August 2nd Post

Well, we are currently only 4 days away from the end of camp! Our team is exhausted right now for sure. The long days and short nights definitely put a toll on our bodies. It is actually 11:15 p.m. and I am finally able to get on to update you all. The good news is that our team may be tired, but spirits are still up. We use our free time to explore the city, relax, shower, or go get ice cream (that is only 14 cents here). The heat has been a huge aspect of this trip. Tonight I played guitar in a little concert and my guitar was actually wet from the sweat! 97 degrees is bad in Colorado, but add in the humidity and you have a bus full of wet people and foul B.O.

The important thing is that we have begun to really see those tidbits of "God moments" on this trip. Our member from New York was straight-out asked today "I want to know more about Jesus." I have been asked multiple times what I do for a living as well as what my bracelet is for (from Costa Rica last month). Our teaching assistants are also mostly not Christian and I was telling Steve the other day that it seems our mission here is almost as much to be a witness to them. If you could keep Isolde, Annie, and Erin in your prayers, those 3 have been the ones I have seen closest to our team as a whole. It would be such an amazing blessing if we could see any TA's also come to Christ on this trip!

My hardest part of the trip came yesterday evening. Almost daily, at least one portion of our team explores during our free time (90 minutes). However, last night half of our team had the night off while the other half was at a talent show. Our show is on Thursday night. Steve, Chris Willecke, Jordan, and I hopped in a taxi to go to a local farmer's market. The market was closing so we started to walk down a street that we have attached a picture of on this post. As you can see, it is pretty packed and it seemed that our group got more and more silent as time went on. I purchased a strand of fireworks that are surely illegal in most countries because we all know that boys will be boys and it explodes. Don't worry mom, I only spent 28 cents. By the end of this journey, we were 3 km from the hotel and silenced by the way that some people live in Bazhong. I want to describe it but I really cannot do that. I am still processing what I saw there. The best way to put it is that there are people living in storage containers and they fill the container with trash that they sort for recyclables. As I wrote that, I was realizing that I cannot even describe that. Jordan pointed out as we quietly got back to the hotel how he felt a little guilty that we had complained about showers that don't drain well and how we were roughing it. It was unanimous agreement. I have seen poverty, but this was just so real...

I wanted to show a picture of Chris Willecke teaching with Edelweiss. She is our TA (also not a believer) and has been amazing with us! Just a heads up, Chris is a great teacher. He does well with the kids and is so patient when they struggle with words like "correct" and "theater". At times it seems we are either over their heads or too elementary, but they really just appreciate us being there with them. Chris plays basketball with them during break and our other teacher, Andrea, teaches them line dances. If anything else, we can show them love even when they struggle with English.

The last picture I want you to see is the white board. At our first meeting, these were our prayer requests. I can tell you that we are in the right place, this is not a holy vacation, we have a heart for the Chinese, and we have seen beyond the culture. Also, we have been safe, ministering, no (big) stupid decisions, and we are experiencing brokenness more and more each day. To our supporters, thank you. It is because of you that we are here. You opened your hearts to give to us and we were fully funded plus more. What is really left is that we don't let this be a "trophy in the trophy case" that we forget when we get home. Please continue to pray for our hearts in this.

Stepping back from a leader's perspective, we have an amazing team that melds seamlessly. Andy has been our saving grace with his Mandarin. Mitch is out of his shell like I have never seen. Chris is always so excited about whatever we do. Joey is always found in the middle of a crowd at least a foot shorter than him, Natalie is our main contact to the TA's, and Bri seems to always have somebody with her playing soccer. Chris has been such a level head for us and joyful. Jordan is the comedian of the group but it seems that he also has some of the wisest statements on the trip. God knit a team together that we never saw coming when Steve, Erik, and I sat down this winter. Just another show of his power.

Prayer requests for the last few days:
God would open doors for conversation.
Good rest at night.
Our witness to the TA's (Isolde, Annie, Erin)
Strength in classes to push through as we get tired.


Mark