November 7th

Up again at 6:15 so that I can get online to Skype and check email. Seems if I get up early, the connection is fairly open.

Presentation went well this morning. Did several videos which should be helpful in sharing the story later on.

For breakfast, I had what Michael called a “hamburger.” I think that it has egg and flour and inside is a glop of noodles and spices. They pat the dough flat and then they put it in a “greased” wok to fry it. It has a pretty fine taste. I saw that they had “grease” bread here (dough fried), but no one has served me that yet. With my hamburger, I also had a bowl of dumplings and seaweed. Lunch and dinner are always an experience. Today I got one of the fresh peppers (and it was hot). Hard to tell the difference between the hot and the sweet. All I know is that the dried peppers are ALWAYS hot as is the food which they are cooked in.

Michael showed a video today. I recognized Anastasia Wilch (Zhang) whom I worked with in East Lansing, MI. She’s married to a pstor and lives in western Canada. Wow, small world.

I was asked to present the pstor with a book this morning. I made sure to give it to him with both of my hands on the book. That, of course, is the polite way to do it. Then some pictures with that, and also a group picture.

I was intrigued by the stone workers today. They were making the front porch to the building. It is built on a slab, but then cement and sand are mixed and placed between the slab and the flat tiles which are laid on top. Right before the tiles are finally placed, the man pours a “cement water” to firm it all up. Kind of an exacting science since they just do it all by eye.

After lunch, I packed my things so that Michael and I could leave here at 4 pm, catch the train, and then be met at the train station that is one hour from here. We will camp there and then provide services for the next two days in our new place. I then took some time to walk down the street – wow, lots of looks…foreigners must be a rarity in this city.

This little girl kept giving me the eye.

Over the course of this workshop, I have been enjoying conversation with Francis, a young man who comes from northeast China (it took him 40 hours to travel to this place). He is here for the six week seminar on James Kennedy’s EE. To learn, to teach, and to experience what it all means for his life. He is married, has a 10 year old daughter, and loves the king. He learned English in a Language Institute and speaks with great pronunciation. He just finished the smary and will now serve as an evgist for the next 5-6 years before he becomes a pstr. We talked about the differences and similarities between China and the U.S. Poor salary here; no retirement, long training, etc.

The group of 35 has always become bigger because of the local participation, making the crowd about 60 or 65,until today when the ranks grew to 110+. Eager beavers they all are.

After some warm words and fond goodbyes, we left by car for the train terminal traveling to Changsha where we got off and received another ride, this time for 1.5 hours to a small city. Even though it was 8:30, we needed to eat, so we stopped at a pre-planned restaurant.

While there were many dishes, the meat was meager. The soup had a great mushroom (maybe portabella) flavor with little bits of pork mixed in. The only other meat was a heated dish of baby dried minnows (lots of them), heads and all. Japanese radish, a green veggie, some lettuce like leaves which we boiled in the soup broth, big bean with large beans inside, and a tofu dish. It was tasty enough, and certainly healthy enough, but I would have liked just a bit more meat. Oh well.

At our hotel now. The internet service is only one bar so I can’t connect. Showered in a curtainless space – water of course goes over the whole bathroom. But I’m ready for bed – and tired.

You might guess that I am enjoying the food every day that I'm here. While it is really good though, it will never match Karol's cooking!!