The musty, familiar odor shocked my senses once again as I stumbled off the jetway and onto Chinese ground for the fifth time in my life. We skipped a Thursday (Jan 28th), all while sitting for about sixteen hours straight. My mind and spirit actually relished the focused solitude of that time, but my knees and cankles were pudgy and angry.
Next stop was our hotel in Guangzhou (Gwang-jew). The little area we are staying is referred to as "the bubble" because it is tucked away from the industrial, hurried scene of the city. And because Jenny Lang Ping (my former USA coach and big-time Chinese celebrity) is involved in this venture, it is only natural that our hotel is an actual PALACE. No joke, people. Fountains, cascading staircases, pillars, chandeliers, and many shiny, smiley people. Word on the street is that Jackie Chan owns one of the villas in the bubble. A few of us talked about doing a little "ding dong ditch" to try to find him and see if he really DOES do his own stunts: "Whatchu know about ninjas, Jackie? WAAAHHH!" ....haha, not really.
Tama, my super stealth Hawaiian roommate, and I are loving our AC right now. It's pretty cloudy and humid outside here, and my poor hair is on frizz overload---GEEZ.
Already we have practiced twice and played two matches (over a three day period). We dominated a less-experienced Hong Kong team on Saturday, and then played four sets (finishing 1-3) against the Evergrande Chinese team, who is also our official opponent Tuesday night. Without any sort of scouting report, we were challenged to learn and adjust quickly during both matches. We are also working to stay consistent in our management of the game and in what we can control.
What's also great is that in each match, there was a moment where both sides--bench, coaches, on-court players, etc.--were bursting in laughter! First, Katie K ripped a jump serve to the Hong Kong libero who couldn't get her hands up in time. She dove sideways intersecting the ball with her chest and launching it out of reach for the rest of her team. On contact she let out this deep roar of surprise that echoed in the gym. I mean, we don't speak the same language, but a manly grunt from a small Asian woman as a ball gets rocked off her chest was universally hilarious! She and I and others were still smiling as Katie geared up for serve number two.
The other laughing moment happened with the Chinese team today. Christa and Coley are two of our USA teammates who played with Evergrande for this pro season, so today they were our opponents. At one point we were scrambling to win a rally and someone aimed to hit off the hands of Christa's block. The ball soared out of bounds and the ref gave the point to Evergrande. But our bench wouldn't have it! Pressey especially was yelling for a touch and others on the court joined in. Christa was bounding back to serve, keeping her back to the court. We were watching her and knew she was trying to hide a smile! We kept calling her out--especially Alisha and Megan, her former Penn State teammates: "C'mon, Christa! We know you're laughing!" She finally whipped around beet red and ran sheepishly back onto the court, smiling and glaring at us. The whole gym burst into laughter, and the surprised ref reversed his call. Gotcha!
Many of the girls on the trip are experiencing China for the first time. So it was neat that we got to experience the buzz of market/bargain shopping, as well as experiencing another sort of bubble inside the gates of our US Embassy. The people we met there were very nice and welcoming, and it was fascinating to learn about their nomadic lifestyles (changing locales every 2-5 years) and cultural challenges.
I was stoked to learn about the two churches that are nearby--some even having some Chinese in attendance! Still, though, the rigid government control on religion is very alive. Imagine showing your passport every time you entered a church or prayer group. I also asked about underground churches but, not surprisingly, received zero information.
In terms of specific prayer requests for the people or happenings here, I'm not sure. However, as we were driving today to a ragged, barely lit gymnasium--of which is more the norm in the world than any of these other fancy schmancy gyms we are used to--my heart surged for the people of Guangzhou. From the bus window, I saw the broken buildings and felt the heavy souls wandering about the dusty, littered streets. My Ipod drifted through melodies talking about "everyday people... that I'm no better, and neither are you--we're all the same, whatever we do..." (Everyday People by Nicole C. Mullen). People are pretty broken wherever you are in the world--it's just true.
The Spirit was stirring my heart, and I was grappling with some real questions: How do I pray for a whole city? How do I discover their needs? Is it enough to ask God to make His presence known and to send His servants in to love on His beloved kids in Guangzhou? Then, my whole body was rippled in chills by the close of a different song. A new favorite artist of mine, Jake Hamilton's words hit me like a cold wind: "Break rebellion, send revival! Break rebellion, send revival!" Let's beg God for this in Guangzhou!
My room, 437, is now quiet. Tama did her best to fight off the jet lag again by putting in a DVD, but has finally lost the battle. I can imagine some of the girls doing one last model walk with their newly bought knock-off bag before brushing their teeth. Tomorrow we have a recovery morning before another fabulous round-table Chinese lunch, followed by a solid afternoon practice. Stoked. Lang-Ping herself told me the foot massages at the hotel's spa are pretty spectacular, sooo... Tracy might just have to find out what that's all about after breakfast!
In the meantime, I am one thankful woman. I am in China playing volleyball, donning letters of freedom on my back: USA. I am eating this strange food (and loving it), mingling with life beyond the American bubble, and all the while sharing the richness with others who are my friends and leaders. I play matches and I try to win and give the very best of myself, but I am also very much aware that life and meaning and love are way bigger than all that. I'm just so thankful that God is with me--that I'm not here alone trying to prove myself worthy of breaths anymore. Because of Jesus, I am approved where I stand--no matter how flawed (and that's for REAL). I just want to remain in Him. I can't describe how beautiful and real it is to know God, and I'm so thankful to have the privilege of deepening that knowing forever.
On with the journey...
