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
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| our team members convinced joe that bald men do better ministry....so he thought he'd give it a try. NOT. |
If you want to successfully save for your return trip, you should really come to Thailand, guaranteed more interest in babies than almost any other country! ;-)
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