China Missions 2008 - Church, Karaoke, Ice Cream

Day 7 a few of us went to the Three-Self Church near campus to see what the service was like. The songs they sang during praise and worship were in English and were songs that we'd sing in contemporary churches here, to which I was pleasantly surprised. The message preached was in Chinese, and was 'for real'. The sister taught on what it means to be set apart for Christ and how to live a life that is different from the rest of the world.

Isn't the church building beautiful? It looks like a castle!

















I love having drums during worship :)

















Seeing so many Chinese students there was really encouraging

















The choir presented a song

















After lunch, we met up with our new friends who took us to a karaoke place near the school! We had nearly 30 people in our group, and we had to take separate cabs to get there. It was a scary ride. It's like there are no driving laws in China! At one point we were driving towards oncoming traffic! We had an awesome time at karaoke.

Didn't realize the Backstreet Boys were still popular....


































Me singing a Jay Chou song, I was so happy .... hahahahaha!

















I have no idea what song everyone was swaying to....

















Kevin and Nancy singing a Chinese song

















After dinner, we attended a church service for foreigners, and we met in a classroom. They asked people on our team to lead worship. It was great to be a part of a group who are so full of energy and passion in worshiping God!


















It was an action-packed evening; after the church service, we headed over to the ice cream social held by the school. The place was packed with students, there was music and lots of dancing. A few of our boys started a mosh pit, and the Chinese students picked it up right away. We did the YMCA (never thought I'd do it again after high school), the students all did this bunny hop / congo line dance, and my friend Rita taught me the slow-three step. At one point, the most hilarious thing happened. During the slow songs, the Chinese students were asking the foreigners (us) to dance. So a couple of guys came up to me and asked me if I'd like to dance. I said sure, thinking one of them was asking me to dance. Then they led me to one of the men in our group! Bethany's dad! We looked at each other and laughed. Apparently, they thought I was a student and were trying to find someone to dance with Bethany's dad!


















The students really like to dance! One of our guys Wesley is up on stage too!

















After the ice cream social, Rita took me out for shaved ice with fruits. We walked around campus and chatted while we ate. It was so tasty but it got really cold! The time went by fast, and we had to get back to our dorms before curfew, but Rita promised to take me outside the school gates for dinner the next evening. Although I was exhausted from the eventful day, I was excited to stay up another couple of hours to hang out with the students on our floor! I miss them.