Where in Asia will Laura be staying?

I finally have an idea of where we'll be staying in Asia! It'll be very different everywhere I am so I am looking forward to the different experiences.

1. College Dormitories
In Hong Kong we will be sleeping at a college in one of the dorm rooms. The two Hong Kong teams will be staying together so we'll have a chance to encourage and debrief with each other every night. I'm not certain what dormitories look like in Asia, but this is what Google promises! (probably without the college boys... I hope...)

2. Homeless Shelter

After our teaching in Hong Kong we will be volunteering at a homeless shelter. Part of this experience is staying there. I'm guessing this will be in a motel style room. Another part of this experience is a blind simulation and an AIDs simulation where they see up scenarios for us to roleplay a day in the life of a blind person or an AIDs victim.

3. A Teacher's Apartment

We are staying in one of the teacher's apartment's during our second phase. The "beds" here are aparrantly much more like mats, but it is close to the school and we will be a little family. It will be neat to see where an average middle-class Chinese person lives.

4. Homestay

This is perhaps the most interesting place to be staying. I will be staying with a Chinese family who likely doesn't speak much English. It will be one of the student's families and I will eat dinner and breakfast with them every day. 

5. A Global Worker's House

In Thailand we will be staying in a global worker's house! It is air conditioned too! Plus there is a cafe they run across the street and we will get coffee every day! Did I mention that I am really looking forward to Thailand?

 

Risen

I just got back from the movies and wanted to share a bit about the new movie Risen!

 

The premise is of a Roman soldier who is asked to remove Jesus from the cross, to ensure the tomb was sealed and to then investigate the missing body after he rose. I liked this movie for a few reasons:

1. It looked very historically accurate! From what I have studied, learned and seen about Israel at the time of Jesus it is nice to finally see a movie that cared about the little things such as props, landscape and costumes. The high priest wore an ephod, the boat looked just like the one I saw in Israel and the Romans marched in proper shield formation. I was sad to learn it wasn't filmed in Israel itself, but it certainly looked close!

The "Jesus Boat" in Galilee

2. It was fairly biblically accurate. There were a few things that were a bit off geographically (ex. where Jesus' ascension was) and a few scenes were a bit different (ex. doubting Thomas) but I still thought the same themes and ideas were there, and much of it seemed very close! Out of all the biblical movies I've seen, this one appeared to be the closest account.

3. It was good quality. The beginning was structured like a Roman detective story, and I thought it seemed fairly interesting and well done. Unlike many other "Christian" movies, the script wasn't awful, the acting was good and it wasn't long and boring.

4. It portrayed the joy that Christians have. The disciples, Mary and all the witnesses that met Jesus had such joy on their faces everytime they were talking about Jesus! I love this portrayal of Christians, because our joy should be something that sets us apart from the world. This movie highlighted that well! "You believe in Him and are filled with an inexpicable and glorious joy" (1 Pet 1:8a) 

5. It clearly showed why Christians are still here. In the Bible, after seeing Jesus risen his disciples return to fishing (John 21:1-3). Directly after this Jesus appears to them and asks Peter if he loves Him. He says yes three times and each time Jesus tells him to feed the sheep. The movie makes it very clear that the disciples jobs after Jesus left were to grow His church and spend their lives as "fishers of men" and not to go back to the way they were. Once we encounter Christ, there is no going back to "normal life"!

Pray: Specifics

It's beginning to feel real! Our classroom has been turned into a supply room as we finalize our shopping lists, lesson plans and other planning today and tomorrow. By tomorrow, we should have everything we need ready to go!

Room 210 is now a supply room!

There are a few things that still need to fall into place before the trip. Your prayer is greatly appreciated! Here are some things you can pray for:

Phase 1

• Sermon preparation
• Lesson preparation
• Team dynamics

Phase 2

• Find a translator
• Permission for a Beach Day with students
• Safety and protection from spiritual oppression

Phase 3

• Lesson preparation
• Easily make friends with students
• Strength and energy

Phase 4

• Team leadership. Our team leader for this phase is now staying in Canada so we are shuffling around a bit.
• Good connections with the kids as we'll be here the longest.
• Health for our host from previous years who won't be able to visit us due to medical issues.

Prep: Hair Update!

I've done it!

I went for one of the shorter haircuts, to stay cool in Asia. Here are some pictures for you:

 After the haircut, waiting for the highlights.

Highlights are in! Just waiting for the dye to set in.

My finished "do"!

This haircut is thanks to Heather at Dolce Salon in Market Mall :)

Praise: Summer Job

I got a call yesterday with a full-time job offer for the summer! I hadn't been seriously looking or praying yet, but I was trusting God to provide and He has, yet again!!

I'll be at Ten Thousand Villages (I've been working there on and off but this summer will be stable full time!). They are a wonderful organization that is totally Fair trade! All of the items sold are made from artisans who have been paid a good wage. The organizations in poorer countries that hire the artisans often offer support with education, medical care and no-interest micro loans IN ADDITION to paying them a living wage. Although they don't sell much clothing (maybe something I can help with in the future?), they do an amazing work in many countries.

You can read more about them here.



You can read about the artisans here.



If reading is not your thing, you can watch a video about them here.




Thanks again Lord for orchestrating this and providing for me in everything I do!

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes!

I have reached my fundraising goal!!

Thank you all so very much for your help, I could not have done this without your support!


It has been a while since my last blog update. We were in a homework lock-down for the past few days in order to complete all of the homework we have for the rest of the semester!

I am relieved to not have to think about homework much in these last few weeks before we go, but I wanted to share one of the topics with you that I wrote a paper on. For our Cross Cultural Studies class, I wrote on how Globalization has had an effect on the garment industry and if/how Christians should respond. This is a very important topic for me, as it is a major reason for me returning to school, to further a career in helping fight garment slavery. 

I won't write the whole paper out for you, but I wanted to share a few trends with you that I learned and that still break my heart after years of learning about this industry.

Fast Fashion

 

Davina, King Space and the General of the Galaxy

In one of our phases of this trip, we will be putting on an English conversation evening every weeknight. The biggest of the responsibilities assigned for that was to write a skit for us to perform for 20 minutes every night we're there. And guess who the playwright is? That's right, your truly!

This is not me. This is David Tennant. But I like him, and playwrighting reminds me of William Shakespeare, and when I typed his name into Google this image came up, and he's wearing a crown and holding a flute, which ties in to my play (well, technically it's a recorder but in this play, we will be pretending that a recorder is a flute for the sake of simplicitiy and because I am the main character and I don't know how to play a flute, but I do know how to play a recorder), so now you understand why this picture is here in the first place.

We want to cover five themes while we're there:

1. Self-Esteem
2. Overcoming Obstacles
3. Temptations
4. Honor
5. Leadership

And so I set about writing a play.

And then I thought about ways to make it interesting.

And funny.

And still tie in to the original story I was thinking of.

So I came up with Davina and the Garguon! A story of a small, unskilled girl who defeats a great monster only using a few spitballs and her straw!!

This was perfect for the theme of Overcoming Obstacles!! And there could be more in the Davina saga...

Fundraising Update

We're close! The fundraising deadline is coming up on Monday, fast approaching.

I need $100 more funds to complete, God has been faithful up until now, and I am still trusting that He will finish it off strong.

Unfortunately, with the way our current Canadian dollar is, the trip is going to cost an extra $200 per student. The school is strongly urging us to raise these funds if it is possible, so if you are able to give at this time a little bit more, it would be extremely appreciated.

If you feel that this is a way in which you'd like to support this trip, please click here, or give me a call at (403) 918-9229.

Thank you so much for your support so far! I can't wait to tell you all about it in a few months :)

Pray: Phase 1

Today I had a meeting with our Trip coordinator. It turns out that the leader from Phase 1 is no longer coming on the trip at all. There is another team in Hong Kong while we're there, but I am now the team leader for the first few days.

Preparation

Please pray for us as we prepare the lessons, the service and the school assembly these upcoming weeks. That we would be bold but wise and that we would have confidence as we teach and serve. I am needing to preach as well, which is new for me, so prayer is appreciated!

Team Dynamics

Our team is all girls and we have been seeing each other nearly everyday since the beginning of September. This is great on one front because we know each other quite well, but could also pose as a problem if any conflicts arise! Please pray that we get along well and that we can resolve any differences well! 

Clarity

This will be my first time ever in SouthEast Asia, and we will need to find the school, meet the teachers and get set up on our own. Please pray that the language won't be too huge of a barrier and that we will clearly find our way around. 

Thank you very much family! I have not felt very stressed at all since school started this semester and I know prayer is a huge part of it. I used to always hate the term "we covet your prayers" because it is SO Christianese, but I am beginning to understand how true it is! So, regardless of my previous convictions, I covet your prayers!!