laughing traveler

One of my friends told me the story of a Christian missionary in Africa. On his first day he invited the whole village into the church. He told them the gospel and warned that anyone who did not repent and turn from their sins would suffer eternity in hell. The next week only half the people came to hear the massage. The missionary was shocked by the low attendance and decided to show them pictures and videos to explain how serious he was and how awful hell really is. To his surprise the next no one attended his service! When he went to the villagers and asked why, they replied that hell was only for white men, so it didn't apply to them. Because all the pictures he showed of Hell only had white people. My friend added at the end of the story, that as an Asian he feels the same way. Many people see missionaries as an extension of the western aggression, trying to make the eastern world more like the west. It was shocking for me to hear this, but I can see the misconception....

Today is the funeral of my sister from another mister’s mom, Teri. A few days before New Years, she lost her 8 month battle with cancer.   It’s hard to be so far away and miss my chance to say goodbye. It almost doesn’t seem real when you read about it in emails; It was a few days before I said it out loud. My first thought was why not 1 month later! I just wanted 1 more month. A month later she would have been a grandma.   A month later I would be back in America introducing her to my new boyfriend. I had promised this summer that I would bring him to South Carolina to get her approval.   More than anyone else, Teri really saw herself in my travels and adventures in China. She was one of the few people that shared my love of adventure and experiencing new people and cultures. After my first year in China she sat me down and shared some of her hard learned lessons in travels. We talked about how easy it is to get wrapped up in the newness and excitement and think, ...

The trip to Korea really did sneak up on me. My friend Pina has been talking about her upcoming wedding off and on and then one day she was like so we decided on December 12 so you will need to ask off work from the 11 to 17 th . No question, just the facts! I wouldn’t have gladly gone either way but the fact that I got this information 2 weeks before the trip added a bit of panic! I’m lucky that she also added a by the way it’s cold there. I was thinking yea I’ll bring a jacket, No its -10 degrees cold, -10 degrees CELCIUS! They don’t have those numbers in DC, much less Shenzhen, so I may have been slightly unprepared. I also got another surprise when Anthony, the Korean groom, called me and asked if I would sing at the wedding as a surprise for Pina! We have KTVed often, so he had mostly heard me sing rap songs. I was glad he trusted me not to ruin his wedding; my one condition was that I would only sing in English and his condition was that I not sing Rihanna’s S&M. I cho...

My church group here organized a mission trip to Cambodia and I joined not really knowing what to expect. It was mainly centered around 5 high-schoolers and the adult youth leaders. I was worried that I wouldn’t have a place or purpose on the team, since I didn’t have any leadership position. Our first day there, we attended a church service at the home/community center of Pastor Sam. They had set up chairs for our team along the wall with all the mothers sitting on the floor with their children. I noticed one kid about 2 years old in a cute little sundress or long shirt that was a few sizes to big. She spun around lifting her arms to show that, in fact she was wearing no pants and definitely a HE! The leaders had told us that all of the clothes you see the kids wearing were donated. Another little one run by and bumped into my knee. She looked up at me as if caught off guard and I reached out my arms to see if she would let me hold her. She hesitantly let me pick her up and stand h...

I had an interesting conversation with one of my friends on the metro the other day that I can’t stop thinking about. I don’t know how it started or exactly what was said but I know it ended up an hour long debate about Christianity and me at a loss for words. My friend was raised in the church as, what I would call, a C&E Catholic (Christmas and Easter). He had heard the Christian jargon year after year and was left with more questions than answers. My friend was going to a party with me and Roz that night and the 3 of us were traveling together. I think I mentioned that I wasn’t going to drink that night, because I had given up alcohol for Lent. He asked if I was Catholic, assuming that Lent was only a Catholic thing and then asked what the difference between Catholic and Methodist was. I poorly explained that the big difference is Catholic and Protestant which Roz could explain a lot better since she went to Catholic school and knew the details of both. Then expanded that we...

My church in Shekou started a concert series for the Christmas season. They will have 4 concerts around Shenzhen and I was asked to be a part of the prayer team. They said that outside the church the services will be concerts but having a prayer team will insure that they are Christ-driven and become a worship service. We were asked to pray for the upcoming event during the week and arrive an hour early to pray during the rehearsal and set up. We walked through each chair and prayed that God would fill that seat and bless the person that would sit there. After the service we were to come forward and pray with anyone who came up for an alter call. I realized that I am not very good at this. My friend said how can you be bad at praying? Is there bad or good? I had trouble focusing; my mind goes wild in silence. When people came up to me to pray for them I couldn’t find the right words and stuttered and stammered all over myself. Also many of the people that wanted me to pray for them w...

Sandy invited me to her baptism the other day. She is the friend that came up to me at the bar and asked our group of foreigners if any of us were Christians and wanted to study the bible with her. 6 months later she gave me credit for bringing her to church and leading her to be baptized. I told her that she had helped me more than I helped her. She was the first person in china that looked up to me as a Christian role model, and it forced me to become a good example. I had stopped going to church after I had been in china a few months and I had become busy with new friends. I told Sandy I believe God sent her to me to give me a purpose in church here. Everything is more fun with someone to share it with. I barely remember my baptism. I was dedicated as a baby when my parents promised to raise me as a Christian and then baptism as something I had to check off the list before I could be confirmed in the Methodist Church. Sandy’s Baptism was much different. We met at the home of one ...