Highlights from my Trip

Was trying to figure out some numbers from my trip around Asia. As best as I can figure....

Airports - 18 different ones, a total of almost 40x

(one airport I visited 9x!)

Hours in the Air - 80+ flying!!

plus another 50 or so hours of layovers

Hours on a train - 19 (for a 9 hour trip)

Hours on a bus - about 40

Beds slept in - 28

Drank GALLONS of tea

Ate yak, camel, horse, fish, even tofu (once), but no dog

Rode a scooter! (for 3 seconds)

6 months in Asia - PRICELESS

Since I've been home, many have asked me how my trip was.... how do I condense 6 months of experience, joys and sorrows in just a short answer? It was a good trip - because my God is a good God!

I went to some new places this time, met a lot of new people, experienced some crazy days, had sleepless nights, cried many tears, laughed even more. I hope that I was able to encourage those I visited.

Most of all, from this trip I am thankful for what the Lord has done in my heart personally. He has taught me much, refined me through sorrow, encouraged me with joy and has allowed me to be a small part of other's  ministries.

Here's a picture from each month...

October - Kashgar's Old City

November - friends in HOT southern India

December - Ganges River in Varanasi

January - sunrise in Hatgal

February - Tsagaan Sar with Cofer kids

March - my little buddy Daniel!

April - day I left Asia

Beautiful City

I am not much of a city girl. I prefer smaller towns and the country. Its fun to visit cities but I'm sure I would find it hard to live in one for the rest of my life. But I've discovered I have a new favorite city. Between Asia and Alaska, I stopped off in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to visit a dear friend. 

I've been to Vancouver before, but it has been many years and we never went downtown. This time around, I did make it downtown. Such a fascinating, lovely city. I love the old buildings and the creativity of architecture. And with it being on the water, that just added to it's beauty. It was a clear, sunny day when I explored. The sky was crisp and clear, the mountains topped with snow surrounded the city. 

And there are just SO many places to see... and tons of food to try.... any kind of ethnic food you like, I'm sure you'd be able to find it there. It is a melting pot of nationalities and they all bring their foods for our enjoyment. Little restaurants on every street. Thai food, Chinese, Italian, Greek, African, Middle Eastern, Indian, etc. 

Course the best part of the trip was visiting my awesome friend, Hannah! I'm thankful to know her. God has blessed me with a great friend who understands me more than many others. 

Downtown Vancouver

at the pier

friends from college

Hannah!

Back in America!

Welcome Home. 

I do believe those are the sweetest words in the English language. I had been dreaming about going through Customs in Seattle and how the customs agent would say that to me... Alas! He did not. He only said "have a good day." I was mighty disappointed, but several good friends made up for it when I arrived in Texas later that day. 

day I left Asia

So, yes I am back in America. I landed last Tuesday in Seattle where I immediately experienced reverse culture shock. It's amazing how much you take for granted, until you leave for a length of time and then come back.... One of the first things I noticed was the friendly people! I had some baggage guys joking around with me when I dropped my bag back off. Complete strangers and we were laughing together. Being able to understand everything going on around me was a little confusing honestly. Wasn't able to tune out all the conversations like I had been when it was just jibberish to me. 

 The amount of white people surrounding me was a little hard to get used to. And NO ONE stared at me when I walked by! that was kinda nice. :) 

Dropped down to Texas for a couple of days and saw some amazing friends! A few of them I had seen during my Asia Adventures. But we gathered together with some other friends and had 2 days of laughter, stories, late nights, food and games. Jet lag hit me hard this time and with being so busy, up so late, etc, that a week and a half later I'm still trying to recover from it. I've had a few nights when I didn't sleep at all. Because of the sleeplessness, I've also been battling headaches. But honestly, those few days with godly friends was what I needed and wouldn't have traded them for sleep filled nights. 

God is good.

amazing friends!

  

1st BBQ back in America

Hohhot, Inner Mongolia

Went up to Inner Mongolia for a weekend... Inner Mongolia is a province of China, it is not the country of Mongolia. Big Difference. Just to clarify for those who aren't up on their Asian geography. :) 

There are a lot of Mongolians who live in the province and the signs are all in Chinese and Mongolian. Only thing is, they use the old script Mongolian, not Cyrillic. So, I couldn't read any of it. And the whole time I was there, I didn't hear any Mongolian being spoken. 

It is a cool little city. One thing about Chinese cities, they look pretty cool at night. I wasn't able to get too many pictures and these ones barely give any justice. But the apartment I stayed at was on the 14th floor so I had a nice view of downtown. There's usually a lot of buildings lit up and many of them change colors, as you can see from the next three pictures. 

Blessings

If I could just sum up my stay in Kstan in a few words, they would be....

kids, scooter, CRASH, concrete walls, pain, kids, sore muscles, cooking, bazaar, volleyball, kids, eating, basketball, services, egg/tomato sandwiches, kids, walking, pictures, coffee, new friends, more pain, and blessings. 

Anara, Daniel, Ira

At every service I attended in Kstan, there was time for sharing blessings. I realized that I do not thank the Lord enough for the blessings He continually showers into my life. Numerous little things, big things, things I take for granted, things I love dearly, so many things. It was a great refreshment to me to share a few of God's blessings with others and to hear what they were thankful for. And even when I didn't share audibly, it encouraged me to think of other things on my own to praise God for.  

having fun - Lidia, Vernica, me, Nastia

The biggest blessing God has given me this past month has been His abundant grace. During my stay in Kstan, I was not only dealing with much physical pain from my accident, but also emotional and mental pain. I can honestly say it was probably the lowest time of my life thus far. I was dealing, or trying to deal with some news that I had a hard time wrapping my mind around. News that was a blow to me. There I was in a place I had never been before, with people I had never met before, thousands of miles from my family and friends, trying to get through. But do you know, that God's grace reaches to the farthest corner of the earth!? I can testify, it does!! 

I want to praise and thank my Lord for His grace, His strength and His hope in trials. I want to thank Him for putting me with people that were able to help me spiritually during a dark time, for friends many miles away that wrote to tell me they were praying for me, for wise Biblical counsel, prayer and those who just listened. 

Other blessings from the last month would definitely have to include the new friends I've made. The more I travel, the more I long for heaven! Almost every where I've been I leave a part of my heart, but one day I'll be able to gather with my many friends and loved ones from all over the world around God's throne and we'll all praise Him. And the awesome thing is then we will all be able to completely understand each other!! The amazing thing now is that in many places I have brothers and sisters in Christ and though we may not be able to talk about everything because of our language barrier, we still can have a real friendship! 

my tall, very awesome friends

Yo My Yo

Another blessing to me is the ability to play volleyball and basketball. May seem like a small thing to some, but I love sports and during my first week when I couldn't play because of the pain, I ached to play. Glad I healed enough to play with the kids. Have a few more wounds that need healing. (got two more today) Wish you could have seen my incredible flip/somersault in the air while playing basketball. :) It was impressive, if I do say so myself. Some kid ran in front of me and I started falling, somehow somersaulted and landed without hitting my head, neck or back. I was glad, since falling on concrete isn't the most comfortable. Only have a small bruise on my elbow from that one. 

Rita likes this one cause my feet aren't touching the ground. 

One last thing I want to share - I want to thank God for pain. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm grateful for pain. Physically - because it reminds me there are limitations and helps me to work on my self-control. 

And emotionally/mentally/spiritually - because that's when God can really work in my life. When His strength is infused because I have none left. Pain can make one stronger if they accept it and work through it. 

One question that was put to me that helped me....

"Are you willing to trust God with this, even if He never explains the reason(s) why?" 

Trusting God isn't always easy.

But it is ALWAYS worth it.

setting sun in Urumqi

Photos

Thought I would share some pictures of the kids here. We've been having a grand time around here. I wanted to share these earlier, but been having some difficulty with the internet. My computer doesn't want to connect to the wifi sometimes. And usually when I do get on, it only lasts for a little while before it quits working. 

seeing the kids off to school

Lidia, Veronica, Isha

Little Daniel

Big Kata, Veronica, Ira

my Russian family :) 

helping the boys make breakfast

Don't have enough time to write much about what's been going on. But hope to have some updates soon. Lots of laughing been going on here.... bet you can't believe that! :D