Back Stateside

Hello friends,
For those who I haven't spoke with either via text, phone, or personally, I arrived back in the USA yesterday morning. Once I am not jet lagged, I do have some thoughts to post telling more details about my time in South Africa. But first, I wanted to say thank you for reading and thank you even more for your prayers as I globe traveled. It was such an amazing opportunity and I am very thankful that I was able to meet so many awesome Christians around the globe and have the chance to learn so much about evangelism and mission within different contexts.

I was greeted at the airport by not only my sister (who I expected) but also my Mom and Dad which was a complete surprise as they were in from South Carolina visiting my sister. It was so fantastic to have a welcome crew once I got off the plane in Pittsburgh. I will share with you what I shared at our family dinner last night. For the past eight weeks, no matter where I was eating, my host and those I was with stopped and gave thanks before eating a meal. For whatever reason, this had an impact on my reverse culture shock. When my family sat down to eat dinner in the resturant, no one was praying....this made me upset. I think (though this may not be academic) one of the reasons all the Christians I met this summer were so inspiring was their belief in prayer. There have been other reverse culture shocks (driving on the other side of the road, warm water, WAY too many channels of TV with nothing on, etc.) but this one sticks out the most. Christians around the world should all passionate in their prayers for the thanksgiving, praise, petition, and for Christians around the world. This is one of the many things I will take away from this experience.

I hope and pray this blog makes sense as I'm still working through jet lag. Thank you for all your prayers and for reading while I was away. I look forward to sharing more stories in person soon. Love in Christ, Amanda

Sorry

Sorry about the awful formatting on my confessions post. Hope it is readable at least. :) Cheers!

20 plus confessions of a world wanderer :)

Update from south Africa will be posted in time but as I had some time to think about all I've experienced and learned this summer I thought it might be fun to make up a confessional list...merely for fun and memories not so academic :) hope you enjoy I won't number as the iPad makes numbering difficult. I've been craving good hot dogs and Chickfila since china I've slept in ten different beds this summer and started dreaming about my bed 4 or 5 beds ago I've dropped many a food while using chopsticks I took a taxi literally three blocks in south Korea as I was unable to find my hotel :) I pet stray animals even though I was advised against it It took several successful airport pick ups for me to trust that my hosts would meet me and my luggage would arrive I don't like Kenyan tea......I LOVE Kenyan coffee!!! I recycled many a sermon :) The Lord continued to open my eyes even when I wanted to shut them. I learned more about trusting the Lord than i ever have before I ran in airports more times than I care to admit As I rode through Nairobi national park, all the music from the lion king was stuck in my head I could have travelled a bit lighter :) I lied on several occasions about having a boyfriend to avoid numerous marriage proposals. I love Beijing duck...and china I think had the best food I was mistaken for a Russian and German....which is part of my heritage so makes sense The lift to get to the great wall scared me....as did walking around the wall...but it was so beautiful South Korea wins the award for best tea and cutest tea houses I'm a tall white American girl, and while I love Jesus, my dancing in worship is a hilarious sight I'm sure.:) It really is a small world after all I taught members of my china English exchange group improper southern English. Yes, I mean y'all Christians in the USA have so much to be grateful for...yet we constantly take our Christianity for granted. I really enjoyed hearing Christmas music in June while driving to the great wall While in south Korea, I secretly searched for the director of the dharma initivive and miles...oh and sun and Jin from LOST :) Though I spoke with so many amazing people and learned so much, I still have more questions than answers. I hope I remember how to drive a car :) On more than one occasion I looked the wrong way before crossing the street in Malaysia, Kenya and south Africa. I also tried to sit on the drivers side. In china, it was nice to join with other folks from the states and not be stared at by myself. I got slightly teary eyed on fathers day hearing the Chinese version of this is my fathers world. Also when I saw giraffes in the wild....love them When I heard Hanson on the radio in china, I couldn't stop smiling and laughing. I went the wrong way thru customs...twice. Though this has been the most amazing and eye opening experience...I'll even be ready to hear the Pittsburgh accent this upcoming Tuesday....and even more ready to hear a y'all :) I drank the water in Kenya...and I'm still ok People in other parts of world...china, Kenya and Malaysia especially trump southern hospitality...sorry my fellow southerns we dont come close! I love, love, love...probably too much Chinese food :) I kissed a giraffe Yes, I would do this summer over again in a heartbeat..though I'd like to bring friends and family with me next time! :) Hope you enjoy my confessions, Amanda :)

Arrived safely in south Africa

Greetings friends! This is just a short blog update to let everyone know I've arrived in south Africa. I will update about my time here before leaving on Monday assuming my iPad battery makes it that long. :) today I spent some time at a local church in their children's ministry as well as their homeless outreach program. On Friday, I will visit a local church sponsored center that helps the surrounding impoverished community. On Sunday, I'll attend the morning service at my host family's church and also an evening service. Monday, I will mainly pack and get ready to head back to the states. This has been such a great opportunity and adventure. Though I've met with many fantastic and inspiring people, Ill confess that I still have many questions and have lots of information to process and sort through. I hope to update again before leaving south Africa this Monday. If not, I'll update during my layover in JFK airport...and please pray for safe travels home...and quick travels home as the last stretch of plane rides seems to always be the longest. I will update again when I can. Peace and love in Christ, Amanda

Last week of my adventure

It is hard to believe I'll be heading back to the states next week. This has been such a great opportunity to see the world and learn more about what God is doing in the world. Yesterday I had the chance to attend and meet with folks at Nairobi chapel. The church was getting ready for their special Sunday where everyone is encouraged to being someone to church with them who they have been praying for over the last several weeks. The church meets in a tent that can hold 3000 while children and youth meet in smaller tents. I could tell the people were really joyful and happy to be there. Since this is an update using my phone it will be much shorter. Please continue to pray for safe travel as I head to south Africa Tuesday afternoon.

Prayer request

Hi friends,
Instead of visiting the orphanage on Monday, I switched some of my plans around and went today. The home housed children up to five years old (any child older than five is then moved to another home). Most of the children I was with were toddler age. Most of them are orphans because HIV/AIDS. There were even several who tested HIV positive and their parents abanoned them in the hospital once finding out. As soon as I arrived, three toddlers ran up and just wanted to be held by someone. It broke my heart..still continues to break my heart thinking about all these children. Throughout the day the children are taken care of but they seemed to be slightly understaffed. The children toddler age had a brief Bible study and were encouraged to pray with me as I blessed the food. I felt like there was so much more I could do when I left besides my donation, prayers, and leaving with much love in the heart for the children...what really was heartbreaking was as I left, a five year old asked to come with me. I wish I would have taken pictures of these children, but because it did not seem right to take pictures of crying children, I did not, though their faces are engraved in my memory and heart. AIDS is an awful thing that continues to take the lives of parents way too soon and leave their children to take care of themselves. The home is a great ministry that continues to be in my heart as I pray it will be on yours as well. I will even offer a plug for adoption of children around the world who need and deserve a place to call home and love. If you have any questions about the center or would like to contact them about adopting or possibly visiting/ donating, i will try to email information. If I have free time after church on Sunday, I hope to try to go back.

Please pray for all the orphans but on my heart are the orphans at New Life Center I met today.
Thank you.
peace and love in Christ

Time with Icuga Church: Some Highlights

Greetings friends! As promised, I will try to flesh out some of my experiences with members of Icuga church and parish. The Icuga parish consists of five churches spread throughout the community (similar to smaller versions of presbyteries) During the span of five and a half days, I spoke with approximately 43 plus members of Icuga parish churches and three different congregations from other denominations....as you can imagine, I gained a wealth of knowledge from speaking with so many people in a such a short time. For now, I will only include some of my highlights here and hope to be able to share more about evangelism among the Icuga parish later. I spent a great deal of time visiting with a variety of people of all ages and backgrounds. Through hearing their stories about growing up in the Christian church, going astray as a youth, and then coming back to the church, I was able to recognize similarities in my Christian story and the faith journey of other Christians in the USA I know. Many of the challenges, such as youth wandering away from the church due to lack of interest and love from adult, that are found in some churches in the USA are found in Kenya. I was especially struck with the importance of prayer used by Christians I've met in Kenya thus far. Before we travel, go to sleep, wake up in the morning, eat, discuss, and after arriving at a destination, prayer is involved. Christians here really and truly believe in the importance and power of prayer.

On Monday, I was able to visit several of the partnership schools around Icuga. The children were so interested in seeing a tall white, American girl walking around, if you can imagine, as a foreigner, I was quite a sight for them. :) Many wanted to hold my hand, touch my hair, and were amazed at my skin. I shared a bit with them about the US, and the purpose of my coming to Kenya. I spent much time visiting with members of the church in their homes which meant lots of Kenyan tea....it is tradition and culture to welcome a guest in your home by serving them a cup of tea. I learned about a special training group in Icuga known as T.E.E (Theological Education by Extension) which works to train elders and deacons so they are able to lead Bible studies and assist with preaching and discipleship. The Icuga church also has a healthboard which works to educate members on health issues such as HIV, stroke, common colds, malaria and also counseling. The healthboard uses these talks as ways of evangelism as they not only seek to treat the health conditions but also pray for the patients and provide spiritual nurture as well. Since the community is mostly Christian, most of the evangelism is done to bring back those who have gone astray from the local church due to drug and alcohol related issues (also lack of interest in some). The local churches also work together (Catholics and various other denominations) to hold crusades and open tent meetings for evangelistic purposes. During these events, many who have left the church for various reasons, are inspired to go to church again through an intense time of preaching, Bible study, community building, and musical celebrations. Since the culture of the villages are so close-knit and community based, events such as weddings and funerals are also excellent evangelistic opportunities.

Other various evangelism techniques include: offering a service strictly for orphan children and providing a meal after the service, special youth prayer nights when youth come together to pray, have bible study, and worship with much music..youth in the church are highly encouraged to come and invited their friends who may not be Christians..this event is less threatening as it is just youth gathering together with few adults...food is involved in these events as well as music. One of the youth I spoke with stated that about five youth per prayer night begin returning back to church. Another evangelism technique that is well used among the people in the village is door to door evangelism. In the US, as far as I know, this doesn't produce great results..but because the villages in Kenya are so community based, it is not an usual thing to walk around and visit with those you don't know. The Christians I spoke with stated this method works well because people are open to forming new relationships with those they know and don't know. The culture is one that is very welcoming (I can greatly attest to this as I received hospitality that trumps southern hospitality) :) During these visits, the evangelist takes time to get to know the person and their struggles in life. Then they share verses from the Bible relating to those struggles and have a time of preaching. Before leaving they offer a pray. One person I spoke with said they brought ten people a month to church using this technique. While others I spoke with said this presents some challenges as sometimes people are not willing to listen. As I met with leaders from other churches, one pastor in particular spoke about the importance of all Christians sharing the gospel with the yet to be believers. He cited verses in the Bible, stating it is our mandate as Christians to share the love of Christ...whether we do so as ordained elders and ministers or not...every Christian has the calling to evangelize. He said we don't always have to use words reminding me of the famous quote, "preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words." Christianity is not only spoken, it is lived. One church I visited continues to remain under construction as it now holds 800 but they would like to continue to grow as their numbers grow.

One of the questions I've been curious about is the method of follow up with new members in these churches. Since so many of the churches I've visited throughout this whole experience are growing at a rapid pace, I wondered about the quality of the Christian education being offered to new believers. One thing I am observing is the leaders of these churches striving to make every effort that those who are new to the church KNOW what they believe and are paired with other believers in some type of mentoring program. This has been encouraging to watch as new believers are welcomed and quickly taken under the wings of other believers..but in this process, it is not just the new believer who is learning. It also provides a chance for church members to serve and grow in the faith as well.

As you can imagine, my notebook is filled with various stories from Christians in all these countries. I was encouraged by my time with members of Icuga church. They were very welcoming and worked extremely hard to not only make sure I talked to as many Christians and church leaders as possible, but made sure I stayed well, and spent time in fellowship with me which I greatly appreciated. LPC friends, Lucy, Jennfier, Joseph, Timothy, James and the rev. send their love and greetings. During my visit, we shared, laughed, and prayed together. It was a great time of fellowship. Please pray that one day they will be granted VISAs in order to come visit us in the US.

Today, I was able to do a bit of sightseeing around Nairobi. I went to a local giraffe center that breeds and rehabilitates giraffes. They are fairly tame and come up to eat from your hand. If you are willing to place some of their food in your mouth, you may even get kissed by a giraffe. (which, as an avid giraffe lover, I gladly did...if we are friends on facebook, check out the pictures.) It was quite an experience which I greatly enjoyed and will treasure the memory of being so close to one of my favorite beautiful animals that God created. I also went to visit an elephant orphanage...which honestly broke my heart. All the parents of these elephants were killed by hunters for their tusks. Some of the baby elephants were found in traps. The center does great work in taking care of the orphans and working to set them safely back into the wild. Saturday, I hope to visit Nairobi National Park and observe some more wildlife. So far, I've seen giraffes, elephants, buffaloes, a monkey, and a warthog. Later this weekend, I will attend services at Nairobi Chapel (one of the largest congregations around the city) and on Monday I will visit a near by home for orphan children and learn more about ministry and evangelism through the home for orphans. I know this will be a difficult day, as I will have the chance to hold, feed, and love on many children without homes. Please pray in advance for all the children I will meet and for all those workers who take care of them.

Love and prayers in Christ,
Amanda
*again, please excuse any typos as I am trying to record many things in a short period of time. :)

What a blessing my time in Kenya has been so far. Funny aside, travel apparently mixes up my ability to tell am from pm as my layover in Doha was 12 hours and not 20 mins. During the layover I read a whole book, took a long nap in the sleep lounge, and made some new friends. Once I Arrived in Kenya, going through customs took about two hours so I was worried my hosts would miss me but was received with happy faces and we took the two and half hour drive to icuga...very small, you probably won't find it on a map. The people were very welcoming and send love and greetings to my friends at lpc. Since it is late at night and I learned a lot during my first several days, this blog update will be several parts. During the car ride, I attempts to learn some swahilli phrases and got to know more about my hosts. They arranged for me to visit and speak with all five churches in the parish during Sunday services and I even did a bit of preaching. One thing that struck me most about the services was their use of music and prayer. I could tell the people really believed their prayers and felt the worship in their music. Like churches in the states at least down south, food was important to welcoming new visitors and attracting people. For now, I will leave this brief but will update more Friday afternoon. Sorry for misspellings as I'm back to using the iPad. Peace and love in Christ

Update from Malaysia

I had my last meetings today in Malaysia though I am here until early Saturday. Thursday and Friday are free days to explore the islands, maybe see some animals, and enjoy dinner and a movie with STS students...maybe a little more shopping as well along with resting up before the long travel day on Saturday.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Chen, a SIM worker who is working to build a mission training center at STS. This center will be a place for potential mission workers to learn skills such as language, contextualization, as well as debriefing once the worker returns home. Dr. Chen has a real heart for missions and sharing the gospel with everyone. He frequently travels to China and works to train Christian leaders there. He spoke about his years as a pastor and how he strived to inspire members of his congregation to reach out and spread the gospel. His congregation used personal evangelism (friendship evangelism) to spread the gospel. He explained the training program in place to help members of his congregation feel comfortable with sharing the gospel. Dr. Chen stated that as pastors in training, we can learn all the theories on mission there are in the world, but if we don't put those theories into practice, they are worthless. Missions is action, doing something. He explained if you plant a seed and don't water it, it will die. Likewise, if you have mission theories but don't "water" them and put the theories into actions, they are worthless and will die.

This morning, I had the chance to meet with two BCCM pastors. They spoke about the challenges of reaching out and sharing the gospel in urban centers versus rural villages. In villages, prayer and miracles are very important to the spread of the gospel. Whereas, in cities, programs such as the ALPHA program are more effective. They spoke of the importance of follow-up programs. New believers have to know they are loved and cared for through one on one discipleship and mentoring.

This afternoon I went to the local little Italy resturant with Dr. Thu (the president and founder of STS) and Brenda Thu. It was nice to have a time of fellowship with them as they were living in Pittsburgh for several months. I also have to admit, I enjoyed eating the Italian style meal! :) They send their love and greetings to everyone at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, especially those from ESF and others who helped transport them to the airport.

Thursday, if the weather permits, I'll take one of the local water taxis to one of Sabbah's many islands. This is hopefully provide not only an opportunity to relax in the beauty of God's creation, but also to take time to reflect on experiences over the past five weeks. God certainly is opening my eyes to all He is doing in the world. Along the way, I have met so many amazing people who have assisted in my journey and have inspired me by their stories. Friday, I'll take time to prepare for my next long series of plane flights and spend some time fellowshipping with STS students. I think we are going to see the new Spiderman movie. :)

These are just some of my observations and notes from my time spent among pastors and church leaders in Malaysia. *I'm sorry again for any spelling and other errors. I normally type out these blog entries in a hurry, trying to share as much information as possible in between meetings.* Please continue to pray for health and safe travels. I hope to be able to update again soon once arriving in Kenya. Love in Christ.

Schedule for first several days in Kenya

Greetings friends! Happy 4th of July to all my U.S friends and family!  I will post another update about my experiences in Malaysia before leaving early Saturday. Since I do not think I will have internet access during my first couple days in Kenya, I thought it may be helpful to post a tenative schedule of what I will be doing the first several days of my visit. I will have the chance to visit Icuga Church in Icuga, Kenya (about 60 miles or so outside Nairobi) and spend time with Christians there. Lebanon Presbyterian Church has a partnership with the church there and as LPC was my field education setting, I am graciously able to visit with Christians there and learn more about their church growth and ministry. After flying most of the day Saturday and well into the night, I will arrive in Nairobi, Kenya around 7AM Sunday morning. From there I will be met at the airport by friends from the Icuga church and we will travel to Icuga in time for the morning service. I'll spend the afternoon visiting with various church leaders and members in their homes. The next day, I will have the chance to visit both the schools and meet with teachers and students there. In the afternoon, I will visit more members in their homes. Next, I will have the chance to visit the remaining four churches in the area's parish and meet with their church leaders to learn more about their unique evangelism opportunities. I will also have the chance to visit and meet with leaders from other denominations from around the local area. Wednesday afternoon, we will travel to the mountain lodge and view some wildlife and have a time of fellowship. I'm looking forward to my time spent in Kenya.

Please pray for travels on Saturday...that everything goes smoothly..I make all my connecting flights (one of which is only a 30 min. transit) luggage arrives and safety traveling around Kenya. Please also pray for those who were effected by the violence against the church in Kenya near the borders. Love in Christ.

Weekend in Kudat

Hi Friends! :) For those at PTS who had the opportunity to meet Dr. Thu and Ms. Brenda, Dr. Thu spoke very kindly of the hospitality received at PTS..made me a little homesick. :)

Early Friday morning, I travelled back to Kudat only this time I travelled with the intent of meeting with various churches in rural settings. During the four hour car ride of bumpy mountain roads, I had the opportunity to speak with Rev. Daniel, a pastor at a rural church just outside the city of Kudat and enjoy the beautiful scences of mountains and tropical forest in Malaysia. Rev. Daniel spoke more about the issues facing many Christians in Malaysia such as some ways of persecution such as lack of jobs and schooling opportunities. During our car trip we had several stops. The first stop was a bible training center (which works to train not only potential future pastors, but also various lay leaders and those who may be able to help and teach Sunday School) The teachers at the small training center, along with the students, were very welcoming but it was once again encouraging and saddening to listen to some of their stories. One spoke of how they use to be able to use and cross but now since being controlled by the government, they are unable to do so. They spoke about the challenges facing Christians as evangelizing to Muslims is illegal. Some take the risk and try to reach out to Muslims regardless through speaking with them about their beliefs and then opening up the conversation for questions and ideas about Christianity. Some times this is successful, other times it is not..but as one student said, it is still important to plant the seeds even if we don't know the outcome of the harvest. It is also very difficult since when a Christian falls in love with and marries a Muslim he or she is expected to convert to Islam. One student spoke openly about their friends who end up leaving Christianity because they fall in love with a Muslim. They shared evangelism techniques that can help plant seeds such as revivials, inter-religion dialogue, and said it is easier to spread the gospel in villages over cities.

One thing I'm learning quickly about Christianity in Malaysia is there is no real way to track the growth and spread. Since converting to Christianity is a huge crime in Islam culture, many Muslims maintain their status as a Muslim but follow Christ in their hearts. As one pastor stated, they may be a Muslim on paper in the government office, but they are Christians in their hearts. This presents many challenges as some former Muslims are caught in Christian churches.....many move elsewhere to Singapore or neighboring countries. The situation provides unique challenges for evangelism in Malaysia...some are willing to take the risks and switch their documented religion while others do not...in efforts to protect their families, jobs, etc. It is a difficult situation.

Next, we visited a Christian domestic training center for women. Here women are taught basic home skills and trained to make crafts for fair trading companies. The center gives women an opportunity for education and Bible study as well as life skills such as cooking, raising children, etc. A church established the center as a response to the needs of the community.

After walking around a bit to observe a local festival and eating some seafood with Rev. Daniel and his wife, I checked into a hotel. The next morning I was greeted by an English teacher and his daughter to help me speak with more rural churches. The pair provided such great company during the day and I enjoyed the time of fellowship. The first stop was to a church meeting at Rev. Daniel's church. We exchanged questions as the members asked some questions about churches in the US and I asked about ones in their area. One member explained the importance of follow up education as people in their church were converted because the village chief was and they did not actually make a personal decison to follow Christ. In situations like this, he explained the importance of education so these villagers can have a real, personal, relationship with Christ. They spoke about the importance of extending the love of Christ to others in their every day lives and how the village people are able to evangelize well since they enjoy mingling with others and can relate to various peoples (languages, skin colors, etc.) Many spoke about the importance of prayer when trying to show the love of Christ with others. At the next coffee meeting, I met with various church leaders from a local congregation. They spoke about their churches involvement in the local community. The elder explained the importance of youth involvement and how the local youth in the congregation reach out to the community through inviting their friends from school to church and sharing the love of Christ with elders in the community. He explained that within the past year, four families joined the church because one of the youth invited their children to church and they saw their children experience the love of Christ.

At the last meeting, I spoke with various church leaders from the local parish. They shared stories about how they decided to follow Christ. Many of their stories spoke about how with their former religion (animism) they lived in fear...they could not farm, enter homes at certain times..and had many rules to keep in order to avoid evil. If they broke any rules, they would end up becoming very sick.  When Christians came to their villages to evangelize, the people observed how they were not keeping all the rules and the evil spirits were not making them sick. People in the village became curiou and spoke with the Christians about Christ.  Once they were told about Christ and how He conquered the world, they were at peace from all the evil.

I have several more days here with various meetings and other activities. I will try to update my blog before heading the Kenya as I don't think I'll have internet access the first several days..I'll include a rough schedule of my time in Icuga, Kenya for everyone's information. Thanks for the prayers...keep them coming. :)

ATM

Quick update: I realized I failed to update on my ATM situation which is now under control. I learned it is best to go to ATMS at larger banks or airports/train stations/etc. Thanks for praying for that situation! :)

Grace Center: Unexpected Adventure

During the past two days, I have been blessed as I explore and learn more about a unique evangelism program set up in KK. (Kota Kinabula) The Grace Center is a special school for the children of undocumented immigrants (especially Indonesian and Phillps.) Since the children are technically unable to attend a government school, many of the children are forced to then work in shopping malls, resturants, and various other low income places to help provide for families or many of the chidren end up begging on the street sides or in various gangs. The Grace Center's mission is to prevent the spread of limited/ no education for children of undocumented immigrants.  The first goal of the center is to provide a quality education to the children and the second is to show the love of Christ to the children. Many of the students come from very impoverished backgrounds and have gone most of their lives without knowing peace and love. The Grace Center offers the children not only a quality education that they would be unable to receive otherwise, but also they extend the love of Christ to the students. Students at government funded schools are not given a lunch meal, whereas students at the Grace Center are given lunch. The center was started in 1997 and has quickly grown as people hear via word of mouth about the education being offered. There are currently around 200 students attending and 50 of the 200 students are Muslim. Due to the governmental restrictions, it is illegal to pass out Bibles as well as to give open evangelism, because of this the teachers/workers are very up front and honest that Grace Center is a Christian organization. Many of the parents, even from Muslim backgrounds are grateful that a quality education is being offered to their children. Yet, it is still difficult. The teachers have small Bible studies, chapel services, and other special events around Christian holidays....their way of outreach is extremely and intentionally relational so they are not openly trying to convert...they are merely extending the love of Christ and offering valuable educational services to the students. The teachers and leaders of the center work to build relationships with each student and through extending the love of Christ and teaching them about the Bible and prayer, hope the student will then make their own choice to accept Christ.

Tuesday, I was scheduled to spend the day visiting the Center. One thing I've learned from international travel experience is always to expect the unexpected. Sometimes, plans change very quickly at the last second. This was the case on Tuesday. I was prepared to walk around the center, meet with the leaders, teachers, and observe and see the students...I ended up being gone from 8AM-3:30 AM. It was an unexpected adventure. A group from South Korea (missional choir) has been in town and invited a group of the musical students from the Grace Center to join them in a concert at a church in Kudat. I am travelling back to Kudat later this week to meet with pastors, but was not expecting this trip to occur on Tuesday. Despite the eight hours in a bus (four each way), it was a fantastic, long, day. The choir/ and group of musically students raised 10,000 dollars for the center. This trip also provided me with the opportunity to get to know some of the students and have amble time to speak with many of the teachers. Though I arrived back at STS, very late, the day was a blessings.

Some various prayer requests: for the church/ Grace Center in Malay. please pray for unity and for the government to lessen its persecution of Christians applying for jobs. One of the teachers I spoke with said that on all the job applications you must fill out your religion and Christians are discriminated against. Please pray for all the students at the Grace Center and for the teachers/ workers to continue to share the love of Christ and teach with patience and knowledge. Also, please continue to pray for safe travel for myself as well as health. I'm working hard to stay hydrated and well so I can fully participate and be present each day with each person I'm blessed to meet.

Thank you for your prayers. Much love in Christ.
Amanda :)

Update about China

Friends, Sorry I was unable to update during my time in China and I
hope to provide a full update as soon as I can. God has been so good
during my wanderings and I have so much to catch up on. Right now, I
am staying at Sabah Theological Seminary in Malayasia. I am able to
use the computers on campus so I hope to provide a recap (as best as I
can) from my time in China (hopefully, later today) I will be
attending the chapel service in a few mins. so I am unable to give a
full update but I will start....
When I arrive in Beijing, I was greeted by Michelle (whom I refer to
as one of my angels in China) she not only made sure my luggage had
arrived safely (it was late getting off the plane) but helped me at
the ATM, purchase a SIM card, and waited patiently as I tried to load
the Chinese characters of my host's address via my cell phone from
wireless. Since we were unable to reach my host, she helpled me into a
taxi and then also travelled with my on the other side of Beijing and
waited until my host was contacted and reached. The brothers and
sisters I met in China really and truly went above and beyond my
expectations of hospitality. Grace and SaSa (my host during the stay
in Beijing) and their church sisters living across the hall worked to
not only provide a place to stay but to also help me do some
sightseeing and arranged various brothers and sisters from their
church to meet with me durning my stay. I spoke with Grace and her
friend (also named Grace) during my first sightseeing day to the
Summer Palace about some of the activities in their church. Grace
explained that basically when the house church was opened (it is an
official church that meets at a house for the time being...I'll try to
explain more about this church classification system later) there are
people there to pray...even if this means 4 AM. Grace, who is an elder
at the church, spent the nights after taking care of my needs at the
church..praying with the sick and leading a Bible study to a group of
women. Grace also arranged for a trip to the Great Wall. It was
beautiful. We spent lots of time sitting around at the wall and
speaking about the church...I was unable to visit her church while
there so I wanted to get as much of a clear sense about her ministry
as I could.
After spending some time in Beijing and meeting with church leaders
there, I took the high speed train (about 310 km/hour) to Nanjing to
meet with a group coming from the United States with the Outreach
Foundation. I spent one night in Nanjing and then travelled with the
group to Haui'an, China. Haui'an is famous for Christianity in China
as it was the birthplace of Ruth Bell (Billy Graham's wife) She spent
many years there and had a love for the people of China. Haui'an
church had a wonderful museum honoring her and giving a detailed
history of their church. Every year the Outreach Foundation holds an
English exchange camp for pastors in the province to come together for
a retreat and to practice their English skills. I had the chance to
speak with pastors throughout the week and visit many churches in the
afternoon.  The largest church in the city that I was able to visit
had 10,000 members. Many of the churches have prayer meetings and
small group Bible studies. I was blessed to spend some time with some
of the hardest working, yet joyful pastors, worshipping, learning some
Chinese phrases, and hearing about their unique ministries. One pastor
at the camp questioned about America's terms, believer vs non-believer
and explained in China, Christians view people in two classifications:
believers and those who are yet to become believers. Christians are
very optimistic in their reaching out and inviting others into church.
During one of the church visits (where roughly 5,000 Christians
worship every Sunday) the group was greeted by traditional ethnic
dancing. One of the assistant pastors explained that this is used on
special occasions (Christmas, Easter, and during evangelistic events)
to help make new believers or yet to be believers feel welcomed in the
church setting which may be intiminating at first.The Christians in
China left a huge impression on my life. They are so joyful in their
worship. Everyone is smiling, clapping hands, and you can see in their
faces that they truly are happy and content as they worship the Lord.
One pastor in my small exchange group explained that while he is
thrilled the church is growing, he really prays for the people filling
the churches to have a true relationship with Christ. Even though he
is the head pastor of a congregation of 3,000, he takes time to pray
for all his members.  He works to develop smaller groups so all the
members are able to have a strong sense of Christian community.
Another pastor explained the importance of witness worshipping in
China.  This is a special worship service where yet to be believers
are able to come with friends who have invited them. The worship
service is non-intiminating where songs are song, tradtional dances
are performed.  The most important aspect of this worship is members
of the community giving their testimonies.  Brothers and sisters are
able to proclaim what God is doing in the midst of their lives. They
share stories of God's continued grace and how God has helped them in
times of suffering. My time in Haui'an and China was a blessing, as it
served not only as a rich learning experience, but also a spiritual
retreat.
Please pray for the Chinese church. Biblical training is very
important to Christians there. Since pastors are in short supply,
training for all members help reduce heresy within the church. Many
asked to pray for God to raise up new leaders within the church who
will remain faithful to the true Biblical teachings of Christ. Since
churches are growing so rapidly, there is a shortage of pastors and
much of the pastoral care situations are in the hands of other
brothers and sisters at the church. (Grace, my host in Beijing is one
of these "staff" members at a church)
I have many more stories and information from China but this is all
for now. :) Thank you for your continued prayers and I will try to
update again from Sabah soon. Love in Christ, Amanda :)

Saying farewell to south Korea

My time in south Korea has been a huge blessing. Since my last post,I've been fortunate to meet so many great people. I travelled to visit with Dr.Son at Yonsei university and enjoyed squid for lunch with students from china, Indonesia, and the phillipines. We shared concerns about the church as well as joys. It was a great time of fellowship. I was given a tour of the school and then was lucky enough to meet with the missions professor. We discussed some more about the history of christian mission in Korean and he talked about the need for students to be on fire for Christ, so the trend of growth continues. As you may know the presbyterian church has a huge presence in south Korea about half of the world Presbyterians live here. On Friday I was able to travel to Jong suk church with grace, one of the phd students. She gave a tour and pointed out the footprints of top evangelizers at the church. In order to receive this honor, a person must share the gospel with one thousand people- there were six footprints- all belonging to women. The church is very big on outreach to foreigners living in Seoul as grace is one of the pastors for the phillipino sub church which meets on the campus of the main church. After spending part of the weekend with angela, a friend from summer camp, and having a great time of catching up and fellowship, I arrived back in Seoul to attend the famous Myung sung Presbyterian church. The church holds five services that are all packed in a huge building. There were easily 10000 if not more people worshipping at the service I attended. Hearing the choir sing with a full orchestra was too beautiful for words. The worshippers were very engaged in the service and the preacher was quite dynamic. I wish I could upload pictures now to my blog to show the size. The choir was bigger than any congregation I've been in. Many I've spoken with stress the need for quality Christians attending services over quanity, but it seemed this group was on fire for the word and for Christ. Very early Monday morning, south korea time, I'll travel to Beijing china to explore the city and meet with some folks there. I'll then meet up with a group traveling with the outreach foundation in nanjijng, for a English exchange. We wil speak with a group of pastors, tour their churches and various cultural sites, and spend time in mornings and evenings worshipping together. I'm looking forward to this time. Please keep my travels in your prayers as well as praying for Christians around the world- God is living and active on every corner of His great earth. I'm not sure of internet connection over in China but I'll blog again when I can. Love in Christ,

Greetings friends! Quick blog post update from Korea. After feeling a little sick yesterday I was very anxious to get out of my hotel room. Since my schedule was free today, I took time to see the city of Seoul and learn more about Korean culture. I took a city tour bus and stopped at several sites ranging Crome war memorial of Korea, namsangoi tradiotnal Korean village, Seoul tower, changdeokgung palace, natural folk museum, and observed the changing of the guards at gyeongbokgung palace. I even managed to do a little bit of shopping. Walking around the palace grounds was very interesting as I was able to learn some brief historical facts about each dynasty and of course take tons of pictures. It was a beautiful day for sightseeing and I enjoyed being out and about the city. Tonight, I will try to go to a Wednesday night prayer service....I believe it occurs at 6 if I translated correctly lol :) I will probably go earlier to make sure. Korean Christians have various services on Sundays as well as Wednesday's with mornings being reserved for prayer. The Christians here are passionate about maintaining prayer life, which is something I greatly admire. Wishing all of y'all a happy Wednesday. Peace in Chirst, Amanda Also, my ATM card works at vendors but not ATMs. Thankfully I will be able to borrow money from my professor. Hopefully this won't be a problem elsewhere.

Series of Godwinks

since arriving in Seoul a few days ago, I have realized God walking with me and putting the right patient people in my path. For those who are unfamiliar with the book when god winks at you, I'd highly recommend it. The book tells a series of stories that show the consquences of god at work within the situation. In many of the stories God puts the right person in the characters path at the exact moment they need it. If you don't know me personally, I am very much a small town girl...always have been. In fact, when I moved Pittsburgh I had a hard time finding my way around. Navigating a foreign city like Seoul would be a challenge without the help of new friends, ministers, and randomly placed strangers. god definitely keeps showing up somehow to help me get from point a to b, which I'm so thankful for. Yesterday a business man walked me to the right bus station and waited for the bus with me to make sure the driver knew where I was going to get off. :) I was able to meet up with a friend of one of my friends from school who helped me get around the city some more. We went out for rice cake and traditional Korean teA, which was fabulous. My plan for Sunday changed a bit. I attended 100 memorial church. This church has several services because they are unable to hold all their members in their worship space for one service. I spoke with two of the 25 pastors and learned that between the services there's 6500 worship attendees. After a bit of confusion I was able to sit in on the worship service and listen to a translator translate. Though the church was non demoninational it was very traditional and had presbyterian undertones. I meet some English teachers who informed me that every week the church welcomes 3-5 new members...this is mainly due to the historical value of the church building. The church also had a museum of missionary service to Korea and a graveyard for foreign missionaries. It was interesting to read their individival stories. Monday I was able to navigate the bus system...with lots of help as the ,ap was in Korean and not English :) to myongi university to meet with the chaplains. Dr. Jae hong koo e head chaplain explained more about the history of the Korean church attributing the growth to church providing hope for future. He said Koreans are very passionate about prayers and hold prayer meetings daily....from 4-6am and all Friday night. He explained they take time to study the bible and have good and powerful pastors. The Korean church also does not hold year of the year budget meetings as all the members faithfully tithe since that is what the bible calls for and they desire to be obedient to the teachings of the bible. He also spoke of the new desire for quality over quantity of members staing he wanted members to be true Christiana and Christ followeers. We were joined by dr. Chung over a great Korean Chinese lunch. He spoke of desiring a strong passion from the younger generations... Similar to our situation in the us. When I arrived back to the hotel, an elderly man randomly approached me and we spent two and a half hours discussing missions, evangelism, and English literature. He explained he did his phd work in t.s Elliot's imagery and metaphor. Being an English major, it was great to speak with him at length about the great books. I also was asked to pray for his younger friend...grandchild to find a job and husband. I got the sense that she was considered about living life alone. It was great to chat with them. Random aside: I've enjoyed watching old lost shows as I wake up too early from jet lag :) Prayer requests: the chaplains at myongi asked for prayers for a continued And renewed passion for Christ. Please also pray for sage traveling and health along with my ATM card. I was able to draw out cash once then my cards keep getting rejecting. I'm hoping this issue will be resolved soon. Thanks and love in Christ, Amanda

Hello friends! Greetings from Seoul Korea,I arrive safely to the Korean church building that houses many of the Presbyterian offices in Seoul. Not too much to report yet, I'm looking forward to attending a 20,000 plus member church on Sunday though I'm told it is one of the smaller congregations! I was reminded of the verse staing the lord himself goes before you and is with you. Don't be afraid or discouraged. God certainly is here in south Korea and he has been using the wonderful kindness of complete strangers to help this small town southern girl navigate the big city. All is well. Please pray for me to fight jet lag as I explore south Korea. Love and peace in Christ,

Getting excited about my upcoming trip. This is another test for blogging with my little brothers iPad. During the summer please excuse any misspellings or grammar as I get use to using the iPad screen. :) looking forward to sharing stories with you. Please keep me in prayer.

Welcome and Background

Hi Ya'll! The main purpose of this blog is to keep my family and friends updated on my travels this summer. As a student at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, I was awarded the Valentour Fellowship for this summer. I am traveling to South Korea, China, Malaysia, Kenya, and South Africa to study how Christians in these parts of the world evangelize and share the Gospel.  Christianity in all of these countries is growing rapidly, so I am looking forward to meeting with brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world on this seminary sponsored journey. I will try to update my blog as much as I can throughout the summer to keep everyone up to date on where I am, who I am talking with, experiences, etc.

Please keep me in your prayers as I travel this summer and I will keep you in mine. :) I will be leaving the States May 30th and returning July 27th. Looking forward to sharing stories with you!
Peace,
Amanda