Sunday, April 29, 2018

Keeping Busy



















A schedule is definitely the only way to keep up with the daily life here in Beijing. Just trying to keep the dust at bay and do daily cleaning tasks can keep me busy most days. I do a lot more cooking than I was, and I am enjoying it. We have been out a few different times in the last few weeks for meals with friends, and the food has been amazing! I had Peking Duck again this week as well as lamb and fish. I also made homemade dumplings with some friends. This was my favorite meal!

I cannot explain all that my schedule entails, but I have been able to observe a few English classes, and I will be doing more observing this week and next. I am learning a lot about the needs of the students here in China. The classes are door to making new Friends. Some of the people interested  in becoming Friends attend specialized English classes on Sundays. These classes are geared of course, to developing the whole person not just educating them.

Certain aspects of Friendship are becoming more difficult because of the national leadership. It is sometimes difficult to print the materials needed for the classes. There is still a strong fear of others, and many times friendships are tested before someone fully trusts another person to be their friend and not be seeking them out for personal gain or to expose them.

 Requests
Growth among the Friends
More Students
English Summer Camps
Wisdom for the Future

Friday, April 20, 2018

Fun times in China!

I have been in China at week and have climbed the Great Wall twice, had a lotus boat ride on Bei Hai lake, had Peking duck in Peking (Beijing), had an amazing hot pot meal, made new friends, and making plans to meet up with some friends I knew in college and Chicago.

One of my new friends is returning to the US tomorrow. We have been roommates and buddies the last week, so I will  miss her fun personality. She will be starting college this fall and hopes to return to China in the  future.

I spend my days, when not sight-seeing, cleaning house and being a blessing to my friends. I have been able to sit in on a few English classes, and on the weekends, I have been able to play piano for specialized classes.

I am beginning to learn my way around, and I am remembering some of my Chinese. I hope to learn more as time goes by. The people here love Americans, and it is nice to feel famous as the people are always asking to take pictures.

Requests
Wisdom  for my time here in China.
Wisdom about my future plans.
My family







Friday, April 13, 2018

China!

Wow! The last two weeks were very busy. I finished out my time in Nepal by visiting Pokhara in the Annapurna Mtains. It is a beautifull place. We stayed in a beautiful hotel, ate Korean bbq, fajitas, Dahl bat (rice, soup, meat) crepes, and so many other delicious things. We visited the Gurkha soldiers museum which if you do not know who the Gurkha are, do some reading. They were and are amazing, brave, soldiers. We also visited the international Mountain museum. It is a beautiful place with a mini Mt. Everest to climb, so I climbed Everest. We also drove up into the mountains and watched the sunrise. Because of the clouds, we only saw the tiptoes of the tallest peaks. It was not until the last day that we actually saw the Annapurnas in their glory of beautiful, snow capped peaks. It was an answer to prayer. I did not get to see Everest due to clouds, but someday if I visit again, I plan to trek to see the mountain.

The end of my last week in Nepal was busy with packing, cleaning, and completing a few crochet projects for the kids. I left Nepal at 11:30 pm and arrived in Malaysia at 6am. What a beautiful airport! They have a small atrium with a jungle and waterfalls. It was a very relaxing place to walk through. I ate breakfast and did a little shopping, then went to have lunch. I only had a little bit of Malaysian money left, so I was trying to figure out how much my meal would  cost... the waiter had a little trouble understanding my questions, and a man from Singapore asked what the trouble was. I explained my lack of Malaysian money... He told the waiter to give me whatever I wanted and paid for it. I did not get to ask him if he was a Chr....., but it wouldn't surprise me.

I left Malaysia at 5:30 pm and arrived in China at midnite. Customs was quick with no problems. I headed for my hotel only to find out that they consider 2am to be part of the night before. My room was not ready, and there were not  available. I went to my friend's for a few hours then returned to the hotel to rest and freshen up.

The next day, I went to the Great Wall. The area was beautifully landscaped and did not seem to be a main tourist area.  We spent a couple of hours climbing, chatting... We then had an amazing fish soup lunch. Mine was very spicy, and one of the peppers , Szechuan peppers, had a strange numbing effect.

Yesterday, I spent the day at the English Center working on personal projects and learning about how the center works. Today, I am sitting in  on classes and learning how English is taught. Tonight we will have a time with friends to learn about the best Friend.

Please wait to comment about my adventures until you see how I write about things due to the regulations here. You will notice certain words are not used and are replaced with other words. If you do not understand something, please feel free to ask my family.

Requests
Trouble that my parents had with the moving company they hired.
Future plans

Sunday, April 1, 2018

He is Risen!!! and that's no joke!

I hope everyone has a lovely day as they remember Jesus resurrection. Knowing that friends have lost loved ones including a little baby this week, makes the resurrection so much more amazing. One day we will all rise again.  We began the day with a sunrise service and breakfast as a church family. It was very enjoyable to sit together as a family even though I cannot speak the language.

This week was busy as I began packing some of the things I will not need in order to be ready to leave in a week. I was able to visit Crown College Nepal on Tuesday. What a blessing to see the truth being taught here through the first college I attended.

We completed some more spring cleaning projects this week, and I attempted to make rock candy. Epic Fail! I now plan to freeze the sugary syrup in hopes the kids can have popsicles. I also visited Thamel which is a tourist market area. What a maze of back alleys and streets! We had fun eating KFC and milkshakes, but all of us were exhausted.

Tomorrow, I leave for Pokhara where I will see some of the Himalayas. (not Everest) I have been told it is beautiful, so I should have a lot of pictures when I get back.

As the time moves on towards my last day, things will be pretty busy, so it is possible my next post will be from China. Please be careful in what you say or post on my wall or missions page in regards to Christianity as it could cause problems for my friends in China.It may be necessary for me to have my sister post for me, so my posts may not be as frequent or lengthy.

Please pray for my parents as they move this month. Pray they can find a house quickly. Pray for my sister, Joy who is expecting. Pray for my flight to China which will take two days. Pray that I do not have any problems going through customs...