The Aftermath: China

First and foremost, sorry for not posting for a hundred years! :) You probably totally understand, but there really isn't much of an excuse! Times have been absolutely INSANE since we arrived back in the states! I really can't believe it.... one month has passed.

There is literally SO MANY POSTS I could dedicate to my trip to China. (really, it could go on for years). However, it really isn't plausible to even begin to do that... SO I thought I'd just give a list of some things that really impacted me.




1. The people. are. amazing. for. real. They are so hospitable, gracious, genuine, and they truly show the love of Jesus

2. GLOBAL. This meaning of this word became evident throughout our time in China. I saw how my Father was at work, even in those who did not know him. It was quite amazing. Also, seeing how He was using the believers absolutely stunned me and literally left me breathless at some points. One of the most amazing moments was hearing a believer as a question about a passage... I had asked the EXACT question earlier that day.

3. My sin. I realized just how sinful I am, and how important it is that I see my sin, repent of it, and grow closer to God through it.

4. I was encouraged to see my team members follow the heart of our Father and to see them grow in doing so

5. Seeing the passion of the faithful workers already positioned in China was more than encouraging! It is a humbling and trying experience to serve in China, and I was encouraged by those who have chosen to do so permanently.

There are so many other things, but I would consider these my top 5. There are some major culture differences to that I thought I should touch on. :)

1. Food. It was no secret that Chinese food would be different. I enjoyed the taste of most the foods, but they often made me feel sluggish. I am sure it dealt mostly with my choices! Some of my favorite foods were dumplings, chin chao tu do sin (TOTAL WRONG SPELLING, chicken and peanuts, a soup with cilantro and quail eggs, and a cucumber dish that I will not attempt to spell. :)

CHIN CHAO TU DO SIN!

2. Personal space. China is part of Asia, after all. The idea of personal space is much different than in the US. Cities there are on the go and full of PEOPLE. Having someone touching you on the Subway was a normal occurrence.

3. Cleanliness. The Chinese people ARE NOT DIRTY, they just have a different standard of cleanliness. They believe washing a counter top down with water means it is clean, and sleeping on the same sheets for a month isn't a problem! Honestly, it really boils down to the individual. BUT, the majority of Chinese people aren't as interested in cleanliness as the average American.

4. Bathrooms. China mainly practices the use of "squatty potties". Honestly, they sound worse than they actually are (most of them). There were times we used very dirty squatties, but who has never used a dirty toilet in the states? Oh, one main difference is toilet paper. China is a BYOTP culture (bring your own toilet paper). There isn't any toilet paper furnished in most bathrooms so everyone carries around these little Kleenex

types of tissues. :) DON"T GET CAUGHT WITHOUT THEM!

5. Family structure. Most families have only one child. Children are usually spoiled absolutely rotten and many of them go to college without ever having to prepare a meal for themselves. Also, it isn't rare for a student to say their parents are "their God"

Well, that is a shortened version of everything! If anyone would like to get together to look at more pictures please let me know!

Also, for those of you who did not know, Trevor proposed to me the last weekend we were in Nanjing. It was absolutely perfect in every way and we are SO VERY EXCITED about all the adventures ahead of us!

The GREAT WALL

Streets in Beijing

Me and one of the closest friends I made! :)

11 Days to go... Wow

Well folks, in 11 days I'll be boarding a plane! Please keep us in your thoughts as we continue to prepare!!!!!!!!!!!!

After this week's storm and all the stress I have been going crazy! We didn't have classes on Wednesday and our campus is in shambles! Graduation is upon us and crazy deadlines are approaching!!!

I'm excited but nervous!

My savior is sweeter than ever!

I'm getting VERY VERY emotional and sad about leaving Berry. I feel like a child who is pitching a fit- I'm attached to a pole and someone is trying to pull me off but I just can't let go! I'm SO sad about leaving. I feel like when I go home I'll be lonely and I'll miss my friends. I am excited to see my family more and to go on to Nursing school... but I've never had friends like I do at Berry (besides Miranda of course). I am so fearful of losing the great relationships I've nurtured these past 3 years....

Love,
Kelsey

Weekend of Wonder

This weekend was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had our team retreat that lasted from Friday night to Sunday at lunch. There is really SO much I could write because it was awesome in many ways! I guess I'll give ya'll the details! :)

Friday we headed downtown Broad street for dinner, a little talk by Kevin Dilbeck (our district leader for CO), and a phone conference with some friends in China! Of course we ate Chinese food, as well! We knew it was storming, but honestly we were pre-occupied. I received 2 phone calls from my dad, so I figured I should answer. He told me there had been tornadoes touch down not even a mile from us! We hadn't heard anything! To say the least I was freaked out-I hate tornadoes! ANYWAY, we learned so much more about the culture and ways we could serve them and be respectful. We also learned about clothing, food, etc. It was really interesting! :) It made me really really excited! We headed up to Armuchee, GA (just a few miles from Rome) to a super cool cabin on a lake! This is where the real fun began! Abby and Cory (our team leaders) "initiated" us. They paired everyone up, sat one person down at a table, and placed the other person behind them. The person seated had to put their hands behind their back and the standing person reached around them to find a bowl of cheerios and one pair of chop sticks. You can probably guess what happened next! It was a competition to see who could feed their partner all the cheerios first. So many tactics were used, but only one was most successful--ME AND MEGAN WON! :) After we took our victory they announced that our partners were also our roommates! :) YAYAYAYAY! Megan and I are pumped about being roomies!!!! We then proceeded to play charades for HOURS! SO many memories were made!

On Saturday we woke up, had pancakes,eggs, and coffee--everyone had smiling faces and it was so wonderful! The guys were already making jokes by 9:45am... never a dull moment. We all had a quiet time in the word, then Kevin came in to give us TONS of info. We found out our weekly schedules (which are jam-packed!), itinerary, packing info, etc.etc. There was A LOT to know.. I'm glad I have it all in a nicely printed folder! We finished the day off with a time of group prayer which was very powerful.

On Sunday we were commissioned and had a parent luncheon! It was so good to see everyone with their family and loved ones! :) Spent the afternoon playing with Abel, my parents, Trev and his family. :)

Only 23 more days until we leave. It's actually becoming more realistic and it's sinking in that this is actually happening!

THE YARD SALE IS THIS WEEKEND--COME OUT AND HELP US GET THE LAST BIT OF SUPPORT WE NEED!


Kelsey

Music to my ears :)

Hello!

What a wonderful week this has been!! The weather has been great and everyone just seems to be in the best of moods around campus! It's been so great! Its probably spring fever, but who cares! :)

I received another $50 check today--chipping away! I want to keep updating daily (when I remember) so that everyone knows exactly the need. I want to take time to say that I'm not raising money for myself, but for an entire team of people. We have made the commitment to be in this together. I know we are all working so hard to reach our goals.

Time has not been my friend, especially with being a senior, getting everything ready for nursing school/graduation, and my work on top of that--its been a lot these past few weeks! HAVE NO FEAR- my God is also a God of rest and peace...!

Thanks for continually praying for me as I raise support!

I've been in constant contact with Patricia, one of my pen pals. She is wonderful and we have just "clicked"! She emails me at least once a day (which is impressive because Nanjing is 12 hours different from us)! Yesterday she sent me several of her favorite songs. Some were instrumentals, one on the piano, and then a few popular songs that play on the radio. I've been listening to them this morning and I LOVE THEM! :)) I hope I can learn the words and stuff so we can dance around and have a grand time once I get there!

27 Days to go!
TOTAL needed: $6,000
Raised 4/14: $1,845.00
NEEDED: $4,155

If you are around the Gainesville, GA area NEXT SATURDAY you should come to the yard sale/benefit my family is helping me put on!OR you can DONATE any items you want to get rid of! Ask me for details! :))

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Kelsey

Support Update

Hello!! Sorry I haven't been updating as much as I'd like... time is beginning to FLY by and I just can't seem to keep track of the days!!!! Support is coming in, so I want to keep everyone up to speed!!!

TOTAL needed: $6,000
Raised 4/12: $1,795.00
NEEDED: $4,205

To be very open and honest, raising support has been extremely hard and VERY stressful for me. I know it is a way for God to show just how faithful he is, but I struggle with feeling inadequate. I have raised the least amount of support out of all my teammates... which is so hard to swallow. In a competitive world it is hard to not have your ego chipped away at when you know you are last... no one likes to hear that, Christian or not! I've had to remind myself that the support I raise is not a reflection of my relationship with God and its really not about me at all! To say the least, its been a hard journey.

I'm very amazed that I've been blessed with the $1795! I've never raised more than $180 before so I had no idea what to expect! So... to raise almost $2000 gives me hope! I know its still a VERY long way from $6000 and, trust me, I get more and more nervous every day as May 12 seems to creep up!!! At this point I really just have to clean my hands of it all.... and know that I have a mighty God!

I appreciate all the love and support that I've been able to witness during this time! This has most certainly been uncharted territory for me!! Thanks!!

Love,
Kelsey

35 days and counting...

Hello!!!

There are officially 35 days left until I board a plane to CHINA! Isn't that insane!! I want to start updating this blog daily on how support is going, things I'm learning, what God is teaching me through this process, etc. This is also a way for all my WONDERFULLY FAITHFUL supporters to follow me along the way and see how things are going!

Today I decided to help support a friend of mine on her trip to Haiti.... although money is tight and I also had to pay tuition :/ (for the last time, thankfully) I really felt led to give to her trip. This is the first time I've financially supported someone else to go overseas, but I felt as though it was something I needed to do. In going through support raising for China I've seen first hand just how hard it is, and how much faith, time, and true dedication it takes! Now I have a heart for helping others and blessing them with what little I can give. I hope this won't be a fleeting moment and that I'll be able to give to other students, individuals, or groups in the future and that I'll do so with a willing heart. If you read this Bethanne, good luck and I'll be praying for you!!!!!!!!!!

Every day as the time gets closer and closer to go to China I get more and more and MORE excited. In the past I've found myself putting my relationship with Christ on the back-burner for school or friendships or whatever "fun" thing was happening- things have changed since I was asked to go on this trip. I've been motivated in my spirit to put spiritual matters and this trip as a priority in my life. Whereas I used to spend hours looking at photography and Facebook now I spend hours working on raising support and praying about my heart going into this trip. I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to go. Even if some random event happens that keeps me in the US, God put me on this journey to draw me closer to him--no doubt.

Since Monday I believe I've raised about $200 more dollars for China! Although it doesn't seem like a lot to some it's a big amount to me-- about 4% of the remaining cost... if every week I raised at least $200 I'd have $1000 raised by the time I left for China. Although that would still put me about $3000 short it is still encouraging to know I've got support coming in and that God will fulfill his promises for me!

Here is a more clear breakdown of the support I've raised so far!

TOTAL needed: $6,000
Raised 4/6: $1,745
NEEDED: $4,255

I'm having a yard sale at home (Gainesville, GA) on the Saturday April 23! Please be praying that we bring in several hundred dollars in sales and maybe even more with donations of change and checks! :) I appreciate each and every one of you for your prayers, support, and help with getting me to China!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Kelsey

Wanted:Study Break

Have I mentioned lately that I'm DONE with school--put a fork in me! :) These last few weeks have been SO hard. I just want to socialize, studying or writing papers is the last thing on my mind. I think it's because I know my time with these people is almost up and I just want to spend every second with them possible!!!! I love them dearly and I'm not ready to leave them just yet! :(

I also wanted to give everyone a little China update! Support has started to come in! I'm so thankful and VERY blessed by a wonderful supportive family! It was pretty much down to the wire- I needed to raise a significant amount within 2 days or I wasn't going to be able to go on the trip! God really came through and he lit a fire within me to start heavily pursuing my supporters and I raised enough to still be able to go! I am still FAR from the $6000 mark (I've raised somewhere right under $2,000). I know God will provide for me and my team, though! Just about every day these last 2 weeks I've either gotten support checks or heard from someone who wants to give! It's been so cool to see God provide!

I have been trying to learn some Chinese words/saying as well as things about their culture through my Language Partners. I love emailing with them and just getting to know who they are, what they like, how they do things in China, and what school is like there! I love getting to learn about new cultures, it's so interesting so see the differences amongst us all! Here are some pictures of China from my language partner: