The Chinese Yankee

new site

Hey guys,

This site isn’t working too well in China so I’ve switched to a new one.

Check out: http://chineseyankee.weebly.com and go to the blog.

Kingdom Come

For youth here in Shanghai, we have a new event coming up called “Kingdom Come.” It’s a night of prayer for our city and world.

Preparing for that inspired me to write this song today:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Kingdom Come

Our lives only exist
To live and breath only for this
To see your Name lifted high
And to know Your fame glorified

May Your kingdom come
May Your will be done
Let us see Your power
Rule over our
City, Our world, our lives
Lord, let Your kingdom come

Our speech, our work, our daily chores
We dedicate to be wholly Yours
We bind ourselves to Your plan
To see you lifted high in this land

On a lighter note (forgive the pun), here’s an attempt at the cheesiest love song of all time: kudos to Jordan Estrada and David Carver for their contributions. This was at the talent show for our recent youth retreat:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjE1NTUwNzEy.html

I keep saying over and over how thrilled I am to be where I am today. I’ve never had a place where I felt so excited about being where I am and doing what I’m doing.
There are struggles, but Gd has given me such an enormous love for the kids I’m working with and He’s been so gracious to even let me see the fruit of what I’m doing in such a short amount of time.

I hope to post more soon.
Love you all in America and miss you.

Come visit me

kenny

Photos from XinJiang

Cold night? Yes. Worth sleeping under the stars on the top of a mountain and seeing the most amazing shooting stars of my life? YES.

River crossings. Can you believe we got 11 people with 40lb packs across this? And this was only one of 6 crossings.

(Thanks to Emily Crandell for pics)

Two things

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard:

that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O LORD, are loving.

Psalms 62:11-12a

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Two Things

Of all that I know, two things matter most
Next to all that I see these things stand aside

that you are strong; and that you are loving

If this is true, my fears are pointless
if this is true, my ambitions seem small
if this is true, everything else fades

God, You are loving
God, You are strong
Nothing can match your power
There is no end to your love

One of the craziest experiences of my life

Dear all,

Here’s the promised post. Well, kinda. Hopefully I’ll post about the actual backpacking trip soon. But first I had to post about a crazy experience on the train ride home. Here’s what happened.

The train ride home from XinJiang was rough. 48 hours in seats with the aisle completely full of people as well. I slept probably around 2 hours the first night between 5:30am and 7:30ish. It’s hard to sleep when you’re in a straight back chair and older XinJiang mother sleeping in the aisle leaning against your leg. Paul and Emily couldn’t really sleep either, so we played a lot of card games through the night.

During the first and second days, we met another foreigner; probably the only other one on the train. He was French and dressed kind of like a hippie. I found out later that we was a percussionist by trade, and his clothing matched that. We chatted a little and we gave him a banana or something. He kept coming by just to visit.

The second night was where it all began. Paul started feeling really sick; he threw up his entire stomach into a bag. He kept throwing up throughout the night; sometimes dry heaves, sometimes bile. I think his final count was 8 times that night.

Soon after Paul started feeling bad, the French guy came over to our seats and said something really weird was happening. He said something was making everything look really beautiful, but also he thought that people on the train wanted to kill him. It kinda sounded like drugs at first, but eventually it became clear that it was demonic activity, and he told us that it was too. I asked if I could pray for him and he said, “Yes, please.” After praying for awhile, things quieted down a little. I asked him if he was a Christian. He said that he’d been raised Catholic, but that he’d converted to Islam three years ago. “I want to come back to Jesus though,” he said, “I miss him.” I asked him if he wanted to come back to Christ right now and he said yes. He prayed the prayer of a desperate man, and when he looked up at me afterwards, he was smiling through his tears. He jumped across the table and hugged me and said he felt so much better.

We were all pretty exhausted, so I gave him my Bible and told him to go back to his seat, read it, and try to sleep. If the demons came back, I told him to tell them to leave in the name of Jesus. A few hours later he came back. Apparently, the spirits had told him, “You’re free in Jesus now. You can do whatever you want” so he’d done some stuff he shouldn’t of with the girl seated next to him. He was crying and scared and the demons were really tormenting him. I prayed and prayed telling them to go out quietly in the name of Jesus and to not create a scene.

At one point, I pulled out some hand sanitizer to clean my hands and he asked for some. I gave him some, but then he licked his hands and started eating it. He started begging us to give him more because he said it was making the spirits go away. He said Gd had used us to show him that this was how to drive them out. We wouldn’t give it to him and told him he had to cry out to Jesus to make them leave.

Later he said he had some food that he would eat and some amber that he would smell to make it go away. He kept asking us if it was ok for him to go use that stuff and we kept saying that he had to depend on Jesus. He eventually left and came back sniffing his amber and saying, “yeah, this is helping.” He also brought back a bottle of water from a mosque; apparently they claim Abraham camped there. We told him to get rid of it, but he didn’t want to.

He left again and we finally slept; Paul was feeling better finally and was able to keep some water down. He had been throwing up everything he put down his throat.

In the final hour or so before arriving in Shanghai, a lot of passengers got off the train, so we finally had room to breathe (the aisles and everything had been totally packed). I pulled out my guitar and we started to worship together. Our French friend came back and sat with us, closing his eyes and just listening to us worshiping. A bunch of the Chinese gathered around as well, listening, clapping, and asking for the translation of the songs. I didn’t see it, but the French guy said that one of the Chinese girls listening started crying as she heard us worshiping.

After this we arrived back in Shanghai.

This isn’t the end of the story. My French friend said he’s going to be a fellowship on Sunday, and he wants to meet with someone for deliverance. I’m hoping to connect him with someone from the fellowship who maybe has a little more experience than me in dealing with these issues.

What a crazy night. I’ll post more about the actual trip later, hopefully.

kenny

Leaving for XinJiang

Leaving for the Tian Shan mountains today
Sorry about not posting in so long; I’ll probably put pictures up once I return.

Here’s where I’m going

Please pry for safety and for an encounter with Gd for each of us going.
Blessings!
kenny
http://www.journeywildernessadventures.com/Site/TCK_Trip.html

When the Morning Comes

New song for today; played on a new Taylor guitar Gd let me get blessed with.

It’s called “When the Morning Comes” and is inspired by Psalms 30. Lyrics below.

To listen: click this.

When the Morning Comes

Oh Lord, I cried to You for help

And you have healed me

Oh Lord, my life was sinking down

And you rescued me

Oh Lord, my enemies were strong

But You were stronger

Oh Lord, the night was heavy dark

But You shone brighter

Pre-chorus:

Weeping, may stay for the night

But joy comes in the morning

Chorus:

You have turned my mourning into dancing

You’ve taken my sorrow, and dressed me in joy

I will sing your praise / I’ll not be silent

‘Cause I know the pain of night will soon be gone

When the morning comes

New Song

Hey everyone,

Here’s a new song we’ve recorded

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

kenny

Retreat Recap… and more on calling

<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –>

I come back from every retreat feeling overwhelmed with God’s work, not knowing where to start when I try to write it down.

God did so much at this retreat.

One girl, her brother has been coming to youth for a while but still hasn’t given his life to JC. She signed up for my workshop Chrstianity 101. As I was explaining the gospel, she started asking really intense questions that made it clear that she wasn’t a Chrstian but was really interested. Afterwards, she and a friend came and thanked me for the workshop, but I didn’t know what happened.

The next night, the speaker gave a call to be a follower of Chrst. I didn’t see her raise her hand or stand up, but afterwards during worship, I looked out into the crowd and saw her singing the worship songs with all her heart, tears streaming down her face. She was so emotional, eventually I saw her brother lead her out of the room. I’m hoping to talk to her sometime this weekend and find out all that happened.

Another youth was really struggling with going to the retreat in the first place; the highschool prom somehow got scheduled on the same weekend, and he really wanted to go. Plus, a ton of other stuff was going on in his life too.

Without going into details, basically what happened was that practically EVERY session seemed to be put together JUST for him! Testimonies, messages, worship songs, everything (!) seemed to point right to the issue, and on the last night, he stood up with the others to say “Yeah, Jesus. Make me a disciple who is SOLD OUT for You!”

The night of the Prom, we were sitting around talking and he told me, “I’d SOO rather be here than at Prom right now. Next year, if Prom is on the same day, I’m totally coming to retreat.” *Smile*

And for me.

The last night, before the alter call, before the message, we were singing “The Stand.” I turned around and looked at all the kids singing, with their hands in the air, praising Gd. I felt kinda guilty looking around instead of worshiping, but it just brought me so much joy to see all those youth praising Gd. After this, I sat down and started to pray.

It was very slight, but I felt like maybe Gd spoke to me and said, “Are you willing to do this [serve the youth of Shanghai] for the next 50 years?”

People have been asking me how long I plan on staying in Shanghai. I’ve been telling them, “Until He leads me somewhere else!” What I felt like Gd might be saying was, “Put down your anchor; this is where I’ve got you for a while. This is where I’ve called you long-term; be ready to stay.”

Then I felt like He showed me the cost. He showed me the pain and stress and weariness from counseling suicidal kids; speaking to others who simply wouldn’t hear. The lack of sleep and emotional, physical, mental, and even at times spiritual fatigue I would be facing. The things I’d have to give up: going back to America (long-term), maybe having a family (at least in the near future), etc.

Honestly, some of the cost really hit me, especially the sacrifice and knowing the trials that would come along with it. But then Gd reminded me that it’s HIS plan, and He has everything in His hands and He has my BEST INTERESTS in mind. I told him, “Yes, if it’s Your plan, I trust You. I trust that this is the best it could be for me. Yes! A thousand times over, yes.”

So, I know this sounds pretty cut and dry on paper, but it was more foggy when it happened and part of me still wonders if I didn’t just make this up. But, the more I share this with others, the more I start to believe it was really Gd speaking. I’m still praying about it.

Would appreciate your pryers for me, the youth I mentioned here, and all the youth who Gd touched at retreat.

Calling

Just found this journal on my computer that I wrote a year ago today, just before finishing college and before I even knew I was coming to China. I remember this time; my heart felt really heavy because I felt like I just had no idea how I was supposed to hear Gd. I felt like everything I thought I knew (besides what was in the Bible) was wrong, and as a Chrstian I really had no idea how to hear Him. Reading this really encouraged me, because today I’m so confident I’m supposed to be where I am, but then I was so unsure. So I wanted to share.

<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –>

Lrd, I really don’t understand how to hear Your voice. I talk to others like I hear Your direction and obey, and I really do believe that you led me to school here, to YWAM, etc. But did you really lead me to go to Azerbaijan? Because that’s not working out. Did you really lead me to start a relationship with ___? Because that only lasted a week and a half.

I’m really starting to feel like I don’t know how to hear Your voice. I still trust You, and I don’t doubt Your goodness or power, but I really feel like I don’t know how to hear You.

Have you really closed the door on Azerbaijan? It seems like a really firm door slamming shut; basically, they’ve already brought one person out for an interview, and it sounds like there are several others ahead of me in the application process, even if they don’t decide to hire this guy.

Gd, I still trust and love You with all my heart. What am I supposed to do now? It seems like the circumstances are saying I should just run to the RD job, but am I copping out from Your direction? Lrd, I don’t wanna run away from where You are leading, even if it makes no sense in the world for me to be there. Am I still to pursue this position? Or was this whole thing just to get me to think about Azerbaijan? Do you want to bring me there just to make me aware?

Or, are you still really leading me there? Like, I guess there is still a incredibly small chance that I’ll get it; do you want me to abandon all this other stuff and just go for it? Lrd, if this is Your will, I’m more than willing, because I know that You will catch me if I fall, and You will not lead me into a place that that is wrong or bad; You will always lead me in paths of righteousness, for Your name’s sake.

Here I stand Gd, ready to do Your will. I only want my life to bring You praise, wherever in the world that may be. If it’s here at PHC, awesome Lrd! If it is Azerbaijan, send me! If it is somewhere else, please speak to me and show me Your plan for my life.

All I want is to hear Your voice clearly, know it is You, and obey.

Jsus, I love you so much. Help me to seek You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I know I will find You as I seek. Thank You for meeting with me.

How could I have known that 23 days later I was going to get a job offer in China that I didn’t even ask for? That they’d offer me the job 4 days later? Gd is so faithful, and even as I was wondering what my future held after graduation, Gd was working. He knew what He was doing. Now, as I look at the strengths and abilities Gd has given me, they seem to meld perfectly with the life He’s given me to live here. I’m so thankful.

So, I say to you, YOU CAN TRUST HIM.