Ryu2.mind

Well, here it is: East Asia trip report, Day 1.

Where should I start? Perhaps with the observation by now, that I've got a genuine interest in the world that's still growing. Indeed, I think my biggest academic regret at Stanford is that I didn't minor or even double major in International Relations, and/or go on a overseas program, and I've come to realize that one of my interests and indeed, hobbies, is independent travelling. Indeed, if money and the need to work were no constraint, I'd actually like to take a year and do the round-the-world travel thing, sort of like what Joann Lee did -- stopping in as many countries as possible, sort of to just "get the feel" for each place and their cultures, and perhaps just "pray" for each country -- wow, I sound like a super holy guy with that last statement, huh? Rest assured I'm not. =)

I really had no specific goal in mind for this trip -- it was in many ways, a leap of faith and expectations to see how God would work in me. But I did have some general objectives: As many of you know, I've got a strong desire to eventually go back to Asia, working as a tentmaker, and so I wanted to get a first hand look at life overseas, both in terms of getting a "feel" for the cities/countries themselves, and also talk face to face with people in my shoes, that of Christian Asian-American professionals, who've "heeded the call" and are actually living the life right now. To that end, I had some specific people I wanted to meet up with, and thankfully, I did meet everyone I pretty much wanted and then some, and of course, got to relax and "see the world", and add two new country stamps to my passport (Mongolia and South Korea). Yes, Simon is pretty much right: missions is often pretty much sight-seeing with "a few holy activities thrown in." But the two, I've come to realize, are not necessarily orthogonal to each other...

So anyhow, I'm a big believer and advocate of the tentmaking model for global missions. Basically, as a tentmaker, you're doing a real job, for a real organization or company, with a consequent real motivation to do your best. Through your work and day to day life, the friendships and relationships come naturally, and afterwards, chances to share one's faith. The key is that you're not working for any missions organization per se under any false or hidden pretenses, a practice that I generally dislike.

Let me elaborate further -- I have nothing against using work or education to gain access to "closed" countries to share the Good News. Unfortunately, too many people (and even some missions organizations as a whole) sometimes have the belief that their work is just a "cover" to get into a place and as a result, delibrately blow it off. As a personal example, this was blatantly apparent when I was on a short-term missions trip in 1999, where we were language students at a university. Such an attitude is poor witness and stewardship at the very least, and ultimately, works against whatever ministry one hopes to accomplish amongst the target people. That's what I'm against -- doing a half-assed job and justifying that with the excuse that "missions" is what we're really there for, not teaching/learning/community development/whatever, and which is why I think tentmaking is a more sound way to reach otherwise unreachable groups.

So, on to the trip...

I groggily emerge from my state of slumber around 6:30 AM or so. The sun was just starting to emerge, but already, construction workers were buzzing to life, starting their daily routine of banging and sawing away. Soon, I notice the distinct smell of my surroundings, a hint of smoke, tinged with just the least bit of odor that reminded me that sanitation here still had a bit of a ways to go. It was then that the reality really hit me -- that I was once again in China, thousands of miles away from home.

I tried going to sleep again, and managed to get about an hour or so more, until my excitement in being back in China after a hiatus of over 3 years overcame my sleep debt again, and I sprang fully awake. My contact and his family were still sound asleep so I decide to do some cleaning up and unpacking of my stuff, which I proceeded to do until they woke up as well.

Anyhow, let me backtrack for a bit... So, actually, before retiring last night, my contact did show me around their place... quite nice by Chinese standards. And, he had a chance to look at some of the stuff I brought along. As most of you know, I have a serious weakness in gadgets. And I packed quite a LOT of them for this trip. Upon seeing my array of toys -- laptop, cell phone, GPS, Palm Pilot, camcorder, TWO digital cameras, and various other miscellania, my contact was suitably impressed -- of course, not by my humility in the material world. Although, he admitted to me that he was a gadget person as well. We even have the same exact model of digital camcorder, and we both like to edit video as a hobby. Well, it was good to know that I have a kindred spirit in that sense as well... heh.

Naturally, we soon get into a discussion about digital video and editing. "What editor program do you use?," he asked me.

Interesting stuff in Danny's latest shorts, and something I've thought and theorized about a bit.

About the names, it's not a clear cut division... although I agree that the number of East Asians with American names seems to be more than Indians. Nevertheless, I can think of many "East Asian Americans" without English names, or at least they don't use them: Chi-___, Sohi... the list goes on, and of course, Jieun. =) And there are many Indians who have adopted Western names, or even family names (a byproduct of the colonial era there), eg, George Fernandes, defense minister of India.

There are two reasons I can think of: I'm guessing that it might have to do with Indians coming over more recent than other Asians (which would also answer the question of why Indian-Americans haven't entered politics as much, etc). Isn't Indian immigration to the US a fairly recent thing, commensurate with the technological boom? Whereas, Chinese and Japanese started coming to the US as early back as the 19th century, to work on railroads, etc. So, I'm sure that once Indians have had more time, there will be a greater assimilation into the US and embracing of Western culture.

Of course, even recent East Asian immigrants give their American born kids Western names, and I think there's a second reason: it would be that Westerners just can't pronounce most East Asian names, due to non-intuitive Romanization schemes for the most part.

For instance, take my last name, Wang. Pretty much everyone pronounces it like the name "Wayne", which is totally off. The proper pronounciation would be "W-ah-ng". Could you imagine someone mangling your first name as well? If you had a name like "Xiaorong", I'll bet pretty much every non-Chinese speaker will mispronounce it on the first attempt... talk about a pain.

There are unpronouncable Indian names too like "Jyotiwardhan", and in those cases, most will take on a more "Western-sounding" name. But, at least from talking to Indians I know, most Indian first names are actually not too difficult for Westerners to grasp: Samir, Nitin, Chirag, etc. -- the way you'd say it in English intuitively is pretty much the way you'd say it in Hindi or whatever their native language happens to be.

And no, I think that most Indians would probably not lump themselves with Chinese/Japanese/Koreans, etc. (Curry, BTW, originated from India... sure it's spread throughout Asia, but it's not indigenous to other cultures.) Indeed, thinking of Asians as one united identity is sort of a artificial and somewhat awkward notion, in my view -- much more so than say, thinking of a pan-European identity.

It makes sense if you consider history: Europe has had the Roman Empire, Pax Romana, and later, the Catholic church ruling over most of the continent at points in time. The closest thing to Asia was Genghis Khan's empire, but even that did not cover South/Southeast/West Asia.

Consider that in every Asian language (at least the ones I know), there is no natively-derived word for Asia -- eg, the Chinese word is "ya zhou" （亚洲）, in Japanese its "A-shi-ya" (アシヤ）... isn't it similar for Korean as well?

Incidentally, I recommend the book "The Accidental Asian" by Eric Liu, where he basically debunks and deconstructs the "Asian-American" identity as an artificial construct, created by non-Asians. His theory is that Asians come from disparate backgrounds, not just say, South Asians vs. East Asians, but even with regions: eg, while there's a lot shared, Chinese have a vastly different cultural heritage than say, Koreans than most Westerners appreciate, and the notion of "Asian", let alone "Asian-American" is just a Western point of view.

But yeah, fascinating stuff.

I just realized this: every time, since Summer of 1999, that I've gone abroad, at least one of my friends gets hooked up while I'm gone... =)

• Summer 1999 (China): Keith/Sammy, CH/Sohi, Bev/Yuji
• Summer 2001 (Singapore/Malaysia): Lina/Charles
• Winter 2001 (Taiwan/Hong Kong): Paul/Jenny
• Fall 2002 (China/Mongolia/Korea): Keith/Grace, Jimmy/Ivy
• Spring 2003 (Thailand/China/Mongolia): ???

I\'m sitting in an Internet cafe in Kunming, China writing this, the smell of smoke hanging in the air. accompanied by the cacophony of the Counterstrike players surrounding me. It\'s been a crazy 5 days in Asia so far, Thailand and China, and soon Mongolia as well.

I realize that this period of time while I\'m free is a blessing, and I feel priveleged to be able to just take these small, short trips to meet with people who are living the vision that I have for myself, be encouraged, get a feel for the various places, and just keep the vision alive.

It\'s been fun travelling this time with people I know from home as well -- seeing various team dynamics unfold, both for better and for worse. It totally reminds me of my last group trip to Asia in summer of 1999.

Lots to share, but I think that like the text from the book says, nothing that I can\'t handle. But boy, what I\'ve seen is definitely a reminder to me that my heart really belongs here, and that all my thinking and exploring these past few years haven\'t totally been in vain, a feeling that had often swept over me while I\'m working.

We\'ll see how this all plays out...

I'm sitting in the business center at Beijing Airport, about to board a flight to Ulaan Baatar. I'm sure you guys have heard about a strange flu epidemic sweeping throughout Asia that's highly contagious and has killed off several people. Thankfully, we've not passed through the officially affected areas, but we've been awfully close for comfort (Thailand and Yunnan province, China.) It's funny because one day, I got about 5 international phone calls on my cell phone from anxious family members of my group leader worrying that he was dying, and even offering to come out here.

Of course, there's also a matter of a war with Iraq. The deadline's at 9 AM our time, and hopefully tomorrow, we'll be able to watch it unfold live on CNN at Tom and Nancy's place in Mongolia over breakfast. :)

Seriously though, Being abroad, and yet, hearing about these crazy things going on is still sort of surreal to me.

It's reassuring and rather ironic at the same time that Mongolia is at this moment, is surely one of the safest places in the world to be in right now...

Back to Beijing for the last 5 days of my trip, seeing faces both old and new. Anyhow, besides the war, the second major news event has been the National People\'s Congress meeting, in which the transition of power was officially conducted from Jiang to Hu for Party Chairman and President. I found this dialog... pretty darn funny, and I sort of could see it happening. =)

HU\'S ON FIRST
By James Sherman

(We take you now to the Oval Office.)

Bush: Condi! Nice to see you. What\'s happening?
Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.
Bush: Great. Lay it on me.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
Bush: That\'s what I want to know.
Condi: That\'s what I\'m telling you.
Bush: That\'s what I\'m asking you. Who is the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes.
Bush: I mean the fellow\'s name.
Condi: Hu.
Bush: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
Bush: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu.
Bush: The Chinaman!
Condi: Hu is leading China.
Bush: Now whaddya\' asking me for?
Condi: I\'m telling you Hu is leading China.
Bush: Well, I\'m asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That\'s the man\'s name.
Bush: That\'s who\'s name?
Condi: Yes.
Bush: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader of
China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
Bush: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the
Middle East.
Condi: That\'s correct.
Bush: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
Bush: Yassir is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
Bush: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
Bush: Yassir?
Condi: No, sir.
Bush: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of
China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.
Condi: Kofi?
Bush: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
Bush: No.
Condi: You don\'t want Kofi.
Bush: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk.
And then get me the U.N.
Condi: Yes, sir.
Bush: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi?
Bush: Milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: And call who?
Bush: Who is the guy at the U.N?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China.
Bush: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
Bush: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi.
Bush: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.
(Condi picks up the phone.)
Condi: Rice, here.
Bush: Rice? Good idea. And a couple of egg rolls, too. Maybe we
should send some to the guy in China. And the Middle East. Can you get
Chinese food in the Middle East?

Apparently, all Blogspot-hosted blogs are inaccessible (presumably blocked) from China, but all Xanga-hosted blogs are accessible. Just a bit of random trivia for you...

Two very interesting and somewhat critical articles about Christian workers and organizations going into Iraq in the wake of the war for evangelistic purposes:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2081432/

http://www.beliefnet.com/frameset.asp? pageLoc=/story/124/story_12448_1.html&storyID=12448&boardID=56195

I hate to say it, but even as a missions-minded Christian, I agree for the most part with the sentiments implicitly expressed in both. To me, it looks like some of these groups are setting themselves up for the religious equivalent of the Marine who draped the US flag over Saddam's statue in Baghdad: bolstering the stereotypical view of Arabs who see Americans and more generally, Christians, as simply out to destroy Islam and convert everyone.

It greatly troubles me to see some churches and missions organizations, while having the best of intentions, having a modus operandi little different from the "convert the heathen" mentality of white colonialists of centuries past. Islam/communism/etc. == evil, Christianity == good, the "door has opened" so let's go in ASAP. Who cares about current emotional sensitivities and preliminary cultural survey/research (eg, Caleb Project) anyhow?

With Arab sensitivity towards the US and questioning of their true motives as it stands right now, I can't imagine that this would be the optimal time. While I do share the exuberance that many other people worldwide feel at these Iraqis being liberated from apparent tyranny, I fear that these groups may fast wear out their welcome, and simply make it harder for other people to go in later. Yes, the Iraqis might be free, but I can't imagine that they would die if someone doesn't share the Good News with them as their first priority right now. I'm not saying that giving aid and using that as a inroads for evangelism is fundamentally and uncategorically wrong -- but Iraq now is probably not the right time and place to do so. Is it any wonder why many secular Americans, to say nothing about Arabs, have a negative view of missionaries?

Now if these people want to go to Iraq, fine... but if I were going at this point in time, I'd go under a totally secular group, such as the Peace Corps, Red Cross or such. If they share their faith and they don't get well received, the liability and negative reprecussions will be limited to themselves and they won't taint the image of their groups or Christians in general along with it. Maybe I'm being too paranoid, but any group that's publically associated with the least bit with Christians could potentially cause trouble at this time -- just my gut feeling.

And a lot of this stuff I've thought and written about this before, from the perspective of not an Arab but a Chinese, a perspective different but not all that much so... Having been to China and other East/Southeast Asian countries multiple times, I've been very fortune to talk at length with both those doing ministry there, and those who are on the receiving end of it.

Groups like OMF and Partners that have been on the Asian scene for a while and are respected (even by the very governments of the target countries!) invariably work like this: they send people in to do a service -- teaching English, rural development, medical work, whatever -- competently and unconditionally, and through it, they naturally build deep, significant relationships first with the locals where then ministry can be done in a non-conditional, non-aggressive, and non-deceptive manner. For example, making the subject of the majority of discussions in an English class religion or faith is not natural, and the students see right through it. Take it from first-hand experience...

These groups do send many short term teams abroad, but those short term teams exist more for the purpose of giving team members a taste of what it's like long term, rather than just trying to unnaturally and hurriedly evangelize and pretend they can pull off something useful in a summer which (rightfully) takes a year or more.

Of course, we should be proactive in reaching these closed countries through whatever methods we can, and I remain convinced that tentmaking and other forms of service will be the way to reach the 10/40 window countries. But treating the "secular" aspect of what we do as simply a means to "get in", and then blowing it off, or hurrying too fast to evangelize is to me, wrong, deceptive, and counterproductive.

It's not a racial slur, and it's not the only part of the solution, but I do think we need more Asians/Asian-Americans (or Arabs or whoever) in leadership roles in missions... or at least people who know something about or at least can view things from the "other side"...

I have the feeling this is going to be one of the more controversial entries I've posted in a while... we'll see.

Anyhow, while in Asia this time around, naturally, I and my fellow travellers frequently encountered vendors of pirated movies, music, and software, and we frequently bought some of their stuff. The interesting thing is, the co-workers that we met with also partook in this practice unabashedly. Now, if one wanted to take a moral absolute, all of us should really be branded as hypocrites... But is piracy totally evil, without justification? Just like Communism, for example, a lot of people in the West seem to have a one-sided, black and white viewpoint of something which is a complicated issue.

As an example, look at many countries in East Asia -- piracy, for all its evils, helps build a base of demand for your products and fuels the sales of hardware, without which your stuff is useless anyhow.

What do I mean? There needs to be a established base of music listeners/movie viewers/software users and owners of hardware, like CD players, etc first. Without evil piracy, sales of PCs/CD/DVD players in Asia would have been much less than what it is now, and most people would not have heard of most Western software movies or music, if they had not been ubiquitously available.

So, in developing countries like China, piracy, by fueling a demand that would not have otherwise been there, and ensuring a base of owners with appropriate hardware, lays the foundation for a consumer base. Then, as economic conditions improve, companies move in there, leverage those customers and sell legit products at locally-affordable prices (this is a key point -- no one in any part of the world will pay the equivalent of a week's salary for a CD, for example). Look at places like Japan and Korea that are considered "developed" now. Of course, there's still some piracy in those places -- you can't eradicate it completely, but because you have these people now clamoring for music/movies/software, you now have a thriving music industry and market, both for local artists and for foreign corporations. As a country moves from developing to developed, so will piracy gradually decrease, if companies first build off the existing base of consumers which have been created by pirated material, and market to them (through the selling points of higher quality, etc.) rather than alienating or antagonizing them.

And of course, many times, piracy is the only option, if a company doesn't release their product there. One corollary and positive effect of it has been movie studios, for instance, releasing movies nearly simultaneously worldwide, whereas in the past, in Asia, one would often have to wait for months for a release, if it was to be released at all. In being a stimulus to create buzz and hype -- and ultimately, demand for more -- in countries where the American media juggernaut hasn't reached yet, piracy has been wonderfully successful in this regard.

Essentially, the blunt, hard, truth in much of the developing world is this: without piracy, you would not have had that base of potential consumers to begin with. It's a win/win situation, for the people, for the hardware makers, and ultimately (while it may take time) for the software and content makers as well. Sadly, the myopic vision of most of the corporations fail to grasp this fact.

All this talk about evangelical Christians working, for better or for worse, in Muslim countries reminds me a lot about this thought I posted a few months back.

I said it before and I'll say it again... Christian agencies should just lay low for the time being, given the sensitivities in that part of the world, and the potential for future work to be impacted negatively. If people want to do their own aid work and share their faith individually, that's great, but it should be done under a totally secular organization, like the Peace Corps or something.

I (and it seems, the authors of the Time article) don't have anything inherently against "tentmaking" per se or even working with the support of a "Christian" organization, but the litmus test for me has always been -- do you have the mentality that you're here just for "evangelism" and that your "work" is just a "means to get in"? To think of it another way, are you doing a substandard job in terms of performance and justifying it with the excuse that "it's not what I'm really there for?" As I contemplate some possibilities for myself, I know that I can't and mustn't fall into that trap myself.

And I totally agree with John about the need for non-Western looking or acting missionaries. Isn't why there are so many Koreans these days in the Central Asian countries, right? Because they don't have the stigma of a white American. Sometimes I wish I could get dual citizenship of some other country quickly, because these days, in many parts of the world I'm interested in, that blue American passport is a handicap rather than a help.

Hmmm -- now I hear Hong Kong categorically grants citizenship to those who legally reside in that country 7 years for whatever reason...

I'm fully expecting to get flamed for this entry, maybe by Huffy Henry, so I'm putting on my asbestos suit in advance...

Anyhow... here are my views on the Taiwanese vs Chinese waishengren issue, inspired by Sammy's recent entry. This entry will probably only be of interest to Chinese and Taiwanese, so just to warn you...

First off, I'm no KMT symphathizer, and certainly no PRC one either. Furthermore, I have no problem with Taiwanese asserting their "ethnic identity", speaking Taiwanese, or denouncing (rightfully) the crimes that the KMT perpetrated on the Taiwanese populace. What I am vigorously opposed to is any attempt at Taiwanese political independence. I will say that I am unabashedly pro-China, and a China and Taiwan as a single political unit (note, I did not say Taiwan should part of the PRC... just China and Taiwan should be one) is in the mutual best interest of all parties concerned.

I'm opposed to many of the things the KMT did myself. Just like say, South Korea under General Park, Taiwan under Chiang Kai-Shek was effectively a dictatorship with many faults, and by no means any sort of democracy. However, if the Nationalists hadn't come to Taiwan and established a foothold there post World War II, you can bet that the Communists would have done so in short order, and I'm sure even the most staunchest denouncer of the KMT will agree that despite any atrocities committed by Chinese troops under the direction of the KMT government, they would have paled to the suffering that would have ensued during the tumultuous years of the 1950s and 60s had Taiwan been a part of Communist China. So yeah, it's basically a question of the lesser evil vs. the greater one, and I definitely know which was the lesser one.

Fast forward to the present: look at the amount of investment Taiwan is pouring into China, in terms of semiconductors, IT, etc. China provides a vast market, both of labor and of consumers of Taiwanese goods, and likewise in the other direction as well. One needs only to look at the investment figures to see that like it or not, Taiwan and China are in a symbiotic relationship without which neither country would have been able to achieve their current economic state right now.

So, if the hotheaded Taiwanese want to be anti-Chinese -- fine. If they really want nothing to do with China, fine... declare independence just like the US did with Britain. Now, we Chinese probably won't be too happy about that, and we might even start a war -- again, like Britain and the US. But if you win, I'm sure eventually we'll recognize you -- like Britain and the US.

But in any case, I'm annoyed at those (and I'm definitely not saying that Sammy or anyone else I know fits into this category, so please don't take it personally) who are blindly "anti-China" and "pro-Taiwan" and their ignorance of historical and current realities.

Come to think of it, while I still believe it would be ultimately best for Taiwan and China to reunite, for me, upon further thinking, the status quo is acceptable albeit suboptimal, and I'm not going to loose sleep over it, if that's what Taiwan wants.

So as for people like Henry, etc., it's fine for me to "agree to disagree." I don't let politics get in the way of friendships anyhow. And like I said, I'm against the use of military force if Taiwan wants to declare independence, so to this end, I'm certainly no hard core Chinese nationalist.

I guess what annoyed me though and prompted me to write my original entry are those Taiwanese who are "more anti-Chinese than anti-Japanese", as Sammy said (again, nothing personal towards you, Sammy.).

Yes, the Nationalist Chinese haven't been sinless -- but without them, do you think that Taiwan as a island would have done better? First, as I previously mentioned, the inevitable Communist invasion that would have taken place had the Nationalists not established a stronghold there, with US help, just to name but one. Not to mention the rapid program of industrialization, etc.

Anyhow, you don't see many British-Americans these days who are anti-Britain (even though they may not want to reunite), right? (to continue with the Taiwan:China :: USA:Britain analogy) Taiwanese need to put the past behind them too and stop being ungrateful towards the Chinese, despite their shortcomings. That's my real point, which I feel strongly about, much more so than reunification.

I normally refrain from posting private emails, but this was just too amusing.

Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003 23:19:51 -0700 (PDT) 
From: Random dude in Mongolia
Subject: Re:Hi 
To: mwang@CS.Stanford.EDU 


Dear pool monkey lesson to me carefully. I,m visit
your web site ( but it's very difficult to named veb
page) it's very bad pictures and very very pool
explanation and you trying to show mongolia from only
bad site. I hope may be you khow god don't like poeple
who like as you

I'm pretty sure I don't know him, from my previous visits to that country (although I did pass along his name to Tom to see if he knows him, or if he could even share the Gospel =) ). I was sort of surprised, because I certainly don't think that I'm disparaging Mongolia in any way in my site, certainly no more than I would for my "beloved" China, or the USA. Yes, not all the Mongolia pictures are of beautiful clean, lush cities filled with wealthy, happy, prosperous people, but then again, Mongolia doesn't have much of that to begin with.

I'm debating whether to ignore it, or write back a witty reply. Don't want to get into a flame war, or write anything inciteful, like "China 0wnZ j00! It's time to take you guys back!", but it made me more amused than anything, and I think I should return the favor somehow -- if only to capture the unintentional wit of the term "pool monkey".

Feel free to post your ideas. =)

Wow... I haven\'t been this into the news in a while. I\'m sitting here reloading Chinese news sites to keep up with the landing of China\'s first manned space mission.

It\'s now 7.5 km from the landing site and counting...

I\'ve always been pro-China -- not necessarily pro-PRC regime, but pro-China and the Chinese people in many ways. As I\'ve written before, I support a unified China under a responsible democratic regime contributing to the international community. Of course, the government is similarly behind it as a \'prestige thing\' -- China\'s \"coming of age\".

But what I really find the most inspiring is that the emotions of the Chinese people and media, not only in the mainland but also in HK, Macau, and Taiwan, are jubilant about it. Rare is the time that Chinese, no matter where they might stand politically, rally behind a common cause, but this is one time, and it\'s fascinating for me to see history in the making.

For those who don't know, Dave Lee (yes, as in Paul's brother) is currently in Baghdad on a missions (although it's more properly "exploration") trip, posting updates via satellite modem to a web site, www.iraqprayer.com.

Bold (in the actual sense) stuff there to say the least, what with all the crazy stuff happening there. It really added a sense of immediacy and reality to it, seeing how the ordinary people there are going about their lives, compared to reading the news reports on BBC and CNN.

Anyhow, he told me it was OK to share the link, so here it is... he could definitely use your prayers. Fascinating stuff happening there, and I'm inspired by how faithful God is in making everything come together so quick.

Looks like a revaluation of the Chinese yuan by 10-15% against the US dollar may be imminent.

I smell a darn good arbitrage opportunity... Time to stock up on those greenbacks and make a trip to China methinks. =)

Just over a day before I see The Passion of the Christ. GrX actually rented out an entire screen (400 seats) at the AMC Mercado 20 so that as many people from church could see it (preferably with non-believers in tow. I've delibrately stayed away from all the hype, previews, and commentary that people have been putting out surrounding the movie. I'm just going to see it for what it is.

A lot of evangelicals have been touting the movie as a powerful outreach tool. I don't doubt this, and it will certainly spark lots of discussion about a subject otherwise ignored or dismissed by most in the US.

Now, I've been thinking -- nary a major movie is released these days without it being quickly bootlegged through the usual channels. With Passion expected to be a significant box-office hit, I'm sure this film will be no exception.

And even more intriguing, I wonder how it will fare abroad in "unofficial release", especially in China and other non-Christian Asian countries. It's pretty safe to assume that it won't be officially released in China with the blessing of the Chinese government. But I wonder if they'll be up to making a bootleg DVD release as us Chinese often tend to do with major Hollywood movies, regardless of whether they're in the theaters or not.

Of course, they'd have to subtitle it in Chinese -- and who knows if the Chinese would be interested in this, most of them having hever heard of Christ before. They consume the likes of the Matrix and Lord of the Rings, but this? My guess is that it will be pirated, and some Chinese will buy it, but just view it as a Western historical drama, like "Ben Hur" or something. Two opposing forces -- the Chinese desire to copy anything popular in the West, and at the same time, the lack of Christ in the current Chinese cultural milieu. Who will win?

In any case, it potentially is a powerful hook for further discussion amongst seekers, so hopefully some ministry workers will recognize this and take the initiative to add this film to their arsenal.

It'd certainly be an interesting observation to see, what effect, if any, this film has on the church in China, and something I'll have to ask some of my contacts there a few months hence...