We Are Home!!

Well, here I am sitting at my desk in my office and the East Asia trip is officially over! If I were to try to summarize the trip I would have to say:
1) It was taxing physically
2) It was disorienting being in such a vastly different culture with a vastly different language.
3) It was beyond humbling - the passion for the Gospel and the risks that they are willing to take to share that Good News is something that I think will always humble me and motivate me!

I am more convinced than ever that we MUST have a presence in East Asia if we are going to call ourselves a missional church. If we are committed to taking the Gospel to all people of all nations then we must take it to the largest nation in the world where they are so hungry to hear the Good News. I believe that their are no excuses and no outs - we must commit ourselves to taking the Gospel to these people.

I do not say this to minimize the efforts that we have in other countries, I remain deeply committed to those endeavors. But I do believe that East Asia must take its place alongside these mission opportunities and become a driving force in our missional efforts!

I challenge you to begin to pray now about whether God would have you be a part of our next trip to East Asia - I can promise you that you will be forever changed by what God is doing in that area of the world!

Well that concludes the blog post for the Spring 2009 trip to East Asia - I hope that you were encouraged by the posts and that they will serve as a motivator for prayer that God would continue to do something mighty for His name throughout the world! I look forward to reading the posts from our next trip!

Blessings - Khris

In Hong Kong

Well we are now in Hong Kong! One of my best friends now lives in HK and he had invited us to take a detour to see this incredible city! It is really an amazing place!! We are going to site-see for a couple of days and will head home on Tuesday. This is a welcome retreat after a busy and tiring week! I can't wait to be back and see you all! We have some incredible stories and pics!
Blessings - Khris

Incredible Retreat!

Today we attended a retreat for some of the believing college students. 21 of them came together to study, praise and prepare to share the good news about our Father! Most of these students have only been in the family for a short time but they were ready to share with others.

Today they had times of study and fellowship and tomorrow they are going to a campus where there is no known influence from our family! They are going to share the truth that adoption into the family is possible! I am yet again blown away by their commitment!

The girl that became a part of the family early this week while Shawn and I were on campus was at the retreat and she was ready to share with others!

Oh that we would grasp the urgency of the task the way that these students do!!

Blessings to you - Khris

A Great Lunch

Today was a great day but most of it I can't talk about until we are back in the States. The locations that we visited and the vision that was cast must wait for face to face encounters for security purposes!

But we did get to have lunch with an incredible group of young men. Most of them have only been members of our family for a very short while. But as we sat at lunch they started asking questions about the Book and about how to live their lives according to our Father's will. Their passion of Him and His will was overwhelming. These young college students have sacrificed so much just to be a part of the family and they are not going to do it half-way!! I was humbled by their striving after our Father. It was a great lunch!

Blessings - Khris

Now That Will Humble You!

Tonight we had the opportunity to sit in on another secret gathering. They started by going around the group talking about their week. One by one they shared how they had told someone about our Father and how they had responded to the News. I was blown away with their commitment to expanding our family! I thought, "They are here in a dangerous place where it is illegal for them to talk about our Father and yet they do it all the time! But even though I am allowed to do it any time I want to, I so rarely take the opportunity." I want to be more like those men! I want to be driven the way that they are driven, I want to be passionate as they are passionate, I want to be more like them!!! I have a lot to learn!

Humbled - Khris

Even Worse Than Stinky Tofu

Okay - I did not think that anything could be more gross than Stinky Tofu...but I was horribly wrong!!! Today they took us to the market and we were walking by all of the food stands. At one of the stands they had a shish-ka-bob that was baby chicks that looked like they had been hard boiled in the eggs, removed from the egg and then skewered on a stick (with feathers still attached) and were ready for grilling. It started out with all of us staring in amazement and disgust; but then the mob mentality took over and it became about who would be brave enough to actually eat one. Patrick stepped forward to say that he would eat it, but now it meant that everyone's Man Card was at stake! So one by one we all braved this new world of flavors and gagging!!! Within a few short minutes it was finished and everyone was still in possession of his Man Card (and a very upset stomach)!!!

Another Miraculous Day!

The last two days have been powerful! Last night David had the opportunity to give a lecture on leadership and team building at one of the universities. During the Q&A a student asked him the key to his success in business. David was able to respond that it was because of his relationship with our Father that he was able to do anything with his life. He said, "He is great, I am not great!" It was really powerful!

Then today was absolutely incredible!! We started this morning with a tour of the Great Wall (breathtaking)! After lunch we had the opportunity to go onto one of the campuses. We just walked around and engaged students in conversation. We had the chance to share with one, but he was very cynical. Then we struck up a conversation with another and he seemed very interested. He called his girlfriend who then joined him. We were able to clearly tell him about his opportunity to be adopted into our family and both he and his girlfriend asked if they could have our Father in their lives. We listened as they gave themselves to our Father - it was INCREDIBLE!!!

There is no doubt that our Father is doing powerful things in this place - I am in awe!!

Blessings - Khris