Where in the world is David's luggage?

I just spoke with David on the phone--their flight arrived and they are nearing the end of their first day in Hanoi. You won't be surprised to find out that he made some friends along the way. On the flight, he met some monks from Taiwan, including a Living Buddha. His monk buddies believe that he is a reincarnated buddha.

One interesting development... Some of you may remember what happened to me (Nichole) last summer on our trip in Asia. After leaving the city (i.e. civilization) and heading six hours away into into the rural mountain area, we discovered that my bag had been left behind in the city. I've received a lot of grief since then, but it did all turn out OK in the end. I found out that life can go on, even if there are no showers or deodorant or fresh clothes for 6 days.

One of the last things David said before he left on Tuesday was "Let's hope I keep my streak," meaning his streak of never losing a piece of luggage. Today that streak came to an end. It's definitely not fun to be without EVERYTHING, but as always, David has a great attitude about it. They don't have any record of his luggage at all, so he wants to offer a contest, "Where in the World is David's Luggage?" Post your guesses on the blog comments, and he'll give you a prize if you're found correct. He, too, hopes that we do eventually get an answer to this question!

With or without luggage, David and the rest of the group leaves tomorrow evening on the night train to Sapa, which is tomorrow morning our time. It would be great if David's luggage was found BEFORE then! It does have his allergy meds in it (which they told him to check-in), so he could definitely use it. Please also be lifting up their time in Hanoi as you go to sleep tonight.

before...

after...

new monk friend from taiwan, with one of the other interns...

They're off...

When I dropped off David at the airport last night around 6pm, we got a very nice surprise. After saying our goodbyes, the lady at the ticket counter asked me if I wanted to go back behind security with David! She gave me a boarding pass that is normally used for people who are picking up unaccompanied children at the gate. I was able to go back with him and eat dinner at Chili's with the whole group of interns, then have a less rushed (second) goodbye.

We ate dinner with one of the other couples in the group, Travis and Robin, who are planning to plant a new church somewhere in North America. They are still seeking God for where that should be, and they hope that God will make that clearer to them on this trip. They also hope that God will give them His heart for the nations while they are in Vietnam. Most of the others are in the same boat. They know that their future church should be involved in reaching the nations, but it's not the deep cry of their heart just yet. Pray that God would "connect the dots" and begin to personalize His call to mission. Keep these future pastors in your prayers as the Spirit brings them to your mind.

At the moment, the interns are in the air over the Pacific Ocean, between Seattle and Taipei, Taiwan. They have a tight connection in Taipei (only 1:15), so tight that the airlines wouldn't check their baggage all the way through. Pray that they'd make the connection and not have to spend an extra day waiting in Taiwan.

Details for David's Vietnam trip

Vision for this trip
We have several hopes for this trip...
(1) for us to learn from Northwood's work of transformation, which we plan to apply to our future ministry in Asia,
(2) for the interns to see an example of how one church can engage a corner of the world,
(3) for David to deepen his relationship with a few of the other interns, who will soon be planting churches of their own and looking for a place among the nations to make a difference, like Northwood has done. The great hope is that at least one of them will become partners in our future work in Asia.

Itinerary
March 6, 8:55pm... leave Dallas-Fort Worth
March 8, 9:50am... arrive Hanoi
March 8-9... in Hanoi*
March 10-12... visit Sapa village area, near China (via train)
March 13-16... in Hanoi*
March 17, 5:45am...arrive back in Dallas-Fort Worth
*in Hanoi, the group will visit a medical clinic, orphanage and a center for special education, where Northwood members routinely use their vocational skills to serve.

You're welcome to follow along the journey. David will send updates when he has access to an internet connection.

Next Stop... Vietnam

In just 7 days, David will board a plane to Vietnam, along with some of the other interns and our pastor, Bob Roberts. Northwood Church has been very active in serving the people of north Vietnam for the past ten years, investing both money and time in everything from orphans to water wells to schools. Northwood's work in Vietnam was recently featured in an article in Christianity Today called "We Aren't About Weekends", which you can see at http://www.christianvisionproject.com

Eight Treasures & Clay Pots

On our last day in Xining, some long-time friends took us out to lunch at a famous Xining restaurant. The restaurant is famous for its clay pot dishes--everything you order is cooked and served in a clay pot. The dish above has lots of mushrooms and tofu--yummy! We also had "eight treasures" tea, which has 8 different elements, including Chinese tea, dried cranapples, dried pineapple, wolfberries, rock sugar and several other dried things that don't have names in English. Supposedly, the tea was invented in Qinghai by the Muslims.

Tibetan Rug Company

Yesterday, we visited a rug factory factory that is based in Qinghai province. The company's goal is to produce high end rugs, made from Qinghai plateau wool with Tibetan rug knotting methods. Many of their rugs sell for thousands of US dollars. They now have contracts to produce rugs for some major US companies and hotel chains. They have successfully created an enterprise that is mutually beneficial to both Tibetans and to the world marketplace. All the while, the leaders of the company are unashamed and uncompromising in their faith. Their rugs are really beautiful--you can check them out on their website, http://www.khadenrugs.com




To give more jobs to local Tibetans and other locals, they use mostly low-tech processes (i.e. hand dyed, woven and groomed carpets), but produce a very high quality product. This rug is being produced for sale in a major US catalog. This lady is trimming the carpet edge for a more contemporary look.




The Tibetan knotting method allows for a more efficient process than Chinese or Persian. They weave a whole row at once, instead of cutting after each knot. This worker is experimenting with weaving yak wool, which is softer than lambs wool.

Roadtrip to Qinghai Lake

Summer is THE time to visit the areas around Qinghai Lake. This lake is really more like a sea--it has salty water and it seems to go on forever. This time of year, the mountains covered in green, many fields have bright yellow blooms from rape seed, and the lake is sky blue. Yesterday, we rented a car with our friends and stopped several places along the way. We saw camels, Tibetan homes, beautiful rolling mountains, the huge Qinghai Lake, sand dunes, and a former atomic development center--all in one day! It was refreshing to breathe clean, mountain air and see the bright blue sky.




You can mount a camel and take your picture at RuYueShan, on the way to the lake.




Nature is fairly undisturbed near Qinghai Lake, making it a great 'nature retreat' for people in Xining. This picture was taken on the road near the lake.




Looking out across the lake, you can see mountains and sand dunes in the distance. Strangely enough, there is a little 'sand dune' park. The dunes are natural, but you have to pay 5 RMB to get into the park. Once inside you can pay another 10 RMB to take the slide down the big sand dune hill. David says it was really fun to run and jump in the sand--no matter how high you jump, the sand breaks your fall.




The area around Qinghai Lake is predominantly an Amdo Tibetan area. Here, you can see a Chinese tourist paying homage to a Tibetan image. This area was set up for tourists, but does represent the traditional devotion of Amdo Tibetans to Tibetan Buddhism. The colored fabric are 'prayer flags', which have prayers written on them in Tibetan script. They believe that prayers are lifted up each time the wind blows the flag.




An Amdo Tibetan lady that we met at the Qinghai Lake Tibetan culture park. Many like her live in tents in the area and live off the land.

The Most Adorable Girl

Down a back alley street, we met this cute little girl, who was helping her mother at their pepper shop. Her family moved to Xining a few years ago from another province in China. She can't yet speak the local Chinese dialect, but we communicated well enough without language! We are pretty sure she's the most adorable girl in the city.

Uyghur Transplants

Last night, we ate at a newly opened Uyghur restaurant. Most of the ~10 million Uyghur Muslims live in far western China, in a province called Xinjiang that shares a border with Kazakstan. However, Uyghur food is SO GOOD that they're able to move to other cities all over China to start restaurants. This Uyghur lady is roasting some mutton on skewers, using a really tasty mix of cumin, pepper and other spices. The guy below is also a Uyghur worker at the restaurant.

Xining Recreation

Lately, we've been exploring the little streets off the beaten path. We visited this back alley street yesterday and found lots of friendly people. Many Muslims, Tibetans and other Chinese. Here, Nichole is talking to a Hui Muslim man.




When local people have time to waste, playing 'outdoor pool' is a popular activity. In this alley, David counted 29 pool tables in a row.

The Daily Routine

On weekdays, Nichole has been taking Mandarin Chinese classes with teacher(s) at a local university. Everyday, more words and phrases come back, through review with teachers and just listening to people speak the language during the day. While Nichole is in class studying hard, David likes to visit a coffee shop on the university campus, where he gets an iced coffee/bubble tea drink. He now has the 'regulars' discount card.

We got into Xining a couple of days ago--the west side of town has really changed, with lots of new, tall buildings. Yesterday, we explored the east side of town, which is home to the Minorities University and many little Muslim restaurants. Qinghai province has a very dry, cool climate, making it a great place to grow wheat and potatoes. So noodles are the predominant daily fare here (not rice). One of the unique noodles dishes to Qinghai province is 'mian pian' (pictured above). We really enjoyed our first bowl yesterday! The dough is made from scratch, stretched out lengthwise, then popped off their thumbs into the boiling water into little squares. Add some zucchini, tomatoes, onions, peppers, meat and sauce, and you've got mian pian! We each had a 'xiao wan' (small bowl), and our bill was 7 RMB (about $.80).

The Salar man who cooked our 'mian pian' noodles.

Starbucks (and coffee shops) are a trendy thing in Shanghai. The one we visited was busy with lots of young people.

And we enjoyed a stop in the A/C and a cold Frappucino!

A Chinese tourist taking video on the Bund, looking out across the Huanpu River at the fast developing Pudong Area.

One of the historial buildings on the Bund.

We had a few hours yesterday afternoon to explore Shanghai. Shanghai is HUGE! 40-story apartment buildings are everywhere. This picture is a view of the famous "Bund" area from across the Huangpu River.

We left each other at 8am on Friday in DFW--I went through Denver and met up with David in San Francisco. Within 24 hours, we were on the streets of Shanghai, in an internet bar looking for a place to stay. (We weren't able to get onto the flight to Xining that same night) Finally, at about 11:00pm on Saturday, our heads hit the pillow in a Sofitel Hotel near the Bund. Long, long journey, but we met some cool people along the way.

Leaving on a jet plane

We're packing our bags again and heading to Asia. We leave Friday--on different domestic flights. Hopefully, we'll meet up in San Fransisco. (is that a song?)

First stop, Xining

We're making three stops in China--Xining (the green pin), Chengdu (the yellow pin) and Shanghai (the red one).

Our first stop will be Xining, which sits at 7,000 feet on the Tibetan plateau. It used to resemble something from an old country-western movie, with its dusty streets and remote feel. On my first visit to Xining several years ago, I was greeted by loud shouts of "Lhasa, Lhasa" by a crowd of dissheveled bus recruiters. At that time, the only way to Lhasa from Xining was by sleeper bus. Peanut butter and Coca-cola were about the only western foods I found in 1998.

However, we're told that Xining has transformed itself of late. Among other things, we've heard that the Chinese recently acheived their ambitious goal of building a rail track through the mountains, linking Lhasa to Xining (and the rest of the modern world). More news on the train and other developments when we get there...

Bright lights, big city... Asian style.