East Asian Food.

One of the most common questions I get about my summer in Asia is, "How was the food?" Truthfully, I was a little worried about the local cuisine. I've had some not-so-great experiences with spicy Thai food here in the cities, but I figured I'd be ok. (I actually didn't have stomach issues with any of the authentic asian food. The Asian version of American food was a different story!).

Here's a pretty typical meal for 8 people - 4 or 5 meat and veggie dishes, rice, soup and tea. Most tables had a lazy susan spinner in the middle. Every single meal was eaten with chopsticks (except at Pizza Hut!)

I'm not someone who likes to share my food, and I actually rarely eat with other people, so this style of eating was a little strange at first. But I quickly grew to really enjoy it. Our schedule was so busy that mealtimes were one of the best chances to really get to know fellow project students and staff.

Even the chopsticks became familiar and fun to use - my poor skills made me eat slower, which is probably more healthy, anyway. Several times we ended up playing a game of 'grab the peanut,' where we'd spin the lazy susan and see how many peanuts we could grab with our chopsticks. A messy but ridiculously fun game. Here's a shot of Rebekah and Becca attempting to grab a fish ball with their chopsticks - easier said than done!

One great thing about East Asia is all the awesome street vendor food. In Brazil we were instructed to eat at your own risk (aka: do not eat it at all). We tried all kinds of street vendor food in East Asia, especially for breakfast and lunch. One of my favorites was the breakfast sandwiches: a pocket of fried dough, with some type of brown sauce, a meat that tasted like chicken, lettuce, and strings of potatoes. YUM. And only $4 kuai (about 60 cents US). Plus the man and woman selling them were always so chipper early in the morning :)

Bill Gates follows Jesus.

If I told you I met Bill Gates this summer, would you believe me?

Well, I did. He is a student at a university where we did ministry in East Asia. The first time someone from my summer project mentioned that they met "Bill Gates," we all chuckled. I can't even remember who met him first, or where. I think it was at an English club. It's typical for students in East Asia to give themselves an English name (or to have a friend give them an English name). Some other fun names were heard were Magnet, Jet- and one of my favorites, Adolf (more on him another time!)

Throughout the summer, Bill Gates kept popping up in conversations (and every time, I'd chuckle at his name...easily amused, I guess). After Andrew, a student on project, met with him a couple of times, Bill Gates decided he wanted to follow Jesus. Andrew had the opportunity to teach him about prayer, quiet times, and many other things. Who knows where Bill Gates will end up in the future!

One Week Home.

I'm back from the Orient! Been back a week actually, and a crazy week it has been. I was not expecting major jet lag or any sort of culture shock. But there have been quite a few surprising things to experience this week.

Today I was greeted at my church with a very warm welcome. It was so good to be back at New City and the authentic and caring community present there. We didn't even get through verse 1 of the first song and I teared up, overwhelmed at the ease with which we were able to sing whatever we wanted, as loud as we wanted. Not so in East Asia.

Throughout the service, I felt small moments of anxiety, which I quickly realized was due to the atmosphere. I was sitting in a room with 20 other white people who were not speaking in proper code. I pulled out my Bible - which was not covered. I actually caught myself looking around a couple times to see if people were watching us! And all of this occurred at our small church plant - I can't imagine being back at a huge "cool building" (I mean, "Christian church").

I remember moving to Minneapolis two years ago and being so overwhelmed; like it or not, this bustling, confusing, sometimes dirty city was now my home.

Since being home, I catch myself day dreaming when I'm driving and biking and walking: I know that I don't have to watch out for a large van barreling driving down the sidewalk straight for me. Sirens and airplanes and car horns that once bothered me throughout the day are not even noticed anymore.

The sun is blinding. (On a good day in East Asia, you could look directly at the sun, which was only the size of a quarter due to the thick layer of pollution constantly present in the atmosphere). I had a love/hate relationship with the smog. It made the sky as full gray as a winter day - but it kept the temperature a little cooler. When you're walking several miles a day with a heavy backpack in 95+ degree weather, the smog isn't so bad.

I can't wait to go home to the farm in a few weeks to take in the rolling hills and peaceful surroundings!

Sending a Sender.

It was a weird spring for me this year, as I labored to send out teams of students and staff on mission projects this summer, but also prepared to go myself.

Now more than ever before, I see the importance of a support team to stay in the US while people are sent out around the world with the Gospel. Being a 'sender' myself, I recognize the strategy and significance - but this summer I step into the 'go-er' role (I know, probably not a word...).

A few weeks ago we had our Briefing conference, where 150 people gathered together before being sent out to 6 countries for the summer. As I sat with my team learning about security issues and campus guards and code words, a dozen people worked behind the scenes to ensure that these 150 people could go to the world with the Gospel this summer. As I type this from my international dorm in a rather large city in East Asia, I see the importance of people back home that can directly support what we are here to do: take the hope of Christ to Asian college students.

Speaking of support teams, I can't forget about the awesome financial and prayer partners I have! The senders at my office would not have a job to do if it wasn't for faithful friends who give and pray generously - not only to me, but to all our summer project students. More than $500,000 came in this spring for these 6 projects. That's a LOT of givers- and lots of pray-ers who go before the Lord to ask for provision for others. If you're a sender, giver, or prayer, thanks for what you do!