Asia - Day 1

We are nearing the end of our first day in JZ, and have had an incredible day.  Michael, Lindsey, Rebecca, and I have had a great time learning our way around the city, and sharing some meals with like-minded people.  We are going to the local university in a little bit to spend some time power walking and meeting university students.  I will be posting some pictures on my blog as soon as I have a reliable internet connection.  My blog is www.thebishopsjiggymusings.blogspot.com. You should be able to check there in the next day or two for some pictures.  I'm attaching a picture to this message for you to see some of what we've seen today.  My friend, Austin, will be helping me upload some video footage to YouTube in the next few days, too.
If you would, please take the time to talk to Dad about a couple of things on our behalf.
1)  Ask Him to give us some guidance towards potential partners in our endeavor.  He knows so much better than we do who we should be spending our time with.  Along those lines, we could use His help in communicating with those whose language we don't speak.  We spent the afternoon on a cultural scavenger hunt with a list of things to do on our own with no Chinese speakers with us.  We managed to get the list done in just over an hour, but it helped us realize 2 things.  One is that we can communicate when we take the time and really think things thru. But the other thing we realized is that if we can find English speakers, it goes much better!  We could use His help with that.
2)  As you know, we are 13 hours ahead of most of you, and jet lag is affecting a couple of folks on the team.  I am doing great.  Michael and Lindsey seem to be doing okay.  Rebecca is wiped out.  She's fine, but it would be great for some outside help in adjusting.  Of course, the hotel we are staying in has A/C, but decided that it is cool enough outside that we don't really need it...and they turned it off.  So our rooms are about 85 degrees at night.  It's not bad, but it makes for restless nights.  Getting our bodies onto North Asia time will require us maximizing our designated rest times, so this could present an issue.  Ask Dad to make it cool in our rooms! We'll make it without A/C, but it would be nice.
3)  In the morning (Tuesday night your time), we will be heading out to meet people and learn their culture.  If you would be so kind as to help prepare the way for us by asking Dad to be there ahead of us, that would be great.  We'll be engaging some folks in recreational activities at the park.  I'm going to learn TaeChi and hopefully share my views on inner peace and balance. We also have a badminton set to play with, and will be inviting folks to play with us.  Then, tomorrow night we will be playing board games and Twister with some new friends.  I am excited about playing with our Chinese friends.  We are hoping that some will go with us to dinner and site seeing in the next few days.  Ask our Father to grant us favor, boldness, and wisdom in family expansion.

As always, I am so grateful for you and for your support as I travel and seek the ancient  work that Father started so long ago.  He has been busy here for a long time, and with your help, I am sure we will find those places He is preparing us for.

Peace
Shiou Ju (my friends here last year nick named me Shiou Ju, which means "small pig.")
aka Jason