It's a Small World!

It's a small world after all!

In a country with 1.3 billion people, its odd that we would see anyone that we know. In the past month, we've randomly run into two people we know from Texas! Usually what happens is, we look across the room a few times with a puzzled face and then flash a UT longhorn sign to see if the other responds. Maybe the Texas, Chinese, C network is more powerful than we thought! Its great seeing people that we know out here and hearing stories of how Dad's moving in their lives and the people around them. We hope to see more Texans in the future! Yeehaw!

But Texas is a Foreign Place:
One question we are often asked is "How come you don't have a Texas accent??". We explained to them that most people in TX(at least the ones we know) don't have an accent but then they always go into a story about that one TX person they met with a drawl. An American here, even compared us not having a Texan accent to, an Australian not having an Australian accent. Apparently, Texas is as foreign as Australia.

Patience is a Virtue

We are learning everyday how to extend patience and grace to others. Dad teaches us this big lesson in small ways.

Here are some ways in daily life:
1) Forming lines and cutting in line does not matter. I can't count the number of times we've been cut in front of...
2) Hacking loogies and funny smells everywhere
3) The number of hours it takes to do a simple task- like paying for electricity
4) Asking others for directions. We don't get it. No one knows where anything is around here. Or are they just not willing to help? :/
5) Having to bargain for almost everything. We never know if we're getting a good price.

Through all of these things that would normally make us mad and annoyed, Dad has been teaching us to love others and their differences. We are learning to embrace the culture and forget our American way!

Train Riding

Train riding has been an adventure! A travel book called the train stations here "mayhem" and we sadly have to agree. Even though we already know C has 1/3 of the world's population, its not until you go to train stations that you really experience what that means.

This is only one waiting area out of many!We took our first overnight train! It was actually a very nice experience and a lot of fun. This train travels at 162km/h. Each person is provided with slippers and a personal tv. We had two strangers above us and luckily none of them snored.

Seeing Growth

The past two weeks have been a real treat. We got a chance to spend time with old friends. They spoiled us with their awesome cooking and hospitality. It was a great time of reconnecting and seeing the work at hand. We really respect them in how they live out their life. We learned a lot from them through the example of their marriage and how they're raising their son.





This post is called "Seeing Growth" for many reasons:

1) P came here when the work first started and J came the year after. Many years have passed since then and we got to see how dad's been working and the amazing fruit that has come about. We were overjoyed to see the blessings! We got a chance to meet with some people and also do some teaching.

2) There was a new addition to their family! The last time we saw him he was only a few days old and now he's over 4 months. He is by far the cutest boy!!

3) Personal Growth- "It is better to have travelled one thousand miles than to have read one thousand books."-a Chinese proverb?

You can only get so far in your walk by just reading. I don't think dad wants us to only read about him and the life he wants for us. But we need to mature past just knowing what we should do and actually begin living it out. Our lives can sometimes be so busy that we fill our time with many unnecessary things instead of with the right things. We have been learning to take daily steps of f_ _ t h in order to experience him daily. We are really glad in our choice to come out here.

Overall, it was really tough leaving our friends but we are really happy that we got a chance to spend precious time with them!

Fairwell Party

While we were there for a month, many short term teams stopped by. Usually they stayed for only 3-4 days. As each group leaves, they perform songs and dances for them. We've been the longest visitors ever so on our last day, they surprised us with a "fairwell party"! They performed songs, dances, a fashion show and funny skits. Some of the skits were even in English and were stories about how we met and our future. We were so impressed and felt so loved!


We didn't know it was possible to grow so close to 30+ people in a month, but we did! It was such a hard goodbye. There were many tears shed from us(well, J) and the kids. But we were so happy that our Dad gave us this opportunity to be with such a special group of people. Even though we were there to teach them, we felt like we've learned even more from them. We can't wait to see how Dad uses them in the future!

They really want us to come back and visit. If we can, we definitely want to and next time we want to bring some of you. Want to come with us?!?!

Olympics

We got to watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony. It was so awesome! All the kids were so proud.

Also, we had a few chances to catch some of the events. The guys were really looking forward to the game against the US basketball team. We couldn't get it on our TV but all things are possible with a little determination.

Yes, that is a video camera filming through our window to our neighbor's TV and being projected on the wall.

Interesting Facts

We leave here in 3 days for our next adventure. This past month has been such a joy. Amongst adjusting to the weather, bugs and food- we have had an amazing experience! We would not trade it for anything. We have already learned and experienced so much in one month that we can't wait for the next few months. But we have grown so close to everyone and we are so sad to say goodbye.

Interesting Facts about them:
- Most kids come from broken families. Either one or both parents have passed away or the dad is involved in illegal activities
- All kids came from rural villages where A/C and consistent electricity does not exist
- Before coming to the home, most only ate white rice and hot sauce. They didn't even know how to cook or what was soy sauce.
- None of them heard about Dad or knew anyone that knew about Dad
- Some of the college grads make about $130 USD a month and they have to provide for their wife and kid as well. In order to make more money, most have to work away from their families.
- Most people in their village cannot afford school so usually can only finish up to grade 4
- In their high school, the hours are from 7:30AM-11:00PM and every other weekend. They go home for meals and come back afterwards.
- Most of them have never seen the Olympics until this year

Some Quotes from them:
- What? You can't read?!?!
- Can you translate what P said?
- Take me home with you!
- Do you have to go? Can you live with us for a year? Or how about my whole life?
- I feel like you are my real mother when you play with me (She is 9 years old and her mom passed away when she was 2)
- I want to go back and share with my entire village