March Not-So-Mad-Ness

Life since Engage 5 has been going well. Keeping a missionary mindset is a lot harder when you're not around the team who taught you it 24-7 and when you're not working solely on building relationships but also balancing a job and other commitments. But it's been really encouraging how many people I've found in my current circles who have a heart for missions as well. I'm so very thankful for His grace which has kept me fighting to serve this last month.

Speaking of fighting, I’ve been learning a lot about what the “fight of faith” looks like on a daily basis. Or more realistically, moment by moment. It’s so easy for me to forget that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). It’s easy to think that what’s in front of us is all that there is. That the person we are struggling with is the one right in front of us. Not Satan. It’s easy to forget that we don’t have to give in to all of the sinful impulses and that we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us to fight against it. I don’t usually do things like this, but because I’m beginning to take this much more seriously, I realized that I needed a daily reminder of what I’m up against, and so wrote the word “Fight” in sharpie on my arm. If you’ve seen that and wondered what it was, now you know! =) This has been a big encouragement to me, and it’s been encouraging to see how many more battles I’ve been able to win in because of this reminder. It’s during times like these that I’m thankful for that bit of stubborn determination that comes in every now and then, that I can channel into a good purpose. =)

I have been enjoying one of the slowest months that I have had in a long time, and it feels so good to not be constantly rushing to one thing and then to another. In previous years, I’ve never really had a great system for organizing my time and would be constantly stressed trying to get a gazillion things done, not really doing much prioritizing and doing too much procrastinating. But with the institution of some categories to help me figure out what absolutely needs to be done this week and what can wait a couple days, weeks, months, or years, it has become much easier for me to get things done. And to still have time to relax and have fun! It’s amazing how much sleep can help too! Gone are the days of consistently getting 5-7 hours of sleep. Certainly don’t miss that part of high school! Just wish it didn’t take me almost a year AFTER high school to realize that it isn’t necessary to be doing that anymore.

Between trips to Knotts Berry Farm, hiking with friends, and camping, it’s been a more outdoorsy month for me. Getting out in God’s Creation is something that I’ve been enjoying more and more lately. It’s even more awesome with friends! Thankful for all of the opportunities this month to do that. It's awesome how many places there are to go hiking in Orange County! The pictures below were taken on a hike in Irvine. I’m hoping to go more the rest of this year.

The highlight this month was a short weekend trip to Mexico to build a house with Amor Ministries. A couple people from my church and I joined some other young adults from the First Chinese Baptist Churches of LA and OC. Most of them I had never met before. But I was incredibly blessed by how friendly everyone was! I thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend a couple days getting to know and working alongside these wonderful people.

Despite the short time that we were there, there was a lot of learning and growth packed into those 4 days. For starters, I hadn’t been camping in four years, and I’ve never built a house before. Previous experience with a hammer and other tools included hanging pictures and re-upholstering a piano seat. Not much else. But that weekend, I learned how to mix and pour concrete, smooth it out so it can properly dry, build frames, put up wire and paper around the house once the frames had all been erected, etc. Electric tools were completely banned from the worksite, in order to do it how the Mexicans would. Some of the jobs I felt like I was able to learn quickly; others, not so much. The most frustrating task for me that first day was hammering nails into the frame. No matter how many times I kept hitting that nail, it just wouldn’t seem to go properly into the wood. But thanks to several patient people who were willing to give advice, by the end of the second day, my hammer and I were getting to be very good friends. I kinda miss it now…I have to resort to hanging picture frames now if I want to use it... =P The various aspects of making the concrete were really hard work, but I really enjoyed those. Seeing that flat surface after all of that work was awesome!

The work was certainly challenging and I went home thoroughly tired at the end of the 8-hour day. But I learned that I really enjoy doing hard work like this, especially when you can watch something grow before your very eyes. I think I may have found a new hobby! I actually looked up Habitat for Humanity soon after getting back home, but it looks like getting involved with them would be a little difficult for me because of my work schedule.

Getting to camp each night was an interesting experience. My former declaration that I love camping (based off of a memory from four years ago) was seriously challenged on this trip. I would not say that I hate camping now (I would-and will-totally do it again), but I have a greater appreciation for my more comfortable bed, protection from the elements, and the ability to clean-up easily. However, I did appreciate the different perspective that it gave me. Where I live in California, the sight of homeless people is not too uncommon, and you don’t have to drive very long before you’re in a poorer neighborhood. I fear that I have seen it so often, that I’ve somewhat become desensitized to it. This trip was a powerful look into their lives, which I am very thankful for. Solely, because of that, I don't think I would change anything about the camping. I need that reminder...

So far, there are no more trips planned in the near future. ;) Taking a break for a while! I'm still praying about what to do long-term, and will try to keep you all posted!

Coast to Coast in 6 Days!

It's been about 11 days since the last day of Engage 5. The last few days in Georgia were wonderful. Even though we had the hard task of saying goodbye to all of the new friends that we had made during the last 5 weeks, we were still having some great conversations. Maintaining relationships online is hard for me, but I'm hopeful that I'll still be able to stay in contact with them. The last couple days were filled with a couple more classes, two more visits to the Mercer cafeteria, a fun visit with my friend in Clarkston, and saying goodbye to the people at Reach the Nations and the Encompass staff.

 Saying goodbye to my fellow Engagers, the people who I had lived with for the past 5 weeks was incredibly hard. I am so grateful to God for putting each and every one of them in my life. They were a huge encouragement to me, and also some of the most fun people I have ever met. I'm already missing their daily company.

 All of the trainers were amazing too! God really used them to challenge me and help me grow and I am so thankful for all that they were able to share with us from their years of experience on the field.

On Thursday, February 11th, I said goodbye to all of them and hopped on an Amtrak train bound for Washington, D.C. for the second part of this whole adventure! This was my first time using Amtrak long-distance, and I was very excited to experience it! I had about a 14 hour stretch overnight, reaching D.C. before lunch on Friday. Had a wonderful time exploring some of the monuments and memorials for a few hours. It was great weather outside: not too cold or too warm.

Unfortunately, they were doing a good bit of construction/maintenance around the Washington Monument and the Reflection Pool was drained, so it took a bit away from the "atmosphere"...but it was still really neat to get to see these places!

I definitely enjoyed not having to deal with a lot people since it was colder out! Took me about 4 hours to explore the Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial, WWII Memorial, Washington Monument, Smithsonian Castle, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. One of the biggest highlights for me though, was getting to walk right past the White House. Apparently, there's only fence around the front and back...the side is right on the street! Totally could have touched it if I wanted to...Haha I loved how everything was so close together. It made it very easy to get to a lot in a short amount of time.

 (Smithsonian Castle)

Spent the night in a hotel which was only about a mile away from the White House (no, it wasn't a fancy hotel) making it an easy walk. Enjoyed getting 12 hours of sleep that night! I figured I would probably need it for the rest of the train ride back. Woke up the next morning to find it snowing outside! Enjoyed getting to eat my waffle in the dining room downstairs and watch the snow come down in the street. Beautiful!

I don't typically use public transportation at home and it's been years since my mom had taken us kids on a bus, but since the Amtrak station was a couple miles away from the hotel and I wasn't thrilled with the idea of walking that distance with a heavy backpack, I decided to use the Metro. Their website had a great tool for figuring out where to go, which made it really easy for someone like me who didn't have a lot of experience using it and was on the opposite side of the country... I found a stop less than a quarter of mile from the hotel, right in front of a Starbucks! I learned that a hot mocha and a cold, snowy morning go really well together...

Thankfully, I was able to make it to the Amtrak Union Station without any issues. The station there in D.C. was huge and the inside reminded me a bit of an airport.

One thing that I found fascinating on this trip was the wide variety of station sizes, designs, etc. The ones in Chicago and DC were the biggest, with Sacramento being a close runner-up. But many of the stations that we stopped at along the way back to California were rather small. The boarding process was generally very easy and I didn't have too much trouble figuring out where to go, despite the various station set-ups. If I did have questions, I found that the employees both in the stations and on the trains were generally very friendly and helpful! There was also no security that needed to be passed, which made the process a lot easier. It was a great first experience.

From Washington, D.C., the train went to Chicago, IL, passing through states such as Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. A large portion of it was overnight, but I got to see a good bit of beautiful West Virginia before it got dark. Definitely one of my favorite states that I got to see on this trip! I loved all of the farms with the wide, snow-covered fields and big red barns.

Originally, I was planning to explore some of Chicago before my next train since I had about 5 hours there. I ended up walking about a mile to a nearby church, Soul City and caught the last half of their service. I really enjoyed getting to experience another part of the Church that morning. But on the way there, I was noticing that the city seemed really dead...there were hardly any people or cars out, and even the businesses seemed to be closed. I knew that it was early on a Sunday morning, but it was still a little disconcerting...and it was freezing (not as windy as I expected, though). So I decided to go back to the Station and enjoyed people-watching for a while!

In the portion of the trip from D.C. to Chicago, I had ridden coach, but from Chicago to Sacramento, I decided to get a room which I really enjoyed. It was much easier to have a regular-sized bed to stretch out on instead of curling up on 2 empty seats to get some sleep (it's not impossible...but it's not as comfortable either...). Meals were also included with the purchase of the room. I'm thankful that I took advantage of the first meal served in the dining car (dinner) since the dining car had to be taken off later that night because of some technical problems and was never put back on! It's community-seating, so I got placed with an older gentleman traveling to CA and another man and his 11-year old son who were traveling to CO for a ski trip. It was great getting to meet them and I really enjoyed talking with them. Talked a lot about travel since the older gentleman travels quite extensively for business and also knew some tips for building up reward points! That was my only community-dining experience and I really enjoyed it! They did provide meals, however, for the people in the sleeper cars for the remaining day and a half.

I really enjoyed this portion of the trip. The scenery was incredible, including both the Rockies and the Sierra Nevadas and provided for hours of entertainment. But it was also a great opportunity to do some journaling and reading and processing of everything that I had learned during Engage 5. There was so much good stuff that we covered in that short amount of time, so I was very thankful to have that time to think through it some more and to figure out how to apply it to my situation before I got home. Usually, that doesn't happen very easily once I get home and I end up losing a good bit of that information. So I was able to come back feeling a little more prepared to jump back into things. Super thankful for that time!

Once I arrived in Sacramento, I had two more trains and a bus and arrived in Anaheim, CA about 10:30 on Wednesday morning, 6 days after I had left Georgia. The whole trip was an incredibly awesome adventure and I am SO thankful that I got to experience everything that I did. God was so good to provide the people that He did along the way and was faithful to provide in other ways, as well.

It's been an interesting transition back to California. It felt really weird to finally be back home after spending 5 weeks living with completely different people and then spending a week traveling. And in a way, I'm a slightly different person from the girl who left California back in January. But it's so good to be home. I am so excited to be applying what I learned here and seeing what God does through it! I'm missing the time in Georgia, but am excited to jump into this new season!

Almost Done with Engage 5!

It's been a really good week here in Atlanta. There's been multiple opportunities to get together with people in Clarkston and at Mercer University, and I've met a lot of new people. This week in class, we've covered topics such as conflict styles, what makes a great team, and how to understand poverty.

Here are some highlights from the week!

-Watching Nepali movies with some people in Clarkston Station

-The Engaging Race: Similar to the Amazing Race! We got to drive/run/ride the train all over Atlanta in teams of three doing crazy things such as drawing attention to ourselves on the street somehow and taking a picture twice of at least 5 people watching us. Our team simply pointed at something in the sky and tried to get people to look. Other activities included one team member eating grass jelly, climbing over trashcans and under picnic tables without touching the ground in an obstacle course, directing a blindfolded person through a maze, and looking for answers to questions in the Martin Luther King Jr. visitor center. My team came in second place. It was a really fun day! Great chance to practice being a good team member in a somewhat stressful situation.

-A catered lunch with the Encompass staff. This was supposed to be done at the end of Engage 5, but since Bruce and Karen are leaving a week early, they did the meal early too! They did a little ceremony for all of us, with each trainer sharing about the person they mentored and presenting an award and gift. My award ended up being the "Gutsy/Sucker" award because of the worm, and they gave me gummy worms! They did taste a lot better. ;) This was a really neat time.

-Meeting with Kent and Becky Good for a few hours to talk about Cambodia! It was so neat getting to hear their stories from their time serving there and they gave me some good tips about serving there. This was such a blessing and I'm so glad that I've been able to get to know this couple while in Atlanta!

 (PC: Kent Good)

-A game night at our house with 7 students from Mercer University! I had only met some of them this week, although other members of our team have been building relationships with them for a couple weeks. It was great getting to meet them and hang out! My cheeks were hurting afterwards from laughing so hard and so much! They're a neat group of people.

It was hard saying goodbye to this sweet couple on Thursday! Praying God blesses their ministry in France. They've been a great blessing to our team!

God's been doing a lot this week. He's been exposing a lot of things about myself that I need to think through and it's been really good. I'm super thankful for this team that God's placed me with that's really challenging me to grow!

I now have less than a week left in Atlanta. The next couple days will be spent wrapping things up with people we have met here in addition to classes and thinking through how we will apply all of this. I'll be leaving on Thursday night and beginning my 6-day trip back home on Amtrak. It's going to be hard to leave, but I am looking forward to seeing everyone back at home. =)

Gettin' Practical

We finished out our team retreat Wednesday morning. It didn't end up being very restful for me since I was still spending a lot of time with people (gotta take advantage of this extra opportunity to hang out with the trainers!) and we still had classes. But it was still a wonderful few days! It was great getting to spend time with our trainers. We played some really fun games! One afternoon, a couple of us went on a hike in the neighborhood and surrounding streets. Even though the trees were bare, I still found it pretty in spots.

Also got challenged to eat a worm...which I did. Eating it wasn't bad, but the aftertaste was pretty bad. Big surprise... =)

(PC: Karen Beck)

I really enjoyed the lectures that we had this week. My most favorite lectures are the more practical ones and this week we covered the topics of recognizing and handling stress, making sure that we are getting proper soul care, and also how to teach (among other things). Some of the ideas for how to care for ourselves personally were ones that I had already been thinking about before Engage 5, but hadn't been able to find a good way to implement them yet. But after hearing these talks and seeing examples from my life of how I need it, I'm starting to take them a lot more seriously and am enjoying the challenge of thinking through this stuff. 

The ministry things that I had planned on doing this week fell through for various reasons so it ended up being kinda quiet after we got back from the retreat. It's encouraging to know that I don't have to change anyone's life during this really short time. Takes a lot of pressure off. =) But still hoping that next week I'll be able to do more.

About a week and a half more! Pretty crazy to see how fast it's flying by. Learning a lot still (sometimes it feels like too much!) and looking forward to the remaining classes and ministry times.

Of Culture Shock and Chickens

This week was a little less crazy than last, but still very challenging and lesson-filled. Monday started out pretty normal with class time in the morning, a fun visit to a new friend in the refugee community of Clarkston, and some game time with my mentor and two of her other disciples. It was a great day getting to continue building relationships with these people. But towards the end of the evening, I was feeling extremely tired and I could tell that my mood was going downhill very fast. I ended up going back to my room early that night to work on various homework assignments. That next morning, it was just as bad as the night before, if not worse. I felt frustrated, and didn't know why. My ability to carry on a conversation was almost non-existent. I felt extremely tired, even though I had gotten some extra sleep the night before. Several times that morning, I felt like I was about to cry for no apparent reason. After class time, I ended up breaking down completely and couldn't stop crying for at least an hour, which is extremely unusual for me. I wasn't sure what was going on. I figured it was due to not getting as much alone time as I needed last week since I had taken up so many ministry opportunities. My team was so encouraging that day as they explained that it was perfectly normal for this to happen, and that a big part of it was probably due to culture shock and stress, even if it wasn't bad stress. It was a really hard day, but I'm so thankful that I was able to go through this now with all of the supportive people around me to encourage and explain what was happening, instead of going through it once I got on the field. I was able to get some time to myself that evening, and by 7 that night, I felt much better and was actually wanting to be around people again. I was worried that it was going to take much longer to recover, but God was gracious! I did go a little easier the rest of the week however, just to make sure.

I skipped one of the ministry opportunities on Monday that we had right after class since I was having a really hard time pulling myself together, but was able to pull together enough energy and emotional stability for our next ministry time about 1:00 that afternoon. Along with 4 other people from Encompass, I got to help out in a class for Korean ESL teachers. This was a really neat experience, and I'm really thankful that I was able to do it! There were about 20 students of various ages who were divided into 5 groups, each of which was assigned to one of us from Encompass. I basically just got to sit there talking with them about Korea, their interests, their families, etc so that they could practice their English. I had a list of questions that I had been given by the teacher leading the class for the purpose of facilitating discussion but I found that I didn't need to use it too much as conversation flowed pretty well. Every 30 minutes, we would switch groups, so I was able to talk with almost all of them. I've never been in that sort of position before, especially with people who are older than me, so that was a really interesting experience! I really enjoyed getting to meet all of them. But it was a little challenging for me to have to be almost constantly talking and "on" for 2 and 1/2 hours straight. But it was fun! We're planning to go back next week to help again.

There was a lot of time spent doing homework for the classes. Some of the activities that we were going to do for ministry didn't work out, partly due to weather. We got lots of rain, and some snow!! I was thankful for the opportunity to get some Skyping time in with my family and my two best friends.

Class time this week covered topics such as spiritual warfare, leading small groups, and the agricultural metaphor of ministry. We also got to celebrate a birthday!

On Sunday, one of the gals from my team and I visited a family in the refugee community after church. We were hoping to get to talk with the mom, but she was out shopping. So we spent some time hanging out with the kids. At one point, the little girl got up to go to the bathroom, but soon came out saying that she had to use another one since there was a chicken in that bathroom. Since I often mishear things, I was a little confused, but assumed that she had said something else. However, the little boy began talking about it and saying how they were keeping it in there to eat. Curious, I asked if I could see it, but the little boy said, "No, because it has big shiny teeth." After being asked again a bit later, he agreed to show it to us. Sure enough, there was a big rooster standing there in their bathroom!! We could hear it crowing several times throughout the visit. Definitely my favorite experience of this whole trip so far! ;)

Our team is actually on a retreat right now so we can recharge before jumping back into the last two weeks of ministry (it's hard for me to believe that we're already halfway done!!). Yesterday afternoon, we girls drove up together and stopped to get gelato on the way. Yum!

 The house is right next to a lake, and the view is absolutely beautiful! We arrived when it was dark, so we couldn't see much. Woke up to this view from my bedroom!

We will be staying here until Wednesday morning. I think it's going to be hard to leave...

Enjoyed some fun games last night with the team: Bean Bamboozle and an intense game of "the Resistance"! ;) Finding spies is hard work...

 

 

New Challenges

This last week felt incredibly full and busy. It feels as though two weeks have gone by instead of just one! Once again, we had class time in the morning and then spent our afternoons and evenings doing ministry in various areas whenever possible. 

This week we've tackled subjects including finding places where we can intentionally build relationships, learning about our own culture so that we can more easily learn about another culture, questions that we can use to learn about another culture, and various ways that people use to connect with God. 

This week I really got to dive into some cultural experiences. There's no easing yourself into anything here! I've been introduced to a lot of new cultural foods, which has been fun. Experiencing the generous hospitality of the various cultures has been really neat. This week, I've been welcomed into the homes of families from Nepal, Ethiopia, and Chad. Even though I was sometimes coming in as a complete stranger, they were so kind and welcoming. I've enjoyed getting to try coffee from Nepal and Ethiopia, both of which are amazing! Learning about the different cultures has been very challenging and even awkward at times, but fascinating. It definitely takes a lot of humility and a willingness to learn. Adjusting to the cultural differences has been tough, but I am very thankful for great instructors who can help answer questions!

One of the couples from RTN (Reach the Nations church) who came from Chad taught Claire and I two songs in French. We worked on them together for a few hours on Wednesday and Saturday, and then performed them for the RTN church during the service this morning. That was a lot of fun! 

We also got to connect with some international students at Mercer University. We just showed up at the cafeteria during their lunch time and joined a table. Not in my comfort zone at all, but Claire and I had a great conversation with two girls from Ethiopia and are hoping to connect with them again on future trips to Mercer. 

Despite the large amount of ministry happening, we also had some time for fun too. There's been lots of game-playing and movie-watching going on over here in the evenings. On Friday, I went rock climbing for the first time with two of the guys. I was pretty intimidated by it but wanted to challenge myself. I'm really glad I did! I had some great help and was pretty excited to be able to reach the top a couple of times. Unfortunately, I messed up my ankle a little bit dropping from the wall for the first time. In my defense, I don't have a history of purposefully dropping from things, so I haven't had much practice... :) Looking forward to going back though! 

One of our assignments this week was to look for a "3rd Place". This is someplace besides home (our 1st place) and work (our 2nd place) where we can develop strong relationships. So we took some time exploring various places. My chosen place was the Refuge Coffee Truck which had a warehouse area for people to sit and talk. Claire and I were able to connect very quickly with one of the refugees who comes there regularly. I'm hoping to go back there this week and connect with some more people. 

This week has been amazing. I am so thankful for all of the new experiences and growth that has happened! 

 (This was taken before our outreach in the Clarkston Station community last Saturday)

 (Yup, it's been cold enough for ice on our windshield. I'm getting used to the cold though!)

 (Break during class)

 (Break during class)

 (The Refuge Coffee Truck)

(Our wonderful friends who taught us the songs!)

Settling into Atlanta!

On Tuesday, my mom and two sisters and I flew out to Atlanta, GA for my training program. It just so happened that two other friends were also leaving from the same airport about the same time that we were! It was great getting to see them before we left. I was disappointed, however, that I was only able to get a picture with one of them. =)

 (This is one of my very best friends, Lydia!)

We girls spent Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning together in Atlanta exploring and hanging out. This was a great time, and I'm very thankful for it. Wednesday morning, we visited the various Martin Luther King Jr. exhibits in Atlanta, which I really enjoyed. Places like these always get me in a thoughtful mood...

However, our time together was rather short. They dropped me off Wednesday afternoon at the house where I will be staying for the next five weeks. I enjoyed getting to have them there for that so they could also meet the people who I would be spending time with! Almost our entire "trainee team"  was there except for one couple who would be joining us late the next night. It was a little hard having to say goodbye again, but I am very thankful for the ease of communication that the internet and texting has provided.

There are seven people in the program, including myself. Once again, I am the youngest in the group! But it has been incredibly easy to get to know everyone and feel comfortable around them. There are two couples, one single gal, and another single guy, and myself. There has already been much fun and laughter. I've already been given the nickname "Sparky". We'll see how long that lasts... =) The Encompass staff has been wonderful as well. They are very knowledgeable about the subject of cross-cultural ministry and it's been great learning from them. They also have great senses of humor, and have lost no time in finding certain people to "pick on". ;) Which makes it very fun.

The night we all arrived at the house, some of the Encompass staff joined us for dinner and it was so wonderful getting to know all of these awesome people.

One highlight for me has been my sleeping arrangement. I actually have a room to myself for the first time in forever, and it's downstairs in the basement in their home theater. With 11 electrical sockets. No worries about not being to charge everything at the same time! That's been a fun room to stay in. For some reason, I have had visits in my room from four ladybugs.... Preferable to spiders, though!

On Thursday, we had a briefing at the Encompass office about what the next few weeks would be looking like and we got to meet even more of the amazing Encompass staff. We joined them for their daily prayer time that morning which was wonderful. After that, we joined the leaders of an organization called Reach the Nations for lunch. This is the organization that we will be working with over the next few weeks. Their ministry is with the refugees in the area. It was great getting to meet them and hear more about their ministry! I'm looking forward to working with them more.

Friday was a light day. We had our first official class at the Encompass office and talked about church planting and the various aspects of that. Learning lots of things over here! That afternoon, we just did some shopping and then spent the night hanging out! I intended to go to bed early due to tiredness from lots of new experiences, but ended up staying up pretty late playing games. It seems that sometimes a little bit less sleep is worth it in exchange for good memories every now and then. ;)

Saturday was our first outreach with Reach the Nations. We headed over to the Clarkston Station refugee community and spent a few hours handing out socks, school supplies, and hot chocolate. Our hope was to use it to connect with people in the community and be able to follow up with them later. Not all of us were able to connect with people like we had hoped, but there will be many more opportunities! We were able to hand out lots of supplies though, which was great! That night one of the gals from our team and I had dinner at the house of two former missionaries with Encompass. This was my first time meeting them and it was wonderful getting to know them! We had some great fellowship and overall it was a very encouraging evening.

Today we joined the RTN church for their service. Apparently it runs on Eastern culture time and doesn't always start right when it says it "should" which is about 10:30am. =) It's a small congregation with a variety of cultures represented. My favorite aspect of the service was the worship. They sing lots of songs, and most of them are in languages other than English. For instance, several were in Nepali and Swahili. It was challenging to pick up the proper pronunciation, but it was really neat to worship in a different language. They had English translations for all of the songs so that we could understand what they were saying.

 So far, it's been a great experience! But one challenge is the lack of routine...still working on trying to figure that one out so I can maximize my time here, both task-wise and "relationally" since both are important. =) SO much has happened in the past few days and I'm still working on processing everything. It's been tough so far to pull the words out that are floating around in my head so I can share them! Hopefully that will become easier...Hoping to get more pictures too. =)