Sunday, August 14, 2011

At the Airport

Hey Friends and Family!  Our CST2011 team has made it through china customs and are awaiting our planes arrival to take us home to Vancouver.  We are really looking forward to seeing you all.  

Last night we had a very good debrief as we asked the question, "Having seen what we've seen, done what we've done, and experienced what we've experienced....how then shall we live?  Then we reflected and answered the question in three ways:  1.  in our family 2.  in our church 3.  in our own lives.  

It was POWERFUL to hear each students responses.  We've had so many life-changing and life-shaping experiences here....our goal is to share and process them with you when we get back.  On that note...please be patient with us as we try to do our very best to find a way to share the experiences of the last two weeks with you!  

Please keep us in your thoughts regarding:
-a safe flight
-good final thought and reflection on the plane 
-gentle/patient attitudes towards each other and you all when we arrive (we're going to be VERY tired)

Love you all...and we can't wait to see you!!!!

Love,
CST11

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Airport-bound

Just a short iPhone message to let you know that we are spending the morning in shanghai and planning to be at the airport by 1pm!!  See you all soon!!!!!!  Love you :) keep us in your thoughts regarding our travels today! 

in Shanghai

Team arrived in Shanghai in the afternoon. We just had a wonderful meal and will go back to hotel for team debrief. Shanghai is like Vancouver: a busy, big city. We will take our time in Shanghai to think about the question that after what we have seen and done in China in the past two weeks how then we should live our life back in Vancouver. Please continue to keep us in your prayer. We will take the flight back home in less than 20 hours!

Friday, August 12, 2011

news from Nanjing

The China service has arrived in Nanjing safely. Joe and Heidi can't get online as there is no wifi at the hotel. Everyone is doing well but very tired. Please continue to keep us in your prayer. Team is visiting the city with the Swaims and look forward for the trip to Shanghai with them. Joe will try to email you more update when they arrive in Shanghai. 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

On the Move

We are sad...to leave this place and these students who we have grown to love. So, just a short iPhone note to ask for your thoughts regarding today's travel. 

Wifi dependent...will post a "yay, we're here" note when we get there :)

Love you all.

Please keep thinking of us 

Love,
CST11

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Market and The Project


Does what we are doing here, matter?

No doubt, every one of us has asked this question of ourselves, at some point during this trip.   But it only takes a day like today to remind us why our host organization is such a major part of abba’s work in this village. 

Today, we were part of something called the PProject.  It’s a chance to support a local family in the village with practical help.  Today we visited "Mary".  Her great grandparents were born in the 2-room house she invited us into.  The house was simple:  a bed, a chair, and a counter for cooking food.  Mary’s husband died last year and, for the last 5 years, our host has subsidized her income.  She makes 3000 rmb a year ($500 CAN).  She works 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. picking garbage up off the streets.   She was VERY hospitable and answered many of our questions about her daily life.  We were very grateful.   Today we brought food and cash that will help sustain and encourage her as she lives this new life without the income of her husband and a son who lives far away and only can visit on the weekends to take care of her. 


We also had the opportunity to visit a very cool outdoor market, which hosted EVERY kind of organic food (plant and animal, spice, and handmade accessory) you could imagine.  It was crowded, and VERY popular with the local people.  What a privilege to visit such an amazing place and see what farmers do to make a living.  MUCH respect…for all farmers….it seems like such hard work.  The world needs farmers....without them, there's no dinner, folks.  



As our trip comes to a close, we are beginning to ask the question…”having seen what we’ve seen….how then shall we live?”  Please think of us as we ask this question.  Tomorrow we’ll be leaving our host and traveling through the weekend, meeting up with some GC friends, and then….coming home.

We love you…AND MISS YOU! 

Looking forward to sharing many more stories. 

Please keep us in your thoughts regarding:
-processing our trip together
-traveling safety
-finishing strong at our host
-abba’s protection of our team     

Love you,
CST11

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Cultural Exchange


Part of our trip is focused on a cultural exchange intended to help our team members better understand the Chinese culture and the place they have left to come to Vancouver and GC. 

To help us do that, we have experienced food, markets, architectural achievements, and cultural heritage sights.  Today though….we experienced another part of China: it's religious diversity.  We visited a 3-self church, which is a government sponsored (and regulated) Christian church in China.  China is open to Christianity, especially in this form…and the church we visited today was LARGE.  It would be a mega-church by Canadian standards, with a building and a congregation that students described as “epic”.  Get the picture?  People were showing up 30 minutes early to get a seat.  wow. 

The church had strong teaching (which was translated for us into English via headsets), which gave us a real sense of what our mandarin speaking Chinese family at GC experience in our English service.  It was a very good experience for our team and also gave us a big appreciation for the community we are returning to when we get back!


Then to lunch.  Nuff said.  You have seen the pics...  It never gets dull, folks.  Never. 

After lunch we got up close and personal with some Olympic sites and learned about some of the architectural achievements such as “the birds nest” and the “7 star hotel” (which is actually only a 6 star…lol). Elizabeth never ceases to be the center of attention on these outings…..with MANY Chinese tourists wanting to take a picture with her (we really don’t understand it, and frankly, Joe is starting to think we should start charging $$ to make enough cash for a return trip!)

This afternoon is about Sabbath and rest…while we prep for a thought tonight and our day’s debrief which will have an extended time for thoughts regarding the filling and the refreshment of the H.S.

We look forward to another week of service here with our Host.  Please keep us in your thoughts for tonight (happening at 6-8ish AM your time).  Also, please keep us in your thoughts regarding a new week of work and good (deep) sleep for tonight. 

We love you!  Thanks so much for everything!!!

Peace,
CST11
our team members convinced joe that bald men do better ministry....so he thought he'd give it a try.   NOT.