The Journy of Paul

Two weeks have now passed since I came home. Everyone on my team and many of those we served with in Hong Kong, Vietnam, and China are all suffering reentry culture shock. It has been especially difficult because of the Beijing Olympics. Many who went to China get to be reminded of China on a daily basis. But now that we are back, what about next summer, or any plans for that matter. Let me start by saying this. In my heart my heart and soul scream out to be in China. I can envision living in an apartment and hosting bible studies with young new believers. I can envision myself doing this for whatever length of time God gives me, but there is one problem, an immense amount of personal debt. If I and Coy were to accept jobs in China, we would probably earn about 14000RMB, if we both were teaching. The school would pay for our airfare, housing and food, but 140000RMB equates to about $2,000 a month. Of course we would use only about $300 a month of that, but our monthly obligations far s...

August 4, 2008 [Special note, click on the link "asia advocate photo album to the left of this column and then the Hong Kong set to view the photos from this trip.] Here I sit, in LAX, minutes before starting the final leg of this journey that is, my flight to Portland and home. I hate this part of the journey. I so love Asia, and despite the problems we had in Hong Kong, I want to stay in Hong Kong because it is still Asia. I am already bitter at not waking up and catching the bus to our school, Lingnan Secondary school. Now that I am no longer in Hong Kong and posting from there, I can state the name of the school. Last night, before I went to bed, I was asked to do a filmed interview for the organization that we go with. After words, as I was leaving, my supervisor asked me if I had seen Terri. Terri was one of the girls on my team. “No,” I replied, asking what was up. My supervisor told me she had sent her to journal by the pool. I walked out to the poo...

August 2, 2008 Saturday, today was the youth outreach event. There are many sides to this coin, the opinionated side, which states that this puts the kids and the counselors through too much emotional turmoil because they have to say goodbye twice. By the end of the event it was a crying fest. Counselors, and students, boys and girls hugging and crying as the supervisor tried to pry everyone apart so we could go. This was the second time, since they had already gone through this the day before. On the other hand, it was a God fest. Students from seven schools that seven teams worked at came to this event. The event consisted of songs, both worship and Chinese folk songs, a few games, laughs and fun, and then a testimony followed by a short meaningful sermon, and closing in a prayer. For some of these kids it was the first time that anyone told them that God loves them, and they cried at this news. After the prayer, a bunch of students stood up as a symbol that t...

Greetings, Well, here we are, one week to go. My last entry said what a blessing, things were working out with the students. I spoke to soon. Thursday and Friday, things went down hill. I have no idea why. The kids just seem to shift from, Okay, we'll behave and learn, to Nope, no way, no how. The biggest problem is in one class. There are a couple of students who have taken control of the class away from the teacher. Yea, big problem when the 12 year olds have control. Today, Saturday, all of the teachers are out and about enjoying the day with some of their students, a good thing. It is going on 7 pm and I've not heard from them all day. Must be having fun. I stayed at the dorms and worked on a paper that is due. I also called home and did laundry, yes fun. Friday we did a Christmas play, and this was a break through. The older adults don't know how to let go and just have fun. They argued their way out of doing a skit the other day but I wouldn't let them out of this...

New flash, I've been able to save pictures so you can click on the photo link to the left. July 22 – 23, 2008 Wow, these last two days have been a real answer to prayer. The students seem to be crossing over and becoming friends. It is cool to seem a few girls run to their teacher for protection from the boys. They are also coming into the teachers room to hang out with the teachers during lunch time. All are hopeful signs. We held our third Wednesday which is an all day activity day and requires a large amount of energy. We started it out with a skit by the team. Basically, it ends with me taking a whip cream pie to the face. The kids loved this, to see a leader humiliated is great for them. Later, they drew pictures and wrote teachers names in special styles on the blackboard. These are more signs that the ice has melted. The coconut is creaked. Yes, we still have the whacko unruly kids, but now we have made inroads. Unfortunately, my counselors are still ...

July 18, 2008 I was having a really great day today. The teachers were doing good in their classes, having changed directions and supplementing their lessons with some stuff I brought. Our site supervisor came by just in time to see me play a character. Okay, playing a character. There are several sports figures programmed into the lessons to help make the lessons come alive. Each of us have to play at least one person. We have to make a costume out of whatever we can find and we have a script we follow. I find it pretty fun. I usually overplay my character if you can believe that. For the afternoon we held a birthday party, and planned four stations. A station is an area or classroom in which a game or event is being held. The classes rotate through these stations so the students get to participate in each. One station was pin the tale on the donkey, another was doing the limbo dance, a third was a spinning and get dizzy then run to a race game and the fourth, ...

July 14, 2008 Ah yes, the day from Hell. Well, let’s see, the students wouldn’t listen to anything anyone had to say. They were absolutely disobedient. They talked while the teacher attempted to talk. Have you seen the move, the Concrete Jungle I think it is called staring Glen Ford as a teacher in an inner city high school back in the late 50’s? Yea, that is what it made me feel like. My counselors are beginning to question why they are here; one of them breaking down had a crying fit again. We broke for lunch, mentally preparing for the afternoon activity of Valentine’s Day. Well, let’s see, you take 67 kids that are already ADHD and feed them about two cups of rice, starch, carbohydrates and what do you think you get? A) Sweet docile students ready to learn or B) little Asian rubber balls bouncing all over the classroom. The correct answer, B. Valentine’s Day was a bust. The only part that went well was making Valentine Day cards. To date, everything that has...

July 11, 2008 What a fourth day. Today it poured rain. Our storm alert went to amber which means a severe thunderstorm and heavy rains. The next step is to red and then black. Black means a typhoon is coming, and we had better batten down the hatches. A typhoon did hit today, by way of students. Today, the students went whacko on us. I believe, I hope and pray it was because they received their report cards today, signifying the end of yet another school year. The married couple on my team that’s around the age of 38 and 40 I think have had enough. The woman said she was ready to pack up and go home, literally. That’s everyone except me that has had a break so far. These kids are, for the most part, little monsters. They don’t obey, they talk even when you are telling them to stop, they use their cell phones, their little DVD players to watch movies, and they even sleep during class. They refuse to participate in activities, and tend to wonder off onto their own...

Yesterday, Friday June 27th, I meet my team for the first time. Things have been a bit crazy for this organization this year. They have been denied visa’s for several groups going into China due to increased security and new rules. One such team was divided up, with one girl being added to my team. My team now consists of four teachers and myself. Two of the team are older and married to one another. The third is 27 years old and has been to China several times. The new girl is of college age. This is her first time away from home, in fact she flew of the first time just coming out to California. We were assigned a team building project right off the bat. We had to come up with a skit, song or cheer that represented our team or where we were going. We didn’t do so well, but that is okay. Our goal isn’t to be the best performers here, but there in our host country. They seem to be a pretty good bunch of people. I talked to the lady who was in charge o...

Preface: Before leaving I had much consternation about this upcoming trip. Everything in me was saying “Don’t go.” But I had this push, this external shove forward. I did everything I could to sabotage this trip. Even fundraising was in fact, purposefully postponed. God on the other hand has the final say in all matters big and small. He said, “You’re going.” Why I am going is still unclear to me. Is it to spread the message? Is it guide the team? Or is it about me? Forgive me, I do not mean to sound self centered, “About me,” but rather, is there something I’ve lost and need to regain? Maybe it is all of the above. I am not sure, but we will march forward and see. Journal entry, June 24, 2008 I arrived in LA on the 23rd. All the way down here I kept asking myself, “What are you doing?” “Why are you going?” “You have so many things that need to be taken care of at home.” Furthermore, I kept reminding myself of the trials and tribulations I would be putting myself ...

Hong Kong looms on the horizon. What awaits us there? The unknown awaits us. This will be a team of four, a married couple, a single woman, and me, the team leader. I guess one could always look to the past to see what the future might hold. This is my sixth time going to Asia. My first trip, I likened to setting off an atomic bomb in Lanzhou, Gansu province. That is, we hit the city, and made a great impression. On that team were, Patrick, Lindsay, Courtney, Karen, Melissa, and Jonathan. Of this team, three have gone back to China, two for long term. We ate well, we had good living quarters, and we went on great tours. It was on one of these tours we faced a dilemma. The school took us to a temple. Some on the group did not want to go in. At that moment, the story of Paul in Athens standing in a temple using the Greeks pantheon of gods and the one unknown god to share his message with the Greeks came to mind. I related this story to my team, all save one went in. From this experience,...

I’ve been walking my journey for 49 years and 7 months, give or take 9 months. My feet have walked upon the soils of Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. I’ve seen the waters of the Mediterranean, Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean and the China Sea. I’ve seen the rich, the poor and the middle class, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I’ve seen the wonders of birth and the despair of death. Yet, I am left to ponder the meaning of it all. Plato wrote the Allegory of the Cave, which tells a story about some people who are chained down in a cave always looking forward. All they can see are shadows cast upon the wall from people walking in front of a fire. This is their reality; they draw their knowledge upon what they can see. It is of course limited. One of them has the chance to break free. He heads for a light and emerges from the cave. His reality and his knowledge is now expanded. This is true, but have things really changed? Does he really know more ...

Greetings brothers and sisters. Seven years ago, I spotted a poster that called me to it three times. Fully responding the third time I discovered that it was about teaching English in China. As a native speaker, I felt this was something I could do. Little did I know then. Since that God inspired encounter with a poster, as I believe it was, I’ve been to China three times and Vietnam twice. As Christians we like to see what we call fruit. What is fruit? Is it new converts to Christianity? A good spreading of seed? A clearing of the field and preparing the ground for planting? What about nurturing believers so that they will continue on in the missions field, could that be the fruit? I think it is all of the above plus more. We have seen people come to know God on all five trips. We have planted seeds, many seeds, and we have cleared the field. Of the 38 young Christians that have went to Asia with Coy and I, 50 % have returned to the field, mostly to Asi...