By request from the guy...

...who finally learned how to tie his tie right, comes this, uh, picture.



Yup, there ya go man. I'm leaving yer account now...
-e

This is my 65th Post~!~

Hey there to everyone! I'm now 20. Wheee. Today we have a day off so I'm using it to send some mail out and to do a lot of homework. WE'll see how that turns out. I'm anxious for Christmas and hoping that we get a whole whackload of snow soon!

have a great day y'all!
EH!

Go in Peace
~James

Happy birthday to moi!

Hey hey! I'm 20 in ... um... 2days! So.... yeah! that's my update. That and I'm almost unsick... :D COUGH COUGH!
~Have a good one!

Don Diego de la Vega

Out of the night, when the full moon is bright,
Comes the horseman known as Zorro.
This bold renegade carves a Z with his blade,
A Z that stands for Zorro.


Zorro, Zorro, the fox so cunning and free,
Zorro, Zorro, who makes the sign of the Z.


He is polite, but the wicked take flight
When they catch the sight of Zorro.
He's friend of the weak,
And the poor and the meek,
This very unique senior Zorro.


Zorro, Zorro, the fox so cunning and free,
Zorro, Zorro, who makes the sign of the Z.
Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro, Zorro.




Obviously, this was an American song or the Z wouldn't rhyme with free. As it is, I do not mind Americans at all. Therefore, I can sing this song with a certain joy in my heart. Oh, and by the way, HERE'S A NEW POST! I'm sorry it's been so dreadfully long... It's just that I always have so much on the go that I run out of time for things like this. Well, here I am in any case.


School has been very busy, but I've enjoyed it. We've been having a lot of 'revival' talks and whole whackload of prayer. That's been really kewl to see. All the work there dictates that I will have very little time, and goodness my socks, I should practice my pianoing today too! Yeah, there's a lot of things on my mind... do you know how to tell? You can tell by the observation that I begin to write things down. If I don't do that, I'm not nearly as stressed or anxious.


I'm not in the top of my class by a long shot... But I'm hanging in there and doing my best. I really enjoy the teachers and it's been a lot of fun to get to know them. That's really kewl.


Recently, I've been doing a lot of thinking... heh, and those of you who know me know that it isn't always a good thing! However, I need to start to think of next year. My plan standing right now is to go with VTI this next year. This has been my plan from before I went to NBI, but I would VERY MUCH appreciate prayer on this matter. Finances, social life, school, degrees, work, and education are all pressing matters... By the way, if the person(s) who ever sent me $3000 for school happen to ever read this, thank you with extreme gladness. I nearly fell out of my chair when I heard... and I guess I'll have to ask God to bless you since it was so very well concealed. Thank you very much!!!


Missions has been on my heart for a long, long time, and so it's with Venture Teams International that I want to go. They use the arts to spread the gospel, and their role isn't so much church starting, but their purpose is edification, or building up of the church that is already there. I'm up for that, so this is something I hope to do. And if all goes well, I'm going to send off my application in a short while. Tonight I'll see the group and I'll see if I can steal an application from them. :D In the meantime, all I can say as far as the most important things I will need are: Prayer, Prayer, and Prayer.... everything else falls into place when the most important things are taken care of...


In any case, I'm already getting restless. This is missions week coming up to the school there, and wow, there are so many things that I would like to get into. Sometimes I wish there were 3 000 000 of me so that I could join all these missions and touch all the world with God's love. Unfortunately there's only one of me. Therefore I'm going to have to wait of Him until he shows me where he wants me to be. If I can stress one thing to you in this post, I ask you to consider your thoughts on prayer... do you use one when you eat and when you go to bed? Is that all you do? Prayer is the most important thing one can do in the Christian walk, it may seem like foolishness, but time changes that. Prayer is not just sitting there talking to God... Prayer is fellowshiping with Him. It means sitting with Him in silence, it means talking to, it means listening, it means warfare in the spiritual realm, and it means that we can learn to see that God is not the God somewhere in the past or the future. He's the God of now too! I urge you to give prayer some trying and some persistence. It will change your life into something so amazing that only God could have known.


And if in the end you do in fact to decide to pray, please remember our brothers and sisters around the globe who are persecuted and die for their faith... remember to keep this country that is falling apart in prayer...only God can save it now. Keep me in prayer as I try to do what I have been called to...and as you do, I hope I can pray for each of you as well.


It's strange... for the first time in my life, my eyes have been opened to the awesomeness to God as he really is... this is what it was like...


When I was young, people could tell me about the mountains in BC and Alberta, and I was like, 'wow' that would be kewl to see. Later, I finally had the chance to go. Then there finally what I thought was a dark horizon, I realized was a huge line of mountains all of them huge and ominous. That was overwhelming... but then as I got really close, it became that much more real. Then it was like I went and tried to climb one of the mountains thinking that this much be all there is, but then as I reached the top, all I saw were miles upon miles of sharp rocky peaks....... there is so much more to God than any of us can see unless we try. We will never see everything, but as you learn more, you eyes will see more and then you will learn to live a life full of strength, power, joy and love. I'm still learning, but wow, it's great to be learning.




And now may you learn to pray with the one who made you. May you learn to listen to His voice and wait on Him. May he open your eyes to the wonders of Himself...
And let God's grace and peace be with you all!
Keep striving for Christ!!!
-Your brother James

Ok, so I heard this joke....

How do you catch a unique rabbit?
U-neak up on it!!!
How do you catch a tame rabbit?
The tame way U-neak up on it!!!

:D:D:D:D

Oh, and Karina's blog addy is: www.spuddingplace.blogspot.com
:P

Thanx! :D

Hah!

I'm posting on a blog that isn't mine. But you know, I'm testing the layout. Do you want me to change the font, or is it a ok? Oh, and I couldn't recall Karina's blog url. You'll have to change that. Adieu.

essy :D

Spazzing Kumquats!

I finished the 10 page essay... YAY! Now I have to go and read my textbook. Thanx to Essy who I think is perhaps making up a new template... OH! IF you want some good pics essy, ask my sister!! :D Anyways, things have been crazy here... I was up til 4:30am typing that essay cause i haven't been around... We didn't win the soccer tourney, but we won our first game, and then tied Briercrest 4-4 which we lost in a shootout. They cheated... but I'm ok with that now... I mean that will all honesty. ONe of their players for sure tried to take out our goalie from the start of the game and he hurt his wrist. We lost the 3rd game cause we had so little time to rest inbetween. The bethany guys had 3 hours rest, while we had one. Fatigue caught up with us. On the plus side, the Bethany dudes were kind. Not like Briercrest.

Have fun. i'm going now. :D

NBI

Nipawin Bible Institute is located just outside of Nipawin to the south. It is the typical small town, in which at any one intersection, you can't ask whether to turn left or right.... instead, you must ask whether to turn to the extreme right, mild right, slight left or the major left. It makes for interesting road trips.

In any case I'm alive and there is only one computer that lets me update this blog. I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope you have a good day.

P.S. Pray for a friend of mine who is ill. that would be kewl. :D

ATTACK OF THE SAVAGE GREEN DISEASE!

Oh wait... perhaps it's just my allergies. In any case, they make me feel awful. lol. For anyone around here... they can tell you that this drabby weather doesn't help. heh. Have a great day all! And eat all your vegtables.

Art...

It is amazing how God can take the tragic events that plague our lives, and then turn them around into something beautiful... Taking the shattered remains and arranging them into a masterpiece. How he makes things so ugly into things so beautiful is beyond my comprehension...

then again, so is making stars with the sound of one's words.......



'Art in me' by Jars of Clay
Images on the sidewalk speak of dream's descent
Washed away by storms to graves of cynical lament
Dirty canvases to call my own
Protest limericks carved by the old pay phone

In your picture book I'm trying hard to see
Turning endless pages of this tragedy
Sculpting every move you compose a symphony
You plead to everyone, "see the art in me"

Broken stained-glass windows, the fragments ramble on
Tales of broken souls, an eternity's been won
As critics scorn the thoughts and works of mortal man
My eyes are drawn to you in awe once again

In your picture book I'm trying hard to see
Turning endless pages of this tragedy
Sculpting every move you compose a symphony
You plead to everyone, "see the art in me"

Odd...

So a few days ago we had a storm... and some rain.... and then we started to notice a little more of a commotion down on the end of our street. So after we finished our dutch blitz game, we went to check it out.... there was a mighty big puddle on our street that at it's deepest was 3 ft. Ergo, Tim and I went out for a walk :D

Slumber....

I've been having a real big problem sleeping consistantly... and therefore I'm getting tired... I was even able to nap yesterday... that was nice. :)
In any case, I'm hoping to apply at Superstore today. WE'll see how that goes. I've been keeping busy visiting people and getting stuff ready witht the china team. It's been lots of fun and yeah... I'm beat. But all the kinks in my back are gone for the moment... I was treated to a most excellent massage.
aNyways, have fun all, farewell and have a good one!
~Wong-Xu~
~j~

WARRIOR MONKS?!

Alright.... so.... I type up a page of updated stuff... and this thing deletes it...
...
...
...
That makes my blood boil.
...
...
...
WEll, I'll just say that the title is a great oxymoron and things are grand but I need a job. That would be simplified version... ARG.... I don't like computers.
They hate me. O.o

Oh, and that's Randy Friesen (sorry if that's spelt wrong there Randy) and myself after our outing at the great grand wall. :P

xie-jin

Due to popular demand....

I have returned! Not just returned however, but much, much more in fact! I am returned and also blogging. Check that out! :D

It's been nice to be home. I missed some of our culture.... the rest I was saddened to see again. There are so many things that I had almost grown used to seeing, and now they're gone. Thank goodness the smells are gone... :) I'll not forget all the beggars, the poor, the peddlers and the musicians on the streets. And the markets. heh... wow... what fun.

I'm in the middle of sorta getting ready for school, and at the same time thinking of things to do for this last month I have before Bible School. I'm hoping to do some more recording, but I don't know how well that'll go with all the renovations we're doing on the bathroom. It's loud indeed.

Yup, NBI is a go, and it'll be VTI next year Godwilling. Looking forward to it, and I'm gonna be chillin with all the other freakishly scared people starting this year. Like Hannah! :D Are you worried Elly? If so, I shall try not to freak you out too much or too often. Yeah. Ok, well, there you have it, I finally did a real post again. Wong-Xu the great Monk of Antioch has return-ed. WHEE!!!

;)

Morning y'all!

I've returned! heh. I'm going to Calgary this weekend though, so I won't be here... again.. heh, but I'll be back Sunday evening if everything goes as planned.

I'll have to get some pics up when I get them! :D Thanx to all for prayer and contact! :D WHOOT!!

Superman?! Me?!

I think I may have lost 15lbs already... but I'm not sure. It's 10 for sure. So much running and walking running and walking. I just recorded a bunch of children's songs for the teachers here. Songs like, 'Jingle Bells' 'The More We Get together' and... um.... 'If you're happy and you know it'... stuff like that. Ken and I recorded them about 5 minutes ago... well, we a finished about 5 mins ago. That went well.

Everyday is very very busy. I get up, plan, teach the children's group until lunch, then take a mamoo (taxi... sorta) over to the school, and then I have lunch and a meeting there. After that, I play for the 140 adults for about a half hour, teaching them these kinds of songs. Then, I take another mamoo back to the hotel where the kids are being taught and I help teach in the afternoon. Today for example, when that was over, I was motorbiked over to a small house with about 15 guitar players (2 weeks worth of learning) ... wow..... I felt like a celebrity. They asked me to play some songs, I taught them 'You are my sunshine' and then I spoke to them about my family, friends, Country, my bonnie over the ocean, and my guitar playing. What was really wierd was they liked many of the same things I do. I mean, after the whole guitar thing, there was singing... they all LOVE to sing. Ok, and then one of them came and flat out asked me, 'Do you draw?' lol, and laughed and... well, yeah, I guess I do! So she hurried off to get a piece of paper. I drew a mountain scene like I did for you on the back of that card. THey all ooed and ahhed and then started to fight over it... that and everything that I touched almost. I had a bunch of simple old polaroid photos that always get in my way, so I asked if anyone wanted one, and WHOOSH, everyone was there to grab one, and fight over them. wow.... heh... one of them wants me to write out a paragraph for her to read tommorow.

Ok, so at 6:30 i finally dragged myself away from the kids, and 'Elton John' their teacher who so despretely wanted me to come, started taking me to the school on his bike. We got there to find my students who had come for games. However, Elton convinced them to tell me to go for supper with him.... (he speaks NO english).... so, off we go. We found a street vendor that was cooking after driving for 10 minutes and so we stopped there. He ordered stuff and I was told to sit and wait. Soon it came, and I was eating away. ANd wouldn't you know it, I dropped a dumpling... but i didn't hear the little 'ploosh' sound of it landing in the water, I heard the sound of giggling. I looked up, and there are 30 people at about 5 tables staring at me. lol. wow. Ok, so I sit there and ate more, never dropping any. That was kewl. Then another plate came, and i recognized the shape of it. It was fried fish.... like, battered, whole, fish. That kind of fried fish. Whee! Ok. So, i gave a quick prayer and off I went. I wanted to not see them anymore, so I ate them all.... then I ate this other wierd tasting tofu... the good things about the street eating is that when you finish something, they don't cook you more. YOu have to order it. Unfortunately, I forgot Elton was watching, even though he wasn't at the table. So, logically, if I ate them all, I must have REALLY liked them... so he bought me more.... 'NOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo!!!' I screamed silently in my mind.... blah... oh well, and off I went ... eating more happily fried fish. Then i drove back to the school and had a great time there hanging out with the kids and having the girls of the town call me pretty and beautiful.... O.o
THen I got back to the hotel, walking. That was fun, and lol, THEN i recorded that cd with Ken, and now I'm back to where I started.

WhEw

What a day.... that of course is just the summary. THere was much much more that happened, but would take far too long for me to type everything. One I can mention is that one of the kids' primary leaders, organizers, and head of the team left today for Hong Kong. That means, now I've been promoted. That, and the kids call me superman... but that's another story.

It's been busy. Anyways, I hope you all have a great day, and well, take care!
xie-jin

THIS IS A TEST

If you can read this, drop me a line at

encaitar777@yahoo.com

I NEED TO KNOW!!! BAH!!!
:)

xie-jin
Wung-xu

WONG-XU

THat'd be my new name, 'Rising Sun' (Wong-shuu) :D

It's been..... 4 days i think... oh I don't know anymore...., It's been about 100% humidity... or more, I dont' know it it can be more... if so, it is. We didn't see the sun for the first 3 days (because of the fog in the air....not smog.... FOG... it's VERY humid.) Temperatures have been up around... meh.... 35+ on a rainy day which we've had a few of... and it's more like 40ish when it's sunny. The humid feels worse though.

The food's been good, and I've been given strength everyday to keep going. Currently, I'm in three different teaching groups... sorta. Remember before I was supposed to be just a plain adult teacher? Well, I get here, and I find out that they want this to be very FUN. FUN means music. Gary(17) from BC and I are about all the music talent they have, and lol, he doesn't like to sing that much. Ergo, I do the singing for the teens about 20 of them, every morning now, and then the adults, about 140, in the afternoon at 2. The first day scared me out of my mind, but even though it's very scary, I've been able to do alright with it by my standards, and very well by what everyone else tells me. I have a bit on video already to see what it's like to do what I've been doing. I've met many people, and seen so many things that will take an entire day to explain at all.

Qichun is indeed a village.... and (it's pronouced Chee chwhen) it has about 100 000 people as a lower sided estimate. Ex. Population of Wuhan in books is 7 000 000, but in reality is closer to at LEAST 12 million.

THe bathrooms at the hotel are western, so that's kewl, but at the school, it's the other extreme. It's a trench with a slant, and every so often someone comes with a bucket and sloshes it from one end to the other. Great fun. :P I'll need a good shower when i get back... whew....

Oh, I got a haircut! They shampooed my hair alone, twice, for 20minutes in total. The actual cut took about 40minutes. They did an amazing job.... It's assumed I'm probably the first westerner they've ever seen in their life, ergo, they pulled out all the stops.

Yeah, it's all good. ANyways, Gary's losing to a computer here, so i'd better help him out. Heh. It's Quarter to 8 here, so, goodnight to you all very soon! :D

We're almost here!

Hey everyone! WE're in Beijing, and I was having trouble getting to this blog of mine... it was being... stubborn. WE had a few mishaps, including Tracey losing some luggage. It should soon be with us again. Also, we had a rough landing here in Beijing... a little fast and swerving... lol I enjoyed it... though most did not at all.

THere are so many things that I want to talk about right now, but I want to show pictures, and ... blah, I'm lacking terribly in time. We're leaving for our final flight to Wuhan in a few minutes. After that, we can finally sleep... 25 hours already I've been awake. lol, and it's only 6:05 pm here. It's wierd.

xie-jin
take care all
email me at: encaitar777@yahoo.com

Here is my flight schedule!

July 7th Leave Canada (3ish am from PA to Saskatoon)
July 8th arrive Beijing and meet up with Tracy
July 8th leave Beijing
July 8th arrive Wuhan at about 8PM
July 10th leave Wuhan for Qichun
July 23rd leave Qichun for Wuhan in moring
July 24th leave Wuhan for Xi'an on train in evening
July 25 arrive in Xi'an in morning see Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an
July 25 leave Xi'an in evening by train
July 26 arrive Beijing in morning and check into Hotel - some shopping
July 27 Tiananmen Square and Forbidden city -shopping
July 28 Great Wall and tombs- some more shopping
July 29 Depart Beijing and arrive in Canada again which I think makes it the 28th again

Well, I'm going to bed. I've got 7 hours to sleep. Have fun everyone, we'll see ya all later!! Pray that we have a lack of problems! C.S. Lewis' the Chronicles of Narnia are sweet... I think I'll read them on the plane... :D

xie-jin

THink you're short?!!!!

Lastly for now, that's Drumheller's TREX vs me.... lol. I'm 5'9"ish... that thing is big.

Doodlezing!

That's Spudnik... :)
yeah, I know she looks like Kim Possible... It's done in that style FYI. lol.

Chillin'

Just a kewl pic from Calgary, that's Jason, Debbie, myself, and Chris the youthguy!

Look at all the people!!!

mmmmmemories!

Ok, so there I was...

Sitting in my house when I'm typing to a friend who says it's starting to thunder. It had been so sunny all day, I thought that she was just imagining things... or else that she was just getting different weather on that side of town. But sure enough a few minutes later, I could hear it too. But we had a thing downtown that we were supposed to be at ... a concert of sorts, and now it wasn't going to be outside... because it started to pour. We waited until we were suppsed to leave, at 6:15 or so, and it started to die down,a nd the sun came out brilliantly.

THen it poured.... for about 15 minutes... rained for about 15 minutes.... all in brilliant sunshine... I've never seen anything like that. Over a half out of pure sunshine, sparkling through thousands of thousands of raindrops... That was something wierd. On one side, to the west it was pure blue and bright. Straight above me, White billowing clouds wrestled with the blue sky to a stalemate, and to my right, the east, a dark black and blue sky full of thunder and hail. It was something else.... wow...

haave a good one everyone! xie-jin
I shall be posting up my itinerary soon!

Hey Everyone! THis is my new portrait profile thinger. I just changed the head and made a background available. Have a good one y'all!!! EH!! OH, HAPPY CANADA DAY IN 3 HOURS!!!! WHOOOOO!!!!!!  

Greetings and Ni hao to all!

Well, times is still ticking, and the packing anticipation is catching up to me. Prep has continued along smoothly. Unfortunately I've caught a cold along the way. It's a bit unnerving being that it's the same style of cold that took me 3 months to get rid of last summer. Kinda creeps me out. In any case, I believe everything will work out as it was meant to happen.

On the flip side, today has been slow none the less, and when you're slow you realize there are people that you suddenly miss a lot more than usual. For all those who have felt the same way, I nod and smile in your general direction. ;)

Have a great day everyone!
xie-jin

Exoitment and Anticipation

Well, here I am... 11 days I think are left? Hmm, i lose count on the weekends. The seventh will be soon here and I shall have to find out how good my english and teaching skills really are. Anticipation grows as I look at different suitcases, as I decide which will match best with my watch.

We had my second commisioning service today. (two service weekend, so logically we had it twice) Both times, we had one of our team members gone... but it's never the same person. In fact, we usually have someone gone here or there. It's all good though, and everyone's been learning very hard. I am also happy to announce that we have raised enough funding for the team now.... lol, i think. It may after all turn out to be more than enough. That would be nice to have 12 offering baskets left over to give to people who need it, or to future mission expeditions.

As most of you should know, I am now unemployed. As such, I have plenty of time to write music and pack. I need to do a little more Chinese learning this week, and so I hope that goes well. The rest of my time will be spend on English lessons and projects that go with them.

Please pray that we don't get lost along the way. (It could easily happen being that we're going about 4 groups, but there are only 7 of us.) That'll be fun to find a new person at every stop at every airport.

Pray that we aren't attacked by severely large rodents or bugs as that could be a little strenuous on my energy levels if I must fight them off me to sleep or while I teach english.

Giant Waterbeetles are creepy... But they're fun to watch.

I can't say the same yet for cocroaches sinch I haven't seen one yet.
But I must bid thee Adieu.... I think that's spelt right.

Our family is heading out, so I must go too.
xie-jin and thank you all

THE END!

WEll, so ends my librarian career. Today was the last day of my contract. Farewell books and barcodes. Farewell all!

xie-jin

AUGH!! THE SUSPENSE!!! O.o

Ok... well... I'm now waiting to hear again from my financing plan. Their decision still decides my next few years at least. If they recognize VTI as a proper internship, then I'm going next year.... Otherwise I'll be going this year.

Prayer would be nice. I really don't want to mess up my life for the next few years. ;)

thanx all!
xie-jin

Hordes of Mosquitos.... O.o

Ok, so me and the guys are like, 'Let's go to little red and have schmores!!' Sweet. Ok, so we go! I grab my guitar and some socks and shoes cause I know there are those couple annoying mosquitos... As my title probably forbodes... there were not just a couple mosquitos...

I pulled into the parking lot across from Jami and Graham. They laugh and point above me, and thought they were mocking me, so I mocked them back, but then he, very clearly, pointed OVER my head... so... I looked around. I saw the moon... but nothing else. Finally when i gave up guessing, I opened the door and looked up. To my suprise, there was a swarm of mosquitos hovering right overtop the car.... AUGH! I said, and jumped back inside.

When the others showed up, we finally got out, and the swatting began...

And continued...

Even as we tried to eat those great tasty shmores, the plagued our every move. Two I remember in particular got me well. One on the forhead. One on the Left hand's pinky. Both swelled up pretty nicely. The one on my head was about the size of a silver dollar.... orAbout a quarter x2. My pinky lol... just looked swollen and stupid and felt funny. Most of the swelling has gone down now, but wow... those mosquitos really give me a run for my money. I hear the ones in China are less potent.... I should be hoping so.

In any case, they finally go sick of tormenting us and decided to go to sleep for a few hours. The rest of us, ceasing the opportunity, pulled out the guitars and began to sing. Just then, we were interrupted by a guy who had a car/truck thing. He told us the park was closing in 10 minutes. Simply, we would just park outside the fence before they locked up. Problem was that they already locked off the one we were parked next to.... Therefore, we had to drive all the way through the park, back on to the highway, and then to the outside of the gate we had parked next to. It was good though, and we had another hour of happy singing and fire... and no mosquitos plagued us that time.

That I believe was the end of our adventure that night.... Have a good one people... and remember you bugspray for outdoors. :D

xie-jin

That was scary.... O.o

Ok, so I wake up at 6am for a bathroom break. (normally I don't get up until at least 9) Nobody else gets up until at least 7 or 7:30.... and for the second time in the same week I think... someone else was up.

So I open my door and I'm all dazed and I look up. Standing in the doorway of the recroom, Jenna's looking at me with her white nightgown.... 'AUGH!' I said. 'hahaha' she said. This is the second time she creeped me out like that. Has anyone ever done that to you?

The only way people creep me out is when i know that they SHOULD be somewhere else, and my mind is certain of it... then if they show up somewhere else, I get so lost and confused.

In any case, today I am going to the school, and so heh, that should be good. :D I want to see if I can run into old friends and teachers. :) After that Luke, and Nathan and I suppose myself too, are finishing up Luke's project... I think we have to have Nathan hit by a car.... ;) It'll be fun. At my birthday i did that last time!!! :D

In any case, as of today, I'm leaving in exactly a month. Yup, one month before I leave for China. As such I'm doing a lot of China studying, and a lot of english studying Lots to do. heh. In any case, I hope you all have a great day, and thanx for stopping by to see what's going on in my life. You're great!

xie-jin

Wow... that's amazing!!!

It's incredible the things I've heard from the VTI team that was here in PA. They're leaving for Saskatoon tomorrow. Please keep them in prayer, that God will keep them safe, and that they will be able to share Jesus with people thirsty for Him. (if you want to hear some stories... just ask me!!!..... or preferably, go see them!!!)

Speaking of which... I really need prayer. I'm trying to decide whether to go to NBI this year or VTI.... I know that I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to... and I know that the team here REALLY REALLY REALLY wants me to.... but perhaps.... perhaps that it's just not the right time. In any case, I am very uneasy. I'm already accepted at NBI, so I don't really want to back out... but in that case, pray that God will secure my financial situation and that I'll be able to work with VTI perhaps later.

Anyways, lol, I'm excited to see God work this summer, this fall, the next ten years and tomorrow. Pray that I use my time wisely and for HIS glory, not mine.
Have a great day everyone.
Peace be with you...
xie-jin

If you are bored this weekend...

THE VTI TEAM IS HERE!!!! Well, they will be here soon. At 6pm I believe. In any case, come see the team and say howdy to one of our Prince Albert residents, Karina!! That's her blog in the links park that says, Spudnik. Yeah, so... have a good day, and go see the team! GOoD moRninG by the way! Man do I ever feel sick and loopy.... Crazy allergies.

xie-jin and whatnot

HEY HEY HEY! I mean.. uh... Ni-hau!

Left His seamless robe behind
Woke up in a stable and cried
Lived and died and rose again
Savior for a guilty land

It's a story like a children's tune
It's grown familiar as the moon
So now I ride my camel high
I'm aiming for the needle's eye

I chased the wind, but I chased in vain
I chased the earth, it would not sustain

There's only One who never fails

To beckon the morning light
There's only One who set loose the gales
And ties the trees down tight
When all around my soul gives way
He is all my hope and stay
There's only One, only One Holy One

Lord, You are my Prince of Peace
But this war brings me to my knees
See, there's a table You've prepared
And all my enemies are there
But where my Shepherd leads
Where else can I go?
Who else fills my cup 'til it overflows?

There's only One who never fails
To beckon the morning light
There's only One who set loose the gales
And ties the trees down tight
To the Solid Rock I fly
Though He bids me come and die
There's only One, only One Holy One

This is a song written by Caedmon's Call. Their newest cd is called 'Share the Well' and it is amazing. It was recorded in India and In Ecuador. It's an amazing album. In many of the songs it speaks of stories of the people. Others such as this one direct praise to God. If you like different music, give it a go. You can check out the more complete story on their website. :)

How you guys doing? I've been learning about how to teach english... most know it we're suspecting.. .but they don't understand how to speak it correctly... Some may know it very little. So our information is still quite vague. I'm hoping to have a guitar to play in China, whether it be theirs or mine. We'll see what happens. Anticipation is building as I am finishing sending my last piece of needed ID away to be finished tommorow. It's a little more than a month and a week. Time is ticking.
The temperature there is rising as it is here... and will continue to build until we arrive. Currently they're getting about 33 degrees in the day and 21 at night with about 70-80 percent humidity. We're expecting it will be at least another 5-10 degrees more by the time we get there. 'Waterfall' Persperation is expected from most of us. As such we'll have to keep many large jugs of water on hand if we plan to survive... hehe...

I still don't know if there will be, or I will be able to be on a team going to rural...rural Wuhan in the mountains. If I had the opportunity, I would be glad to take it. In any case, RURAL Wuhan is not in fact rural at all by our standards. In PA, we might have... meh.... hundreds living in rural areas around here. Farmers mostly. In anycase, the equivilent there is over a million people. Check this out in digit form!

PA (innercity- 35,000)
Rural - 1,000 (if we're lucky)
Wuhan (innercity - 7,000,000+)
Rural - 1,000,000

That is crazy.... heh.... Pray for us... we're going to be needing all we can get. In anycase, I think I've mastered the chopstick thing. Unfortuately, I don't believe I've mastered the cuisine they might posess. heh.. that'll be fun :)
her-ping may-ger rem
(Peace Everyone)
xie-jin
(Goodbye)

...

Ok... so I'm staring at the wall. What a long day... Too much to think of doing. Have a good day! xie-jin

Ow ow ow.... my arm

Heh.. I hit it on the sharp corner of this wall really hard. I had my leather jacket on, so it didn't break the skin... but wow.... I hit it really hard. lol, a nice bruise should show up in a day or two...

Tonight was the windup for youth. We had free hamburgers and pop, and then there was a quick talk and then a tae kwon do demonstration. They showed us some selfdefense moves and then broke a bunch of wood slabs and then some bricks. It was pretty nifty. yes... so then after that Josh, Chris, Ben, Jon and I went downstairs and invented a game where you get points for hitting people with a pencil. I was doing ok, lol, but then they kept starting the game over, and then, heh... they threw off my groove.....;) Yeah, well, I lost since Ben had to leave, but not by much... lol... I think it's because I nailed my arm on that wall... I couldn't move it for a few minutes... so I was kinda worried I had broken something... Instead I think I just bruised it nicely.

Also, someone blessed me with a wad of cash and a thank you note... all anomynous... or however you spell it. I don't know who sent it... someone found it on the floor... and I'm the only James there. It said only: A) THanks for all you do here and B) THanks for all you'll do over there That's it.... it was ... wow. :)

Anyways, thanks to all you out there who are praying and reading and just being there for me. I hope you all have a great day. :D

xie-jin

Are Ties Evil? Or just hard to tie?

I don't think they're evil... but they sure don't like me... Off to a grad thing tommorow and lol, the ties of .... hardness to tie.... are haunting me. Mmmm... have a good one people!

xie-jin

727

Nope... not the plane... it's the time. THough I am starting to think about the trip coming up.

How are you guys doing out there? I've been completely exhausted this weekend... I'm working at a garage sale in which we are selling many a wonderful thing. I found some nicknacks... but nothing spectacular.

I'll spare you the details of how hard some of that work was... but for everyone in Saskatchewan.... you remember it snowed? Well, heh... I was out selling burgers in that.... well.... trying. I couldn't really because the BBQ had no propane tank yet in the morning.... and then it was so windy that it... hm... it just was nasty. Boxes flying.... glass shattering... and I often got to chase the stuff that would roll away.

But nevertheless, we're doing it again today.... :) It'll be great... the sun is shining.... the wind has died down, and I got there bright and early.... but nobody was there...so here I am killing time in order to go back and start again.

Anyways, pray that God uses this sale for his purpose... and that our team won't kill each other. Have a good one everyone... thanx for listening! :D

xie-jin

Mondays... hahaha

Well, though they are evil for most people. My mondays are days off work and days for me to think. Haha, and now I have a lot of thinking to do.... In the midst of learning Chinese and learning proper english, I also am: Planning out a Grad I'm going to in Pambrun... (Near Swift Current) Trying to help with some of the largest fundraising events for the China trip we've done so far. It'll take up the whole weekend on the 13th and 14th I believe. Then I just found out about a language learning seminar that is coming up just after that weekend, and in between the grad weekend... I want to attend that if they will let me... but if they let me, then I have to arrange stuff out for work... because lol, It's a big formal deal there... you have to write out a request form and stuff.... wow.... One of the days I work, I'm just switching with Tammy so that I can play at youth for the last night they're having this year... until fall. :) It should be fun if I can make it. :D

I've never been good at planning.... so this is a stretch..... O.o

But things are well otherwise... and I think I'm going to go and fill out my NBI app now. I've been putting off that too. But meh, that's what my mondays are for. Have a great day everyone, and enjoy the sunshine! ^_^

So close... yet so far...

Well, almost 2 posts in one day.... missed 24 hours by 16 miniscule minutes... wow.
Please keep Karina and VTI's team in prayer as they leave today.... and also my China team... we're starting the real nitty gritty now... heh. We're learning to teach english. !!! Fun.

ANyways, being that it's 12:17 am ... I was considering posting Jars of Clay lyrics.... but since I always seem to talk about them... if you want their lyrics, go buy a cd, or check out some lyrics online.... instead I give to you an unnamed poem that I wrote a little over a year ago watching a sunset. Enjoy... even if it doesn't rhyme.

The winds begin to whisper

As the sun tries to hide its golden face

Flooding the darkening sky with red

You pull back the mantle of the heavens

Unveiling the splendor of the great lights

The moon's face rises to reflect the beauty of the sun

Yet your glory outshines them both

They know well enough to bow at your feet

Why not us?

Why do we try to ignore your soveignty?

Who can fathom your ways or understand your mind?

Who are we to question the Almighty God?

For we are as wood in a fire, chaff in the wind...a vapor

Yet still you stooped to help us and sent your son to die

This still brings tears to my eyes

In that you still loved us before we existed

While we hated good, hated love and hated you

Still you bless us with your creation

The magnificance that can cause all time to stop

But how much greater would it be

To instead behold the eyes that spoke it all into existence

Give me an "L"

Thursday... in the life of a part time librarian. It's a great day. The sun is shining. It's work... and I'm inside.

Eat with Chopsticks!! ^_^

Xie-jin

End of the week...

Well, it's getting towards the end of the week and my goodness it's been gloomy and cold. Josh and I have spent some the time watching old classic shows. It's been good. Unfortunately, the weather isn't helping my back, which I happened to strain a few days ago... mental note: Never lift with your back.... only ... ONLY... use your legs.....

Yes, so I've been working, recovering and hoping to catch a glimpse of sunshine. I hope it comes soon. Summer days just aren't summer days when it's snowing.

O.o

Thuh DooWee Desimal Sistim

Well, here I am. Tuesday morning, and I have endured and lasted through my first day at work. Learning to scan books, arrange them, stack them, send them, mail then, hold them, carry them, read them and just stare at them. Indeed I have done them all... at least to some extent. Today I'll be learning to do everything I can possibly do at the front counter. Checking out books at it were. Apparently the protocols that go along with all the wonderful work of typing is a cornicopia of information that will most likely be frustrating for me to remember... and being that I usually cannot remember what day it is, or what my name is, it becomes rather frustating.
No, I didn't always have a bad memory... lol, in fact I believe it is actually working to some extent today. But the lack of sleep in the last couple months has taken it's toll, and my brain efficiency is down 35%. Only prayer and more sleep will get that back up. So.... I tried to get to bed earlier...lol, and I never can get there until after 12am.... sigh......

On other notes, I spend the weekend in Nipawin, primarily at NBI, Nipawin's Bible Insitute. It was the grad weekend for many who had spent their time working there. At present, I have no idea whatsoever of what I'm going to do. But I know I will at least take 2 years.... perhaps 3 or 4 even. So many choices and so little life in which to explore them. So.... I wait, and ask God what he wants of me. It saves me a lot of time not having to worry.... OH, heh, I still need to finish my income tax... lol. I have my last T4 slip at a previous job... and lol, I can't leave until close to working time.... I'll leave at about 12...

Yup, so I've been doing a lot of stuff.... getting ready for China, learning some Chinese.... um, yeah! Lots of stuff. OH!! Did I mention Karina's home for a quick break?! ^_^ That's kewl. We were able to hang a lot at NBI, and lol, where I also met George... she's a friend of Karina's... and I met my Grandma twice at DQ. Good ol' Dairy Queen.

On a side note, I'm waitng for Debbie to get the pictures from our excursion to Calgary back. I'd like to see some of the crazier ones. heh. In anycase, farewell for now folks, and may you go in in the peace of God.

Xie-jin... O.o

Fork...

Ok, so there's this fork in the road. Now if you take the one way... You remain chilling with your friends, but continually growing poorer. On, the other had, you could take path number 2. You become more wealthy, but you miss you hanging with your friends, a huge amount, and then you also are unable to play guitar(your favorite thing to do) for them.

This is what I was going to say my current dilemna... however you spell that.... is. But, it isn't anymore 'cause I gave it to God. Yup. No more worrying.

Know what else was really sweet? Yesterday my buddy (Nathan) called me up from over near PACI school. Well, he wanted a ride because his car had died.... in a halfhour parking zone. I arrived to find him in a nearby Cafe, and I asked for his keys...
I went out to the car, and sure enough... it wouldn't start. It would turn on the engine problem light. Not a sound of it turning over either. But the battery wasn't dead.... the oil didn't need changing yet.... we had no idea what was wrong with it. He comes out after that and opens up th hood. It's dirty...but nothing we can see is very revealing to us. Then again, we know almost nothing about cars.
So finally after trying about 30 times, he heads off to find a buddy he knows nearby. Suddenly, it was like, oh yeah.... why don't I pray about it. So I got out of the car, walked up to the hood that was open, and put my hand on the engine.
I prayed, 'God, let yourself be glorified through this. In the name of Jesus I ask you to uncease this car and let it run. Thank you. In your son Jesus' name, Amen.' I walked over to the open window and turned the key...........



Nothing. So I did it again. and VRRROOOOOOMMMM!!!

lol.



Nathan came back, 'What did you do?!' 'I asked God to start it', I said. lol. He stood there shocked and then looked up...'Why didn't I think of that God?'

It was an interesting day. And God showed me something that I don't see very often. lol, and if I do, it is hidden from me most of the time then. There have been several stories like that.... ones with storms... moose.... bad road contitions... it's crazy how he provides. :) This is why i will not worry. Because God commands us not to. He has everything under control and in that grace and his sovereignty I can truely walk outside on monday mornings and say, this is a great day. And I don't have anything fall on me, or run me over. It's a heart attitude.

Farewell, and Xie-jin.
May God show you how richly you are blessed today.
Shalom

This is a warrior I drew from a few years ago.... I never really got beyond a sketch with this one.... hmmm, perhaps one day I shall. <-- this was a nice program.... though I'm still getting used to it I suppose.

This one was inspired from my favorite book series, the Lord of the Rings. An elf, presumeably... and he was created one day when I was bored and supposed to go to sleep. ^_^ Enjoy.

Trampoline. Oh much I miss thee.

Well, actually not that much.... being my back is so messed up, i'm not that frantic to return to the turbulance yet. Today was a pleasant day. Much sunshine beat down upon me today for I was wearing black... but just black... but also: (gasp) A TIE!

Yes. A tie. You have heard right. I was actually wearing......wait....................

AM actually wearing a tie. lol.... it's still on. And it has golfing themes.

I'm not even good at golf! Go figure....Yes, so I was invited by this guy named Dave out to his church by the airport. Lo and behold, upon my arrival I find a few friends of mine there. Namely Elly, Essy, and Prentis. That was kewl. What a weekend.
It's been good. i've been keeping busy and I'm hoping to go for a job at the Library tommorow..... after I buy the weedwacker for Dad.... which has to be at the early bird sale.

Yeah... oh, that's right. I finally listened to the new Jars of Clay cd. 'Redemntion Songs' and it's pretty nifty... there are a few songs that I don't like as much...but it's all done very well, and it's a good listen to be sure. Yeah..... hmmmmmmmmm.... ntohing else is really new around here. The job hunt... the health survival.... the odd way in which I tend to have my mindset. It's all good.

Anyways, everyone, please enjoy your life. And eat plenty of peanut butter and bananas. Farewell, and Xie-jin

What Mountains?

So I was in Calgary for the last 4 days and just got home last night.
The weekend was called 'LEGACY' and it was a youth weekend in which I was enrolled as a sponser. Due to the lack of planning time, only 4 of us went. None of them being actual kids from the youth. It's really wierd not being a kid now. Yeeeesh.

Chris Knutson, Jason Ficher, Debbie Fraser and myself all took off on a journey of monumental proportions. The whole weekend was either mostly overcast, snowing, or foggy, and therefore we never even caught a glimpse of the mountains that I had seen this last November when I was there last.

On the plus side, it was not really really cold.... just plain cold, and that wasn't so bad. There was a fair amount of sunshine though we still never saw any mountains, and oh yes! We discovered donut heaven. Krispy Kreme.......mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......... no donut concived deserves more recognition.........wow............

Also we learned to stop swearing with the conceptual words that most kids use.... mainly crap. Instead we have developed the word 'Rasin' as the new word. It was great fun to say the least to say rasin instead of the norm of most mouths.

Along the journey we also realized the importance of watching for OneWay signs........ and we also realized that Calgarian Citizens are very courteous and will honk to warn you as you pull onto the one way streets backwards.
We also learned what most of Calgary looks like as we racked up over 200km travel in Calgary in appoximately 2.5 days.
What else....hmm.....Oh, and we realized the best way to get the most view out of a simple trip through the city is to take several wrong turns.... which we were delighted to do, even as we were leaving.... in which, it brought us back into the city again.... that was entertaining ^_^

We learned about Grace this weekend... the reason it is given vertically, and we need to distribute it horizontally. It was an amazing weekend that gave us a large amount to talk about.
At the end of the conference, we were able to find Yo, my buddy Tim, only to the 'grace' of God. We were delighted to bring him back with us, and so he is with his family right now, house shopping. It was a great trip and we travelled through a lot of snow and ice on the way home...... mmm... love the snow :)

Have a great day.
xie-jin

so yeah... I drew me. Enjoy. ANd happy saint patrick's day!!!! 

Three60Five...the PROBE

Well, i'm here at Nipawin Bible Institute.... (NBI) at a youth retreat called Three60Five....or as it used to be known as.... Probe. It's been starting to get a lot more fun in these last few minutes being that the games and events will be picking up the pace now. Toilet Gokarts, and inflatible games,and lazertag are making for a lot of fun. I have already spilt mustard on my pants, and that's been really fun:) Hmmm..... I dont' know what else to say yet except that I have been feeling very sick, tired and my nose is running.... but meh,..... what can you do? Have a great day everyone!!! Farewell until.. well until I remember to update this again..

~The Monk~

Well, one day was nice out... +10 degrees!!! So I was out all day chipping off an inch to 2 inches of ice off the driveway, and then i was shovelling it off... 

What?! CHINA?!!

Yes. China. That shall be my destination come July 7th. I'm heading over there for a month to teach english to teachers and students. I hope it will be an enjoyable experience.. and I personally can't wait :D I NEED PRAYER AND MONEY!!! PRAYER AND MONEY!!! REMEMBER THAT......
Wow... it's been a while since I've updated this blog... (this was pointed out to me by an unnamed individual ^_^ ) So it's a good thing to be back.
An update on me:
Well, I'm still missing Karina in India... soon to be England.... *sigh* ^_^
And physically I'm still as gibbled as ever. I've been unemployed since New Years Eve, and am starting to look for a job... This year I hope to be going to Nipawin Bible Institute after I have completed my China trip, and that is all for the long term planning... well.... I'd like to make another cd. But I will spend more time perfecting songs and who knows? maybe I'll have a better one next time! I'd like to have a band to back me up.
I've enjoyed some skiing, sledding, sliding, snowman making, shovelling and all kinds of spectaclar saskatchewan's special snow ... things. I love alliteration occasionally. In fact, i was just back yesterday from a skiing trip, and heh.. I'm still a wee bit sore.... though a lot of it tends to be from me pushing myself too hard during our China teams' last fundraiser... There were these big wooden tables, and well, I carried....6 of them up 3 flights of stairs alone, plus another 4 with help, and then i took about ... lol, 8 of them back after our whole thing was over at 11... and I was so beat... but I did it, and strained my arms. heh. But I get bored if i do nothing. That night I also vaccumed and ran the sound board all night... took photos, and set up tables, decorations, ran office errands, and arranged, stacked and carried chairs.... big cushiony ones.... whew. They weigh a lot more than the wooden chairs I'm accustomed to.

Life is Good. I'm learning to be content with what I have... but I need to work on many many many things still. heh. Oh well. perhaps I will still have time in which to accomplish such a feat.

Other than that... I think little else is new... perhaps I will you an update when i get back in a few days from Key-way-tin Bible School. We're going there for a couple days to videotape.

Farewell, and Goodnight.