Day 05 四川

What a day. Went to the earth quake memorial park, witnessed the grave devastation of the power of nature. Went to another church in a rural area today. They have just purchased a unit in a run down apartment. Today is the first day they gather there. There are about 15 brothers and sisters there, mostly older female. I have a strong feeling there. I guess I'm more excited when I see the birth of something, struggling to grow up and take shape, more than something already established and striving. Incredibly a song I have chosen for our morning communal devotion time, is sung by them in that church, but in their village version! I really feel God is with us! This is no coincident. We are the same church! No matter what denomination, from which country, or what differences we have, Baptist, Alliance, San Zi, house church, we worship the same God, we worship the same Jesus, we are the same church!

Day 04 四川

Woke up at 4:30 am to go to another town. End up it isn't a rural town, but just a smaller town than the one we were staying. We arrived there for their church Christmas celebration there. This pastor and his pastoral team we've been working with has to manage more than 10 churches in that area, this is only one of the many churches they are traveling around to celebrate Christmas with.

In this church, for the first time in my life, I was asked to speak a sermon. I used Mandarin to share. I am very thankful that I saw people's head nodding, that means they understand at least some points I made. I don't know how well they received the message, but I just leave to God to do the rest of the work. What a privilege, the pastor doesn't go there often, but he didn't speak and let us spoke the sermon today.

Day 03 四川

Today I get to finally talk to the local. At night there was a young adult fellowship. At the end we had some time for fellowship with the people there. Thank God people are super friendly there, I didn't have to approach anyone, they approached us. I asked them questions to understand them more, and they asked us to pray for them. Not like in Canada, its like sometimes we have to ask people if we can pray for them. Their faith in prayers is great!

For 3 meals a day, we eat at the church. They always make good food for us, Their favorite food is fat pork. Its not very healthy, but it is the best food to keep us warm. And its the dish that take the most time.

Tomorrow I'll have to wake up at 4am! I signed up to go to a rural town. I'm both excited and worried, for God has assigned a very important task for me tomorrow. But I should not have any worries, but cast all my cares unto Him!

Day 02 四川

The next morning I felt extremely tired. The more tired the more I felt I needed to pray, 'cause this morning I need to share my testimony in the Christmas day pre-service. So I woke up to pray anyway. After prayer, went for the hotel breakfast. It was mostly spicy stuff. I had a bit of traveler diarrhea after the lettuce soup yesterday, so I sticked with the few non-spicy non-liquid food. Amazingly, after the breakfast, I felt the warmth came up my neck and I felt much more comfortable.

At the pre-service, I ended up with only 10 minutes to share, with translation. I was able to share most of the stuff I have prepared though. I shared about my transformation after my mother past away. When I got on stage, I felt God had prepared the congregation for the sharing. They applauded even before I spoke, and they stopped the talking. Most of them are elders, and they love to talk. Prior the pastor had to ask the people to be quiet. i think it was the first time I share that whole experience in a formal setting, and I almost cried, but I managed to hold myself back.

However, I still havn't really talked to any local yet, my mandarin is not as good as I thought, and i need more courage to talk to them, and more concentration to understand their local mandarin.

四川 Day 01

Found a way to post, but I can't read my own blog.

Arrived 四川 safely around 7pm at the church. It seems cold, maybe because I was too tired. Had a very simple dinner at church, mantao and lettuce soup, then joined their Christmas eve celebration. The church was packed, and they had a whole night of celebrations, but after the dinner, I was very tired. i thk I still have some jet lag. Half way through the program, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. After the sermon, they had more singing, and dramas, and dancing. Everyone were so into it, I bet they've spent much time to prep. By the time I went back to the hotel it was 11:30. But the HK team went on to have siu yea, living up to their reputation of not needing to sleep.

Day 00 四川

Stuck in Beijing for the nite, and had to share a room with a stranger. What
service Air China! Thank God my roomate was super nice and polite and didn't
snore. I said to myself that whatever get thrown at me in this trip I'll accept
it, and know God is in charge!

For the first time I experienced the China Great Firewall. No access to Facebook
and Blogger. I'll see if I can keep update this. We should all treassure our
freedom of speech and expression.

Finally arrived HK and met up with the team. What trip already! It feels like
I've been traveling for many days already, but actually it hasn't started yet. I
just want to settle down in one place so I can adjust and get comfortable. But
tomorrow have to wake up at 5am to start the journey up north.

Day -01 四川

I used to be exhilarated just packing and carrying my big backpack to the airport. Doing this once a year, nowadays this seems more like a routine. But it is the unknown ahead that excites me. I absolutely do not know what to expect. Honestly though, I'm looking forward to Beijing, because I know exactly what I'm gonna do there, but what lies ahead in 四川? Well, I'm not gonna expect too much. My objective is to be able to use Mandarin to really talk to the people there, to understand their needs, physically and spiritually, to care for them however limited an outsider can do, and perhaps even to make a friend or two.

Right now though, I'm stuck in YVR. 4 hours delay! I might have to stay overnight in Beijing. But whatever gonna come up, it's all part of God's plan. Got a $10 lunch voucher, and I'm so full now. Actually I prefer to stay in Beijing for the night, so I can change some RMB there, and don't have to find the hostel in HK in the dark.

四川 anticipation

And suddenly, I'm going to another mission trip, to 四川. It's hard to describe how I suddenly came to this decision. However, in retrospect, I realize that this is the trip I meant to go 1 1/2 year ago. As my tasks in fellowship wind down for the year, this opportunity came up. However this time is not me who want to go, somehow I feel it is God who is leading me there this time. As soon as I took that step, doors started to open, cheap air fair, my last minute holiday approval, ...etc. If I have to choose, I probably wouldn't choose this trip myself, but now He has chosen it for me, I will embrace it.

I am worried about my language, and I'm worried that I'll get overly anxious about the way things get done there. My mind set is so different from 1 1/2 year ago now. I just tried to watch a Mandarin news report now, I cannot understand any of the important part of the sentence! Also I really don't know how well I can work with this team. But somehow, these all make sense. Whenever you think you are capable, that's an indication you're not ready. But when you think you are inadequate, that is God's timing that you should start sailing.

Ucluelet Reserve Visit

Suddenly I have gotten a holiday, suddenly I was on my first ever mission trip, suddenly I was living in a Native Reserve for the first time, suddenly I found out there would be no shower for the next 3 nights, suddenly I was sleeping on hard floor in the community hall with no bed for the next 3 nights, suddenly my cold or flu that I was having for the last 2 weeks were gone, suddenly I was the only 2 persons in the team who spoke fluent English, suddenly I was evangelizing!

It was a tough and hard core trip, but when everybody was working just as hard, it just made it much more easier to bare. We had so much laughters, we experienced so much together, we experienced victories, and we also met persecutions. Sometimes I feel, if we have to chase down to black and white, who is right and who is wrong, who deserve more care or not, ultimately our conclusion would be no one deserves our love, including ourselves. So at the end, we just have to love, no matter who that person is, how thankful that person is. I feel there are things I didn't do as well as I could. When I was tired, I lost focus and I shied away from approaching strangers, and wasted some opportunities. But it was my first time, and I just have to do better next time.

My feeling for this trip is mixed, full of contradictions, and questions. I don't know how to describe it now, there are so much things I have yet to learn. All I can say now is people there are living a very different lives than all of us. Ucluelet is a tourist town, and its not a bad town at all. But if you travel 5 or 10 minutes pass the main town area, there is a back road, with no street light, and almost no sign at all, is the entrance to the Ucluelet reserve. After 10 more minutes drive through this back road, a residential area with no pave road appears. It seems like a hide away, forgotten little old town. Not all the houses there are old and broken, but just the feeling is so deserted. I then found out that the people and resources in reserves are governed in very different ways than other places in Canada. Together with their history and culture, not only they are living a very different lives, but their thinking is very different. As I said there are still a lot of things I have yet to learn. I just hope more Godly love will come to these places, and will make things right.

marriage "take 2"

Most of the weddings I've been to were Christian first time weddings, I've used to seeing the bride and bride groom making their marriage vow for the first time, formally thanking their parents for raising them up in a wedding setting for the first time. I have to admit it took a little adjustment in my head when I realize this is "take 2". It doesn't seem to make sense to thank your parents twice in public, because it seems to nullify the first time. Or perhaps it was just a ritual. A table of step-daughter classmates also caught my attention. Children are growing up in a very different world these days. However it was especially touching when the step-mother made a pledge to build a new family together with the step-daughter and father.

No one is perfect, and sometimes it takes humility courage to realize a failure and give yourself a second chance.

Some people however are in a total different mind set nowadays. They go into a marriage for the romance, with the notion of one day there might be separation, but lets enjoy the good time while we can, who knows what will happen down the road.

Mt St Helens

This is a trip I'll never forget; the majestic sight, the strenuous hike, and the troubles we almost got ourself into.

We arrived at the town of Cougar WA the night before, and camped out at Cougar Park, with a very nice camp host couple, beside a very nice lake, and yes we had the lake view at our site. Thanks to Kevin we had a nice steak dinner in the wild.

The next morning, the three of us woke up at 5am, and hoped to get to the trail head as early as possible. We know the hike is around 9hr return. We headed out at around 7, to get our permits and drive to the trail head. It was a hazy morning, the fog was so thick we had to slow down our drive. It was around 8am when we got to Ptarmigan trail, the start of our summit climb. We were relieved when we see we weren't the last hikers arriving. I thought the whole day was gonna be cloudy, and therefore didn't carry any sun block with me in order to save weight. This will proved to be mistake #1.

We started out slowly, paced ourself, knowing there are much tougher hikes ahead. After about an hour or two, the forest opened up, and so were the sky, we found ourselves above the clouds, looking across the view, we saw the majestic Mt Adams and Mt Hood piercing through the thick clouds. We were enthusiastic, enjoying ourselves, and taking care not to spend too much time taking pictures.

As we continued to hike up, the forest became thinner and thinner, until it becomes completely barren. Except for a few occasional alpine plants, there is only snow, volcanic rocks and ashes. I pulled out my dollar shop worker gloves with coating on the palm. It was surprisingly effective in grabbing the volcanic rocks and pulling pushing myself from rock to rock on steep hills. I even found myself pushing ahead of some of the other climbers with hiking poles. Also me biking to work helped to build up my legs muscles needed for this challenge. However, I found my two friends began to lag behind. At that time, because there are no more trees, we could see the top already. But when we see how tiny the people were up there, we knew we still have a very long steep climb. I looked at my watch, and looked at the distance we have to make, and accessed the pace we were in, I felt we might not have enough time to summit and back down before sunset. That's when I decided not to wait for my friends. That was mistake #2.

I continued to push on, thinking my friends will abandon summiting when they have reached their limits. I was certain I'm gonna make it. After a certain section, the chilly wind suddenly became horrendously big. I had to fasten my hat, and put on my jacket. I didn't expect it to be this cold at all. I continued, but starting to feel tired now. The wind was bothering me, pushing me from side to side, I had to take extra effort to balance myself. The gravel became less and less, and I soon found myself climbing on slushy snow. It was the last hill. I could see the summit closer and closer, but the climb became impossibly hard. Looking at other climbers with hiking poles, boy was I regretful in not spending that $20 on a pair of poles! Not spending that $20 was mistake #3. Nevertheless, I pushed on, telling myself, if so many other people could make it, so can I! I began to have trouble getting grip on the steep hill, and began to slip, and slip, and slip. Finally, on one slip, I sprained my ankle! I was devastated! I sat down, didn't know what to do, I started to wonder, would it be helicopter rescue? alpine rescue team? a good Samaritan? or freeze to death on summit? I know if I could twist it back, I can continue, but I have never done such a thing on myself, and I could definitely make it worst. So I started to call out Jesus, Jesus! I have to get back down! I rocked back and forward, and tried to place my leg softly in different positions. Then somehow, miraculously, my ankle went back into position! I was so surprised and overjoyed! I stood up, looked a head, I was so close, no way I'm gonna stop now! I used my last bit of strength, taking ever smaller steps, clamped my muscle a time or two, and finally, Made It!! I couldn't believe it! The view is magnificent! It is huge, and it really feels like the top of the world! It was 1:30pm. However, I had no desire to linger, or risk any more by walking any unnecessary distance. The wind was exceedingly strong, it was stupidly cold, and I had only shorts on, while others had full jacket and wet pants. I couldn't stop shaking! After a few important pictures, probably less than 15 minutes, I was ready to descend.

I took the fast way down and followed others to slide down the snow. It was easy and fun! The section that took me 1 hr to climb, took just minutes sliding down! As I was sliding down, I spotted Kevin and Mark still climbing! I totally underestimated their determinations! I could sense a little bit of danger for them making up that late, but looking at their determination, I just don't have the heart to tell them to give up. I told them I'll wait for them at a warmer place below. That was mistake #4, they had no idea where to find me after. They summited one hour later than me.

I continued to slide down, and followed the track carved out by previous sliders. But I was having way too much fun, I forgot to keep track of the trail markers. Two other innocent fellows followed me from behind. Before we knew it, we were on the other side of the mountain! We realized it, and began to climb back. I followed them, but they had hiking poles, and they were much faster. The hill is as steep as the last climb, and I had to climb across it. Luckily I have picked up a perfectly sized branch. That branch was placed right beside the snow track on a barren hill! I think that was miracle #2 of the day! I used that stick and struggled back to the path.

It was still very cold and my body couldn't stop shaking. I started to feel my muscles giving up, and I can't wait to get to a warm spot. I knew such perfect spot when climbing up, and I managed to get back to that spot. It was 3pm. I decided to have my lunch, write my journal, and wait for my friends there. It was eerily quiet, yet I found my peace there. There I saw the cloud disintegrating, transforming into curious shapes, touching the mountains afar. A black US fighter jet swept through the sky around the St Helens as if it made the trip just to glance the magnificent crater. It was such a nice place I felt I could stay there forever. But before I knew it, no more people were passing me by. The mountain felt absolutely emptied now! I started to worry. Did they get stuck up there? Did they get into trouble? Or somehow they took a different route?

It was 5pm and I finally decided to continue my descend. I took each step ever more careful, knowing that my muscles have overred their limit, and one mistake could proved fatal. I could step on a large and lose volcanic rocks and fell to other sharp rocks, or I could twist my ankles again! Each will make it fatal 'cause potentially there were no more people on the mountain, and I was on my own! I continued on, and suddenly saw very far away, 2 persons in front of me. I really wish it was them. I continued on, trying to keep focus on each steps. Soon I was able to catch up. After may be another hour, they spotted me. Kevin used his binoculars, and saw it was me! Finally we met again, at a little pass mid point. From then on, no more people past us, and it really did look like we were the last ones out! We continued on, completely exhausted our legs, and made it back to the trail head around 8pm, save and sound, though completely exhausted.

Thinking back, we have been so unprepared, and we all agreed God saved us! We've missed so many essential steps prior to the climb. We didn't research carefully enough about the mountain, we didn't check any climbing report or any forum talking about it, we did not follow exactly the official 'must-bring' list, and we did not train up for the hike. Although this is by standard an easy climb, this is an extremely difficult hike, and we were only prepared for a hike.

bike to Pitt Meadow

I brought my bike to church today, planned to try out the Trans Canada trail from Port Moody onward. I rode and rode through the forest. Not realizing I had to ride the same distance back, before I knew it, I was at Pitt Meadow! By the time I was back to Port Moody, I was dead tired and soaked with my own sweat. I hope I won't get sick!

China in India

I came back and forgot about it, I was going to look it up. So this is what the kids have been calling me in India when I said I come from China: "Chandni Chowk to China"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53S3Fn1obeg