Thursday, August 7, 2014

Shishi- part 1 (China: 2 of 6)

Royal Servants had never been to Shishi, so no one knew what to expect. Little did we know, they would roll out the red carpet for our group. We stayed in a very nice hotel and spent the first two days being shuttled around to fancy Chinese banquets. The school was grateful we were there and gave us a good welcome.

The food was great in Shishi. We eat breakfast at the hotel every morning… a mix of Chinese (seafood, noodles, rice, steamed buns) and Western (eggs, fruit, “bacon” like meat). Lunch and dinner were at the school cafeteria, which was all homemade Chinese food and mostly good. There is a good mix of meat dishes, vegetables, and always rice. Also, there’s always 1-3 dishes of weird seafood, unidentifiable foods and jelly/odd texture foods. The banquets in Shishi were amazing. A lazy susan is at the center and dishes are brought out at a steady pace. Sometimes up to 20+ dishes are served. There are lots of good things (dumplings, fried rice, roast pork, fried yukka, beef and carrots) and some weird dishes (jellyfish, sea cucumber, tofu lots of ways, weird seafood and fish).

A note about Shishi (pronounced ‘sure-sure’). There are about 300,000 people in the city. Even though this sounds like a big size city, there were Chinese people we met on our journey there that hadn’t even ever heard of Shishi. We were there for 10+ days and were out in the community in the neighborhood around the school and the hotel. We did not see a single other Westerner the entire time we were there.

Ministry in Shishi was full of sharing the good news through relationships. Our team ran a culture exchange and English program. Our students and staff were broken up into 13 groups with 8-10 fifteen and sixteen year-old Chinese students in each group. We would open each day with games with all the groups. Then each morning and afternoon they spent getting to know their Chinese students while preparing skits based on a Bible stories, group cheers, dances and drama performances, and a talent show.

A few days into the program the Chinese students opened up by asking questions about Jesus. Over lunch at the cafeteria of the school, students shared the good news with their new friends. Everyday multiple Chinese students made a commitment to follow Christ and accept him as their Lord and Savior!

Opening banquet in Shishi

The school's principal
 

We didn't always know what we were eating

That's okra... on ice
 
Arriving at the school

Dinner at a local restaurant

Meat knuckles and tofu wraps

The head English teacher, her son and DiLara

Haircut

Most all the restaurants we went to were "C" rated...yum

Team photo outside the school

Our teacher friend

Opening ceremony

Orange and Apple

School cafeteria buffet

We were brave
 
Curious Ethan

They were serious about their group photos

Nicole Richie fan

Alice's bed all summer

Kylie making friends while they are amazed at an American dollar

Hotel lobby shrine
 
The blue dot is Shishi, China

Playing a Pictionary race

The daily Mickey Mouse
 
They had a welcome sign for us!

Holding herself up!

Meat market
 
Veggie market

Cooking on the street

Fake oreos, fake popcorn and real skittles

Home Alone!!

Rainer and the great shepherd
 
 a Chinese pastor who
spent 20 years in a work camp for his faith
 
Daddy time
 
Great view
 
Taking a rickshaw

Watch out!

Worn slap out

China baby 
 
Ben and Blake making friends

Ten commandments at a church on the island

Today's catch

On the bus to the school

Worship at the hotel
 
Exchanging banners

Official photo

A lot of the students

Crazy Translations

Catching a ride

Rainer, Blake and the team

Outside a church on the island

Dinner!

A tour of 'the history of the school'

Games in the gym

A big welcome

One way to carry desks

Cafeteria poster?

Hi

From above

A work of art for one of the skits

Ben sharing the good news

 

No comments:

Post a Comment