TRIP OF A LIFETIME!
Coming to Korea itself has been a trip of a lifetime, but I wanted to catch you attention = P
Congratulations to CDR Crane and Son Min for their fourth baby! Finally had a baby girl!
Thank the Lord that finals are done for everybody. I prayed that you all studied hard! Have a wonderful Christmas break!!!
Dr. SB Lee is here! Please pray that his wedding plans will go well. And thank you for praying for Ron Koehler as he is going to be able to make it to the wedding, but Please pray that he has a safe trip here. = )
Coming back I have also witnessed to others and have been meeting many wonderful people. Please pray for jung wun (was part of the gold medal fencing team in the Asian games), Shi-Xiao (has a fever so we weren't able to have fellowship today), and met Danny Song (Korean Canadian struggling, but devoting his life back to Christ after experiencing a rather "Prodigal Son" type of life this past summer). I will meet with him later...pray that I can help him find God's will for him and to show him Jesus' love = )
I will post pictures when I have more time...Thank you for all of you prayers! The trip was amazing! I met with the missionary in Qingdao and got to see how missionary life was like in China. The "Boss" (that's what he's called...can't refer to him as a missionary or he'll be deported to Korea...seriously...but he's also called boss because he owns his own company in China...)picked me up at the airport and showed me around the beautiful city of Qingdao. He said it's super crowded in the summer because of the nice beaches, but even when I went, there was a swimmer! Crazy! I got to play tennis with the Qingdao University students and meet some of the people he was witnessing to. You can't really witness in China...you have to meet people, trust and pray that they won't turn you in to the police for spreading the Gospel, then witness to them when you feel the time is right. He and his wife hold Bible studies 6 days a week in their home, using Navigators and CCC books (I think he translated himself into Chinese...I think). He's from the Seoul ENM and will be coming to Korea in Februrary, or so. It was awesome to see how God blessed him and his family and how the Boss is so generous and kind to other people. The best way to spread the gospel is to show Jesus' love = )
I also got to experience riding a Chinese train for 14 hours! Yeah, I was scared at first because of all of the horror stories about the smell, comfort, thiefs, but I simply prayed and God took care of me = ) Now don't get me wrong, I was still kind of scared when I first arrived at the train station because it looked like an old WW2 style station that smelled of barnyard animals...and people all waiting in line with ghetto style boxes and shady luggage...but once I got on the train, it was nice. I rode "hard bed" style and it was completely clean. The other 5 people were all nice and were, by the looks of it, fairly wealthy Chinese (hard seat, soft seat is where people enounter burglary and such due to the number of people in the small space) The ticket was 237 Yuan, which I'm told is a lot in Chinese money, but it's around $25. It was definitely worth $25! A clean bed, blanket, pillow, and I was on the very top so I knew my bags were safe. Arriving in Nanjing, the train station was state of the art! It looked brand new, over looking the Yanzhe (sp?) River and the skyline was impressive! Sang was there at 6 in the morning to come pick me up! What a good friend = ) We took a cab to the experimental school where he teaches and caught up with eachother. I was impressed with his Chinese...considering he only began taking classes last year...I took 4 levels of spanish and can barely speak it! I got to meet Sang's students and his church friends. Sang is EXTREMELY generous with his money! He payed for everything for everybody wherever we went! Pray that I can get a part time job here in Korea so that I can also be that generous! Like I mentioned before, Native English speakers can make A LOT of money in Asia. Everybody wants to learn English.
He took me around on his electric bike which he bought for $200 (yeah, that's it!...and since it's electric, there's no gas fee...he just charges it up outside his room...it's nice)He was explaining to me how he feels bad that he can't do as much missionary work as he wants because of being in China, but I told him he's doing everything that he can to spread the Gospel, and so it's still good! Whenever he witnesses (very carefully) to his students, his students don't really listen...but I told him it's not in vain. He's simply the messenger = ) I got to attend his church...they don't have a building to worship in, but they rend out a hotel lobby every Sunday to gather...they have a seperate office where they hold Saturday youth services and have meetings and such...the thing is, they're all Korean...not many Chinese people are able to attend church...but it's a continual work in progress...He took me around the town and even booked a room at the Nanxing Sheraton so we could swim together and relax, and have an amazing all you can eat western style breakfast. It was nice
He showed me around the city and I got to experience the fast paced action of Chinese shopping...it was the same type of experience you get in Mexico, Korea or Thailand, except 99.9% only speak chinese and I'd say they are a little bit more aggressive...one lady even grabbed Sang's arm! Yeah... Prices were cheap, but I wasn't really comfortable buying anything there... You can always get cheap nice stuff, even back in the states, if you just shop right...
Sang and I had some quality fellowship time and we really talked a lot...he's actually coming to Korea for Dr. SB Lee's wedding, so I'll see him again!
I rode the train back to Qingdao, except this time there was no "hard bed" or "soft bed" ticket...they only had "soft seat" available. I worried a little...but everything turned out okay. Once I got on the train, somebody else was in my seat and he wouldn't move...Yeah, I stood there for what seemed like 10 minutes ( I think it was like a minute) showing him my ticket, but he didn't budge...I was like, "great, what a great sign to my 14 hour trip" not to mention how there were a ton of people in this train car and how nobody's bags were really in a safe place...there were a couple of drunk people too...I was a litle worried, but I just sat dwon in another seat...and by God's mercy it was somebody studying English. Amazing! I helped her study for her final in English and things went well. I asked her if there was someway I could upgrade my ticket to a "soft bed" if there was any available,and after about 4 different attempts talking to different workers, she did it for me! So I got to go to the safety of a bed and sleep the 8 hours left for the train ride knowing my stuff was safe. God was definitely looing over me = )
Back in Qingdao I toured the city some more with the boss man and had good Chinese food (I ate WAY TOO MUCH in China...it's ridiculously cheap...also got a massage there! Only costs 20 to 45 yuan an hour ($3 to $5)) I also had the opportunity to have fellowship with a Chinese Citizen...he just recently turned to Christ because of the Boss man. He's an English major so he spoke English well...He said he turned to Christ because the Bossman is always so generous and caring and loving towards other people. They met 3 years ago playing tennis, and after meeting for such a long time, he (Daniel Tan) realized there was more to life than just studying and working hard. He actually just emailed me, so hopefully I can keep in touch with him and encourage him to stay firm in the faith. Please pray for him that he will be able to work hard at his job and make enough money so that his parents can come live with him in Qingdao...his family is seperated in 3 different cities because of work...= (...and also pray for the boss man and Sang and other missionaries and the others they witness too.
It was such a blessing to be able to experience what missionary life is like in China! What's scary is that I was originally going to Shanghai, but the missionaries there have to lay low for awhile because a policeman questioned one of the Chinese Bible study students...pray that things will get better for them...
Have faith in God...he'll take care of you = )