ActsManChow's Xanga

Russia Journey #3

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 00:48:03 GMT

My email doesn't work... i can't post anything on xanga or facebook... sorry that i have been mia. it's rare for me to come to the internet cafe here.

i wrote an email to pc and hopefully he will send it out to everyone. but just in case.. here it is:

hello pastor charles,

how are you??

I'm doing really well here in russia. life here is really simple and
fun. I teach during the day and at night i would just read and enjoy
my time with God and my friends.

i'm very well supported here spiritually, emotionally and physcally.
The diretor of the school and his wife treats me like a son. hahaha i
also attend to a russian church with two of my english speaking
friends. There are translators at the church so we could understand
the sermons without too much problem.

it's really interesting at this church. every sunday the pastor would
ask the new comers to stand up so that people would get to know them.
then he would ask if they are saved. if they are he would say praise
God! otherwise he would just out there and then, ask them if they
would like to receive Christ into their heart! i thought that was
reallyl interesting. i have already known three people got saved that
way! it's was quite amazing! at first i thought whether if they were
serious about it... but then my friend told me that a lot of people
were saved that way and they have been coming to the church frequently
after their conversion... so i thought that was really encouraging.

i also attend the small group from that church, even though is hard to
understand them, but at least we usually have a translator there
too... praise God!

i have a lot of chance to share the gospel especially to the students,
but the language barrier made it really hard for me to share. so
please pray for me that i would be able to learn russian quickly in
order to convey the love of God to them. as for the teachers....
about 50% of them aren't christians. we have this weekly Bible study
with the them and some of the non-believers would join us durig this
time. Anna, Mary and I (the english speaking teachers) are the
leaders and would prepare for the study. please pray for the
preparation and just the heart of those peope who attend to the Bible
study.

i feel like have been growing a lot already since i got here. God has
been working in and through my life in a very vivid way. praise God!

Thank you guys so much for your prayer support. please continue to
pray for me so that you may join God's work together with me as one
body in Christ even though you guys are not here, but our God is here,
and He listens to people who would humble themselve and seek after
Him.

I see Hope in russia. the harvest is definitely plenty, but the
workers are few. please at least join me in prayer so that God will
continue to move in this land.

anyways, i hope all is well with you guys. please forward this email
to the church body. thanks guys!

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 22:24:51 GMT

it's almost over hahahah!

25. "Answering a student's question, 'Will the heathen who have not heard the Gospel be saved?' thus, 'It is more a question with me whether we, who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not, can be saved.'"
- C.H. Spurgeon.

26. Twenty year-old John R. Mott walked in late to the meeting at Cornell while J.K. Studd was quoting,

"Young man, are you seeking great things for yourself? Seek them not! Seek first the Kingdom of God!" He couldn't sleep all night. He finally got up and had the courage to meet with Studd. He later said that the meeting with Studd was the "decisive hour of his life". He went on to become the greatest missions mobilizer in world history.

27. "There is something wonderfully misleading, full of hallucination and delusion in this business of missionary calls. With many of us it is not a missionary call at all that we are looking for; it is a shove. There are a great many of us who would never hear a call if it came."
- Robert Speer

28. "I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God; first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done."
- J. Hudson Taylor

29. "I love to live on the brink of eternity."
- David Brainerd

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Russia Journey #2

the first day i got here the chruch family gave me this guest room. it has pretty
much everything that i need including a shower place. so i was really
excited about taking a shower because you know.. i haven't done so in
awhile lol hahaha. so i took my time showering and just enjoying the
hot water lol. i guess before continueing my story... allow me to
discribe: the bathroom is really small and compact. everything is in
this small area... the toilet is right next to you as you shower, you
can even sit on the toilet and shower if you want. if you are not
careful you can wet the entire toilet paper roll. hahah so anyways,
as i was showering i realized that it is possible, if i'm not careful,
for the water to get onto the door, and if it gets onto the door, i
thought, i think it might gets out into my room!!! hahaha so i was
like.. uh oh... crap!!! hahahha eventually i went out and check the
floor... and behold! lol the 1/3 of the floor was alll wet!!!
hahahhaha so i started laughing.... hahahha

sigh... it took me forever to clean that mess up man... i didn't have
any paper towel and the only towel that i have is the one that i need
to dry myself with, which is out of the question... hahahah so i had
to use toilet paper to dry this large body of my shower water
hahahahah.... yeah i got really tired of it after awhile... i was
like... dude... what am i gonna do!!! this is gonna take forever!
don't ask me why, but after thinking for awhile i decided to use my
boxer to clean up this mess.... hahhaah dude it worked sooooooo much
better than the toilet paper... lol hahahah

anyways, that's pretty much it... ppl here are very nice to me. it's
funny how everybody is somehow connected... many people here have a
heart for mission and i know one of them actually went to china for
1.5yrs and japan for 5yrs. she's only like late 20s or early 30s...
pretty crazy. guess what else, they have morning prayer meetings at
6am and evening prayer meetings at 9pm everyday. cool huh?

Russia Journey #1

as i was leaving for korea... i lost my cellphone during the carry-on baggage screening process...

hahaha it was kinda funny after i lost my phone because i actually
left my phone, my ipod, and some coins in the same tray when i sent it
through the x-ray thingie... so i actually lost both of my ipod and my
phone... it all happened because this dude had to search through my
backpack... i had to follow him to the station, and thus forgotten one
of the trays... anyways...

i realized that i lost my ipod soon afterward, and i went back and
couldn't find it on the x-ray belt so i went to one of the authorities
asking about my ipod and stuff... so yeah... somehow i found my ipod
at the lost and found station, but not my phone. they asked me if i
would like to file a report and they also said that i could ask the
police to look at it through the surveillance's cameras hahaha lol i
was like (in my head) oooooh cool!!! it's just like in the movies!!!
lol and i wanted to see if they can really do it. lol hahaha i said
"okay!" hahahah so yeah eventually they saw this lady took it from
the tray (by accident i think, well that's what the police thought)...
by that time i was already at the gate cause i had to leave soon. so
i saw these police walking around searching for that lady looking for
my cellphone. hahahah it was kinda cool. i felt special hahahahha.
lol

anyways, it was kinda cool and at least i didn't lose my ipod,
otherwise i would've been really sad.

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 03:05:58 GMT

Let's sing!

Praise Father God, giver of life
Power and might, goodness and light
Ruler of all

Praise to the Son, the living Christ
Body and blood, mercy and love
Sweet sacrifice

You are holy, holy
You are holy, holy

Praise Holy Ghost, voice in the dark
Healer and friend, fire and wind
Lord of our hearts

Praise Father God, Praise to the Son
Praise Holy Ghost, 
Praise Father, Son And Holy Ghost

You are holy, holy
You are holy, holy

You are holy, holy
You are holy, holy
-Nochole Nordeman (You are Holy)

God is good...!
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30. "We who have Christ's eternal life need to throw away our own lives."
- George Verwer

31. "Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell."
- C.T. Studd

32. "When I get to China, I will have no claim on any one for anything. My claim will be alone in God and I must learn before I leave England to move men through God by prayer alone."
- J. Hudson Taylor

33. "God has huge plans for the world today! He is not content to merely establish a handful of struggling churches among each tongue, tribe and nation. Even now He is preparing and empowering His Church to carry the seeds of revival to the uttermost ends of the earth."
- David Smithers

34. "The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity."
- Mike Stachura

The kingdom of God does not come with observation . . . For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 14:27:21 GMT

As I was reading My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers this line stood out for me:

"The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with Him, not public usefulness to others."

I'm definitely guilty of trying to be "useful" to others instead of soaking myself in Him and being rooted in Him.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 20:02:17 GMT

well, the reason why i didn't tell you how my Bible ended up in the jail is because i wanted you guys to feel how i felt at that moment when i talked to my dad... hahaha... so this is what happened...

the day before, i talked to this homeless guy around my neighborhood for a long time... and found out that he's a christian but doesn't have a Bible with him. His Bible is at home.. which is way up north around Wisconsin so i lent him mine. i think he probably got sent to jail either that night... or yesterday... and he forgot to pick it up or something when he left...well... i guess i still don't know exactly what happened... hahahah

while we were hanging out, he called home and asked his relatives to sent money here so he can go home... please pray for him that he can eventually go back to his abode safely and to re-unite with his family. He's been on the streets for about 45yrs now....

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35. "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't."
- John Piper

36. "His authority on earth allows us to dare to go to all the nations. His authority in heaven gives us our only hope of success. And His presence with us leaves us no other choice."
- John Stott

37. "Today five out of six non-Christians in our world have no hope unless missionaries come to them and plant the church among them."
- David Bryant

38. "Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ."
- Francis Xavier

39. "Christ for the students of the world, and the students of the world for Christ."
- Luther Wishard

feet of Its own...

Wed, 04 Oct 2006 19:04:10 GMT

I don't know what happened... but my dad called me this morning telling me that the Travis County Jail has my Bible... hahaha i don't know how it got there... but i went there and picked it up... and Behold, it was my Bible... hahaha weirdness....

back again hehehe

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 03:54:09 GMT

40. "I am ready to burn out for God. I am ready to endure any hardship, if by any means I might save some. The longing of my heart is to make known my glorious Redeemer to those who have never heard."
-William Burns

41. "At the moment I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained with the blood of cannibalism, now stretched out to receive and partake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer's love, I had a foretaste of the joy of glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never taste a deeper bliss, till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus himself."
- John G. Paton

42. "Save others, snatching them out of the fire."
- Jude

43. "The evangelization of the world in this generation."
- Student Volunteer Movement Motto

44. "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring."
- Jesus

100 powerful quotes on being a world Christian!

Thu, 04 May 2006 03:30:40 GMT

45. "If every Christian is already considered a missionary, then all can stay put where they are, and nobody needs to get up and go anywhere to preach the gospel. But if our only concern is to witness where we are, how will people in unevangelized areas ever hear the gospel? The present uneven distribution of Christians and opportunities to hear the gospel of Christ will continue on unchanged."
- C. Gordon Olson

46. "I spent twenty years of my life trying to recruit people out of local churches and into missions structures so that they could be involved in fulfilling God's global mission. Now I have another idea. Let's take God's global mission and put it right in the middle of the local church!"
- George Miley

47. "God provides the men and women needed for each generation."
-Mildred Cable

48. "Oh dear, I couldn't say that my church is alive and I wouldn't want to call it dead. I guess it's just walking in its sleep!"
- Church member

49. "When he landed in 1848 there were no Christians here; when he left in 1872 there were no heathen."
- said of John Geddie

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Random note:

I sprayed a cup of water onto James face.... pretty funny... unfortunately, he got me back... sigh... only if i have a door that actually works when i try to lock it...

oooh my linux desktop looks sooo pretty heheheh

one line that i liked a lot by Frou Frou's Let Go:
"Cause there's beauty in the breakdown."

serious note:

hm... sometimes i do feel that our church is in the state where we are just walking in its sleep as the Church member mentioned... God, change our hearts!

Send forth your light and your truth,
       let them guide me;
       let them bring me to your holy mountain,
       to the place where you dwell.
-Psalm 43:3

100 powerful quotes on being a world Christian!

Wed, 03 May 2006 01:36:40 GMT

50. "It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home."
- J. Hudson Taylor

51. "We talk of the second coming, half the world has never heard of the first."
- Oswald J. Smith

52. "God cannot lead you on the basis of facts that you do not know."
- David Bryant

53. "And thus I aspire to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named so that I would not build on another man's foundation."
- Paul

54. "Why do we insist on building the largest and most impressive structures in our city when people on the other side of town are hungry, jobless and worshipping in storefronts?"
- K.P. Yohannan

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dude i can't believe i weight 146 now! yay!! 4 more lbs to go ^^

wow... my linux desktop environment works!!!! yay!!!

100 powerful quotes on being a world Christian!

Tue, 02 May 2006 14:25:53 GMT

55. "Obedience to the call of Christ nearly always costs everything to two people- the one who is called, and the one who loves that one."
- Oswald Chambers

56. "Christians don't tell lies they just go to church and sing them"
- A.W. Tozer

57. "I have said that there is nothing in the world or the Church, except it's disobedience, to render the evangelization of the world in this generation an impossibility."
- Robert Speer

58. "I will lay my bones by the Ganges that India might know there is one who cares."
- Alexander Duff

59. "Today Christians spend more money on dog food then missions"
- Leonard Ravenhill