Did you hear that knock??

There’s nothing quite like the adrenaline rush that comes from an unexpected knock on the door from a man in uniform when you are preaching. While we are thankful that nothing came of it (he was a security guard for the school in the same facility) it still brought the reality of life for the church home to us in a hurry. We were out of the room in about 3 minutes after the knock and there was no further difficulty for the rest of our time here.

I’m told that we are in a part of the country that is more tolerant of the church than other places. This is probably true as believers are unafraid and unashamed to carry their bibles, meet openly, pray in public, etc, etc. We met people who work in prayer centre’s, Bible Colleges and other churches which was something of a surprise to me. I expected a more “covert” form of operation.

One of the couples we met had chosen Abraham and Sarah as their English names. They are a young, vibrant couple who are committed to serving the Lord in ministry. Abraham served as our translator and Sara was our chief cheerleader, coordinator and guide. She doesn’t speak English, but she can make stuff happen. While we were there, we had some “Blue Mountain” coffee. This is apparently the most expensive coffee in the world ($100/lb) in Canada if you can find it. As we raved about the coffee, she told us she could order some beans for us if we would like. Our cost would be about $5/lb. Needless to say we jumped at the chance and within about 20 minutes of her phone call, a delivery man (pedaling a rickshaw I’m sure…) showed up with our coffee. Hallelujah! Amen?? (The expectation is that you will echo your agreement heartily and then applaud with enthusiasm…. At least that’s how they do it in China!)

Last night we were treated to dinner in restaurant owned by a man in the church. They served us frog legs as part of the meal. Frog legs taste just like hot wings. Some of you may find this hard to believe, but I noticed a real spring in my step after dinner and I still feel very “hoppy” today!

This has been such an amazing time. I’ve had the privilege of sharing ministry with Pastor David “Happy Holidays” Pearson from Seattle Church (SC!). I have learned just by watching his life and ministry. He is a man of prayer, compassion and authority. I am challenged by his discipline and focus. I’ve heard him speak to his wife (Sue) and children Heather and Joel. He is an incredible husband and father. The incredible breakthrough that we experienced here came largely because of his discernment and leadership. He was like the plow that broke that ground. I was able to follow and exhort the people, but it was all because of his willingness to address spiritual strongholds within the church and city.

We have other team members who have played critical parts in making this entire trip a success. Evelyn Picklyck (Founder and President of Humanitarian Hope) arranged all of the details for us so that all we had to do was show up and minister. Evelyn is starting a blog that you can check out at www.humanitarianhope.blogspot.com If you are interested in joining her on a trip, you can find information on where she is going on her website at www.humanitarianhope.com .

Tom Laroche and Jackie Smith were with us as well. They each taught capably and powerfully. Their prayer ministry was very effective and a real benefit to the church here.

Lorne Sieb is the 6th member of the team. While he wasn’t involved publicly, Lorne has been a very present member of the team providing comic relief, taking all of the pictures and video you will see of the trip. He loves to wander off down alleys and “discover” how the locals live. He thinks nothing of renting a rickshaw and heading off on an adventure. He overcomes the language barrier through his smile, willingness to try to speak the language and general “likeability”. A classic “Lorne moment” happened last night when he came into our room offering us dried squid and fresh garlic as a bedtime snack.

That’s all for now. We got an early start this morning and it looks like the next stop on our journey is “NA PING” a place where you can catch a few zzz’s before you go to “SHA PING”.

We are all looking forward to a few days of R&R before we head home. That way we aren’t grumpy when we get back!

Talk to you later!