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.