It's official

Well folks, it's official. I am leaving Ohio. Leaving lots of friends, memories, crazy small groups, cool doctor roommate, and many "adopted" brothers, sisters and parents. Thanks for looking after me during my stay in Cleveland. Some of you are the only reason I have made it though the year. Without friends and memories, I wouldn't have made it nearly this long or have enjoyed it this much. Thank you.

My farewell party!

I do not enjoy leaving, it is far worse than arriving for sure. Yet, there are part of life that are necessary that no one enjoys. This is one of them for sure.

At the parade the Monday before I left

For those that would like to keep track of me as I continue through my life and my various adventures, this blog is your best bet. I'll try and update it regularly with my remaining time in the states and in China if allowed. I still don't know what is "okay" and what is not over there. I guess I'll know in 82 Days! If it is not, I'll have to change to emailing updates to people. When that becomes the case, I'll add something to the right side of the screen that puts you on a email list. I have to figure that out first though.

Not exactly sure what is going on here.

It seems like yesterday I rolled into Cleveland wondering what I had gotten myself into. Now I am leaving and wondering what I am leaving behind. Y'all are weird, but you'll be missed.

Blessings from a traveling pilgrim
Later (not goodbye)

Trusting and Following

A few days ago someone put me on the spot and asked me what my "Vision" for China is. They asked questions such as "What do you want to accomplish over there?", "Why China?" and others like it.

At a "end of school year" party. I had about 30 seconds to go from ultimate Frisbee to telling people about China.

What do I want to see accomplished in China? Whatever God desires for us to do. The last thing I want to do is accomplish something outside of God's will and plan. With that in mind, our vision for China is God's vision for China.

Why China? For Rachel and I, our going to China came primarily out of two things (in no particular order):

1. Following God where His Spirit is leading
2. Trusting God in faith to provide in His way

Just so we are all on the same page I'll give a little history up to recently.

During the previous year I have been involved in an internship program out in Cleveland Ohio. The program is designed to give practical, hands on experience to those who desire to learn more about full-time ministry. For everyone who came through their doors, it has provided a platform to move into a full-time ministry position based on the experience they have received. This trend changed when I came into the office.

As I finished up my second half of the internship, I began looking and apply for jobs. What seemed like hundreds of jobs (though I am sure that slightly exaggerated). Nothing came up. At least nothing Rachel and I could live off. The best were part-time pay with full-time work. Not something I really wanted to start out on with Rachel. I send out a networking letter to my friends to let me know if they found anything, but even this provided nothing. So, the search continued as the internship came closer and closer to an end.

I trusted God had a special job in plan for us, one that would fit our personalities and desires exactly, in only a way God could. Both of us had great desire to do ministry, but not be the up-front people that get all the attention. Neither of us had any ties besides family, so we could go anywhere God lead us. The possibilities were endless.

During this time I found myself reading in the about King Saul in the Old Testament. At this point in Biblical History he is doing pretty good for himself. Just got anointed first king over Israel, concurring the nations and has God's blessings in his life. Can't get much better than that, but it can get much much worse. It does.

Saul is about to go into war against one of the opposing nations and is waiting for the prophet, Samuel, to make the sacrifice to obtain God's blessing before the fight. Samuel says he will be there on the seventh day to make the sacrifice and that Saul should wait for him. He doesn't. Saul becomes fearful and makes the sacrifice himself. He figured he couldn't wait any longer. Just as he finished the sacrifice, Samuel walk up outraged at what has taken place, and so is God. Though Saul was king over Israel, he was not qualified to make such a sacrifice to God. What did this lack of trust cost king Saul? How did God deal with someone who did not follow God's plan? The Lord took away the kingdom and His own blessing from the king. Through obedience, the decedents of Saul could have maintained the royal line. If Saul only waited and obeyed God's plan.

There are a few parallels that I would like to make, even though the principles aren't exactly the same.

As I continued to look for a job, I was getting worried and impatient about how God would provide - if he would at all. It became very tempting to just find any job that would put food on the table or something that "would work". This would be acting out of self-reliance and lack of faith  - the same attitude that Saul had when God ripped the kingdom from him. So, instead of trying to just find something and make it work, Rachel and I began to pray that we wouldn't find anything except the Job that God would have for us. We wanted to act in faith and trust in God's timing. Sure enough, we continued to find nothing. (hahaha, never thought I would have been excited about this answered prayer.)

A few weeks went by and a potential job with a catering company came up with high possibility. Even more, it seemed I could really enjoy the position. It is a catering company for faith-based colleges and universities and I would work directly with students, which is something I wanted to do. I pursued this position with hopes that something might happen with it, but still waiting. (I'll admit though, one of the big reasons I wanted the job was because it provided enough money for Rachel and I to go on missions trips and serve people.)

About two weeks after I applied for the catering position, I received an email from a friend who is teaching in China. He went down to another part of China to visit his fiancee's cousin who teaches English at another school. He told me that they are in need of teachers with another school opening up and that if we were interested, we should contact them. To be honest, I did not know I was interested in teaching in China until this point. I didn't think I was qualified for something like that - I requested more information anyways.

What happened next can only be described as a blur. We exchanged nearly 20 emails over the weekend and I learned the job had everything we wanted... and needed. The only requirements were that we graduated college, speak English and are US residents - Check. (I guess I am qualified after all.) It would provide everything Rachel and I would need to live - food, a furnished apartment, and even enough of an income to start cracking away at my debt. In some areas the benefits were greater than those of the catering job. On the other side, it would mean leaving everything we know - including the English language - and going into something complete unknown. It would mean only taking four bags of personal belongings for a whole year. There would be risk, danger, and situations that we aren't qualified for. 

One of my favorite Old Testament stories is of Joshua entering the promise land. He faced a situation much like that one that we faced as we considered China. Though we aren't leading an entire nation into a new land with nations bigger than us, we do have a decision to make. We could make the decision off what we could see, or we could make it based on what God can do. If you think about it, Joshua didn't really do much at all - other than trust and follow the God would led the nation through the desert. As Joshua trusted, God moved through him and lead a nation into the promise land!

Rachel and I could run scared at the thought of going to China, and we could also end up like the first round of Hebrews that didn't trust God when He said not to be afraid. Though I do not think we will die, I do believe if we did not take this position we would miss out on the opportunity of a life time and the chance to show that we trust God with our future and therefore our lives. 

We decided to trust God and move forward, set up an interview and said we would take the position if they would be willing to have us. That Monday, less than two weeks from the first email, they offered us the position. They even offered it with us having to take two weeks off for a friend's wedding. We accept!

People have asked, "Why China?" and the answer is simple. It is where God is leading us and where we can show we are trusting Him with everything. God leads and we follow. It's just what we do.

Blessings from a pilgrim

Later

So Darn Cool!

So, about a month ago I sent an email that would drastically change the direction of my career, and probably my life. Forever. Whatever the reasons are that lead up to where Rachel and I are today, we are going to China, and there isn't a whole lot that is going to stop us. Someone might say God, to which I would agree, but I am pretty sure He is the one sending us there.

When I think about everything that lead up to us making the decision, there wasn't a lot of thinking or organizing that took place. Everything just kind of fell into place and we just watched God do His think. It was incredible. Every conversation went smoothly, every dollar was in place when we needed it, and that isn't even the half of it. There are events that took place long before Rachel and I even met that are taking part in what God is doing through us today as we prepare for China. God is so darn cool!

Even though everything is going very well, it isn't perfect. Right now some of the hardest things we are dealing with - as to be expected - is not being in the states for certain events. We are going to miss birthdays, graduations, possibly a few weddings, and who knows what else. I guess I didn't realize that going to China also meant leaving everything else. That is the calling though, to leave everything - friends, family and possessions to follow him wherever he leads. So, that is what we are doing.

Today I realized that very concept as I packed my car to make sure I had gotten rid of enough stuff so it would all fit. It does. Though all of it fit in the car, not all of it will fit into two bags on our flight to Shanghai. With only room for two bags each (200lbs total), I am going to have to leave even more with family and friends while I am gone (I hope they take care of my bikes and books). It is hard to decide what to keep and what to leave. Though, I admit is so freeing to be able to move in one car load.

I'll be honest, am not sure how things whole update things is going to work. I don't know how much information we are allowed to share and how wise it would be to share once we get into China. I know that some places are a little rougher than others and we might have to be careful. I don't think our area is one of them, but I haven't been there yet. So, for right now I am taking advantage of my freedoms.

Some things we could use prayer for:

• Wisdom as we decide what to do about the events that we might miss in China
• Rachel as she finishes up all the wedding plans over the summer while also trying to leave the country
• Me, as I say "see you later" to friends, finish up work and the remaining events of the internship
• Our friends in China as they prepare for us - I don't think they know what they are inviting into their country.
• Rachel and I - Neither of us have never been to china or married before, and we are going to try and do both. At the same time!

Blessings from a, soon to be, international pilgrim

Later

English?

There is truly no way I can explain everything that has happened over the last month that placed Rachel and I where we are today. There is even less of a chance that I would be able to articulate how God has moved in every situation so perfectly that Rachel and I are left speechless after each event takes place. With that said, I am going to try and explain the impossible.

As I near the end of my internship it only seems logical that I begin looking for a job. This proved to be much harder than I realized when, after months of looking for a job, nothing came back after or even showed possibility. I knew that God would provide something for us, though at this point fear is setting in. I set out a networking letter to friends and family at any hope of finding a job and getting things in place before the wedding. February, March, and into April - Nothing.

During those months Rachel and I prayed that God would provide the perfect job for us. We prayed that He would lead us to a job that would use of abilities and be something that we would enjoy. The more we thought and prayed, the more we did not want a normal job. Rachel even began to pray for me not to get a nice youth ministry job because it would be too easy for us. Without knowing it, I prayed for the same.

April 12th, I got a unexpected email from a friend, teaching English in China. At this point he is visiting his fiancee's cousin at another English school in China. He mentions that they are looking for English teachers and if I am interested I could contact her for more information. So, after a day to pray and think about it, I did just that. I shot her an email and started us on our way to China.

Over the course of that weekend we exchanged emails over twenty times and tried to figure out of this would even be possible. By Monday we had set up an interview time for Wednesday via Skype. Throughout the course of the week Rachel and I never left a state of shock because this might actually happen (We thought it made sense for our friends to do something like this or other people, but not for Rachel and I). By the time the interview was over we told them we would be willing to take the position if they accepted us.

That following Monday morning Rachel and I received our confirmation email that we had been accepted for the position of English teachers in China!

The weeks that followed after Rachel and I worked out the details, of what it would take and how to make this a reality this coming fall. It was then I realized that we would not only be getting married, but we would also be preparing to leave the country for an indefinite period of time. --Most people get married. Some people leave the country. But you would have to be crazy to do both?! We are so excited!

Blessings from a pilgrim
Later

The First of Many

This is one of those updates I never thought I would be writing. And if I ever did write it, I had no concept that it would be now.

I am an official college graduate from Baptist Bible College of PA. May 5th Rachel and I walked and received our college degrees! Rachel did walk before me, but only by 25 people or so... I am sure she will rub that in my face for a while. All in good fun of course.

It was kind of strange saying goodbye to people knowing that it might be the last time you ever see them. It was also strange saying "see you later" to Rachel knowing the next time I see her will be when we are getting married (or close to it). It all seems so surreal, like something someone else would do - not me.

Getting together for graduation was well worth it for the pictures alone. So many memories wrapped up in a single moment or expression that would take hours to explain. These are the friendships that changed my life into what it is today. The price of tuition was a little much, but I would gladly pay it again to have the friends that I do.

Here is to four wonderful years with tons of wonderful people. I hope that it won't be the last time we get together, but just the first of many.

Blessings from a graduated pilgrim
Later