The day after the second training was a nice day of recovery. People were feeling sick and getting over their remaining illnesses. When your bacteria changes it’s not fun and if you’re either not prepared to it or not used to it you can feel a little sick. It was nice to sleep in and get a little opportunity to lounge around. Since our first two trainings were a day short each we had a few extra days to recuperate. God was really on our side because as I’ve said we had done everything we can to spend time with our newfound friends as we were burning the candle on both ends. Days like today allow us to explore the town and hopefully meet new people. A couple things happened on t his day. We found a restaurant that served some amazing soup. The soup was slow cooked in a ceramic pot that sat out in the sun. It had the broth, a ham bone, and corn or mushrooms in it (at least that’s what we tried). It was seriously the greatest soup I’ve ever had. We ate that almost every day for the remainder of the trip. You have to remember that each day is extremely hot. At least 95 degrees Fahrenheit and 90 percent humidity; it was how I imagine Miami would be if I were into that scene. However, we each ate it and devoured it. By the end of the trip we knew the guy so well that he took some pictures with us.
The next day we took a trip to a place that our friends’ company received their logo on. We got to see some beautiful scenery and saw the border with a country. I say saw because we wanted to cross the border over to that country. Honestly we just wanted to say that we visited another country (too bad if we didn’t get a stamp on our passports). However, we did have an opportunity to go up stairs to either some artillery (what’s up?!) or to a Kung Fu Dojo (so said our field worker). Stephanie, Daniel, Aaron, Rose, Stacy, and myself went to the artillery (dude a cannon!). The stairs were a little steep and it’s not like they had building codes and regulations back then. You have to understand that these stairs were at least a thousand years old, but the scenery was beautiful. There were stairs that had tree roots grown over the stairs. One of my favorite things on the trip was being there for my teammates. I am glad that I met them and I do consider them to be my family. When someone in your family has struggles you step up and talk to them. You step up and be there for them and when they’re accepting of your assistance it is a great feeling for both of participants. The partnerships and friendships that have been forged over these last two years have been amazing and I look forward to forging and fostering more relationships with different people as we move forward with our trips. With that being said when you think you’re doing the helping you are sometimes the one helping. So thank you Aaron for being that guy for me this trip as we both assisted each other on things that we had no clue we could handle without God’s help. That actually goes to the guys on the trip, it was a different trip this year because of the conversations I had with every single person I had on this trip especially guys.
Okay, sidebar over. One thing that was fun at the artillery portion was pretending to fire the cannons. We’re not always the most mature, good times right?
We had another killer lunch in this town and enjoyed our ride back with honking and everything. I did forget to mention one thing. On our way to the spot we had a random guy get in our van. We had no clue who he was. What did our leader, Stephanie do? Asked me to pose for pictures with the guy. RIDICULOUS! I’m kidding, you know I willingly attempted to take pictures with him, sometimes your maturity goes down.
A benefit for our next training was the fact that we got to see the teachers before the training. This would give us an excellent opportunity to meet our new friends and to forge and foster new relationships. It was nice to walk around and some of us were able to meet with new people and converse with them. They had us try a fruit called “skin of the chicken fruit” and it was awful! We found out later that we were supposed to peel the skin off. I ended up attempting to have a conversation with a teacher who was older and he had no clue what I was saying. Something in me told me to speak up that night just in case we were being watched. It turned out to be an oversight because this man had beautiful writing, but had not spoken English with a native speaker for so long that he had lost all of his confidence.
The people that we had in this last training were amazing. We had a student with us that was there last year. It was amazing to be with her and we actually got invited to her house for a traditional meal where we enjoyed a great time of fellowship. The people and the friends that we met were so amazing, but I want to highlight two specific things.
One of the men that I met was awesome and loved hearing everything I had to say. I don’t know what it was in the man, I am going to say it was the Spirit leading him to listen. We were in a crowded restaurant for dinner and everybody was screaming, yet we could hear each other just perfectly. I was able to share a lot with him about the gospel, my life, and how God has changed my life and was even able to give him a Bible (which I later termed hand sanitizer). I told him that I had a gift for him and that I was curious if he had a bag. He said he did and left for almost twenty minutes. I was worried and nervous as I prayed to God for him to return. What happens next? There he is. I took him outside to give him his gift and he was very honored. After we left we walked back to our hotel room as a team and prayer walked the town on the way back. I did forget to mention that one of my students gave me a ride to the restaurant on the back of his scooter and I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared for my life. No helmets equals no bueno in my book.
The next day was very trying and there were private issues and conflicts that hit our team, but a few of us were able to go out with our friends to buy spices and just go shopping. Daniel, myself, Chad, and Rose went to go buy cutting boards… Okay, Daniel negotiated to get a few of us cutting boards. Good times though. You could clearly see the shopkeeper’s frustration. We went to get some drinks (non-alcoholic of course) and we got another opportunity to witness. Last year another one of the people there received a Bible and had no clue what was going on with it. I asked her if she would like to hear some stories from the Bible and that was the opening that God provided for me. Nicole and I were able to speak with her about some of the amazing that God has done for us since creation to the time that Jesus died so that we could be reunited with Him in heaven. I’m not sure how well she received it, but it was very inspiring to be used by the Spirit with words and knowledge that I wasn’t sure I had. I will leave a little anecdote. Again, this conversation started because they asked if I was single. Chad said, “No, Nick’s not single!” thus almost ruining my testimony! Thanks man!
I will say one thing about that night, if you are ever around me or Aaron ask us about the rotating choirs. We are immature.
Our next few days were filled with some awkwardness, tension, and anger. It’s hard because there were a lot of frustrations that we experienced that I feel followed me home. I needed to refocus myself on Jesus coming back home and honestly had some amazing friends and resources who didn’t even let me go into a shell. These people are some that I truly love with all my heart and they know who they are.
One conversation I had on this trip was with Rose about becoming a leader. I feel that God wants me to lead, but I need to rely on Him to help me put my life in the right place. Flying home we missed our connecting flight in the capital city. We then had our team split up too. The married people: Chad, Nicole, Stephanie, Daniel, Aaron and Rose; went through Tokyo to LA. The singles: myself, Mike, Kim, and Sarah; went through San Francisco. I was tasked to lead us home. Not so difficult right? Follow the leader, take some planes, etc. God put a few executive decisions in my hands like having us go home together instead of splitting us up again. Trust me, the thought crossed my mind. I may not be a complete extrovert or introvert, but by this point in time I would’ve been okay with putting three people on a flight and letting myself fly home alone. God calmed me down of that immensely. What was nice is that our bags were already at LAX when we got there (we weren’t able to get on the first flight, but our bags did, whatever). We walked out of there in ten minutes. It was glorious. I will say that my favorite part coming home was seeing my parents and us finishing as a team still. One thing I will take away from this trip is how close I feel to these people. They are forever ingrained in my life. I love them like brothers, sisters, and a father and a mother (haha). It is frustrating that they live so far, but also makes that time we spend together that much better.
Coming home I have been able to hang out with them and that helped me come home. I’m ruined though. How? Well, for this life that we have in America. I love where we went. I love the people. I love God most of all and have to trust His plan and not try to forge my own. I would love to make overseas projects my life. However, asking God what His plan was is what got me into teaching and His plan is going to take me so many different ways and it’s going to be amazing. I can take away so much from this trip. How to handle conflict and the highs and lows of a trip are very important. Being a single man and learning from these amazing men has been tremendous. I just have to remain obedient. Chad said it best, pray for our obedience to God. If He wants me or us to just do summer projects then I am great with that; if he wants me to go overseas full time then I have no choice. It’s all according to His plan. I can listen and be His good and faithful servant or I can serve a different master and not reap the rewards of being with Him in heaven. There’s only one place I want to be and there’s only one path I want to take.
Thanks for reading too. If you’re interested in doing something like this let me know. If teaching isn’t your thing then maybe athletics are. I would love to take you on this journey that God has provided for us. The journey to understand that ordinary just isn’t good enough for us anymore.
Blessings -
Nick
