shirt.) It is amazing because the total cost of my shirt: silk+labor of the tailor, is only going to cost around $13 American dollars!! They have amazing prices here. After the market I met up with a Chinese friend from last year, who is a Christ follower. She is so so sweet, and we had a great time. That night we went to an English corner at the University, where I talked to one particular man, Jason, for a long time. Long story short, (due to time,) when we started talking he was lost. He is now found, the old is gone and the new has come into his life!! Praise Father!!!!
I will write more about this in the states. At the English corner a wonderful musician on our trip brought his guitar and was playing praise music. It was awesome, and the people loved it. However, one young lady politely came up to a girl on our team and explained that because there were 3 days of mourning for the earthquake victims, that we are not supposed to be singing and doing music in a public place like that. She was very sweet, and suggested that we sing one song and pray for the victims. That was especially neat coming from her, because she is not even a C.
Today we took a bus and traveled 3 hours to tour a place I will post more about when I get home... Just for safety, you never know in China how they can get hints at my location.
Tomorrow we will be chillin' and making more friendships and ministering to people. I might possibly have a modeling job in the afternoon, like I had in 2006. They crave American models. It may just be my friend doing it though, but Mrs. F said to come along and they will probably have me do it too.
I will try to post some pictures tomorrow, but I need to go to bed now! It is late at night here, early in Mei Guo. (America)
Thanks for the love, support and prayers!!!
So far so good on our trip! Sorry for not being able to post more. We have been super busy!
We landed on Monday, and spent the last half of the day having an orientation and getting settled in.
On Tuesday we woke up early and prayer walked a local fish market, which is like a whole different world. They literally sell things that you could never imagine there. As we walked, I noticed the emptiness in the workers eyes. This is life for them - every single day. Some arrive as early as 5 am.
On Wednesday we prayer walked a local huge Bhuddist temple and climbed the mountain it is located on. Being in the temple is always oppressing... between the smell of incense, the chants and huge idols, it is crazy. It is so so sad watching these people worship and work so hard for these ugly, scary, deformed chunks of rock. The people are so poor, yet still bring offerings of bags of fruit and other things to give to Buddha. It is crazy.
Later that day we girls on the team went to a fabric and silk market, where we picked out silk and are having custom traditional dresses made. (Mine is actually a shirt.) It is amazing because the total cost of my shirt: silk+labor of the tailor, is only going to cost around $13 American dollars!! They have amazing prices here. After the market I met up with a Chinese friend from last year, who is a Christ follower. She is so so sweet, and we had a great time. That night we went to an English corner at the University, where I talked to one particular man, Jason, for a long time. Long story short, (due to time,) when we started talking he was lost. He is now found, the old is gone and the new has come into his life!! Praise Father!!!!
I will write more about this in the states. At the English corner a wonderful musician on our trip brought his guitar and was playing praise music. It was awesome, and the people loved it. However, one young lady politely came up to a girl on our team and explained that because there were 3 days of mourning for the earthquake victims, that we are not supposed to be singing and doing music in a public place like that. She was very sweet, and suggested that we sing one song and pray for the victims. That was especially neat coming from her, because she is not even a C.
Today we took a bus and traveled 3 hours to tour a place I will post more about when I get home... Just for safety, you never know in China how they can get hints at my location.
Tomorrow we will be chillin' and making more friendships and ministering to people. I might possibly have a modeling job in the afternoon, like I had in 2006. They crave American models. It may just be my friend doing it though, but Mrs. F said to come along and they will probably have me do it too.
I will try to post some pictures tomorrow, but I need to go to bed now! It is late at night here, early in Mei Guo. (America)
Thanks for the love, support and prayers!!!
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