Nicole's Heart

I want to first thank everyone who supported me and made it possible for me to go on this trip. Your prayers, financial support and encouragment meant more to me than I can ever express in words! God did amazing things on this trip. I know without a doubt that God wanted me in Southeast Asia this summer and I feel stronger than ever before that He is calling me to missions in my future. I don't know exactly what this will look like, but I trust God and know that He will show me when I need to know.



Heading to Southeast Asia did not go how I had planned. Due to fog, I missed my flight in San Francisco, which meant I was not able to fly to Beijing with my teammates. This also meant I had an 9 hour lay over in the San Francisco airport all by myself. I had several lines to wait in and because I accidentaly took an open water bottle with me through secruity, I got into some trouble with the security guard. I was originally to fly to Beijing through United Airlines, but they booked me on an Air China flight to get me out that same day. I had been communicating with the people who were to pick me and my team up, so they said someone would meet me at baggage when I arrived. After the 12 hour flight to Beijing, I got off the plane and followed the crowd praying they were going the direction I wanted to go. I arrived at baggage and no one was there to pick me up. To top it off, my bags did not show up either! It was midnight, so there was anyone there. After an hour of waiting, I decided to go outside and see if maybe someone was there and low and behold, there was my team! We filed a claim for my lost bags and went to the hotel and crashed. Little did I know that my mom had called to verify I arrived in Beijing and was basically told that I was lost! She and my Pastor spent the rest of their afternoon trying to track me down. It was not until 5 pm that night her time (8 am the following day in Beijing) that she & my dad received word that I was indeed in Beijing and safe!



The first 3 days were team building. We had team meetings, got to know one another through touring, learned hands on about the culture hands on & tried to get on a proper schedule (15 hr. time difference for me) & tried to get used to the climate change. An average day was between 100 and 115 degrees with high humidity. This was a time where I was totally dependant on God & my new teammates. I had 1 extra pair of clothes and that was it for the first 3 days with my bags lost! As hard as it was, God showed me that He is in control and my trust and reliance on Him is all that truely matters. He is so faithful & graceful! He kept me safe in all of my travels and gave me teammates who felt like family from the beginning.



When we arrived at the camp it was a bit overwhelming at first. Within the first 4 days I slept in 4 different rooms, each time being told that was the last time I would have to move. They don't have elevators in buildings that have less than 10 floors in the building, so I had to hike 5 floors to get to my room & 3 floors to get to my classroom. The great thing is that I came back in great shape! The number of students changed daily for the first 3 days. We went from expecting 240 and the final number given was 40, so we prepared for that many. 75 showed up! Because we were expecting so many students in the beginning and ended up with only the 75, we had more teachers than what we needed. A group was asked to go to the nearby orphanage to teach, which ended up being a blessing.



I was an assitant teacher in an Advanced English class. I taught vocab. most days. I co-wrote a script with Gary, the other assistant, for the play our class would perform during the talent show on the last night of camp. Gary & I taught the play to the kids everyday during part of the class. We did a condensed version of the movie "Over the Hedge". The girl who was to lead crafts had to go home early, so I took over her position for that as well.



We had to get the students asking questions about our faith. The fact that these people believe all Americans are believers helped us out, but we had to be very careful. Anna, one of my students had a high interest in learning about the Lord. She approached Alisha & I on different occassions about our faith. She would see us reading our Bibles on our free time and ask to borrow them. Sometimes she would even read over our shoulders. She was full of questions. It was a great feeling to be able to share my faith with someone who did not know the Lord. Anna even stayed our last night at the camp after all the other students had gone home, just so she could sleep in my room and visit longer. I really miss her, but we are keeping in contact via email & I continue to pray for her salvation.


I LOVED my students! I kept a daily journal while on my trip, as I wanted to write down all of my thoughts & feelings while they were fresh in my mind. Here is a line from my journal written August 13th (this was after I said goodbye to everyone but Anna). "The heart God gave me for my students is far beyond anything I could have imagined. Today was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, I knew it would be hard saying goodbye to my kids. With each goodbye, hug & tear my heart was breaking". Andy, the student who we gave the "Most improved" award to was the sweetest boy in my class. He was the first one I had to say "goodbye" to. When Andy came up to me I thought I would be strong and not cry, but as I looked at the tears streaming down his face as he hugged me and told me "Thanks for everything Nicole. I will always remember you in my heart", I totally lost it. As I write this tears are streaming down my face. My life will forever be changed because the Lord called me to Southeast Asia! There were way too many stories to share in my blog, but it is so great to be able to share them all with my family, church family & friends who live close.

I was so blessed to be able to have gone to Southeast Asia! I could not have asked for better team mates and students to have shared this experience with. I am also very blessed to have such a loving, supportive family, church family & small group of friends who understand and support me in my call to missions. It's not about me, but instead what I can do to serve the Lord and remain in His will. I am currently seeking where the Lord wants me to go this next summer. I have a couple of good leads that I'm working on right now. I trust the Lord to let me know which one He wants me to go on. I will be working as a Nanny around 15 hours a week this year and putting a portion of that money into my missions account (the rest for gas, car upkeep & college). This blog is my way of keeping everyone up to date on my past, present & future mission trips. I will continue to update it as I learn more, so keep checking it out!

Mission trips are not all that I originally thought they would be. They are physically & mentally exhausting, but so very worth it! Please keep praying for me and for those the Lord has allowed me to share my faith with!

Southeast Aisa 2007- Scenery

The steel building that looks like a
bunch of rubber bands intertwined
is the Crow's Nest, which is where the
2008 Olympics will be held in Beijing.
This was my view outside my hotel
window. We stayed in this hotel when we
first arrived in Beijing & just before heading
home.

The sky just before the 2nd Typhoon.

The path from the camp to the grocery

store & Dico's.

We swam here with our students

3 times. It was over 100 degree's

outside & the water was the same,

so it was not very refreshing.

This was the camp we stayed at for

our 3 weeks with the students.

These are the dorms where we all slept.

This was a statue that some of the
people worship. They have

several gods. They believe the red
keeps the wood from burning &
black will keep water out.

They have many superstitions.

This is a special rock. The

Emporers would send their armies down,

dig trenches along the way, fill the trenches

with water, wait for it to freeze & then

bring a rock like this across the ice. They

thought it was beautiful.








This is the Forbidden City. It held the

most amount of Emporers.

The rock above is in the Forbidden City.











A temple at the Great Wall. Inside are

gods the people worship.












I took this from the top of the first

tower we climbed up. As you can

see, parts of the Wall are VERY steep!

There were times I would not let go

of the railing, as I felt like I would just

topple over if I did.








This was a manmade island in the

Summer Palace. The Summer Palace

is the largest, best kept Imperial Garden's

in the world. It consists of a manmade

lake with islands all throughout it. You take

boats to get from island to island.








Behind the water flowers you can

see some of the boats used to get

around the Summer Palace.

This was at the Acrobatic

Theatre. We went to this our last

full day in Beijing. It was good, but

we were so exhausted that half the

team fell asleep.

Southeast Asia 2007- Food :)

Cindy & I eating the Dumplings
that my class made. I got real good
at eating with chopsticks!











Here I'm getting ready to eat
my Chow Mein, which we had
every day for lunch & dinner.
Yes, that is an octopus I am
about to eat. They put it in their
Chow Mein. It really did not have
a taste.







My breakfast for 3 weeks straight.
The bottom white thing (steamed bread)
was like raw dough, the muffin looking
thingwas like stale angel food cake & the
top left thing was some kind of bread
with egg & something else in it. I did not
always ask what I was eating!






My Chow Mein & watermelon.













A ketsup packet. I tried it only once,
as it has a mixture of tomato paste
& what tasted like soy sauce in it.











My first meal in Southeast Asia! It
was the main course. Yes, I did eat
some of it. I tried everything so I
would not offend.












This was the main course
at our last dinner. It was
very good!

Southeast Asia 2007- Funny Pictures

My class being goofy!!!










Gary was trying to get Kiki to scream
for our class play that we were doing
for the talent show. The only way to get
our students to do anything was to get
over the top about it, which you can see
Gary was good at! :)








Cindy was showing George how to
be a dead possom for our class play
for the talent show.












A little orphan boy who was running
around wanting everyone to take a
picture with him in it. I love his face!















Double (one of my students) kept
telling me that she weighed a lot
(90 lbs), so I picked her up to show
her that she is not big! She is such a
crack up!









Me sticking my head out of part
of the Great Wall!

















Waiting for Cindy & Gary at
the Great Wall. They were an
hour and a half late, as they
went around a loop of the
wall and it was longer than
they thought. We got a little
bored! ;)







Jenni, Me & Kendra after a
shaving cream fight! We had
to show our students that
we know how to have a good
time!!!









Pizza Hut!!! We think that is
supposed to be Jack Sparrow!

Southeast Asia 2007- My Class

Go Jamaica! This is my Advanced English class.
They are awesome!










Virginia (Chinese Assistant), Cindy (Lead Teacher), Me & Gary (Assistant Teachers)











During the 2nd Typhoon the kitchen staff
had us make Dumplings. We had
to cancel going swimming, so this was a fun
& interesting alternative!






This was a lesson in giving directions.
Cindy would tell the students a place
on campus to go to and they would
have to lead me by tellingme where
to go in English. I have to admit to
peeking under my blindfold now & then! ;)





My students believe that ALL American's
do the peace sign in their pictures. They
are so funny!








My last goodbye with Anna, one of my
students who stayed an extra night after
all the other students left. Anna and I
had a lot of talks about my faith and the
Lord. She would even borrow my Bible
and read it during her free time. We still
keep in contact via email. Anna did not
accept the Lord as her Savior while I was
there, but she is so close. Please pray for
Anna's salvation!

Southeast Asia 2007- The Orphanage

The 1st orphanage we went to.
A girl who is learning photography.
This was her first time using a digital camera.










Me with all the girls from the 1st orphanage.
They loved the heart baloons Dave brought them!















This little girl showed me around the
orphanage and then we played.
We were only there for an hour and
she did not speak English, but she
was such a sweetie!









These are the children from the
2nd orphanage we went to. I spent
2 days with them. Here they are
saying a prayer for our team.
Some of my team members spent
their time teaching these
children English.







This 3 year old girl stole my heart (big time)! Cindy & her brother, Justin came to the orphanage because her aunt poisioned
her parents and older brothers. It took
a while to get her to warm up to me,
but once she did she was mine!








This was right before I had to say "goodbye"
to Cindy. A piece of my heart is still with her
in Southeast Asia!!! I would have taken her
home in a second if I could have!!!

Southeast Asia 2007- My AMAZING Team

My team was an amazing group of people! Everyone was dedicated and there to do the Lord's work. There was very little complaining even through the most difficult circumstances. Their attitudes were great and focused on others. From the beginning we were a family.








Kendra, Me & Jenni downtown in the
city where we stayed. We were shopping
on our day off.











We took our class to a fastfood
place called Dico's. We bought everyone
an ice cream cone to cool off. It was around
113 degrees this day!










Jenni, Kendra, Me & Cindy at our last
dinner together! :(












The Great Wall! It was 110 degrees
this day. That is not fog, but pollution in the
background. Kendra, Lacey and I climbed to
the 2nd tower.
















Brian, Lacey, Me & Stephanie after graduation/talent show, which was
the night before the students left.

Mexico 2007

My second time in Tecate was a LOT different from the first! First of all I knew what to expect so I wasn't as nervous, but I was the only youth and the only girl doing construction! Being the only youth on the trip forced me to step outside of my comfort zone ever further than I had before. On this trip I was able to visit Tecate with the daughter of the Tecate church's pastor, which allowed me to see the true poverty and hardship of the Tecate people. My eyes were truly opened to the need of people all around the world. My desire to serve the Lord through missions grew even stronger while I was in Mexico!