Greetings fellow followers. I just noticed that I have 5 days left till I depart from this wonderful city of sun, snow, shine, sleet, rain, hail, cloud in one day to a city where you see nothing but smog, sun, cloud, and more smog. Sounds like I dug myself a hole here.
Well it is that time where I give you a little update but I don't think it's necessary. I'm supposed to have packed something by now but all I've packed is a list of what I need to pack. I have to say though, my list is pretty hefty and well, lets just hope it lasts me 2 months.
As time goes on by, have you every wondered why on earth you wanted to go?? I'm having that strange little feeling today. Maybe its because a part of me doesn't want to go and the other part does. I seriously wonder why on earth I said 'yes' to this trip in the first place. Actually now that I think about it, I didn't know the details or the stuff required to go till about 3 weeks ago. Very interesting... Funny thing is, I didn't realize how much money I needed to bring until yesterday. :D Lets see. Sure I knew that the accommodations were adequate and that i'd have to pay a little fee. That's no biggy nor is it a problem, but the one thing I didn't expect was everything. (Ok some of it may sound pretty stupid but I didn't know back then). Breakin' it down, food would be an issue; laundry another issue; travel to china and accommodations was another HUGE issue; working on some sort of music workshop over there another issue; oh forgot to mention, its in Mandarin. HAHAHA can we all say SCREWED!?!?!
Oh well, come to think of it, I need to look at things on a bigger scale. These are just little small bumps along the road that God can provide. I'm his child and he'll take care of me no matter what. If I have to die, so be it. Not my will, but His will be done. Anyways, straying away from the dark times, thinking on the big picture, I have so much more to worry about that's beyond my grasp. Things like what happens if I get quarantined cause I'm Albertan or if I get mugged or captured. How many people are going to be in China for this workshop thingy or camp or (still to this day I still don't know what I'm doing in China) something, or perhaps what am I going to do to help these people in need. Am I ready for this journey in life? Do I have what it takes to be able to help those suffering and the teens in the camp?
I was speaking to Pastor Dan Wiens the other day about my little incident and this trip and he got me thinking. Definitely THE toughest test that I've ever had to face through a closed environment. The one question that I had the most trouble answering was "Do you have what it takes...?" Funny thing was I didn't know how to answer it. Sure I knew that there was more than just the question but there was something bothering me that I couldn't say. Key thing was, was that No, you don't have what it takes. Sure we may think we have all of it and we're the best at things but seriously, we don't have what it takes to do stuff, but with Christ In Me, we have what it takes.
So this got me thinking about this trip. OK, so now I understand and actually able to grasp and comprehend a lot more now that I had a very engaging conversation with Pastor Dan but it seems i'm lacking something. I believe I lack the spirit to do something fullfilling. Yea, sure I have the spirit but I don't think i'm open to the idea of having it in me to do anything. I seriously am going to have the hardest 2 months of my entire life and I though going through school was bas enough lol.
Well I'll keep you ALL updated on the next chapter. June 1 will be the beginning of my day-to-day life in HK/China.
PS: I just realized that this is public. So if I offend anyone, I'm very sorry. :D
PSS: I'll be posting at around 10/11 at night HK local time. For those who don't get it, that would be around 8am here in Calgary. I'm going to see if that works out otherwise, I'll post it at 8am HK local which would equal 6pm Calgary time. I may alternate but for the most part it'll be 10pm.
HK 8am means 10pm Calgary the previous day.
eg. HK June 3 8am = CGY June 2 6pm
eg. HK June 2 10pm = CGY June 2 8am
5.28.2009
5.26.2009
Testing my blogging skills
This is my test 165 hours before I depart. With my noob-tastic skills on blogging I don't know exactly how I get back on here. So if this works... I'm all good.
PS: If you're following me, give me a shout once in a while. I'll be happy to hear from you and i'll RSVP soon... hopefully within the day. :D
PS: If you're following me, give me a shout once in a while. I'll be happy to hear from you and i'll RSVP soon... hopefully within the day. :D
5.24.2009
1 Week Prep for the 2 month Trek
As most of you know, or may not know, I am in preparation to leaving on a 2 month journey to the far reaches of the earth; China. I've kept this a fairly small thing until now due to my long duration of stay overseas and will hardly have any internet access and thus creating this blog seemed the best way to solve all sorts of issues, questions and comments.
If you not know by now, I have spent the past 3 weeks trying to get together with everyone in whom I will probably never see again for a good year or so since I will not be returning till August. If I have missed you, I'm sorry. My schedule is already running to its max with as little prep time that I can manage without going to China empty handed.
My scheduled departure date is Tuesday June 2, at 12:20pm, so if you have time you can come see me off at the airport. I'll be there at around 1030 to ensure I get my boarding credentials and everything else in tact before I fly. My scheduled return is Sunday August 2, at around... 13:22 (for those 24-hour clock challenged, that's 1:22pm).
I will be spending the majority of my stay over in HK in which I will be undergoing some extensive training. For my first couple days in which I arrive, I'll be adapting to the time change and getting as much shopping done within my next 24 hours before I'm locked up in my cell. The following week I'll be heading over to the earthquake stricken province of Sichuan in where I will be amongst a team of 6 doing a music workshop. There are a total of around 45 chinese people going including myself, half of which are situated and based in HK and another 20 from Toronto I beleive. I am the only Calagarian and westerner. In fact, I was the one chosen from several hundred young adults to be the Canadian Ambassador. Don't ask me what it means becuase even I don't know. All I know is that that is what they call me. During my stay in Sichuan, I'll be working with my team of 6 in producing 2 hour concerts for the people there twice a day, 3 times a week with a final concert on the saturday for 2.5 hours. Over 80% of the songs are to be sung in Mandarin, 15% in Cantonese and the remaining in English.
As you all would have guessed by now, I don't speak Mandarin, nor can I speak it to save my life. The past 2 weeks have been a gruelling test to see how I can adjust to something that is so unfamiliar with my surroundings and I've failed miserably. I do however have all the english songs memorized. Oh, did I mention that I was also asked to play the piano as well... DUR.... Perhaps if they gave me music I would be able to but I think i'm going to fail that part as well.
After my stay weeks stay in Sichuan, I'll be heading back to HK for a month and a half worth of Leadership training.
In breif, I am working with a group of people from "Breakthrough" which is a leadership camp based in HK for young adults (18-22), to learn more about Christ. This camp is non-secular however the people that run and organize it are Christians, or so I believe. My role here is basically a student leader. I believe I am to help the kids learn and grow through what they teach. Since I was part of this camp 2 years ago, they probably chose me to be a student leader, even though I hardly speak their language. Everything will be Mandarin. Messages, instructions, games, prayers, etc.
I unfortunately will not have a trusty translator by my side to interpret everything like two years ago where I was lucky enough to have a very kind girl in my group who could not only understand Mandarin, speak it, speak and understand Cantonese and understand English, but also was able to translate everything to me when I didn't understand what was being said. In which case, 98% of the time. Though she wasn't a Christian at that time, she had heard a lot about scripture and through me, she was able to understand it more vastly. I was able to share the gospel to her through this "bond" and in the end she became a Christian.
Hopefully this year, I'll be able to not only help one person get to know and become a follower of Christ, but be able to help an entire group live a life for God. I've had many struggles throughout the past several years and I believe they were given to me as a test. This trip, though I won't admit it for a long time, is something that I am looking forward to. I believe that this will definitely make my walk with God more interesting and challenging. Something that I will have the chance to look back upon and relive some of the experiences. A testimony for God and others.
So as I prepare for a very challenging 2 month trip, I ask for your prayer. I am totally stepping out of my comfort zone which I haven't done in years and leaving my life in the palms of God and Jesus. I seriously can't wait to see what's in store for me and how much I can learn.
I will be doing my best in keeping this blog up-to-date everyday and letting you all know what's up and everything else that's going on. Perhaps I might find myself a FOB... haha jks.
Cheers mates.
Brian
If you not know by now, I have spent the past 3 weeks trying to get together with everyone in whom I will probably never see again for a good year or so since I will not be returning till August. If I have missed you, I'm sorry. My schedule is already running to its max with as little prep time that I can manage without going to China empty handed.
My scheduled departure date is Tuesday June 2, at 12:20pm, so if you have time you can come see me off at the airport. I'll be there at around 1030 to ensure I get my boarding credentials and everything else in tact before I fly. My scheduled return is Sunday August 2, at around... 13:22 (for those 24-hour clock challenged, that's 1:22pm).
I will be spending the majority of my stay over in HK in which I will be undergoing some extensive training. For my first couple days in which I arrive, I'll be adapting to the time change and getting as much shopping done within my next 24 hours before I'm locked up in my cell. The following week I'll be heading over to the earthquake stricken province of Sichuan in where I will be amongst a team of 6 doing a music workshop. There are a total of around 45 chinese people going including myself, half of which are situated and based in HK and another 20 from Toronto I beleive. I am the only Calagarian and westerner. In fact, I was the one chosen from several hundred young adults to be the Canadian Ambassador. Don't ask me what it means becuase even I don't know. All I know is that that is what they call me. During my stay in Sichuan, I'll be working with my team of 6 in producing 2 hour concerts for the people there twice a day, 3 times a week with a final concert on the saturday for 2.5 hours. Over 80% of the songs are to be sung in Mandarin, 15% in Cantonese and the remaining in English.
As you all would have guessed by now, I don't speak Mandarin, nor can I speak it to save my life. The past 2 weeks have been a gruelling test to see how I can adjust to something that is so unfamiliar with my surroundings and I've failed miserably. I do however have all the english songs memorized. Oh, did I mention that I was also asked to play the piano as well... DUR.... Perhaps if they gave me music I would be able to but I think i'm going to fail that part as well.
After my stay weeks stay in Sichuan, I'll be heading back to HK for a month and a half worth of Leadership training.
In breif, I am working with a group of people from "Breakthrough" which is a leadership camp based in HK for young adults (18-22), to learn more about Christ. This camp is non-secular however the people that run and organize it are Christians, or so I believe. My role here is basically a student leader. I believe I am to help the kids learn and grow through what they teach. Since I was part of this camp 2 years ago, they probably chose me to be a student leader, even though I hardly speak their language. Everything will be Mandarin. Messages, instructions, games, prayers, etc.
I unfortunately will not have a trusty translator by my side to interpret everything like two years ago where I was lucky enough to have a very kind girl in my group who could not only understand Mandarin, speak it, speak and understand Cantonese and understand English, but also was able to translate everything to me when I didn't understand what was being said. In which case, 98% of the time. Though she wasn't a Christian at that time, she had heard a lot about scripture and through me, she was able to understand it more vastly. I was able to share the gospel to her through this "bond" and in the end she became a Christian.
Hopefully this year, I'll be able to not only help one person get to know and become a follower of Christ, but be able to help an entire group live a life for God. I've had many struggles throughout the past several years and I believe they were given to me as a test. This trip, though I won't admit it for a long time, is something that I am looking forward to. I believe that this will definitely make my walk with God more interesting and challenging. Something that I will have the chance to look back upon and relive some of the experiences. A testimony for God and others.
So as I prepare for a very challenging 2 month trip, I ask for your prayer. I am totally stepping out of my comfort zone which I haven't done in years and leaving my life in the palms of God and Jesus. I seriously can't wait to see what's in store for me and how much I can learn.
I will be doing my best in keeping this blog up-to-date everyday and letting you all know what's up and everything else that's going on. Perhaps I might find myself a FOB... haha jks.
Cheers mates.
Brian
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