hey from h.k.

if you don't know how excited i was about coming to hong kong, you should check this post from april. needless to say, i was pretty pumped. i've been wanting to see this city for a few years now, so spending the last few days here has literally been a dream come true.

we got here early wednesday morning and literally spent all day hiking around the city, seeing all the sights. dr. stroope called it his "infamous hong kong death march." funny. this is such an incredible place. it feels a lot like new york city, but even more international (obviously). there's not a single culture here--it's a melting pot of hundreds of cultures. it doesn't even feel weird to be an american walking around because there are SO many different nationalities represented here. it's pretty fascinating actually.

on thursday, we met with some staff members at kowloon international baptist church. a truett alum is on staff there and a couple of current truett students are interning there for the summer. the senior pastor is one of my former pastors at my home church in longview. it was really great to catch up with him and to hear about what church looks like for them in hong kong.

some of my favorite people in the world live in this city. there's a group of 15 people that moved from auburn to hong kong last fall and have been living here trying to figure out how to love on university students here. grace campus ministries has been through such a journey in the last year. it was really fun to see them and to hear where they are in this crazy process. the director, matt dean, met with my group for coffee. of course i loved introducing the team to someone who means the world to me, but maybe more importantly, it was good to hear the struggles they've faced this year. i think it's tempting to have a romantic idea of moving overseas and loving on people, but realistically it's not that easy. i was so thankful their honesty and humility.

the rest of the team spent last night seeing more sights around the city, but dr. stroope let me get away with my auburn friends. i don't think he could possibly know how much that meant to me. it was so fun to see their world here--their apartments, the turkish restaurant where they eat every tuesday night, their mtr (subway) stations, etc. every thursday night they have a team dinner at the deans' apartment, so i was pretty excited about getting to be a part of that. last night's team dinner was actually a surprise baby shower for the littlepages--how fun is that?! i can't believe they're going to be parents SO soon. we had a blast eating good homemade mexican food (such a rarity on this side of the world), playing baby shower games, giving them gifts, and watching the office. spending so much time with the deans, the littlepages, jason, malorie, katie, and the rest of the team was so refreshing. i'm so thankful for these people and count them as some of my deepest and closest friends. the way they are knowing the lord and following him in faith here is both encouraging and challenging to me.

this morning we met with a guy named sam say. he lives in hong kong but has started an organic coffee farm in laos. it's an incredible story and an incredible means of reaching such an unreached country. i would do a terrible job of explaining it, so check the website to learn more about it...and while you're at it, buy some of their coffee! it's delicious! he was absolutely inspirational--his passion, his heart for the people of laos, the innovative and creative ways he thinks--it was a fascinating conversation.

we leave tonight for INDIA. it's finally here. we fly from hong kong to delhi to chennai, where we'll spend the next three days. i have no idea what internet access will look like as we travel from city to city, but i'll try to post as often as i can. thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayer support.

i already can't wait to write about our next adventures...

l.a.

we landed in l.a. on saturday morning and flew out on monday night. i had no idea that my mind could be blown in only 3ish days. our hosts were aaron and stephanie glenn, 2 truett alums that went on this same trip to india with dr. stroope 6 years ago. now they live in l.a. and work with hindu students on the campus of usc.

if i write in paragraph form, i'll end up writing a novel, so let's bullet point the highlights:

• aaron and stephanie are phenomenal. they truly live out romans 12, loving genuinely and outdoing others in showing honor. i pray i can develop such a gift of hospitality. they love their students deeply and want them to know what it means to love jesus.
• some of their hindu students showed us around a hindu temple one morning, then hung out with us at the beach and for a pizza/LOST finale party that night. just asking the right questions and being willing to listen can lead to some pretty fascinating conversations.
  
• i love college football. seeing the rose bowl = dream come true.
  
• malibu beach is beautiful. hiking a mountain while looking at the ocean is pretty unreal.
• the dean of religious life at usc is a hindu. we learned so much from him about hinduism and hindu nationalism in india. he spoke about ways christianity and hinduism could learn from each other, ways they're alike and ways they're different, what to expect in india in terms of the various religions, etc. he's brilliant and super interesting.
  
• everywhere the dean told us to visit in india is already on our itinerary. dr. stroope: "cara jane, i don't plan b team trips. this is an a team tour." well, perfect. this ain't his first rodeo, i guess.
• dr. stroope outside of the classroom = HILARIOUS.
• i fell asleep during the LOST finale, but that's okay, because let's be honest...it was slightly disappointing anyways, right?
  
• we had a conversation with a guy named h.l. richard. he's one of the leading voices on rethinking hindu/christian relations. talk about a character. he lived in india for over 20 years and has done an immense amount of research on top of that, so his knowledge was mind-boggling, and his views and perspectives on mission were definitely outside of the box.
  
• a few questions that are already making my head hurt: what is the gospel? what is conversion? what does "salvation" look like? what does it mean for a hindu to love jesus? how much of christianity is cultural and how much is biblical? and this is only the tip of the iceberg....
• people-watching at LAX = a fantastic pastime.

okay that's all for now. i'm sure i'll try to post more thoughts after our days of trekking around hong kong. you know i'm excited. thank you for your continued prayers. as dr. stroope prayed yesterday, "we pray not because we know how to, but because we know we need to." amen.

let's get this party started.

funny that i haven't blogged in the last 6 weeks and the last post was about going to hong kong...

welp...the big day is finally here. what in the world.

i leave this morning for a couple of days in l.a. before we take off for hong kong. we'll spend about 3 days in hk, then we'll venture into india. here's a glimpse at our itinerary:

May

22: Dallas to Los Angeles

24: Los Angeles to Hong Kong

28: Hong Kong to Delhi

29: Delhi to Chennai / Mamallapuram

June

1: Mamallapuram to Hyderabad

4: Hyderabad to Cochin

7: Cochin to Jaipur

10: Jaipur to Kolkatta

15: Kolkatta to Varanasi

18: Varanasi to Agra

20: Agra to Delhi

22: Delhi to Hong Kong to San Francisco to Dallas

i'm not sure how often i'll be able to communicate, but i think blog posts will be my best bet, so check back here every now and then for updates. i'll try to post as often as i can.

i'm definitely excited, but also anxious. thanks for your much needed prayers.

hk.

every wednesday and friday morning until we leave, our india team is meeting to pray about our trip. today we spent our time together praying for hong kong.

our first few days on the other side of the world will be spent in this city. i've heard so many stories and seen so many pictures...i can't even wait to experience it for myself. i'm looking forward to learning from and loving on believers there, including people from kowloon baptist church. my former pastor from longview pastors there now. i can't wait for the opportunity to sit with him and his staff and to hear what church looks like for them.

of course my heart freaks out at the thought of going to hong kong because of my friends at grace campus. what an incredible group of people with hearts that beat for that city and for the university students there. they're some of my favorite people in the world, so i can't wait for my team to meet them and for us to get a glimpse into their world. i'm counting down the days till i get to see these faces:

i'm excited and expectant. thanks for praying with me.

see you in 6 weeks, hong kong.

choose.

welcome to that time of the semester when i spend more hours in the library than sleeping in my bed. gross. needless to say, maintaining a good perspective on life can kinda be a challenge during this season.

my mom emailed me the lyrics to this song a few weeks ago, and it's been stuck in my head ever since. a couple thoughts: 1. i hope i can be the kind of mom one day that pushes her children to know the lord. 2. these words challenge me and i hope they will challenge you, too. it's not very romantic to think of a relationship as a matter of making choices, but i think realistically, maybe it is.

"choose," by christy nockels.

let me be in love with what you love.

let me be most satisfied in you.

forsaking what this world has offered me,

i choose to be in love with you.

i will choose to be in love with you.

let me know the peace that's mine in you.

let me know the joy my heart can sing.

for i have nothing, lord, apart from you.

i choose to call on christ in me.

i will choose to call on christ in me.

for in the fullness of who you are,

i can rest in this place.

and giving over this, my journey, lord,

i see nothing but your face.

let me know that you have loved me first.

let me know the weight of my response.

for you have long pursued my wandering heart.

i choose to glory in your cross.

i will choose to glory in your cross.

and i bow down...

humbly, i bow down...

i bow down, i bow down to you...