This is my beautiful Filipino friend.

Her name is Mariana.

The week I went to the Philippines I was reassured of my purpose in being there because of this girl. She struggled with beauty. Sound familiar? I feel maybe that all of my struggles had led up to this. A week that I could pour into this beautiful girl and help her realize her beauty.

In Asia, non-stop, I encountered the idea that "white is right." Asian people try to be so pale they go to the extreme of putting bleach in their every-day body lotions. It is pure irony that we always want what we cannot have... in the states there is pressure to be tan, so many tanning beds and creams. On the other side of the world there is pressure to be white, whiting creams and sun umbrellas are quite prevalent.

So for the first time in my life I stepped into a culture where my pastey pale skin was the epitome of beauty. It may be hard that some pale white girl was trying to teach so many brown girls about their beauty, but I just pray that it would not be remembered at face value. I pray that the conversations I had with Mariana would be ingrained in her forever.

Pray for this beautiful girl to know exactly how beautiful she is.

After all, the One that made her also made the wonders of this world.

They eat dog in China.

I spent two long long weeks in China. Off of facebook and blogging on account of the censorship of the Chinese Communist government.

So here I am, back in Canada. Brimming with stories to tell.

I spent one week teaching in a farming village called Fu Cheng. The best way I can describe this experience is similar to someone teaching at an inner city school. Fu Cheng is the ghetto. No one cares about these kids and most of them are seemingly stupid and misbehaved.

I will not lie. Fu Cheng was probably one of the hardest locations that our team goes, but we keep going back. Every year. I built some great relationships and had some unforgettable experiences with the people in Fu Cheng. Although it was hard,

it was also extremely rewarding.

Later, in China, I went to a city called Guilin. This is one of the most beautiful cities in China and is beautifully depicted on their 20 RMB bill. This week we had the opportunity to hang out with students from local universities and just share our lives with them.

China was a challenge. Because of the Communist government you cannot share your faith in Jesus without being prompted by someone. We could not tell people we were Christians or preach the good news in any way. We lived for meaningful conversations with individuals and prayed that through our actions the people of China could see the love of our savior.