Sorry I have taken so long to report on my trip to Asia.
It was, in one word: Amazing! We were able to go into three English schools and talk to the students about Christmas and New Year. We told them about American holidays, culture, and our education system. Then we would open up the class to discussion. Many of them asked if they would be accepted in the States, if they could find work, or if they would be discriminated against because they are not American. They all wanted to know if they were to come to America would they be able to make a life for themselves. They also wanted to know whether we were discriminant against Muslims (that is what many of them are) and if we feared Muslims because of 9-11. No, they were not the jihad type, they were actually very friendly and open. Everyone was excited to talk to us and take a "photo" with the "bule" (white people). And they were probably more supportive of our president than the average American, everyone loved Obama, and I was asked many times if I voted for him. My answer of course was, "You have to be 18 to vote in America, I am not old enough." Because this country is not open to Evangelism we were not able to just strike up a conversation about Christ and Salvation, so we had to go about it in a different way. We would always take time to explain our views of Christmas as a celebration of Christ's birth, but we couldn't just start talking about His death and go from there. They had to ask us and pursue it themselves. No, we didn't have a great harvest of souls while we were there, there is still only one believer in the city (to our knowledge), but we were able to plant seeds and to water where others had been before. And we got to make contacts to keep up with and continue a relationship with via Facebook. Yes, we can do Facebook Evangelism. We were able to go to some of the local parks and to "meet and greet" the locals on New Years Day, so while you in the States were counting down, I was eating some unknown fruit with a Muslim family. I was also able to befriend a girl (who spoke really good English) for the afternoon (yes, I am FB friends with her now). She helped me figure out what to eat for lunch, honestly I still don't know what I ate (except that it had chicken and rice), and then we just hung out for the rest of the afternoon watching the outdoor concert (some Asian girl sang Michael Jackson songs), and this monkey collecting money. We went and got this beef-on-a-stick thingy, it was fried, I don't know what part of the beef it was made of though, oh well, it was good. I also got to meet her family, they didn't speak English, and take pictures with them.
Funny story, the day we went to the second school we went to the market earlier that morning. That was really cool, but not my point, I bought this traditional shirt that was all fancy and what-not and decided to wear it to the school. Well, everyone at the school thought it was cool that I had one of their shirts on, then they asked me where I worked I told them it was a print shop where we make T-shirts and monograms. After explaining what a monogram was, they all quickly assumed that I was a fashion designer! Why? I make shirts and like their fancy Asian clothes. I am still not sure how they put those two together and got that but... whatever. And no matter what I said, I couldn't convince them otherwise, so that school got a visit from a clueless fashion designer!
But all in all, the trip was amazing, exhausting, and amazing again! Saw some very weird things, ate some very weird things, but loved every second. I have now eaten water buffalo, squid, and sushi. I have almost missed a plane from Singapore and rode a crowded subway full of Asians with cell phones. I have rode in multiple taxis down the wrong side of the road, at full speed, thinking I was about to meet my Maker cause this Asian who can't speak English is coming within inches of these cars and motorcycles, and we sometimes had as many as 4 people in the back seat because we couldn't afford a 4th taxi, but I lived to tell the story! I have washed my hair in multiple airport sinks and gone 52 hours on 5 hours of sleep! And slept in a hotel with cockroaches that are two or three inches long and had sightings of rats as big as house-cats, although we did have a gecko friend in my room of that I was glad (they eat bugs). But all is well, and I'd do it again in an instant!
As of right now, I am praying about an opportunity to go back to Africa in May. I don't know if I'll be able to because of various reasons but I will try to work around those. But I do know that at the end of May I will be going back to Eagles' Wings for the summer. That I am excited about! Keep praying for me and my opportunities for missions. And thank you all for praying and giving for this trip.
Romans 10:14-15
