My new tagline is “Sharing the Beauty”—it came up as I was making a vision statement for this next season. I desire to enjoy and share the beauty of Jesus with all those around me. Following Jesus for me is not just about an intellectual ideology or a set of guidelines to follow in life, but about experiencing Jesus in all His excellent beauty—to see what makes Him the “Fairest of ten thousand.” My heart for all those I meet is for them to be able to see a better glimpse of His beauty through their conversations with me.
This last month has been super full including a week-long trip to the earthquake zone, meeting up with 4 different short-term teams from Canada (vision casting to encourage people to come back long-term), restarting language classes, and meeting up with friends old and new. 😀
The extent of the damage here was way worse than I could imagine even from news stories back home. I drove by (and filmed a 30-second clip) end-to-end dump trucks taking rubble out of the city. They have been doing this for WEEKS and there is still tons of rubble left!
This is the Biblical city—where Paul and Barnabas were sent out to preach the Gospel.
We met a pastor and his wife who served 350 Syrian refugees in the area—all of whom perished in 30 seconds during the quake. They lost their home and their church, and as they took us to the ruins, they cried as they showed the remains of the baptismal tank they used to baptize refugees, and areas they used to house hundreds over the years.
The pastor and his wife are living in a shack now but are still serving those around them day and night—such a courageous example of faith.
For most of a week, we were in a small tent city, preparing and serving breakfast, tea, and dinner to 110 families.
Did you know this country has the highest consumption of tea per capita in the WORLD?
Higher than the next 5 countries (India, China, Iran, UK, etc.) COMBINED! I didn’t believe it fully until I asked one guy we were serving how many glasses of tea he drank a day. His answer? 50-60 GLASSES A DAY!!! It was such an honour to get to know some of the people a bit.
It was challenging to spend time thinking through some of the bigger questions of long-term relief and local involvement needed in the next 5-8 years with some local leaders, as they expect to still be living in container houses.
Outreach
I met some new Muslim Chinese friends and I’m going to start co-leading an English club for them every Friday. I also plugged into some regular prayer meetings with other workers to pray for those around us, to work on language learning, and to pray for deeper relationships with locals.
Visa—Residence Permit
- It was a miracle that I got my language visa to come here, but things are shaking up with the residence permit process, and many people I know are getting rejected and are having to leave the country
- Running around from office to office and securing tons of paperwork without a clear explanation of what documents are required has kept me on my toes. But God is slowly working things out (my landlord was supposed to sign my rental contract, but ended up in the hospital near death and won’t sign it—thank God I met some other workers who helped me register my address with them). Oh yes, and the night I arrived I found out the house I’m living in is going to be demolished in the next few months because it’s earthquake unsafe, so I need to find a new place to live.
- I found an immigration consultant to help me, which seems to be the only way to navigate things at the moment, but appreciate prayer for this process which will take at least a month.
Prayer Points
- Please pray for peace for me and supernatural favour in the midst of a lot of uncertainty (politically, economically, my living situation, and my residence status). I feel peace knowing God is in control, but the uncertainty makes for a lot of headaches on a daily basis.
- Pray for my personal prayer life—I have had quite a number of people share with me lately on the difference they saw in their ministry as they increased their personal prayer life. I know God is speaking to me quite strongly in this area, and I desire to set aside more time to wait on Him instead of trying to push in my own strength to weigh opportunities and seek to develop intentional relationships. I know He has a plan, and I desire to be in full alignment with it.
- Please pray for my language learning—my listening comprehension is greatly improving, ptl, but speaking is still progressing slowly (although serving tea ☕ and meals 🥘 at the earthquake zone was GREAT practice for speaking).
- Pray for deeper relationships—a community of believers as well as relationships with those who are seeking Jesus—I’m praying for divine appointments with both groups of people.
I deeply appreciate your prayers and encouragement,
