Good:

�         We led one prodigal son home to the Father.

�         I spent lots of alone time with God.

�         Ate lots of tasty, spicy noodles.   Mmmm, cha mien, mmmm.

�         Ate lots of tasty steamed buns.

�         Ate lots of lamb-burgers (skewers of mutton sandwiched between bread).

�         Drank lots of instant hot pearl milk tea.

�         Walked and prayed over chunks of Muslim towns (we got the soil nice and soft, and planted a few seeds here and there, so c'mon and go already).

�         Experienced true, biblical hospitality.

�         Breathed relatively crisp, clear, mountain air.

�         Quality Dunamis time, all the time.

�         Three birthdays in one month = good times.

�         Scaled the secret section of the Great Wall.

�         Bought an awesome zip-up sweater with a hood with the biggest zipper ever, so visible even Stevie Wonder could see it.

�         The breathtaking views after breathtaking hikes up the hills and such.

�         Bang! (The game. Google it. It's like Mafia, but Western minus the random accusations).

�         The coolest sunglasses ever for only 3 RMB (which is less than 50 cents). Holla.

�         Did I mention delicious meals that cost on average 5 RMB (at about 6.8 RMB = 1 USD, you do the math)? McD's dollar menu ain't got nothing on true Chinese food. 

Bad:

�         Two of us each spent a day within a two yard radius of the toilet. Delightful.

�         Lost my bank card. Fun.

�         Realizing I lost said card 20+ hours after. Even better.

�         Lost an awesome orange hat that had ear flaps.

Ugly:

�         The squatty potty.

�         Train stations with squatty potties.

�         Failure to flush said squatty potties.

�         Quality Dunamis time, all the time. Haha, I kid (sorta). 

�         Locals trying to get us to pay to visit the top of a hill.

�         Telling people repeatedly, in Mandarin, "I don't understand" and "I'm Korean" and being ignored.

�         Having our passports checked every night for three nights.

�         Smoking everywhere.

�         Blackened boogers due to massive pollution.

�         Spiritual strongholds: fear, criticism, hopelessness, isolation.

�         Chocolate in China. "Cocoa butter substitution" = run away and save yourself the money and disappointment.

�         Poverty. Hmmm. Even with China's blend of commie capitalism, good chunks of people still slip through the cracks.

Nothing is beyond redemption with God � so the bad stuff will turn out for my good, the ugly will be unveiled to reveal beauty, and the good will be better.

"wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses."

- proverbs 27:6

This last week got off to a rocky start for me, so I emailed a couple friends from ODPC, my church back in the U.S., several prayer requests. I made sure I sent that email well before our Tuesday night prayer meetings (I miss y’all!) so I’d get a bit of backup.

Y’all must’ve been praying a whole lot, ‘cause I felt more than a bit of backup - it was like having the Spanish Armada on my back.  It was Wednesday morning here, Tuesday night there, after I had prayed over Carly, when I felt the same kind of heaviness that brought me facedown on my knees as I did during training camp. 

As I prayed, I felt as thought I might start weeping, but there were no tears �" just more prayer beyond words. Then I just felt something in my gut �" compassion in the Greek means something along the lines of visceral organs (bowels) being moved. When the heaviness lifted, the sign that I was done praying, my abs felt tighter.  I might’ve gotten as much confirmation as �" if not more than �" Carly did to go out. 

Aside from Dennis, who is making the way for us in Voldemort (see previous post), and Ben, I was the last one to meet Hazel and Coy Coy (just a nickname, from Marcos). True to Carly’s words, they are both so precious; meeting them was like waving a gold detector and finding an X, marking the spot. I felt like I just started digging, and I’ve barely caught glimpses of the gold glistening beneath the layers. 

We spent almost four quick hours with them and their family. Carly and I literally got a taste of Luke 10:8 when we had lunch with Hazel and Coy Coy. Their invitation for us to stay for lunch felt like a catch-22: do we impose on them or risk being rude by rejecting their hospitality?   The latter didn’t seem like much of a choice, so we stayed and enjoyed a meal of rice, bean sprouts and tofu. 

It was confusing to be told that was all they would be eating today then being egged to eat more, “pretend we’ve known each other for years,” said Hazel.  And we were given tall glasses of Coke to drink with our meal, which is a pretty big deal. It was quite humbling to receive such hospitality and generosity.

Here is a woman struggling to find a job yet out of her poverty shares a meal with foreigners. Luke 10:7 says “a worker deserves his wages.” How blessed we are that our work this month has been to play with some of the cutest kids and share God’s word?

We could not have spent all that time with them had we not been filled with His Spirit �" first with Carly asking me to pray with her, for her; then, as I prayed on my own in the Spirit and reading God’s word and praying even more in the Spirit. I believe the Holy Spirit came upon me this strongly as a fruit of your prayers. 

So I thank you, and ask you would continue to regularly intercede for us �" especially in the next month. Really, who needs high speed internet when God gives the Spirit without measure (John 3:34) and Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express when we don’t know what to pray for (Romans 8:26)?