John 15

I live in a world where people place themselves first. I live in a world where I will face people who will hate me, look down upon me, mock me, and judge me for my beliefs. But I cannot let that deter me for I know my savior Jesus Christ had that happened to him too. If they obey His teaching, they will obey mine too. If they hate my God, they will hate me too. I need to remain strong and trust in the Lord.

Final Update

Hello Everyone,

I just want to thank you for supporting me throughout this trip and for keeping me in your prayers. It was a challenging yet rewarding trip overall and God really opened my eyes to things we need to be aware of as followers of Christ. 

Throughout this trip, I believe God has allowed me to gain more comfortability when going up to random strangers to strike a conversation. I have gained more trust when allowing God to direct the conversation. This trip has allowed me to gain a greater appreciation for things in life. After living in Gao Yao for a few days, I've realized just have fortunate we are. I'm beginning to see the bigger picture of God when coming to communities as a whole. I'm understanding how fitness and personal training can be a great platform to reach out to other non-believers. I'm learning over time to continue trusting in the Lord every day and to really use the opportunities He has planned for me. 

Here are some things you can continue to pray about:

1. The orphan and disabled girls in Gao Yao. Pray for their health, faith, and protection.  Pray that they continue to grow with God. 

2. The community of Shanghai

3. The House Church and other fellowships in Shanghai

4. That our partners in Shanghai will continue to trust in the Lord

5. The poor, homeless, and disabled

6. Friends that we have established relationships with (Faith, Jason, Weskar, David, Connie, Laurie, Lisa, Driver, Andrew, Matt, Jess, Max, Pastor Aaron, Daniel, Devon, Jerry, Tisa, etc.)

7. The gyms in Shanghai

8. Gao Yao, idolatry, evil spirits

I'd be glad to share with you my experience in person when you see me. Thank you once again.

Sincerely,

Josh Kuey

Preparing For Shanghai

Preparation before Shanghai Missions

Questions

God, what is it that you want from me on this trip?

God, what verses or devotions can help me prepare for this trip?

God, what experiences and situations  will you open up to me on this trip?

God, what will I be able to apply from this trip to my life in the U.S.?


Things I Need to Show During My Trip

Humility
Love
Compassion
Joy
Kindness

Lessons from Gao Yao

This weekend was a weekend of learning, discovering, and appreciation of the things we take for granted. As we head back to Shanghai, I’m thinking back at the things I experienced these last few days. It wasn't exactly easy traveling from a beautiful place in San Diego to a poor, dirty, and hectic town of Gao Yao. It wasn't easy adapting to the different lifestyle of Gao Yao and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. It also wasn't easy staying in a town where no one spoke English and where communication was a challenge. I think to myself, how did I end up here? Despite these challenges and lessons, it was reassuring having placed my trust in the Lord and allowing Him to use me for His kingdom. 

It was very encouraging being able to spend time with the girls this weekend. I can see how difficult it is for them to live in that community. It's rare for them to even get this kind of social interaction from people who don't have disabilities or are from privileged parts of the world. I can see how difficult it is for them to hangout with people with no disabilities because of the judgement they face. I can also see how difficult it is for them to even make friends with people who don’t have disabilities because of the lack of confidence they face their entire lives and the insecurities that hold them back every day. I can see how difficult it is for them to fit in and adapt to their community every day because of their deformities or disabilities. The good thing is, they have each other and are comfortable with their own bubble of acceptance. Gao Yao isn’t like America at all. In America, we encourage people to help people with disabilities and to give special benefits to those with disabilities. In Gao Yao, these girls get no special treatment or help. They are treated like everyone else and are even scorned more for their disabilities. When Lori, who suffers from dwarfism, walked around the area with us, old women would stop and stare at her for 20 yards even after they walked past her. There were men that laughed and wanted to take pictures with her too. It’s 

The girls were super happy that we were able to spend time with them this weekend. It was amazing to show God’s love for everyone. I would have never imagined myself ever visiting an area like this on my own. It was like visiting a random booney town in the middle of the Midwest. The lack of Christianity is very prevalent in this area of the world. I can see how tough it is for the girls to grow their relationship with God and to be able to maintain their faith. There are no churches and places to worship. The area is filled with idolatry and evil spirits so temptation and sin is ever-growing.

Leaving Gao Yao, I know there is a lot of work to be done. There is a lot of people who do not know who Christ is. I am glad to have experienced the work of God and I know he is working slowly but surely within their community. I feel for these orphan girls but I know that as long as they continue trusting in Christ, they will never have to experience their disabilities ever again in the eternal kingdom of God. 

Day 1- Shanghai - June 29th

Jus wanted to let you know that our team arrived in Shanghai yesterday night. Its been a hassle trying to get connected to the internet and then bypassing chinas blocking of google so I will try my best to reach out to you guys. I will also try to update the blog since it may be easier than sending out emails. 

Anyways, traveling went smoothly. Fortunately I was able to knock out for most of the plane ride so when I woke up, it felt like a two hour flight. Adam and I then waited in the airport at a Burger King for 4 hours because David flew in from a different flight from SFO. Our friend Devon from Shanghai came and talked to us at the airport in the mean time too. He is a non believer that David met 5 years ago and has been witnessing to him ever since. He's a very caring person and we are grateful we came to see us. We spent the night at the same motel we stayed at last trip and got some rest for the night. 

Today we reconnected with our friend Andrew who's moving back to the states in a few months to start seminary school.  We also met Faith, who has been doing womens ministry in Shanghai for the last few years. Shes originally from texas. We are supposed to meet up with her tomorrow at her gym to meet people and try to witness to them. We also had lunch with our friends matt and jessica who recently got married and are working and doing ministry out here in shanghai. We were able to go to one wellness gym again and work out and try to meet locals. And this is where I am at. I will keep u guys updated!

Day 4- Gao Yao- Friday July 3rd

I'm sitting in the car and we're on the way to Gao Yao. The sky is dark and gloomy from the mixture of overcast clouds and smog. The rain is starting to pick up more and more as the windshield wipers go back and forth. We've been traveling for a few hours now. I'm crammed in the back with Adam and Daniel. The trees are heavily swaying back and forth as the sky continues to drop buckets of water. 

I’ve known about Gao Yao for months now. This is the village were our orphaned and disabled friends grew up in. On our previous missions trip in January, we were supposed to visit Gao Yao. On the day we were supposed to leave, we encountered spiritual warfare. David got really sick out of nowhere and was unable to get out of bed. We ended up having to cancel the trip. I was pretty disappointed at the time. I wanted to experience how it felt like growing up in their town. When we had dinner with the orphans a few nights later, I was only able to see pictures and in-person testimonies of how Gao Yao was like. 

Today as I’m sitting in this car with not a single glimpse of the sun, I’m excited to see what God will open up to me as we stay in Gao Yao from Friday til Sunday. I pray that God will continue to show me the needs of these broken, disabled people. I also pray that we will be able to introduce the love of Jesus Christ with the locals and begin to transform the hearts of these individuals...

We arrived in Gao Yao in the evening. The weather is humid and the sky is still gray from the smog. We checked into a motel that we will be staying at for a few days. Its me, David, Adam, Daniel from the house church, and our driver who we hired for the weekend. He is a non-believer and he will be following us the entire weekend. We met up with Connie, Lori, Lisa and her baby who all grew up in Gao Yao with disabilities. Its apparent that these girls make the attempt to cover up their disabilities and hide their insecurities. Connie was born with born with a deformed right arm. Lori was born with dwarfism. Lisa has cleft lip. These woman are very different than the women in Shanghai through their different upbringings and culture. 

We had dinner at a Chinese resturant. The food was very cheap. Afterwards we drove through the city to their house. The streets were flooded with people on scooters and people walking. The streets were absolutely chaotic and I’m surprised no one got hit. The culture is very different than Shanghai. The people are a lot poorer in this area. A lot more people drive around with scooters and bikes instead of cars which leave the streets looking more open. We arrived at their place and had a testimony from Daniel and a bible study with David. Since our driver was with us, it was a great opportunity to witness to him. He opened the bible and was following along with us. It’s good to know that we were able to expose a portion of the word to him tonight. I pray that he will continue to have an open mind and listen to what we have to say in the next couple days. The girls are very excited that we are here this weekend. I pray that we will continue to share the gospel with them and that they will feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. Many of the locals in this town believe in idols and evil spirits. I also pray that we will be protected from any spiritual warfare we may encounter. 

Day 2 - Reaching the Unknown - Wednesday July 1st

Today, we checked out of our motel room and moved to our friend’s place. His family is currently traveling in the United States so we are grateful that he is opening up his house for us. 

Afterwards we had lunch at KFC. I would say that the KFC's over here are better than the ones in America. They give you way more chicken and the batter was on point.

Afterwards we traveled to Home Sweet Home, a facility that equips those with special needs in Shanghai. Home Sweet Home finds homeless, disabled, and migrant workers on the streets and allows them to shower, eat, and change their clothes. Those who want to stay can eventually join their program in which they mentor them and provide them with employment to advance in their lives and keep them off the streets. The program is completely funded through support and donations. I’ve known about this facility for months and it was pretty encouraging to finally see how God was changing the lives of those who are homeless, disabled, and migrant workers. Our friend Matt, who had retired and volunteered his time to help run this facility, took us on a tour of the place. We were able to see our friend Manna again. We were able to hear about how God has been continuing to transform her life. She was once an orphan and non-believer who is now becoming the assistant supervisor in their factory. She has also been attending a local church in Shanghai. 

Once again, I saw just how fortunate we are living in America. I really see God working through Home Sweet Home. Many of these people are being saved and are being introduced to house churches. They are also being saved from going into prostitution, drug abuse, and homelessness. They are able to gain skills to cook, live on their own, and earn an income through hard work. I pray that God will continue to give Home Sweet Home the resources and funds to expand and save more people off the streets. These simple acts of kindness show God’s love for everyone. 

Afterwards, we met up with Faith, who we met the day before, and she took us to her gym. She was the Caucasian woman originally from Texas who spoke Chinese fluently. She had been living out in Shanghai for the last 5 or so years as an artist doing ministry. Being personal trainers, we aim to use the gym as a tool to meet other young fitness-minded adults and grow friendships among them to eventually tell them about the gospel. Faith introduced us to her trainer, David who she had been wanting to witness to for a while. He spoke Mandarin and a few words in English so it was difficult communicating with him verbally. As Adam and I started lifting, he seemed really amused by our workouts. We were able to do a few workouts with him and get to know him. He eventually met our team leader David, who started giving him body building tips. David eventually started posing and attracted the entire section of the gym haha. It was very encouraging to see how God was using us as a way to reach out to them and to see how intrigued they were from our presence. One of the trainers even gave David a free massage. They told us that we could come back any time. We were very excited to see how God opened up the door to reach out to the people in this gym. I pray that God will continue to use Faith as a way to witness to David and the other trainers at the gym. 

Later that night, David, Adam, and I went to our friend Jason’s place who we had also met the day before. Jason has been personal training since 1999 and has been working well within the fitness industry in Shanghai. He is a strong believer in Christ too. He and his wife invited a few woman over who he had been training. They were both non-believers and we really had the opportunity to talk about Christ in front of them. It was a pretty long, tiring day overall but I really got to see how God worked in all different kinds of ways. We hope to continue this throughout the trip and to see what else God has planned for us.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)"

Four years ago, I hit rock bottom. I was going through a very rough time in my life. God reached out to me one morning through the devotional book, Streams of the Desert.  The day and timing for the message from God was absolutely perfect. This helped me a lot in getting through that rough time. 

The verse of the devotion was "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psalm 46:1)". 

It talked about the question that is often asked about 'Why didn't God help me sooner?' The devotion then began to explain that "God will not act on your schedule" and "desires to change you through the trouble and cause you to learn a lesson from it." I thought about this and began to realize that it wasn't God that was going to change me. It was me and my will to change for Him. I continued reading and the verse that most stuck out to me the most was "He will be with you in trouble all day and through the night. Afterward he will take you out of it, but not until you have stopped being restless and worried over it and have become calm and quiet. Then He will say, It is enough." I began to think about what I just read. Through all the troubles I had experienced, I had finally realized that I had nothing to worry about anymore and I was excited about the next chapter in my life that God had planned for me.

I wasn't nervous or scared anymore because I didn't need to be. I was now calm and ready and I was prepared to accept whatever God wanted me to do. I continued to read the rest of the devotion about trials. "There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is simply to try to get rid of the trial, and then to be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever before experienced, and to accept it with delight as an opportunity of receiving a greater measure of God's divine grace." From my experience, I chose option number two. For what I believe, the trials and hardships He put me through was a test. If I truly changed my heart for Him, then that was all He wanted from me. It was a test to show that I couldn't survive life on my own, and that everything I did had to be for Him and not myself. It was a challenge to prove that God's love and grace will win over anything. I was hopeless without God and God proved to me that I truly needed Him in my life. 

Relying on Christ

"This is my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples'" (John 15:8)

Today, I spent time with the Lord doing my Masterlife section titled 'Relying on Christ'. If I really want to be like Christ and put Christ in the center of my life, I will be His disciple. And by being a disciple, there really is no excuse for not witnessing! 

Last week, I pulled up in a shopping center and parked my car. As I got out of my car, a homeless man yelled at me from across the lot. He asked if I had anything to buy food. At first, I pretty much brushed him off and replied something very quickly, not giving him any attention. Then I thought to myself, I do have a granola snack that I had brought to the gym. I thought to myself, God doesn't teach us to let our neighbors starve. I knew I could spare this granola for someone who really needed it. I reached back into my car and approached the man with this granola and told him it was for him. After that I quickly turned away, not asking for anything in return. The next thing you know, he was asking other people in the parking lot for food. I proceeded to go inside the store. I thought to myself as I was walking around. I totally missed a chance to witness to this man! I could have said something as simple as "Jesus loves you" and it could have changed the slightest thing in his heart. I couldn't believe I didn't think about this before. 

As I left the store, he was gone. I asked God why this incident happened. Even though I wasn't able to directly witness to this man, God prepared me with this incident to always be ready. There are going to situations when we are totally unprepared and God will suddenly place a situation in our lives. We always need to be ready to be witnesses of our Lord and disciples of His love and mercy. 

In my Masterlife time today, I read about Acts 8:26-40. The Lord had sent Philip to "Go south along the desert road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza." (V.26) On the road, the spirit told Philip to catch up with a chariot. He ended up meeting an important Ethiopian official who had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was now heading home. The man had been reading the book from Isaiah and Philip asked if the man knew if he understood what he was reading. The man replied that he needed someone to help him understand what he had been reading. The passage talked about how Jesus was led like a sheep on its way to be killed, treated like a nobody and did not receive a fair trial. Philip proceeded to this this man about the good news of Jesus Christ. Soon after, they came to a place where there was water. The man had asked Philip to be baptized and the man was saved. This story showed the importance of listening to the Spirit and being prepared to witness at all times.  

Preparing for this upcoming missions trip to Shanghai, I know I will need to listen to the Lord and be prepared at all times. Knowing our team will be facing cultural and language barriers, I know that it will be harder witnessing to the locals verbally. There will be people that have never heard of the gospel before. I need to continue to trust in the Lord that He will deliver. I need to trust the Lord that these opportunities will be opportunities to witness no matter what circumstances we are placed in. All it takes is witnessing to one man's life and hundreds will be able to follow after. 

Love and Family

Traveling to Shanghai in January was truly an eye-opening experience. One night, we we had the privilege to take our orphan and disabled friends out to dinner. I could only imagine how they felt like growing up with no parents. Its hard to think that they probably will never know their real parents too. They don't know what it feels like to be raised in a supportive, loving family. They don't know how its like to live in a house with clean water, air-conditioning, and dinner to be served from a loving mother or father. They showed me pictures of the village they grew up in and it was very saddening to see the living situations they were born in. 

What amazed me the most was that even though they faced these obstacles and hardships in their lives, they were all laughing, enjoying each other's company, and embracing one each other. This is who they had, this is who they were, and despite all of the things in their lives, they were happy to be where they were today. Despite the cultural barriers, I was still able to see the boldness and love of these young women. They were strong and were held accountable by each other. It made me feel better knowing that they had each other as a family. 

Growing up in the United States has shown me just how fortunate I really am. We take for granted so many things in this world while we get frustrated at the smallest things. We get mad for having to do the dishes, doing the laundry, or not being able to eat at the restaurant we want to eat at. We should be fortunate for even having dishes to eat off of, having clothes to wash, and having food at our connivence. We could be in living in far worst situations and the bigger problems in this world are what we don't get mad about. We don't get mad for knowing that children are starving, suffering, and sleeping on dirt every single day. We are so closed-minded, that most of the time, we do not realize that people are struggling to find food, shelter, care, or even employment. Its a vast and ambiguous world and I have learned that opening my eyes to the bigger important things is where it starts. I am glad I had the opportunity to meet these orphan and disabled women that night and for having the chance to go back and help them again. 

For more information about abandoned girls in China, please take a look at this amazing story: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/ft/2011/08/lost_and_found.html

The Tragic Tale of China's Orphanages...

Please take a look at this article below. It provides more information on the social problems that we will be helping and the story behind China's orphanages!

Click Here to Read the Article:

The tragic tale of China’s orphanages: 98% of abandoned children have disabilities

Hello Everyone!

 “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required…” [Luke 12:48]

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see. It’s amazing to witness the grace of God, yet alone experience it. I’ll be the first person to admit it. I was a wretch. My soul was lost and I was very-well blind. But through the grace of our Heavenly Father, I can now see.

Over the last year, I have grown tremendously in my faith, personal life, and professional career. Leaving college, I was still a broken individual. I was a lost sheep who wandered in a field with no direction. I was stubborn in believing I could do everything on my own will. I had no shepherd. I was very dissatisfied and I had become a very negative person. Everything changed when I accepted Jesus Christ back into my life. My values started to change. I became happier and I finally had direction in my life. As I continued to trust in the Lord more and more, His plans for me became clearer.

Trusting in the Lord has allowed me to utilize and grow upon the abilities He has given me. By taking on personal training, I have been able to teach one of my biggest passions in life, fitness. It has given me the chance to better someone else’s life by re-shaping and transforming themselves physically and mentally. It has been an encouraging challenge to help them reach their goals. Trusting in the Lord had also prepared my heart for a mission’s trip to Shanghai, China this past January. Traveling to Shanghai has opened up an entirely new perspective of the suffering and hardships that exist in Asia. Being able to visit a baby orphanage and seeing babies who were abandoned simply because of their deformities or disabilities was truly saddening. Being able to meet orphan and disabled woman from Gao Yao was very eye-opening. I was very encouraged to see how much they embraced each other despite learning about the hardships, neglect, and difficulties they faced as abandoned children growing up with limited opportunities. The Shanghai trip has shown me a greater problem that exists in this world and has allowed me to envision a greater purpose that God has in store for me.

Through the recent growth within my faith, professional life, and perspective, the Lord has prepared me with the passion, ambition, and heart to co-found ‘Renewal Cards’, a card company that strives to make social changes in the Shanghai, China community. Our company seeks to empower orphan and disabled individuals through workshops, mentorship, and employment opportunities of hand-crafted Chinese paper-cut cards. I believe God has led me in the direction to help fulfill spiritual, mental, physical, and employment needs of the lost, broken, and underprivileged community who have yet to be exposed of the love of Jesus Christ. By preparing me through personal training, I believe God has given me the ability to teach these orphan and disabled individuals about exercising, stretching, and basic workouts in which will improve their overall health mentally and physically. Disabilities have hindered these individuals from obtaining physically demanding jobs. By giving them opportunities of feasible employment like card making, we will be able to fulfill one of the great needs of their community. By teaching, supporting, and providing for these individuals, we will be able to show the love of Jesus Christ in China. 

As someone who is 23 years old, I believe that God will continue to open more doors for me. On behalf of Renewal Missions Inc. we seek to continue working with pastors, house churches, and orphanages in Shanghai, China. We are currently developing workshops in which will teach locals, Christians, and non-Christians about the need to mentor and provide for the orphan and disabled individuals in the Shanghai community. In June, we will be making a trip back to Shanghai, China. We will be working with the orphanage, house church, and we will be volunteering at a fitness camp to witness to the locals in Shanghai. We seek to create an long-term program in which will continue to benefit these individuals needs mentally, physically, professionally, and spiritually. We believe we will be able to spread God’s grace to those who are lost, blind and have yet to see.

In His Name,

Josh Kuey