beijing babeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!

AMEN
Originally uploaded by gqmac.

this was really an amazing trip. there were so many challenges, not the least of which was our leader, janice, hurt herself before the trip and was not able to go! but it was also that it was for the most part unfamiliar territory for most of us on the trip. however, we definitely didn't allow that to dampen our spirits!

i arrived thursday nite, a few hours after the main team, and met up with the other 21 at the train station. we were headed straight up to inner mongolia, chifeng to be exact. it was so awesome to see the team that night, and i was so excited to see the birks (mitch and jo) all the way from oz! it was also great to see and talk to everybody - all in the context of missions and what this trip means/will mean for each of them!

day 1 - chifeng
we spent thursday nite on the train going up to chifeng... arriving at like 6:30am on friday. after barely sleeping on the train cuz the conductor dude kept waking me up flashing his flashlight in my face, i didn't even feel the weariness upon arrival. we ate breakfast at this canteen place, and while there, was served up with our first bombshell. no, it wasn't the bathroom scene (which you can get from any of the mission team members). originally we were told that we could teach the classes in pairs. however, because they had a HUGE school (like 2,000 kids and like 40 classrooms), they preferred us to teach one a class! some of us non-teachers (like ME), was a bit taken aback by this - but you know, if God says it's to be so, it's to be so! so teaching a class was fun. handing out WWJD bracelets and letting them know the love - implicitly, never explicitly - was awesome. i had a student-guide named mark, who emailed me later telling me that 'he can see that God loves me, and so does he!!" - SNIFF SNIFF!!!!!!! teaching was awesome, and definitely being able to share parts of my life w/the kids was a true blessing! we were all then taken out to lunch by the students; some to houses and some to restaurants. i went to a restaurant w/about 10 students and ate awesome food. pics are



it was such a huge site... so we did our dramas and dance... and then went to dinner w/some other kids! overall the experience was awesome! i know that some members of my team had an awesome time sharing the Word w/kids or their families. others just spread God's love in other ways. but overall, i'm so proud of everyone, especially those that overcame their phobia of teaching alone! it was a pretty good challenge!!!

we then headed back to the train station to go back to beijing. i know many of the team had developed ties already w/the kids at the school. it's difficult to serve one day, and then leave. but the great thing is... they all remember - just like the kids remembered jason's team that went last year. seeds were planted, and we were just doing our part to nurture those seeds, and possibly even plant some more so that the next team that goes, God will use them to build even more!

day 2 - beijing baby!... WOOOO-ERRRRR
so our saying went! we had a pretty tiring train ride back to beijing... i thought a lot about the kids we 'left behind' - and honestly, thot about the impact we might have had, especially as we were only there a day. but u know, a day is plenty to sow God's love in someone's heart - and i fully believe that we had an opportunity to do just that! the comments mark made to me in the email confirmed it! i would never have guessed a couple of my students would really write back to me!

"by this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" john 13:35


back in beijing, we all ate breakfast at this ghetto place next to the hotel that served up quite the carb fest! i loved the oily-ness of it all - and it was sooo beijing :P

every day, we gathered in tony & dru's room to worship and focus our hearts and minds on God and prep for the day ahead. saturday, after breakfast and our 'meeting' in the read's room, we were off to the university! today was a day to spend with the uni peoples - playing sports with them in the afternoon, and/or just chillin over coffee or something. it was a great way to bond with the group, and some even went bowling!!!! later that night, we went to the restaurant for english corners...

this was something different for all of us, i think. you walk in, and it's somewhat like speed-dating... all the 'members' of the english corner (a group of chinese students who want to improve their... english...) are sitting around the 20 or so tables around, and when the foreign group comes in, they just all go to separate tables and then just start chatting! so we all split up and off we went!!!! so - i talked to this one dude - 'eagle' was his name - and we get into pretty deep conversations.

then the leader of the EC - kar - wants us to perform, as tony mentioned to him that we had this 'show'! anyway - i round up the team, and we're like... 'here?... in the restaurant??" and i'm like why the heck not???? i think we can do something cool! so off we did the dance and 'with arms wide open' - and they loved it!!!



then, betty gave such an AWESOME testimony. before we started, i was scanning the room for someone on the team to share something. when i looked at betty, i just felt the Spirit say that she has something... so i got her attention and asked her if she wanted to share a testimony. then, surprisingly, she looked at me, and said straight up - "uh.. no... i don't think i can..." then looked straight down to the ground. now - betty has always been a ball of excitement and laughter and joy this whole trip, so i was a bit surprised. then i asked her again if she had one prepped - a little more insistently - and she was saying she didn't really feel comfortable and that she doesn't know what to say - and just didn't seem like she wanted to share, and then started looking down again... then all of a sudden, as i was just about to give her some encouragement - she pops up, and says 'ok... i'll do it!'. next comes this amazing testimony - followed by A SONG!!! i mean - she has a GREAT voice, and sang acapella, and suddenly was this bundle of energy and joy and laughter!!!!! i was so amazed, but this time, amazed that God had turned her spirit around of one of defeat at not wanting to share, to one that was just so awe-inspiring!

afterwards - i got into a great conversation with eagle, who was then wondering why we were so optimistic. i told him the source of our joy, and got a great chance to share about our lives, and what we were doing there and what not. although he didn't come to God that night, I know that the team's encouragement that night spoke volumes to him! kar loved our show, and asked us back on monday night!

day 3 - bicf
this was probably the 'challenge day' of the trip. we agreed to stay as a team thru the day, altho half the team wasn't involved in the dance and drama - most of us still ended up sitting at the church for the whole day, going through the rehearsal for the entire program, which was from 1 to about 9!!!! anyway - despite all that, i know that GOd was working wonders! it was an "easter arts festival" - or something to that extent. it wasn't 'church' per se - because the minister of religious affairs (and his family) was there! soooo - we got to perform king of hearts and with arms wide open - 2 dramas that really show the 'easter message' about God's saving grace through His death and resurrection - in front of this type of audience!!! i thought that was awesome - and was real proud of the team for soldiering thru the day! :) it was soooo goood!!!! some of the korean kid's dances was soooo cute - just ask dru to show!!! :)

day 4 - langfeng & english corner

early monday morning, we journeyed out to langfeng to the philip hayden foundation orphanage. kids such as this one were there, abandoned by their parents, and often for as little as a cleft palette. this little boy had a heart problem. at first, i was saddened to see all these li'l kids, but my heart turned as i learnt of the love and commitment of the directors of this place. as we heard of the miracles God worked to get them the 6 acres of land in the nearby industrial park in tianjin, called shephard's field, which includes an 'inn' for visiting missionaries, as well as a medical clinic, i had the feeling that God's going to work even more amazing things through the work of the orphanage.

we spent time eating mcd's with the kids - where we all pretty much had a great time feeding, and playing with the kids! i never seen kids use nuggets as a spoon to get into the sweet n sour sauce and only eat the sauce! it was the cutest thing, but when u see a kid eat a whole box of sauce (and a half!) - you kinda get the feeling that it might not have been the greatest idea to let them do that!

this is tammy precipitating the deed with her fave kid!

in the afternoon, i was on the 'mural team' w/joe, ellein and betty, in charge of touching up this noah's ark scene in one of the houses. one thing i learned was that such a seemingly insignificant task can bring so much joy to people. when we were about finished w/the afternoon's work, one of the directors and his daughter and son walk in, and just exclaimed: 'wow! now we have a full rainbow again!', and 'our tiger looks like a tiger and not a camel now!', and 'the sky is white again!!!'... i really understood how in the context of what God calls you to do, just don't think about it. the smallest of tasks had blessed the people there, which in turn made me feel honored to be of value to them in such a way!

the rest of the team were out at the courts playing w/the kids, reading them stories, teaching them arts and crafts and sing songs with them. others were in the infirmary where the kids in serious condition were, and prayed for them. all in all - i was really blessed serving w/joe, ellein and betty. thanks guys for making that time so awesome!!!!

at night, we went back to the english corner. this time, there were about 10 more people - about 35 in total - who came to watch. as we were prepped beforehand, we brought all our gear. so after an hour or so of getting to know the students, we went into the program. i was a bit apprehensive at first, as kar, the main man, told me he wanted to video tape the show, and put it online! u never know bout these things, but after clearing it w/some of our contacts there, i thought what the heck, just let the show roll! after the whole show, i had a great chat w/2 guys - who really loved the dance, and dramas, and wanted to talk about all the 'stuff' behind it. it was great to share the heart behind the dramas and dance. i closed the program by encouraging the to have the confidence to seek their highest dreams, and that we ALL have that dream, but we've found the key to unlocking those dreams, and if they wanted to also have it, just ask any one of the team... the 2 guys asked - and spoke as well as i could, and can only hope that seeds were planted in their hearts! it was really awesome!

after english corner, a bunch of us went to a CLEAN massage place to wind down! it was our last night, and thot it was time to relax. as i got so little sleep this trip, a massage was just wat the doc ordered! i can't say it was the most relaxing of massages, as nate was laughing non-stop for an hour, which then made joe and i laugh for an hour... well, at least I laughed!! hehe we had a huge feast at yonghe's restaurant (the chinese KFC!! :P ) at like 3am - and then went to bed like 4ish!

i woke up the next day at like 6:30 - 7ish... and just couldn't sleep, despite being physically and mentally exhausted. however, i was still in missions mode, and just didn't want to waste time sleeping! so i got up, showered and went out to starbux - too bad starbux was closed till 8:30!!! this is what wangfujing looks like at 8am! so i just went to mcd's, had a hash brown and OJ, and did some QT. starbux was pretty key this trip (for most of them!)... hehe


anyway - we had lunch w/lynn at a peking duck place - i mean - what's beijing w/out peking duck!!! so i enjoyed the food tremendously (as i LOVE beijing food)!!! then after lunch, and some shopping in the supermarket, we were off to the airport! we check in, and it turned out that they couldn't seat the team together (about 16 of us) which really bummed us out.

on the plane, one of our team, after failing to skooch the lady next to her to swap seats, starting talking to her. soon enough, she learned that this lady led about 40 middle school kids up to beijing on a cultural exchange. on that monday night, they had a horrible accident where one of their buses rolled over cuz the driver was going too fast, and the road was slippery. needless to say, many were physically injured (4 couldn't make it back as they were in serious condition back in beijing), but yet, even more were emotionally scarred. cherie immediately went back into mission mode, and offered to pray for the students, to which the lady agreed after seeking the ok from the kids. turns out this lady also used to go to church as a kid when she was forced to by her parents. cherie had noticed this trip that she had a JESUS pouch around her neck - and that was one of the catalysts to conversation! anyway - cherie called me over, and after about 5 secs of explanation, we rallied the team, and next thing, most of us were running around the plane praying for kids. imagine that - we were all praying in the Spirit, laying hands, and crying w/the kids, while crying out to God! i can only imagine wat the other passengers could have been thinking!

i don't need to go into details - but i can assuredly say that kids we prayed for received healing, if not physically right there, then emotionally. kids who had a listless, faraaway look before, had a smile and a renewed joy as we left the plane. God really had touched lives! i can now report that the other kids in serious condition that hung back in beijing have since flown back. the other guide on the trip, who was in the most serious condition, whereby the docs predicted he would never walk again, reportedly got feeling back in his feet and is able to move them!!! i mean, PRAISE GOD! here we thought our missions was over, but God reminded us that missions are NOT JUST IN SOME FARAWAY PLACE! it's right where we ARE, at any one time, any one place! we just need to be open, spiritually, for His call!!!!!

i think that was probably the biggest learning point of the trip. i'm still digesting all that happened, and all i've learned. taking charge is something i'm not very inclined to do - and being a focal point is also something that has always made me feel uncomfortable. but i was blessed with the team, and how there was support and how awesome God was! it's so hard to put life, work, even church into perspective, but I know that God has even greater plans!!! it was a great trip - and definitely i look forward to going on the next one!!!!!!!!!

click here for the photos!
BEIJING BABEEEYYY!!! >>>> WOOOOOOOOOO-AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!