FAQ's

I remember when my mom needed to know something on the internet, and I just told her to go to the "F A Q's" and she had no idea what I was talking about.  "What are effaykeeyoos?" Because painfully obvious things to my generation are just not painfully obvious to my mom's generation I guess.  :-)
Anyway, FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions, and since I've been getting a lot of FAQs from back home I'm gonna try to answer them here.

What is YWAM?  YWAM stands for Youth With A Mission.  It's a bunch of youngish people coming to know more about God, and then go out into all the world and make God and His love known everywhere.  Not just by telling people about God, (we don't want to be preachy by the way, we're not like going around shouting "Repent!" like you might think we would) but by just trying to help communities around the world.  Depending where we go, this could mean different things.  In Africa for instance, that might mean taking care of babies left near dumpsters, providing them with clean water, and building houses.  While in Sweden, it might be getting up in the middle of the night and handing out free hot chocolate and talking to lonely homeless people.  In New York it might mean trying to be warm and loving to people who might be really successful but feel super cold and lonely amidst the busy and hurried lifestyle.
Right now I'm doing a DTS, which stands for Discipleship Training School.  It's where I come here, in Kona Hawaii, for three months for the lecture phase, were we get awesome intense training about the bible, and God, and life and such.  We pray where we should go, and then after the lecture phase, different teams go out into different countries and live there for three months for the outreach phase.

When are you coming back?  The very end of March or beginning of April.  I'm not exactly sure.

Where are you going?  China.  We'll be staying in Dalian for most of the time, and then partway through some of us will go to DanDong.  If you want to find it on a map, it's up near the right, kinda near the top, near the North Korean border.

What are you doing there?  We're not exactly sure of everything yet.  Mainly working with university students, helping them with their english, and just trying to build relationships with them.  We were also thinking of possibly starting up a cafe where people can just come and chill, like people do at starbucks back home.  Because there are coffee shops there, but not many coffee shops that are for hanging out, not just buying coffee.

How can I keep in touch with you while you're there?  Don't plan on a whole lot of keeping in touch.  Phoning the USA from China is super expensive, as well as talking on Skype.  Facebook will most likely be government blocked.  I will try to keep in touch by email, and try to keep people up-to-date on what's going on here, but internet is costly and limited, so I'm not sure how often or quickly I will keep up with it all.  But that doesn't mean stop sending me emails.  I will read them every chance I get,and I'm sure I would totally appreciate hearing from you all, it's just I might not to get back to every one right away.

What kind of place will you be staying in?  In a hotel at the base there.  We have one bathroom for fifteen people.  So yeah, pray for that.  It will be super mega freezing cold.  The food is supposedly super tasty but might be hard on our digestive systems.  I also heard everything is super inexpensive there, especially clothes, which I'm really happy about.  :-)  I don't know a whole lot more about China, but I'm sure I'll find out a whole lot once I'm there.

When are you leaving for China?  December 28th.  We'll be flying a night flight to San Fransisco, and then to some major city in China (I think it was Beijing but I'm having a mind-blank) and then to Dalian.  Airports and flying for like two-three days.  It sounds sucky, but I really love airports and flying so I'm super stoked!

Will you be in danger?  Kinda maybe sorta.  China is a communist country where Christianity is still illegal, so I have to be very careful about what I say and do.  Wherever I go something could happen to me, but guess what?  Something could happen to me in New York, or in Hawaii, or even back home.  I believe God wants me to go to China for a good reason, and as long as I be careful and smart, he's a good God and will protect me.

Do you like it there?  Yes!  So much!

Do you miss home?  Yes!  So much!

How on earth did you get the money to do all this?  My grandparents had a stock in apple saved up, and that payed for a big chunk of it.  Other then that my family prayed and asked people, and my friends, family, and church have just overwhelmed me with their support.  I have a small church, and nobody in it is super rich or anything, so the way that group of like fifty people sent me thousands of dollars to have this incredible opportunity has just blessed me beyond whatever I imagined.  People back home, both my biological family and my church family, Madison Community, I love you guys so much.  Thank you!


If you want me to answer any more questions, leave a comment below and I'll answer it.  Thanks for all your prayers!  Love you!