my first post of 2010.

While I don't miss it and I'm not sure if I'll be back anytime soon, I'm very glad I went.

Nothing short of awesome this entire trip despite the fatigue and the cold.

We even had the opportunity to have a (not-so-friendly) debate with a polyseltizing soka member who spared no ammunition in damning other religions which he has 'tried' while exalting his own. I was no match for his machine-gun fast soliloquy and I left telling him that I'm sorry he didn't think Christianity didn't work for him. I told him that I just hope he'll one day realize that Jesus does love him and did go to the cross for him.

On the last day, after the worst blizzard that paralyzed traffic and the entire city in so many ways, weather reports warned further of level 5-6 winds which were commonly described as blades slicing your skin. We ventured out nonetheless, albeit cautiously andI prayed that as we steppedout, the winds would stop. Honestly, my faith was as miniscule as a mustard seed but that was all that was required right? Because the winds did stop. And we got out safe. Everyone was puzzled coz the weather reports were hardly ever wrong. I was humbled that the tiny prayers of an ordinary girl were answered by the almighty God.

Throughout it all, we were kept safe. Later that day, as we were leaving for the airport, we had a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel and testify to our tour guide who lapped it up hungrily. She too had some exposure to Christianity but never really made the choice to commit. I pray that the words we sowed into her heart that day germinate fast and grow into a steady strong plant that will never be uprooted or shaken. It was so uncanny coz the day before , I was just getting ready for bed and I felt led to pray for her. It's amazing how quickly God answers with spirit-led prayers and the very next day, an opportunity arose without us probing and she initiated the conversation in that direction.

Going to Beijing this harsh winter has shown me so much beyond the history and culture and touristy exposures. It breaks the momentum of my everyday life and interrupts it with snippets on how other people live and provides a peek into a lost world without Christ. The world is so much bigger than I know it to be and the lost is hungry. The harvest is plenty but where are the labourers?

I don't know if God will ever uproot me from this sunny isle where I was born but we're open. I met a guy who wasn't ashamed of his faith to shout it out boldly because he thought it was THE good news. This example alone puts many of us Christians who have the real deal to shame. We hide not just our talents but openly dismiss the call of the Great Commission while seeking our own hedonistic desires.

Where are our prayers really chanelled? Where are our lives heading? What are we living for? It took a non-believer to awake the hypocrisy within me that professes that I'm living for Christ yet having no deep interest of the souls He died to save.

God help me.