Please Pray

Well my countdown of moving to the West Coast is quickly on it's way. Thinking about moving brings up many emotions...I'm excited to live in San Diego and work for Bring Me Hope; helping a non-profit organization has been a dream of mine for years. But I'm also sad to leave close friends and family behind. It's a reality that has just recently been hitting me hard lately.

So, please pray for smooth preparation and an easy move to California. There are so many unknowns up ahead, but I want to meet them anticipation and not fear.

Also please pray for financial provision, as I still need to meet two thirds of my support raising goal. Pray that God would help me trust in Him for what still needs to come in, and that He would move on people's hearts to give.

If you're interested in giving support, please email at: Kristen@BringMeHope.org and I can provide you with an address to send your contributions. Thanks so much for even considering it, and thanks even more for your prayers and friendship!

~Kristen.

Rainy Days

It's been pretty rainy around here lately, which makes reading on the couch with some hot cocoa very enjoyable.

Yet sometimes I end up feeling like this...
Can you relate?? :)


Happy Wednesday!

~Kristen.

Being Changed by Change...

It's hard for me to believe that an entire week has passed since I've been home!

Last weekend I was cleaning out our apartments in Beijing, showing my passport to legally enter church, and eating with chopsticks.

This weekend I relaxed with my friends, freely worshiped God at my local church, and was too often found with a fork in hand (which usually had some hint of chocolate left on it... ;)

This has been quite a season of change. In a span of of five months I have finished college, lived in China for over a month, and will soon move to the San Diego area. Wow!

All of this makes me so grateful that my heavenly father "has no variation or shadow due to change" (James 1:17) How wonderful that I have such a firm foundation in Christ, that if all around me should change or even be taken away, I will always have Jesus. That truth has been a deep comfort to me during a season of so many unknowns.

And yet while I look forward in anticipation, I also look back with fond memories...

Jeff, Jason, and Nate having a little fun/going slightly mental after blowing up tons of beach balls for camp...

Bethany, Mary, and food friends ...This was quite an ordeal to find a good catering company only a few days before camp! They went all out when they were trying to impress us, lol.

Here's where it gets good...Believe it or not, this was a very entertaining night! ;)

Peter (with Abby) celebrating his birthday pancake style! :)

God is a girl?? I think there's some evangelism that still needs to take place, haha.

Coming home from our "1 hour" trip to LangFang...It really ended up being an 8 hour trip altogether! Oh, good times...

All I can say is eww!!

Maria, Glory, Sierra and I on the Great Wall. Wow, I love these girls...I hope they get adopted!!

Here's our sweet Kevin. After sending him to camp, his orphanage changed their minds and decided they wanted him back. All I have to say is that we had the biggest smiles when he was the very last child to leave camp on Friday... ;)

My friend's little sister, Mary, and I! She kept me goin' through hard times... :)

My good friends (aka nearly sisters) Becca, Christy, Bethany, Anna, and I before the guys kidnapped us for dinner on the last night!

Anna, Christy, and I at the restaurant having drinks outside on the patio! We were SO impressed!

Joey reenacting the lady from the magic show...

David are you still trying to find coconut?? ;)

Fred and Ethel arguing...yet not much reenactment needed to be done... ;)

"Just push the icon...THE ICON!!!....No, no, that picture makes me look FAT!"

The question pyramid... :)

Me and my girls on the last day. (Perilla, Alana, Mary Wei, Me, Mountain Emma, City Emma, and Yvonne.)

David, Anna, and Me.

And last but not least, three cheers to the providers of muscles and much laughter on our staff team! Nate, Jeff, David, Adam, Harry, Joey, James, Peter, and Jon, you guys are great!

Thank you Lord for being a God of FUN and Laughter!!

The Flight Home

I'm so grateful to have arrived home safe and sound on Sunday night!

The flight from Beijing to Newark passed faster than anticipated, thanks to the combination of an exhausting summer and Tylenol PM. I even avoided turning on my seat's TV screen the entire 13 hours, which I felt very proud of. Sleep and snacking helped to pass the time, as did talking to John, a teenager who sat next to me.

John told me that this was his first time to America, and first time on a plane as well. He seemed a little nervous, and so I did my best to look out for him during the flight.

At one point I woke up to the plane shaking terribly. We were hitting some serious turbulence; it was the worse I have ever experienced.

Without hesitation, I strapped on my seat belt and started praying silently. Dark gray clouds enveloped us outside, and the monitor read that we were over an ocean somewhere near Siberia. Don't know if you've ever been in a situation like that, but that's pretty much the last thing you want to read when your plane feels out of control...

I looked over to John, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. I put my hand on his shoulder and asked him if he was alright.

"I'm a little nervous," he sheepishly admitted in his Chinese accent. "What's wrong?" he asked.

I did my best to explain what turbulence was, and tried to convince him we were going to be fine. John seemed content with my answer, but I wasn't sure that I really was. I continued praying that God would quite literally calm our storm. And during that time, I felt an urgency to share the gospel with John. I really wanted to take hold of the opportunity. But eventually I decided to keep quiet, realizing I might terrorize John if I asked him about the afterlife when our plane seemed rather undependable... ;)

The weather finally settled down, and John and I then began talking about his trip to America and what he wanted to experience here.

We got onto the topic of culture, and I told him that there were some big differences of Americans and the Chinese people.

"Like Jesus..." he said to me.
"What's that?" I asked, wanting to make sure I heard him right.
"Jesus...many Americans believe in Jesus, right? That's what my foreign teacher told me."
"Some do, yes..." I explained, but also told him that being a Christian was about having a relationship with God and not simply believing He exists.

John listened carefully, yet told me he did not believe in Jesus. I explained that it had taken me a long time to decide if I believed in Jesus, but now I know that He is real and He's changed my life.

I thought back to the storm we were in just a little bit ago and told John that even though I was scared, I had peace in my heart because I knew I would be ok even if something went wrong in our plane. I encouraged John to keep thinking about what He believes in, and to ask his foreign teacher more questions about Jesus.

It was so great to have an opportunity to talk with John about Christ. Between having a second opportunity to share the gospel, providing a Christian English teacher, and allowing for several occasions where John and his classmates will visit a church in the states, I have to believe that God is after this kid's heart...

So if you think of it, please pray for John's salvation, and also for continued endurance for the foreign teachers sharing the gospel in closed countries like China...

~Kristen.

(P.S. It's really good to be home!!!! I miss you'd all and can't wait to catch up with everybody really soon!!!)

Saying Goodbye

It's truly amazing that 5 whole weeks have gone by. I can't believe what joys and challenges each day in China held. Witnessing miracles on a daily basis tends to change you. What a blessing. What an opportunity. Thank you Lord for this trip to China.

Seeing God's glory

Ever have one of those days that was just filled with the Lord's glory?...When God's grace was inexcusably evident? Well yesterday was one of those days for me here in China.

The morning began with Beijing smog taking the day off and being replaced with the shining sun and a perfect blue sky. The beauty of creation could not be ignored.

Later I had a blast swimming with the orphans. One girl with a very burned face giggled with delight as she paddled through the water. Another orphan enjoyed trying to swim by kicking her feet. Any distress that she potentially felt from having no arms was hidden in her gorgeous smile. I couldn't help but to feel God's pleasure in this moment of innocent and pure joy.

Later two very good friends and I went out for lunch and coffee. As we shared our thoughts, cares, and ideas, I was so grateful for their friendship and for the time the Lord allowed for us to spend together that afternoon. It was so refreshing to laugh, pray, and just be around one another.
What a blessing friends are.

And as we closed out our last camp that night, I was so grateful to God for His faithfulness. Only He could have gotten us through these past weeks of camp. He had never left us, but finished the work He started in us. The last bunch of kids are now on their way home with full hearts only because God was with us until the end. Only He helped us finish strong.

God's glory isn't something I want to take lightly. I think if I saw how great the Lord is, I'd be so consumed with worship and love for Him. I pray for more days like yesterday... :)

~Kristen

Weekend Fun!

God blessed us with some free-time, (yes, free time!) this weekend,
so we happily took advantage of it. A number of us headed over to
Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City and had a grand day out. :)

Hope you enjoy these photos from the day!

~Kristen.

Beijing Subway

Chinese Guards

Emily & I having fun with Mao :-)

Emily & I with statue

The Forbidden City

Girl with flag

Inside the Forbidden City

Little girl at the Forbidden City

Sizing up the lion...

Maybe he wins.

Olympic countdown
Group shot at the square

Square dancing at Tienanmen's Square

"Dear Mom, thank you for your love"

I'll be honest; there are some mornings that I'd rather sleep than start a new day of camp.
Even though every day brings with it new blessings and joys, it doesn't come without challenge.

Thoughts like, "I'm not sure I feel like getting into my swim suit on this foggy morning to play with the kids" or, "I'd give anything for some fresh warm bread" are the realities of being uncomfortable in China. I can easily grow weary of doing good and have my thoughts turn inward instead of to others. Yet my perspective deeply changed yesterday when I read an orphan's goodbye letter to me...

Her words were penned in Chinese, but with tears in my eyes I read the English translation aloud,

"Dear Kristen sister,

I am really happy to be with you. Sister, it makes me really sad to leave you; I will remember all of you, everything. And you, you are wearing my bracelet which is carrying my whole heart. So no matter what, you're supposed to remember me. I hope when you're not happy, you can overcome it by thinking of me.

Sister, although you're only 21, although I call you big sister all the time, I do want to call you Mom, a very young Mom. From you, I get a special love which never happened before. I love you, Mom!

We are going to keep in touch after I leave. I will write letters to you.

One more time, I love you, forever, very much love! Dear Mom, thank you for your love. ~Sierra."

After I reread her letter again today, I turned to Christ in prayer and thanked Him for His love for me. Without Jesus, I wouldn't be capable to love these orphans. I love because He first loved me.

These kids are desperate for love. I learned that one little girl had watched her father kill her mother when she was only five years old. She is now eight, with no living mother and an abusive father in jail. And she is just one of millions of stories that are nearly too sad to be told. Yet people must know.

Please pray about what you can do for the orphans of the world.

It makes a difference....

2nd Trip to the Great Wall

Here's another batch of photos from this week's trip to the Great Wall!

Hope you enjoy!

~Kristen.