My official report for my mission trip

"感謝主! 感謝主!" The congregation cannot stop exclaiming! This is their first ever service in a church. As our van drive through a narrow alley into an empty open area, we see a lone rundown unattractive building. As we walk into one of the units, we see a group of Sichuanese with smiling faces already gathered. Their days of needing to hold services at people's homes are no more, now they can come here to worship every week! "這一生最美的祝福" was the song we sang in the van as we headed out that day. It is a fitting song for the trip because of its Chinese melody, also the lyrics reflect a very simple faith that is common to many Christians I've met in rural China. Sometimes city people like me get easily entangled by all kinds of unnecessary wants and needs. We often say "感謝主" in our prayers and in our praises, but at the back of our minds sometimes we are not satisfied. As this song points out, life can be so simple. All we need, the one thing that will ever satisfy us and make us happy, is to know Jesus! Such is the simple faith of these people. Though they are insignificant in human terms, they are great in God's Kingdom. As we finished our program for them, they started to sing some of their own songs. They have no song books, they just sing from their memory the songs past down by others from before. I notice the lyrics and melody are incredibly familiar, I realize this is the same song we sang in the bus "這一生最美的祝福"! I cannot believe it! I am overwhelmed! This is not just a sheer coincidence, this is planned by God all along! They sang in a slightly varied village melody. I feel God is saying something to us! Though we have different culture, our circumstances may differ, we are but one Body. That very morning in my personal devotion time, I read John 17:22-23

"I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one - I in them and you in me - so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

No matter where we are, which denomination we belong to, we all belong to Jesus as One Body! And as we are united as one, and only then, will the world really know Jesus! And when they know Jesus, they will receive this true blessing, 最美的祝福!

This has been a constant theme in this mission trip for me. Before I tend to romanticize mission trips, going to exotic places, spreading gospel to the unreached. However, in God's eyes, there's no difference in serving there than serving at my own church, because we are all one church! As we obey and submit to God's lead, we see miracles, signs and wonders like these!

God has always been "Just-In-Time". There has been lots of incidents in this trip that show us, though we see obstacles, God's hands are never out of reach. Particularly in our team traveling and my own, we have seen God opening safe passages often in last moments. I was a last minute late comer joining the team, yet God gave me a really cheap flight ticket back HK to confirm it is indeed His will for me to join; though I was stuck in Beijing during transit, I made it in time to meet the team in HK; for the flight to 四川, God has preserved the very last seat of the flight for me; and on our last day when we tried to get to the airport for our flight back HK, though we got stuck in a gridlock traffic jam, God made the flight delay just a little bit so we made it just in time to catch the flight!

Hallelujah! 感謝主!

Day 04 北京

Without the wind Beijing is much more enjoyable, even with the cold weather. Today went to find a few shops and misc places, I kept getting lost in the back alley. Stuff here is not cheap at all, probably as expensive as in Canada, except for certain restaurants.

For some reason I must have looked more tourist than other days, so many people tried to hassle me, selling me stuff, offering me ride, asking me to bar, I thought I blended in pretty well. Someone actually asked if I'm Korean!

I feel I'm running out of stuff to do in Beijing, and running out of cash as well. Time to say goodbye.

Day 03 北京

The weather in Beijing is getting unbearable. It's cold and windy, and today I was mostly outdoor! I don't think I've experienced such cold weather. I hope I won't get sick. All I want to do is get to the next place and get indoor. Today I visited the 798 art complex. It's an abandoned old east German factory turned into many units of art studios. If it wasn't so cold, it would have been pretty good. All the studios are free to visit, However probably because of it's low season right now, many studios are closed for renovation, and some parts become pretty dusty and dirty because of constructions.

Because I was walking all day, and outdoor in the such cold weather, I'm very tired now. Hopefully tomorrow it won't be as tiring.

Day 02 北京

The room in the 胡同 hostel is pretty cold, I have to put on 2 heavy blanket! The heater is not very effective.

Went to the capital museum today. Great exhibition, but in the history session, there is no mention of 孙中山 at all!

After that went to Chinese massage. One hour massage, only 95 RMB ~ 15 CDN!

After massage, went to eat 新疆 dinner, had lamb curry rice, whole lamb leg, pita bread, and a big bottle of 青岛 beer, only 37 RMB ~ 5.7 CDN.

Day 01 北京

Arrived in 北京 late afternoon. Thank God there's no delay at all this time! I live in a old school Beijing 胡同, and I felt in love with it right away! Its like stepping back in time, but everything is tidy. I cannot stop taking pictures.

After settling down at the hostel, I immediately went out to 王府井 for street food. I had 3 deep fried crabs. Lights, neon signs are everywhere, it's just like Hong Kong. But within couple hours in Beijing, I witnessed the gap between the rich and poor. There are beggars on the street, which is non-existing in 四川 or other places I visited in this trip, yet many people are throwing food away just so that they can sample more food, and beggars picking them up from the garbage bin.

广东

The village trip that I never made in 四川, but this time I get to live in one. For 4 days we stayed in a church in a village where chickens run free everywhere, and every household grows veggies, and great hospitality is the norm. I have never lived in such a place before. We were planning to teach English everyday, but we ended up teaching only 2. However we did visit a lot of elders' homes, the left behinds, and witness the tough lives in the village.

New year is anything but exciting in the village, count down is not the custom here, never the less we did buy some cheap fireworks and had some great fun ourselves. The next day many people played fire crackers, but we were too busy to continue our work.

The last 2 days we finally get to teach English. We found out that they know very little English. I don't know how much they have absorbed in such short time, but they had fun and we had a great time teaching them! For some reason they got really excited when we teach them fruit names.

I thought I can stop wearing my big coat in 广东, but actually we felt colder there than 四川, especially at night, there's no heat in the room and I could not have survived without my big blanket.