Last year is the only time I haven't been with my family for Christmas. I missed them a lot but I would hop on a plane right now if someone handed me tickets to go back to East Asia. Last Christmas was a different kind of Christmas, but it was one of the best of my life.
I have been on many mission trips, but none quite compare to last Christmas. Most of my past trips were more structured than this trip (even Mexico!), and I'm extremely grateful for the freedom we had. This sort of freedom required complete trust in God.
Every day we prayed for God to guide us and give us direction. We simply began walking the streets, praying as we went, and allowed God to work. We didn't have a translator...just one phrasebook per small team, a jman who had two months of language school, and a professor who knew a language that was understood by many but not as well as the native language. We also had one working media player with a recording of the "Creation to Christ" story through the Bible. One of our main prayers each day was to find people who could speak English to translate for us.
I saw God work in so many ways through this trip. There is nothing quite like landing in a foreign country where you can't even begin to understand the language, having no set plan of action, and no translator to make you totally depend on God. I didn't realize what I was getting myself into when I signed up for this trip. We did have some basic training and instruction, but we were entrusted with the task of being the eyes and ears for the long term missionaries, so they knew where to follow up, and there was no set plan of action in how to go about this.
God moved on this trip. People approached us on the streets because they had never seen Americans before. We got to talk to many people, and were able to share in depth with multiple people who expressed true interest in what we were sharing.
One of the most awesome God moments of the trip for me was when my small team got to go into a secondary school (middle school/high school) and met a couple of English teachers who allowed us to share the true story of Christmas with their classrooms while they translated for us. This was an awesome act of God by itself, but what made it even more meaningful to me was that just the day before I had prayed for the opportunity to speak to middle school age kids. I work well with kids, so I prayed this with the thought that maybe I would get to speak to a couple of kids on the street...I had no idea how God would far exceed my small request. We were able to speak to multiple classrooms of 50+ kids two days in a row. The kids in that village will forever hold a special place in my heart.
There were many highs and lows on this trip. While I saw God at work, I also felt the presence of evil in a way I have never felt before. There were so many things I saw that broke my heart. Idols in every shop, confusion in the few who showed promise of being believers, so few who had ever heard the name of Jesus. I believe that spiritual warfare is a very real thing.
I could honestly go on and on about this trip. There are so many memories...crazy videos on the buses, dance-offs in the square, drunk man in the hotel room, the coffee shop, night spent with the squatty potty, stinky tofu, language butchering, lazy susans, Christmas service complete with fog and crazy lights...Last Christmas was a Christmas I will never forget.
Favorite method of transportation...unless it's raining.
Lazy susans are the best way to eat!
Gotta love the all-in-one bathroom complete with a squatty potty.
One of many gorgeous views.
Stinky Tofu...enough said.
Gorgeous.
Traveling in style.
Ready for adventure!
Speaking of mission trips, this summer I will have the opportunity to go on a short term trip to Nepal through my church. Please pray for me and my team as we prepare for this trip, and raise support. If you would like to partner with me through giving (tax-deductible), you can make a donation here (be sure to choose 750-Nepal from the drop down menu): https://sojournforms.wufoo.com/forms/short-term-missions-giving/
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