Hey! I am finally sitting down to write about Fridays Bible study, and to be honest, I am having a hard time putting the experience into words. It was such an incredible night. I was blown away by the curiosity of the new students, and the faith of those who are regulars and proved that they really do believe.

I picked up and drove some students I hadn't met yet this week so that was cool. I feel like I will be meeting new people all year :) But hopefully there will come a time when I have met everyone and I can actually pronounce their names, not just kind of remember them. Just because I spent a year in China does NOT mean I have the language down at all. A many thanks to those who pick an English name for themselves. I am very grateful to those because their names are so easy to remember. Anyways, we went to Gary's house again in Hyde Park and ate a great dinner. There is always so much food and so much variety. After dinner, everyone dispersed to their groups. About 4-5 groups meet throughout Gary's house. My group meets at the dining room table and is kind of known as the Medical Scholars group. From what I was told, it was a pretty established group with some PHD students, but also some wives and those who have graduated and are doctors or teach in the medical department at the university. Basically, it's safe to say they are all MUCH smarter than I will ever be :) We have, however, had a lot of new students this year and because I have connected with some of them, they decided to join my group.

The Culture lesson was led by Priya (she is actually Shaun's (head of IFI) wife, is Indian, and the other leader of my group) and it was about some American history. We talked about the American character, what the different sections of the U.S. are called, the diversity among the types of people in this country, the meaning of democracy, etc. They had a lot of great questions and were SO interested. And I always love talking about our culture and out country out of pride, but also because its the one thing I know more about than them :) makes me feel at least a little smart. Also, as a part of the culture lesson, we teach them a few idioms each week, and its hilarious how hard they will try to incorporate it during some sort of conversation throughout the night. This week we taught them "taking something for granted," "out of sight, out of mind," and "mixed emotions."

This week for Bible study I lead the group in a discussion about Genesis 1 and 2 and the story of creation. Last year, IFI went through the book of Matthew during group time, so they hadn't discussed creation before and thought it would be a good topic to cover. I assumed things would go pretty smoothly, especially having a handful of people in my group that new a lot about the Bible and believed it. Well I thought wrong :) After reading through the first chapter and breaking down the days of creation, I asked the group what they thought about it all. The three new students who had joined our group that week were pretty blunt it saying it was simply a made-up story. I am not going to go into full detail about the conversation that ensued for the next hour and a half, but I will say this - it was one of the most positive experiences I have ever had in sharing about the gospel. First of all, I wasn't the only one sharing. The other Chinese people in my group that also believe had plenty to add, and I think that was huge for these new students to see. It wasn't just the American who believed. Also, the discussion remained calm and appropriate, and everyone was very open minded. No one got mad or frustrated or tried to talk but couldn't. Because it was such a positive experience, these three new students are hooked and said they are coming back next week to learn more. Do they believe yet? No, but its only a matter of time. I could see God begin to enter into them as we shared about a story and a Spirit they had never heard about before. Their faces lit up and you could tell they felt different just talking about it all, but they didn't know it was God. However, I give Him all the credit for what took place. I am sorry this is brief and very general. If you want to know more about the discussion and the topics that were raised, you can email or call me I guess. I just wanted to make sure I wrote about the night.

Once again, I feel so blessed and unworthy to be a part of something so great. I can't wait for what else He has planned during this school year. Thanks for reading.

Hey. I am sorry this update is a few days late but it has been a busy weekend. We didn't have Bible study on Friday because we had a big activity on Saturday for the international students. I would say that it didn't go as well as planned since a lot of volunteers didn't show up and it went pretty unsmoothly (if thats even a word), but you know what? The students really enjoyed themselves, which was the whole point, so I think it was successful.

Ok, so here is the layout of the day for my group (there were 4 groups who all had different schedules). First on our schedule was outdoor games which consisted of Red Light Green Light, Musical Chairs, Water Balloon Toss, and an Egg Toss. None of the Chinese students in my group had ever planned any of the four games which made it that much more fun :) We had to explain things in full detail, give a lot of examples, and play each game a few times before they got the hang of it. I think they ended up really liking all of the games, except for maybe the Egg Toss. We got a lot of comments like, "Eggs are only for cooking!" But that was from those whose egg decided to break right on the front of them :) Next for my group was the Line Exercises (which was suppose to be Line Dancing but the church didn't like the sound of that). Through the help of a lady and a crappy mix cd blaring from an even crappier boombox, we attempted to learn the Macerena, Electric Side, and that Cha-Cha one they play at almost every wedding reception you go to with the guy giving you the moves in the song. I thought it would come pretty easily to the Chinese students but they really struggled (as did I) so we had some good laughs :) After our Line Exercising, the students were given two hours to attend two of the three one-hour seminars (there was a lot of numbers in that sentence). Anyways, I attended the "How to buy a used car" and "How to thrive, not just survive, in America" seminars. Both were great and beneficial, even for me. After the seminars, we all met back in the lobby of the church. The American families who volunteered to take students to their home for dinner were waiting. We made sure the students in our groups got to the right family and our job was done for the day.

I have been trying to feel out who will be the ones I can really pour into and invest in, maybe even become good friends with. It has been hard because it seems that I meet new people each time I do something with IFI, never really connecting back up with those I had met before. So at this moment about 50 students know who I am, but I am still struggling to remember names. I think it will take a lot longer than I expected to find those "few" who I can really get to know, but I am praying He will bring them to me and make it obvious.

Prayer request - I am leading the Bible study portion of our group time this Friday.

Hey! So I know it has been awhile since I have written anything and I am not sure if anyone even still reads this anymore, but I hope some people would come back to my xanga because there will be exciting news for all to read every Friday (or at least before the weekend is over). God has given me an amazing opportunity to work with IFI (International Friendship Inc.) in Cincinnati. IFI goes into the University of Cincinnati and helps the international students become aquainted with life in America as well as offering many activities for them throughout the year. It's a way for the international students to meet each other but also meet other Americans. One of the activities is our weekly Bible study on Friday nights at someones home in Hyde Park. Tonight was the first night and I was so encouraged! I decided I would write about each week and what went down so as to keep you up to date but also so that you could better pray for this opportunity and those involved. I am in a group with about 7 other Chinese medical students, none of which are professed Christians but are so excited to learn about the Bible.

Let me give you a break down of what every Friday will look like - At 6:00pm, many of us Americans go to different parts of campus and the surrounding area to pick up the international students (most of which are Chinese). Then we all make our way to Gary's home (a man that lives with his family in a large home in Hyde Park and offers it to IFI every Friday night). Around 6:30 we have a potluck-style dinner and by 7:00pm everyone has dispersed to different rooms in the house to study. The first 30 minutes is for an English/Culture lesson. Tonight we learned about the history of ice cream. Usually this lesson will cover a holiday approaching that is very much a part of American Culture. Then from 7:30-8:30 we have a Bible lesson. Tonight we did an overview of the Bible for the newcomers and then studied a short passage in Matthew about not worrying. The Chinese really seemed to love this passage and the encouraging words it had to share. After our time of Bible study, everyone met back up again outside for an Ice Cream Social! In our culture lesson, we taught them about all the different ways to eat ice cream so we thought it appropriate to offer that to them! We had things for them to make cones, shakes, sundaes, snow cones, etc. It was a great way to be able to mingle and meet all of the new students (as well as the old students since I am new :)).

One thing I really enjoy about studying the Bible with the Chinese is there fresh outlook on the things I have known for the better half of my life. They make some of the best comments and ask some of the greatest questions, and we, as leaders, have the privilege of seeing them begin to understand and grasp everything we are teaching them. One of the great questions tonight was, "Why did a perfect God make imperfect people?" We hadn't gotten to the part about how man was created perfect in the beginning, but this question showed that she was beginning to understand how perfect God really is and how could someone like that make something that wasn't perfect.

We won't have Bible study next Friday because there is a big activity for the students on Saturday. I will be sure to let you know how that goes though, as well as how my relationships with some of the students begin to progress. I was able to connect with many students already that I picked up at the airport this past week, and then tonight met many more. The Chinese love to have a foreign friend, someone to show them around, so I (maybe regrettably) gave my phone number out to many students :) However, I hope this is only the beginning of making some lifelong friends, as well as some brothers and sisters in Christ.

p.s. It was SO great to hear Chinese again!

What a classic night with the family. We read in the unusual silence of the family room, played some cornhole outside, competed in the intense game-playing of Dr. Mario, and watched the first episode of the latest season of Big Brother.

Tomorrow will be dinner at the Dolby's, which has been much anticipated for me, along with a bonfire outside and hopefully playing the Friends version of Scene It.

It's good to be back and to be a cell phone call away from a lot of people I have missed talking to this past year, as well as those I got to know too well this year :) I have also already enjoyed my fair share of frozen pizza. How odd that it's the food I missed the most...

Still no employment...prayers are greatly accepted.

Well, I am back in America and it's really strange.

Bad experiences from today (and yesterday I guess...):

1. the total of traveling hours was something like 36, and it wore me down! (my friends and I were so tired, we could barely play a game of Euchre)

2. realizing I didn't buy enough souvenirs...

3. feeling out of place without my teammates.

4. being overwhelmed by the amount of choices there are here, and the fact that I like and want them ALL!

5. I can understand what people are talking about around me and it's not exactly nice, uplifting conversations.

6. I feel like a foreigner in my own country...(and I can't remember to flush the toilet paper!)

Good experiences from today:

1. obviously seeing my family right when I exited the plane :)

2. for lunch I had frozen pizza, water with ice in it, and a rice crsipie treat!

3. for dinner I had a wonderful sandwich from Panera with some Mountain Dew!

4. my family and I played Ticket to Ride tonight and I snagged my first win!

5. I got to unpack some and pass out souvenirs which everyone seemed to enjoy.

6. my college pastor surprised me and called...we were able to have a great conversation and I was encouraged.

7. I have all new furniture in my room, including a brand new, amazingly comfortable bed!

I think I am going to break in that new bed...I hope I can fall asleep in the silence, minus the train horn I got so used to curling up to...