Transfiguration trip

 A few weeks ago during spring break, I led a small team (three people) on a vision trip to East Asia. It was one of the best trips ever! For security reasons I cant be that specific on details. The whole trip was an amazing experience for me. Even planning and prep before the trip was a good learning tool. I helped make sure everyone had their passports and visas and help teach them a bit about support raising for such a trip. This process really helped me get more disciplined in being organized. A passport and visa process is very slow and annoying. :/ But it all worked out without a hitch. The Lord wanted us to go, and He provided and we went. :) ... On our second flight to our destination I watched 4 movies... thats right, 4!!The flight was 11 hours. I have never been on such a long flight. And it was a Huge plane! A B747. I was geeking out on just the flights.... anyway, upon arrival, I quickly noticed English was no longer a primary language. Luckily we found our way to our contact and introduced each other. We then proceeded into a funny little van. The team we met with that lives there calls them bread vans because they are shaped like loafs of bread. And it was a very tight fit for everyone.... a few minutes into the drive i noticed that driving there in east asia is insane... to put it simply. They cut in and out and honk at everything. No warnings, no blinkers, no traffic law reinforcements... though i was in a panic, i noticed everyone who lives there was perceiving all this driving behavior as normal.... took me a bit but i just let go on my understanding of this and put my trust in the driver.... Hmmm.... How often do we get distracted in the insanity in life and focus on others and forget whose in the drivers seat? I know i do this often and thanks to God Im growing more and more aware of it and trusting in Christ more and more. Its not that i lose trust in Him, its more i tend to avert my attention to finite things. This story just reminded me of this and its a good lesson, but back to the story... An hour and a half later and one trip down an on ramp in reverse (Yes... again, Normal in this area.. lol) we arrived to our hotel. We quickly unloaded our stuff and headed to dinner where we got to meet all the missionaries that serve there and live there. At this point i have been awake for 27 hours straight. So i was tired... very tired.... we ate at a giant round table with about 15 people sitting shoulder to shoulder around it. And in the center there was a giant glass lazy suzan. The waiters come in and put everything on this lazy suzan and we turn it to distribute everything... and yes, this whole week i used nothing but chopsticks. It was actually very fun... we ate, and heard the directer that lives there... on the return to my small room and rock hard hotel bed, i passed out. Thats all I remember.... the first day we toured, hung out and got acquainted to the culture and adjust to the time difference. I bought stuff using the ancient technique of bartering and realized im rather good at it. :) .... so, next day. Monday. I went to a college campus with a local missionary and he showed me around and taught me how to get into conversations there with the students. After this Krystal (she came up in our team from NMSU) and I went to and from this campus everyday, by ourselves and spent our time getting into spiritual conversations all week and gathering contacts for the team that lives there. The students there are so fun. They LOVE talking to foreigners. I have never made so much friends in such a short time. Shared the gospel about a dozen times, went to a karyoake place (KTV) saw amazing ancient history and locations, saw an amazing work the Lord is doing that i was previously unaware of.... at the end of this week i was starting to question if this trip was worth all the time and effort. Felt like it was a waste to come this far and spend all this resources for just 7 days in this country (including travel: 9). but on that last day i met with a guy who really wanted to have lunch with me. So i had lunch with him the day before we left. We talked, and talked.... and talked. We started talking about the gospel and really getting into it. So we moved to a little coffee shop and away from the cafeteria lunch rush and continued talking... and talking. I asked him deep questions that he has never thought through before. And the Lord opened his heart.... He took in every word. Near the end of the conversation, he told me that he wanted this life. He wanted a life devoted to Christ.... right there on the opposite end of the planet, i saw this student get transformed by the holy spirit before my very eyes. :) this trip instantly went from a waste to beyond worth it! That campus went from 3 Christians, to 4. My spring break trip to east asia was full of awe inspiring things but nothing compares to seeing a life touched for the first time by God..... His American name is Leo. So Please pray for his continued thirst for Christ and that he would grow and be a great salt and lite to his country.