Hall Ways: China

Where to begin... I love China. I also love Africa, though. Maybe it's just the chance to get out of my little world in the U.S.A. I'm fascinated by other cultures and languages. I love seeing how people live on the other side of the world. I could probably write pages on my experience in China, but few would read it. So, I'll just share lots of pictures. Enjoy!

This was one of our last lunches in China. We spent time praying for the wives who are living and serving in China. It was a beautiful time and meant a lot to these women.

The best thing we did in China was spend time encouraging and loving on a family our church supports. They've been there 7 years, and we were the first group of people to come and visit them.

Casey & Mandi

Boston & Hudson

Millie, Emma, and Matt (our Outreach pastor)

dinner at Casey and Mandi's apartment

Yes, that's right. I'm eating rice with chopsticks... I know, you're impressed.

(Just don't pay any attention to how messy the table is around my bowl.)

Jelyn, Menu, and Jamie... Menu (said with the accent on the u) was a woman we met at Saturday morning soccer. She lives in China because of her husband's job. She is originally from India, but had actually lived in Austin for a little while. (How crazy is that! small world... )

This woman is a nun at Wenshu Monastery, a Buddhist temple in China. A small group of us spent time walking through the temple and praying for the One True God to reveal Himself to these worshippers of Buddha.

Food offered to idols. We were told that eating these apples offered to Buddha would bring luck. These are a couple of girls of one of the families we spent time with. You can tell they are not too excited about this "privilege".

outside the temple... this man had fought with Americans in one of the wars. Some of what he said I lost in translation.

A sampling of the food we ate. The food was spicy and delicious. All family style.

Us with "The Cube". This was where Michael Phelps set all his records.

"The Bird's Nest"

We spent one afternoon with a separate ministry our church supports. I'll leave out names. Matt had just given them a pretty good sized check that they weren't expecting! I could say a lot about this afternoon, but this is not the place. I will say that the time spent talking with these Chinese believers was one of the highlights of our trip. They have counted the cost and are passionate followers of Jesus Christ.