i finished my paper...whew! that's a relief considering i decide to do it the very last minute though i promised myself i would do it during the weekend before thanksgiving. =/ oh well. I got an email today from Nathan. Yay! he's one of the guys that i got kinda close to on the trip? or maybe not. See, the problem was...on the trip...i was afraid of getting close to guys
1. because I'm afraid of not being accepted
2. because I'm afraid that I might get more involved than I want to be
3. because I've never been close to guys. (oh my, that's funny)

Anyway, he's a great encourager. He reminded me of one occasion...
------------------------------------------------------------
July 3, 2002
_____, China

I'm irritated with these rude train attendants. Just because we're Americans doesn't mean they can treat us like crap. Anyway, we're going back to Hong Kong tonight. Man, one of the ladies. She made my heart melt. She loves God so much and you could see the light in her eyes. She consistently talked to the girls about the glory of God and how magnificent his ways are and if they believed they will know so much more than they'll ever know. She helped me translate sometimes, not saying she spoke English but sometimes God would give her understanding through my horrible chinese to kinda retranslate to them =) She is so darling that i wish i could take her home with me, but I can't. ANyway, tonight she escorted us to the train station and wouldn't leave until she saw that i got on the train. She wouldn't let go of my hand. At one point she cried. She told me that she didn't want me to go. And that since we've come she has confirmation that her faith is real, so tangible because of our love for them and for God shines so brightly through our ministry. Because often times, the restrictions put unto the church by the government scares her. my gosh, you don't know how much impact you can have man. I never knew.

She says she'll send me tea as a gift. She made a big deal about getting my address, my phone number, and any way of contact. Bless her heart.

This one attendant just came by and asked if i wanted some tea. Wow, how nice.

(12 hours later: 4 in the afternoon)

Man, man o man. I don't get why God uses me. I am so horrible at Chinese. I wish Mike had been here. So that one attendant? she is really nice. She offered me some really really good tea. I have a picture of it. Anyway, Ben saw i had a cup and wanted one as well. IT WAS REAL GOOOOD. Anyway. The point of me journaling again is i witnessed to the attendant. She asked me about us and so i answered. And knew God was opening another door and I just had to step on in. She had the idea that Jesus is this man of darkness where he wears a black cloak and haunts you. I thought maann. people are deceived man. I told her no no no. Jesus is nothing like that. I told her about him. and then she started to ask me about how Christ has affected me, so here goes my testimony in indecent chinese...and I think she understood but kinda semi-believed. Like believed it to be true but didn't think it was for her. and then she asked about the Boys and asked "all of them believe as you do?" I told her the whole train car does =) and so to prove to her, i brought a couple of the guys to witness with me cause i was running out of things to share cause i kinda think about the basic gospel and it's sometimes so simple that people want to make it complicated. It was so fun talking to her and just letting her know. Man, just that GOd is real and she, only she herself can experience God.

The boys gave scripture. Beau shared a bit of his testimony and he, man, he's a great speaker. Full of power and confidence in Christ. The girl just kept spewing questions out one after another and i was so glad that they were there to help me provide personal and textual evidence. I have to say that that was one of my favorite times of sharing Jesus.
----------------------------------------------------------