CHINA (Monday)

 CHINA JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 2013

(I’m keeping a journal along with my pictures this trip just to give you a different perspective for what I’m doing. This is my third trip with Michael; each one a special blessing as I discover the lively community of God’s people in this country. I’d ask you not to randomly share the information with others. I will encrypt the names and places if I can).

SUNDAY, NOV. 3

Following the worship on Sunday night, Jason (aka Michael) met me at the back of the church. I quickly changed, packed up, and we were off for the hotel. Dropping off our bags, we decided to get fruit and drinks before calling it a day. 

We changed our plan and picked up a couple of Harbin beers. Jason noticed a Muslim noodle restaurant close by so asked if I wanted a bowl of noodles. I could never turn that down especially since the evening meal was early and not terribly great. We entered the restaurant, and Jason asked a woman if we could drink the beer. I don’t think she noticed that it was alcoholic so she said, “Yes.” After popping the cans, one of the men came over and said, “No, we don’t have alcohol here.” So we went outside to the neighbor’s restaurant, drank our beer, and then the noodles were brought over.  Great.

After the noodles, on our way back to the hotel, we noticed a man selling Mandarin oranges (tangerines) out of the back of a pickup. Jason asked for a bag and we discovered that it was only ¥5 to fill the bag. We put about 10 oranges in the bag (half full) and I wanted to give the man the money, but he wanted me to fill the bag. I gave him the ¥5 anyway. The Mandarins are sweet and seedless.

Blogging, Skyping, and a bit of talking and it was time for bed.

View from our Shenzhen hotel. Shenzhen has 10+ million people. It's HUGE!

MONDAY, NOV. 4

The alarm rang at 6 am. I squeezed in some email and Skype time, ate some “canned” breakfast that Jason had brought and then grabbed a taxi for the Shenzhen North Railway Station. Our tickets were for the Wuhan/Beijing high speed rail that left at 7:56 am.

Because I had a window seat I could shoot lots of pictures. Many tunnels, already harvested rice fields, and mountainous terrain. It wasn’t but 30 minutes into the trip when Jason brought out his Divine Plan and shared it with the woman who was sitting in the aisle seat.

Arrival in Yiyuen at noon. We were met by Pastor Wang and Evangelist Hu who led us to their car for the 1.5 hour trip to TC. Pastor Wang received Jesus in 1999 while in Russia. He had a dramatic conversion from Mafia robber to disciple. Today he leads the congregation in TC. The beautiful new church building was dedicated just last month. A huge sanctuary, rooms for evangelists and visitors, an outbuilding for preparing food, and enough outdoor area so that they can grow some food.

We were served a 10+ dish meal – some dishes were quite spicy, but each (except the tofu) pleased my palate.

At 2 pm we were up in the sanctuary where people were gathering for the workshop (perhaps 150 by the time we really got going). Singing, prayer, and introductions started us off. Then, Jason was on for the afternoon presentation. It’s amazing how he involves the community in his speaking. They are answering questions, laughing at jokes and participating with their eyes. It’s a joy to watch.

He finished at 5. Went downstairs for dinner (more than lunch). We’re at the hotel now (had to get a router in our room and a new room phone because both didn’t work) and set to go. Tomorrow morning, I’m on with the Divine Plan.

Waiting to pass through the boarding gates for our train. Our train has 16 cars holding perhaps a total of 1,200 people.

The legal maximum speed for these trains is 310 km/hour. We got to 309 at one point. But, you do the math.

It looks like the bullet train that I remembered from Japan. The trains are new and VERY clean.

 

The church in TC.

The sanctuary.

The lunch dishes. Each person was also given a bowl with rice. L-R starting with the egg pancake with onions; pork and green vegetables; cabbage fried; VERY spicy pork; winter melon with pork; fungus; tofu; and chunks of pork fat with some meat and spices.

You can't help but love this little guy.

This container was about two-thirds full of cooked white rice.

An evangelist from a neighboring town dotes on a baby.