Nancy's SE Asia Trip Report

Dear friends,                                                                                                             April 14, 2012

            A few weeks have passed since I arrived home from my 3 week trip to S.E. Asia. My life is getting back to normal, and now I’d like to let you know how it went…

We went, we taught, & saw God do amazing things!

The view out our kitchen window right before I left.

           I arrived in the capital of this SE Asian country and was met at the airport by my new Asian family. I had met one of their sons at a class Greg taught here in WA in January! This son, Miki, heard me mention my trip, and told me he had family living near the J. airport, and now they are my family too! I LOVE Kiki, Merry and Mika! How gracious and generous they were to take care of me. They invited Sunday School teacher friends over and I got to do an abbreviated lesson for them. Here are my new 14 best friends watching me eat black pepper beef. It was very good. This group wants to host a training for their network in the capital. We shall see! BTW (by the way), the fruits they treated me to were amazing! Mangosteen, rombuton, etc., but I somehow avoided tasting durian on this trip. They can’t believe I have never eaten it! 

My new extended family! I love these people!

The 14 teachers I met with impromtu.

Wendy-Poppins was right on time!

            I went to the first city and got started with the first training. 37 students greeted me and all went as planned. I did fine on my own until Wendy arrived at lunch time. Thanks for praying! Our students in the 1^st location were fun and musical and a little crazy! If we even mentioned something that they could think of a song to, they would pop up and start singing! They were eager and absorbed everything! It was a joy to teach them!

            The host pastor has embraced the 1 for 50 vision for this region of the country. He has already assembled a team of 3 to begin training others so that there will be at least 1 trained children’s worker for every 50 children. They figured out that they need to train 20,000 children’s workers. 59 received certificates at our training including the host pastor  who is pictured with Wendy and me below receiving his. 

        John (above left) was our translator. He was excellent. He was grateful for your prayers. Translators work hard! It was extremely HOT! As the oscillating fan moved while I taught, so did I! While Wendy and I took turns teaching, John had to keep going the entire time. Here is one of my fun students-Darwin. I am wearing a gift from our hosts. This fabric is made by their people group. Wendy and I had to dance for it during church, however!

        Why Wendy "Poppins?" I will start by saying that Wendy was the best roommate EVER! We got along great. She is an excellent teacher and fellow teammate. We hope we get to train together again someday. Well, all I had to do was to mention something I wish I had brought, and out of her bag it would come! Not to mention training supplies like 15 lbs. of candy, several hundred pipe cleaners, a box of 100 markers, etc. She grew up in Hong Kong before moving to NYC. So add to Wendy’s “Poppins-esque” persona, Chinese remedies (in her suitcase!), Chinese wisdom and her accent that sometimes confused John- like “sneakers” sounding like “Snickers!” Priceless! Wendy and I became a mosquito hunting team extraordinaire and had LOTS of fun together! When we shared a room, she was happy for me to be there since the mosquitos and other bugs considered me the "other white meat" and left her alone!

           Below is one of our lessons on the heart of a teacher. And below is me eating my first frog. And yes, it tastes like chicken! First, the challenge-then not so sure- Hmmm-Conquered! Our fun & amazing 1^st training done.

 

#2: 1 for 50 Leaders Vision Casting Event

               Kimberle and her daughter Jamie joined us on the 12^th as scheduled. Jamie, 16, didn’t feel well when they arrived, and Wendy and I took turns staying up with her during the night so Kimberle could sleep. Most of the upcoming meetings were on Kimberle’s shoulders and we wanted her to get her sleep. It was a long night for Jamie! Kimberle got word from home during the night that a strep test sent away to the lab for Jamie, was positive after all. The rapid office test had been negative. They had brought the medicine just in case. She began taking it and recovered over the next few days. She only missed one day.

Jamie feeling better

A Miracle!

          One week before this event, our hosts had only 7 people signed up to come. They wondered if they should cancel it but didn’t know how to do that. So they trusted the Lord & you all prayed…94 SHOWED UP! See the room full in the top picture? They represented scores of ministries and Christian non-profits in that country. This photo is of us with our hosts. These ladies worked tirelessly! They made name tags, certificates, fed everyone lunches and snacks, and collected and distributed everyone’s information for networking afterward. They were fun and took great care of us as well. They are in a key position to be servant leaders for their country’s 1 for 50.

            Above is me sharing my pet sheep with the participants. Oh horrors! One was missing! (Don’t worry- they found him!) I also had fun telling the turnip story and they made me participate in a dance contest to a children’s worship song. I think they perceived me as being funny or something! Go figure! Femmy was our translator this time and was excellent! She was terrified but did a sensational job.

Highlights and Praises!

An activity to help everyone understand teamwork and networking.

Participants collecting each other's resources and contact information.

            The goals were to see the Lord awaken these leaders to the cause/dream of reaching & discipling the children of their nation. That is what 1 for 50 is all about. We talk about various aspects of getting that job done. Each ministry represented at the meeting brought its own strengths and weaknesses to the task. They considered how they could work together sharing resources. They wrote these on pieces of paper which they posted around the room. Then they went around the room and gathered each other’s information. They became more and more excited as they realized this could really happen! It was happening! They prayed, played and connected with each other. They committed to share the 1 for 50 vision with others. Our dream became a reality. Thank you for praying for this event! This was HUGE! Kidzana was invited back to do trainings for many networks. One big one is already scheduled for the end of Oct. I may be going back! Please pray that the Lord works out the details if I should go.

            The man above became blind in an accident at age 25, and shared his testimony and ministry with us. He has started a home/school for blind children. So touching and inspirational! And you were there with me!

 Training #3

            We flew to our 3^rd training location on the 15^th, and by that time, I felt strep starting. I began taking antibiotics and slept all the next day. Because there were 3 of us to train, Wendy was able to take over for me. Wendy and Kimberle also took antibiotics for strep but weren’t laid up from it. God was good. We also didn’t get sick from mosquito bites, although we got quite a few.

           

        This group was from many areas including a worker from another country who plans to take the 1 for 50 vision back to that country- and so it spreads. We enjoyed also meeting 2 men from the Book of Hope ministry. One is the country leader. So much personality! Others were groups of Sunday School teachers from all over that region.

          One thing we do while teaching methods of sharing the Gospel is to use a piñata. One funny thing that happened at this training was that this lady thought this bush was the piñata and beat the leaves right off of it!

           

            This time our translator was Mega. The electricity went on and off during our days there, and the A/C along with it. She was a trooper. She had to go all day and did a great job.

Last but not least…

            We took 2 flights, then drove for 5 hours in this vehicle. Let’s just say that we were pretty far out in rural area after driving on lots of windy roads and a stop at the equator on the way! (See the picture on the left)  When we got there we were greeted by 120 eager students. They were S.S. teachers from 10 different parts of that region.

           

              Again, these people were delightful! -beautiful, kind, funny and eager to learn. We used games to illustrate the principles we were teaching, and they were ALWAYS a hit! The people of this country LOVE games! By doing so we also taught them some new games to use in their ministries.

           

          I enjoy teaching a lesson on how to use object lessons. I give them many examples and we all laughed pretty hard when instead of talking into the microphone, I started to talk into a flashlight! As part of another object lesson, I took a bite out of an apple before trying to give it to Jamie. That time she wouldn’t take it like I needed her to, and I didn’t know why. She whispered to me that it hadn’t been washed, right after I took a bite of it! I could just imagine the amoebas entering my body, and almost choked. All of this in front of 120 students! We laughed so hard we cried! Our students thought it was funny too!

           

          This group of 3 & their mentor/head teacher, took the object lesson challenge and made these object lessons to give to us, making a copy for themselves too. So well done! Here I am holding microphones up to my computer speakers so we could show a video with sound.

           

             We drove back to the airport, and 5 flights, and 40+ hours later, I was back home as scheduled. I have enjoyed sharing the experience with you. I asked you to come with me in prayer, and I believe you did! God did amazing things! We trained over 300 people who will now be training children and other teachers. I hope this gives you at least some idea of what the trip was like. Without you, I could not have gone and been part of this amazing ministry. My trip to Thailand for the Global Children’s Ministry -GCM Equip conference (globalchildrensministry.org) is at the end of May. I need to go to help do networking for Kidzana and 1 for 50. A conversation at a similar conference last year opened the door to the country I just returned from. Relationships are the key. I am a relationship person. Again the shoe fits me & I feel like the Lord wants me to put it on. Want to go to Thailand with me, too?

           

                                                                        Until all the children of all nations know Him!                       

                                                       

                                                                Nancy Fritz