Scroll down to read Lindsay Roper's trip summary!

Three college students from our area traveled to Southeast Asia during Christmas break to work one-on-one with students- hopefully building relationships that will give them an opportunity to share Christ.  The campus minister for Lycoming College and Penn College is traveling with them.

The group members were:

• Lindsay Roper (LHU, junior and majoring in Secondary Education-English)
• Emily Allison (LHU, sophomore and majoring in Elementary Education)
• Christian Kochon (Lycoming College, junior majoring in History Education)
• Lara Echerd (Campus Minister, Lycoming College and Penn College)

We prayed that their travels would be smooth and problem-free, that God would protect them from disease and physical harm and that they would be filled with the Holy Spirit as they make friends with young people in Southeast Asia.  Here is how the trip went:

"We arrived in our town on Saturday December 20th.  That day we spent recuperating and realizing that we were in fact in Southeast Asia.  The Sunday after we went to a coffee shop for a church service.  This was a very different experience for me, because there were only about 23 M’s in the room with us.  It felt almost like a bible study, rather than a church service.  This was my first realization of how secure we had to be in order to worship God in this country.  We had to have the blinds closed the whole time, and some people, though few, could understand English, and therefore they posed a threat.  That first church service was spent discussing the true story of Christmas.  This was a great way for us to really remember why we were there in Southeast Asia.  Also, there was a lot of discussion and I really felt like I learned a lot. 

"After church we climbed a mountain, literally.  There was a Buddhist temple on the mountain, and our M’s thought this would be the best thing to start the week with.  They were very right.  When we got there, I could not believe what I was seeing.  People were worshipping idols, or tall statues and giving their money to them.  We even saw an idol that looked slightly like the virgin Mary holding a child.  It did not take long for a few of the girls and myself to break down outside of the temple.  We honestly could not understand how people could possible think those statues were worth worshipping.  We PR’d for a long time out side of the temple, and this was the moment when we realized how important what we were doing really was. 

"That night we met up with English-speaking college students at the local teachers’ college.  I met two girls, Barbara and Chris.  The nights of the week would be spent with our students, where they could show us around their town, and help us to really experience Southeast Asia. 

"The next morning our group with our own specific M’s headed to the city of Mali Shu to pass out shoes to the local 1st graders.  To see these children with sandals on their feet in clearly weather that was not meant for that kind of footwear was heartbreaking. Though, their smiles were amazing to see when they expressed how grateful they were.  After we finished one of our M’s explained to them the Christmas story, and then we set off to PR walk around the village.  The houses were stuck together by mud and there was no heating.  It was really interesting to see how all of the people lived, as well as upsetting in the same time.  There was just so much poverty.  That night we went out with our college students and learned more about them.  The next night the college held a Christmas party.  We were scheduled to have a program where we would sing Christmas songs and explain the true Christmas story, but due to language barriers our program was cut short.  That was very disheartening, because as we spoke it was like no one was listening, mostly because a lot of the students couldn’t understand. 

"For the remainder of the week we traveled to more market towns and villages doing PR walking.  It was really amazing what we saw.  There were just so many people, and I felt overwhelmed, and disheartened at points because I felt there was nothing I could do to fix this.  Then it set in, and I realized that these people will not be saved due to my own accord, but by God’s.  It is nothing I do, and the only thing I am sent to do is obey and let God speak through me.  It was a very humbling experience, and I did not realize that I thought like this. 

"This trip made God so much bigger to me, in fact it made him huge.  I knew that nothing was impossible.  I remembered when I was younger and still attending youth group that one of the other girls asked, “But what if they group up on a desert island, and never hear about Jesus?”  The answer was so clear, that I can’t even understand why I was not able to know then.  It is our job to go and to tell people, we are to go and make disciples of the nations.  Also, throughout the course of the trip a verse kept coming into my head, “For the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”  What place is this not more true than in Southeast Asia.  There were approximately a 100,000 people for each of our M’s, and this was just for their own people groups.  Our Ms had specific people groups as their focus.  Their people were the Ye and the other Ms that the other girls worked with were focusing on the Meow people.  These were not small people groups, they were huge.  But God is bigger, God is so much bigger. 

"The last week of our incredible journey we spent in Hong Kong debriefing.  One song stuck out to me during this time.  It was “God of this City.”  I had never heard the song before, but one line stuck out in my mind, “Greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city.” This gave me peace of mind in knowing that God was not yet done with this place, and he was nowhere near done with these people.  Even though we would be leaving to come back to our homes, our Ms would still be there fighting the most incredible fight of their lives.  The things I learned from this trip, the things I will remember will be embedded in my mind for centuries to come, and I even plan to go back.  This trip was not in vain, and though I was not able to see anyone get saved I know that the Ms are going to do follow ups, and I pray and hope that my students will show an interest, and I will one day see them come to know Christ. 

"Also, unfortunately my journey with this trip is not yet over, because I still am in some debt to it.  God provided greatly, but I do still have some funds to cover.  If any of you in any way feel pulled or led to contribute it will be greatly appreciated.  Furthermore, I thank everyone for their prayers, they were very much felt over there.  Negative things that could have happened did not, and I know it had a lot to do with the very people that were still at home.  I also encourage everyone to continue praying for the nations, and if you in any way feel led to go overseas I say, “Go for it!” regardless of the sacrifice.  Whether it be Christmas with your family, some of your summer off, etc, I really encourage you to go.  If God brings you to it, He’ll bring you through it, and then some.

"Again thank you so much for your prayers, and for reading this long report of my trip.  Thank you all so much and God bless."

Sincerely,
Lindsay Roper