East Asia Prayer Update: Second Half of the Semester, Part I

Catching up

Friend, I hope that you had a good Christmas season. I pray that the Savior’s birth was REAL to you, and central to your celebration. He continues to bless me so richly with His goodness and mercy, and I hope that you are experiencing His blessings as well.

Most of you probably know how good intentions work. I’ve had good intentions to update this blog for well over a month now. The month before Christmas is usually one of the busiest times of the year. It is such a great window of time to get to share the true story of Who Christ really is through Christmas parties and outreach events. After Thanksgiving, we hosted a vision trip from the US (you can read more about that below) and then jumped right in to the Christmas season. With those events winding down and students starting to get ready for exams, I’ve had a little extra time over the past couple of days and want to fill you in on all that has been happening here. I have included a lot of pictures to try to make it a little more interesting.

I would like for you to meet...

One of the best things that has happened to me personally this semester is my relationship with Wendy. We met for the first time I came here in March 2002, and we were on the same team my first year here. We have been dating since the beginning of September ‘07. She is a very special young woman and you will probably hear a lot more about her in future updates, so I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to her. Wendy graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2001, and she came here right after she graduated (so she has been here one year longer than me). She is originally from the small town of Hildebran, NC, which is near Hickory.

Brian and Wendy, Christmas 2007

Around Town

A few days ago, Wendy and I took a stroll around our little area of town and took some pictures along the way. It seems like everything is under construction around here! Many of the roads have recently been changed to “one way” to try to help with traffic congestion, which has gotten exponentially worse every year that I have been here. Our city is also a pretty popular tourist destination with the natives of this country, so the city is always constructing new parks etc. to try to make the city look more “green”. Here are a few pictures from our little adventure.

Workers fixing the road and sidewalk near a new foot bridge

Different view of the foot bridge construction area

The newly installed lane barrier isn't working so well for pedestrian traffic

This sign means "Pay attention to safety"

This guy, working approximately 200 feet from the above safety sign, did not give me the impression that he was paying attention to safety (I think that is cardboard that he is using to shield his face as he welds the pole)

New park being constructed a few blocks from my apartment

Bikes (and electric bikes, right) are still probably the most popular form of transportation

Parents waiting to pick their kids up from a nearby middle school

A sod truck rolls down one of the main streets and workers hop off to plant the grass in the median

The one way streets are not completely solving the congestion problem
(It really is one way, far left is the bus lane)

Another new foot bridge near my apartment. Very badly needed as you can see.

* * * Christmas * * *

Christmas was really fun this year! I celebrated Christmas with Wendy’s team, which was smaller than usual because the director and his wife were back in Canada expecting their first child (who was actually born on Christmas day). On Christmas Eve, the five of us ate turkey, green bean casserole (one of my favorite dishes), broccoli, and mashed potatoes. One of the girls made a caramel iced pound cake for dessert. After dinner, we read the Christmas story, made a funny video of ourselves and watched “Elf”. We opened presents together at my apartment on Christmas morning and then had a big breakfast together. That afternoon, the crew watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” while Wendy and I worked on Christmas dinner. We had invited another team in the city to eat dinner with us, and we made chili and twice baked potatoes.