WARM
After 10 days of traveling through southern China, I am finally completely and entirely WARM. Granted, southern China was much warmer than my China hometown (it doesn’t take a lot to improve on -25 degrees). However, southern China is also without indoor heating. Consequently, while outdoor temperatures were usually quite pleasant during the day, the inside of buildings were quite chilly. This fact meant that the one pair of long underwear I departed with was worn a lot. To the point where I cringed putting them on.
The good news is that I won’t have to pull those long johns on for a good several weeks. Kami and I completed our China travels today and safely arrived in Thailand where we met up with most of our team. We had an awesome time visiting her friends near Dali. It is always encouraging to see a bit more of the work that’s happening in China. Sitting in a packed train station in China, overwhelmed by the crowds, it’s easy to become discouraged about the work over here. There are just so many people. In light of that fact, the few hundred students I have the opportunity to impact at a university seems like less than a drop in a bucket. However, seeing people working in an entirely different region and with a different group of people was a reminder that the Father is sending out messengers of the truth across this vast population. After visiting Kami’s friends, we headed to Kunming for a day and a half–and were disappointed to find our reservation was at a less than ideal hotel that we soon thereafter nick-named “the ghetto”. In order to spend the least amount of time in the ghetto as possible, we splurged on movie tickets to see Avatar. The three hours of comfort and stunning visual effects were well worth the price.
This week we’re hanging out at a beach house in Thailand with the team. There’s thirteen of us crammed into the house; it’s a good thing we’re as close as family! All I can say is I’m THRILLED to finally be warm.
Hooray for no more long underwear! I’m so glad to hear your time in Dali was great and that it really encouraged you! I continue to think about you and miss you!