Arkansas

A ll natural

R ed-neck

K ountry

A rachnophobia

N uttin' special

S aucy

A mmo

S nipe-hunting

You talk to God?

A memory that tugs on my heart the most took place at a middle school. We spent time with the kids in all the english classes and had the freedom to talk about anything we liked. As I sat on the floor with a group of 13-year-old boys, all clothed in the proper uniforms with light blue shirts, our conversation went from silly things that made us laugh to the simple question: “Why did you come to our school?” This opened the door for me to share about the most precious thing... my relationship with the Father. Their eyes were focused on me so intently and one boy finally built up the courage to ask, “You talk to God?” It was barely a whisper. Another leaned in and asked, “May I talk to Him, am I allowed to?” In that moment, I can not describe how overwhelmed I was at their innocence and genuine desire to know more. You could see it in their expressions, as if they had just come upon hidden treasure. And what an honor it was for me to be the one who got to share it with them.

May I have this too?

One evening in Taiwan, Kelli, Sunghye, and I found ourselves climbing up the stairs to The Rock Cafe. As we walked through the door, the sounds of conversations, laughter, and music filled our ears. Little lights were strung around the large room filled with tables and chairs, a shiny bar with wooden stools, fancy mugs filled with coffee or sodas, acoustic guitars hanging on the walls, and even a piano (my favorite!). Suddenly, a young college student invited us to sit with her and her close friend. Though they were both Taiwanese, their English was almost flawless. Our conversations danced from common interests to things we found really funny to stories from when we were younger... to see such a friendship develop in just hours was simply incredible. These girls, Emmabelle and Lucy, had already found a special place in my heart. As the night progressed, I found myself in a deep conversation with Emmabelle. As she asked questions about my life, I allowed myself to be completely transparent with her. And as I told Emmabelle about my relationship with the Father, her eyes lit up in a way I've never seen before. She asked me to share more and even made herself vulnerable by sharing areas of her heart with me. And then, the most beautiful thing happened... Emmabelle asked, "May I have this relationship with Him too? Will you show me?" With tears in my eyes and an overwhelming joy in my heart, I replied,"It would be an honor."

New Update

Hi! So let me first start with the Vacation Bible School... it was a BLAST! The kids were all ages and a couple of us put together the programs for each day. Janet came up with the games, Annelies was in charge of crafts, and I put together some skits/stories. Our focus was on creation and the Christmas story and though we did not know what to expect, we made a bunch of costumes and props one afternoon and completely improvised the whole thing... it was hilarious!! We may have even had more fun than the kids... but the giggles and enthusiasm from them was the most beautiful thing of all. The pastors that we worked with here had such gentle spirits... that really spoke volumes to me and the whole team.

The other ministries have been going well... schools in the mornings, the Rock Cafe at night, and many friendships with the locals we have met in our free time. Today we went to a hospital... wow. To be honest, I was a little nervous, for hospitals have never been a safe place for me. But we went and performed a drama, dance, testimonies... but the plan changed when we got there, so again... flexibility. :) That's definitely been the key word this entire trip! There was more time than we were expected to have and they were waiting for us to continue... to improvise, Kelli and I have spent time together singing/harmonizing together, so we offered to sing a worship song. Lynnea sang some songs as well, and as the sounds found their way down the hallways, the others from our team went up to different people and asked them for prayer. It was truly a powerful experience, with many in tears, including our team. So though I was nervous, it was so worth it.

The singing reminded me of another cool story (there's so many with so little time)... when we were in mainland China, there was a day that our team split into groups of 2 to go out and do silent prayer walks. Kelli and I found a rock out near the market to sit on and ended up singing/harmonizing worship songs without the words for an hour. Many people walked by with smiles, some stayed to listen, and even the police brought out their chairs to sit and listen. It was one of the coolest things we've ever done... in a nation where God's name is more hidden than proclaimed... and though we could not just go out and tell everyone about Him, where we had to speak in code and were followed everywhere and had our rooms bugged and... the list goes on... we still sat out in the middle of many precious people, gently worshiping the one true God... I'll never forget it... never.

It's been so long...

How crazy it is to be completely disconnected from the outside world! The last few weeks our team was in China and what an experience that was! As a closed country, it was not possible to be so open about who we were or why we were there. But wow... how much we learned... how much we experienced! The people there are so kind-hearted and gentle. Each time I had the opportunity to meet someone new and spend time with them, I could see such an openness and genuine desire for friendship. And as conversations pursued the deeper things in life, it was easy to see them truly wanting to seek out the truth.

We're now in Taiwan and how our schedule is jam packed with programs for schools, cafe ministry (called The Rock Cafe), hospital ministry, a vacation Bible school for kids who have never heard of Christ, a half-way house ministry, youth group ministry... and multiple people have accepted Christ in just the few days we've been here!

This is a short blog, I know, for how long it's been since I last wrote... when time is found, I will write again. :)

More Stories

To continue... I have since had a few showers, though our living conditions are a bit unsatinery, it was wonderful to have a shower at all and they're cold... great because it's really hot here! :) But this is a really cool story I must tell you. So, everyone from home in the college and career group went on a trip to Utah (the Zion trip). I had to miss it to come here, and I saw all the pictures and wished so much I could have gone. Well first, the apartment that we're staying in here in the village is called "Zion." And then this morning, we all hiked up "the mountain", which is one of the big mountains that once you reach the top, you can see Hong Kong on one side and mainland China on the other. It was my first time ever climbing a mountain, and since they are rolling mountains, I actually climbed a few to get to the top. It was really intense at times and I was nearly dying at some points... but it was one of the most amazing things I've ever done!! The way down was quite dangerous, for it started raining and a lot of the trail was rocks and clay... very slippery. But that made it even more of a challenge! So through this, and other small ways, it was like God brought parts of that trip to me here... and He knew how special it would be for me.

And I must correct my last blog... there are no "cities" in Hong Kong, only different districts. So we have been to many different districts, eaten many types of food, have spent time with people with many different ethnicities... just yesterday we went to an international church... it was AWESOME! All the people in the worship band and all over were from Australia, Africa, Asia, Caribbean, and the US. Then we spent some time with Philipino women... they come here to work as maids and are not thought of very highly... they're so special and many of them really love the Lord. Saturday we spent time with a Nepalese ministry... we invited families from all over the village to come and we planned a children's program. We did a skit and played games and taught them songs (Shamarah and I did "deep and wide"). It was so much fun! Before that, we helped tutor the kids in English and math and did some door painting for them.

Though some things are pretty tough here, overall I truly like it! If only I could show pictures... there will be plenty... eventually. :)

The Adventure Begins!

I made it here to Hong Kong safely... a long distance to travel, stopping in Korea on the way! This blog will be completely unorganized due to time constraints so here we go. We got up at 3:30am Monday morning to clean and head out for the airport and did not arrive until late Tuesday night (transferring to Hong Kong time, about 12 hours ahead). The flights were awesome, with the main one providing a tv for each person with movies and games... SWEET! :) We flew Korean air, so I got to try some Korean food... which although it was airplane food, was so good! Funny thing, they gave each American a big sheet of directions on how to mix all the ingredients together. The driver picked us up from the airport and... they drive on the left side of the road with the driver on the right side, although most of the road signs are on the left. He took us to the base, which is in the oldest village in Hong Kong (850 years). It is like no place I have ever been... seriously I've taken over 200 pictures already. When Wednesday came, I quote from my journal that night "it's Wednesday... have not showered since Sunday... it's super hot and humid here... sweating... all the time... so tired... haven't slept straight through a few hours in days... jet-lag extreme soaked in sweat... swollen ankles and feet from travel... everyones trying to figure out their swollen feet with multiple theories and hypotheses... so funny". I'm laughing so much right now reading all the things I wrote! And I wrote tons more than that... but I'm limited. The only A/C we get is at night from 10pm-6am... and it's hotter than FL here. I like it though because it causes me to drink more water. Let's see... shoes must be taken off anytime your indoors... I like this. The base here has worship every single morning and intercession every afternoon... INCREDIBLE! The tap water is universally safe in Hong Kong.
We're surrounded by beautiful rolling green mountains and I could go on and on about the village... I love it!!! When I can post pictures you will see what I mean. There are so many sounds... mainly of all different birds and crickets... during quiet times in the mornings, we go up on the roof of the base with multiple couches and chairs and when I close my eyes, it sounds like what I would imagine a jungle would sound like. There are many smells as well, much of which include incense. Ancestor worship is very big here, with altars everywhere for burning incense and worshiping. Just right outside people's doors everywhere are incense and there are many temples for worship as well. The atmosphere is very heavy. But the people are so lovely... and so sweet! Each day has been filled with something new, working with different ministries in different cities (with youth, kids, and prayer walks). We've been meeting new friends out in the village and spending time with them. The food is delicious and the cities are big and bustling. We have taken the train (like a subway) multiple places... my first time on one... so fun! And funny cultural difference... out the tons of cars of people, our small group were the only ones talking and laughing with each other.
I'm out of time...