Welcome to Beijing!

OH DA PEKING DUCK MMMM

Hello friends, it’s now been around a week since I last updated. I am glad to say that I have safely arrived in Beijing and have spent a restful two days casually touring around!

When I first left Xiamen for Hong Kong, my heart was eager to finally spend some time with fellow brothers and sisters. However, I was discouraged to find my friend and fellow IS-C’er Tiff to be sick and largely unable to enjoy the three days I was going to be in Hong Kong for. Part of me wanted to be frustrated and throw my fist up into the air asking Him, “Why?? You know I struggled so much when I was in Xiamen – I need this!!” But the other part of me was more… logical and knew that obviously Tiff didn’t want things to be like this either. Again and again, Dad continues to press on my heart, “Am I enough?” and my foolish fallen state continues to say, “… truthfully, no.” Yet he is gracious still! On my last night in Hong Kong, I got the chance to meet up with Cindy (#crossroadsinHK yooo!), and the time of fell-wsh-p and conversation was just such a sweet reminder for my discouraged spirit that we live for a powerful father. He is living. He is moving, and he is worthy. And he takes me as I am. Even though I continue to fall, he continues to show me gr-ce, and I am so blessed.

The past two days here in Beijing have been interesting. I have met a lot of people with a lot of different personalities — people with several mutual friends and people who I have zero ties with.

And it’s been good meeting people and whatnot. However… it seems like this whole "keep IS-C on the down low" business has been taken a little too far. It almost feels like these people I’m meeting aren’t really my brothers and sisters. I feel like I haven’t really gotten to know them in that context, and I’m not sure if it’s because everyone is still being wary or if it’s because people’s hearts (am I being too non-PC and judgy idk…) aren’t in the right place. There have been brief conversations that involved bits and aspects of dad’s house, but for the most part, I feel like I haven’t really gotten to know anyone here in that manner yet (besides the people I already personally knew beforehand), and I’m not sure how to feel about it. I’m sure dad will be moving regardless of our own shortcomings or my own judgmental head, but I suppose those were just some of the things on my mind.

We had the welcome dinner tonight as well, and it was really, really good. The heart for dad the Chinese people have here is just tremendous and their humility and submission to his full sovereignty is truly admirable. It was honestly a really great kick-off to IS-C and I’m really excited for what this summer will hold for me!

Some chat requests:

1) We’re going to be going to one of dad’s international houses in Beijing tomorrow. Apparently, it’s suspicious for groups of youngsters like us to be going into government-monitored houses, so please chat for our safety — for divine covering, and for discernment among the staff here in getting us to and from the house.

2) Safety as we begin our travels throughout China. First stop is tomorrow — orientation site two hours in the middle of nowhere! J

3) Unity in him — for the softening of my judgmental heart and the opening of it to the childlike belief in his power and might

4) Health of Tiff! She’s still sick and attempting to recover in HK so that she can hopefully still make it to IS-C, even if she might miss orientation. Please please please chat earnestly for her recovery! May this be a powerful testimony for the k-ng-om!!

5) The continual preparation of my own heart — I feel like in the scope of zero fell-owsh-p in Xiamen, minimal interaction in Hong Kong, and secretive/elusive conversations in Beijing, my own heart has still been in a place of idle complacency. I trust that he will be continuing to work through me regardless, but please pray for a fervent passion to pursue him in the upcoming days and weeks.

Thanks for reading, and as always, hope all is well with you as well. J

P.S. I can't upload photos from my phone onto my computer right now, but I want to try and upload at least one photo with each blog post, so if you care enough, try and come back in a day and see the Peking Duck that we had the honor of eating two nights in a row!