Journal Writer:  Jason Nick-shing Lau
Trek City: Manila

Journal Entries:
June 29, 2001 
June 30, 2001, morning
June 30, 2001, evening
July 1, 2001
July 3, 2001
July 4, 2001
July 5, 2001
July 7, 2001
July 8, 2001     July 17, 2001
July 10, 2001   July 18, 2001 
July 12, 2001   July 20, 2001 
July 14, 2001   July 23, 2001
July 15, 2001   A Smokey Mountain Perspective

Trek City: Manila

Meet the rest of Team Manila

THE SCOOP ON JASON:
At USC, Jason is heavily involved in dormitory outreaches, leading evangelistic Bible studies and praying for other students. He has a heart to pray for global missions, China in particular, and spends much time working with the homeless in Los Angeles, "loving them as friends." Jason has taken missions trips to Mexico and local Native American reservations and hosts various events for Native American children. Truly he has a desire to see others know the love of Jesus.

Regarding his participation in the Trek, Jason shares the following:
" After going to Urbana 2000, I felt God was calling me away from working through another summer and preparing for my future in a different way, through the experience of a summer mission, especially centered toward the poor. Through prayer and listening to a missionary to Asia, I got a deep impression that God was calling me to the Philippines and Global Urban Trek was a program that fit those needs. The Philippines was ideal for me as an Asian American because of the Catholic background, their identification with Asians, and with English being spoken there. . . I feel that by going to Manila, it will provide me with a deep experience with the ministry going on in Asia as well as the true face of poverty there. Reading and seeing poverty will only take me so far, I need to feel the shock of it all and have God's love break through it for me."

Able to speak Cantonese and Spanish and do everything from web design to poetry writing, Jason is skilled in a variety of arenas.

Hometown: Cerritos, California
Siblings: Nicole Lau, 14
I've grown up in a wonderful family, tight-knit and loving, yet the most difficult part of my Christian upbringing was that my father does not share the same passions as I do. I have always struggled with deciding between what I thought God wanted for me and what my father wants for me. There have been many times I envied my friends who have grown up in strong Christian households and are able to share with their parents the very joys of God in their lives. Although I thank God for my mom, a strong Christian who brought me up in the church, who has always supported me in my pursuit of Jesus, dealing with my father has always been difficult for me. That is until I understood that God's love is not reserved for those who abide in Him but for all and thus my love is to flow accordingly. My father may still not support me in all my dreams - convincing him to allow me to go on this Trek was a journey in itself - but I realize more and more that God had a plan for my father in my life and He also has a plan for my father in my father's life. God's hand is in my family and with my father. 

School:   University of Southern California
Major:  Business, undecided emphasis
I want to be able to serve the poor and serve God, perhaps working for an overseas charity or being a tentmaker in a 3rd world country. 

Reflections on Urbana 2000

Anticipating the summer in Manila. . .
The word 'fear' would only begin to describe the anxiety I feel toward my journey into Manila this summer. In fact, fear seems to be an understatement. Having heard many stories about overseas mission trips and summer missions, I seem to only remember all the times of trial where people were pushed to the extreme in their faith either by sickness, culture shock, or tasks they could not handle. Some failed, were totally shaken by the experience and retreated back to the comfort of known surroundings . . . that might be me. 

Everyone continues to tell me that I will be challenged this summer, that missions will push me rapidly in spiritual growth. However, I fear that I won't be able to hack it, that in the face of terrible adversity my strong faith will crumble and I will cry out to emptiness. Knowing that God will not give me more than I can handle is only knowledge and it won't be reality until I can truly experience it firsthand. What if I regress in my faith, perhaps even rejecting God when I feel I have gone through too much and God has abandoned me? What if it all brings issues with my team, with my friends, and I hate my summer mission experience? What if the experience causes me to lose my passion for missions, for the lost and the poor because it is just too hard to devote my life to it? These fearful thoughts are so hard to confront now nonetheless deal with when it happens. 

If fear is a weakness, or lack of faith, then fear is only one of many. I confronted so many personal weaknesses through the course of this year leading up to this summer that I only expect more of the same in Manila. Failure, perhaps, has the greatest hold over my life. Not only that I fail but that I struggle in getting the right perspective on failure, that it is difficult for me to see the growth I obtain through it and rejoice in all trials and all failures. This summer trip will be about failure, when I realize that my strengths are no longer strengths and my weaknesses are all the more prominent. Knowing that I will fail greatly will not prepare me for the moments, and I fear that the failure could crush me. 

And then there is disease; the very possibilities of illness in the midst of adversity bring chills to my mind. Knowing that I will get diarrhea from the food and water is bad enough but the unsanitary conditions can bring even worse calamities. I imagine myself, in my dreams, writhing in the darkness on a bed in a Filipino hospital totally lost and totally devastated. I wonder what my parents would do . . . I wonder what I would do. I don't know if I'm ready to die yet, before I become a 'real' missionary. 

Passions:
• Watching, following & playing sports - basketball (college over professional although I remain a devoted Laker fan), college football, and baseball (old-school Anaheim Angels fan).
• Messing around with my personal website, especially when I am motivated with a new idea on how to improve it
• My ministry as a volunteer among the junior high kids at my church. Seeing their smiling faces and witnessing their boundless energy always help me to forget my burdens from the week and to remind me of what truly is important - the simple love and joy of God. 

Nickname: JLau - akin to the attractive pop singer and actress Jennifer Lopez who is also known as JLo.

Favorite Meal: 
I love seafood and strange delicacies. I would start off an ideal meal with a plate of escargot and a plate of raw mussels. Then a bowl of shark fin soup followed by a pound of steamed prawns, Chinese style. A whole lobster over a bed of noodles would be my main course. Finally for dessert, I would enjoy a small piece of tiramisu with a cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream on the side. To drink throughout the meal, a bottomless glass of apple juice would be simply perfect. 

On a more 'it might actually happen' scale, I love having dim sum on weekends with friends and family. 

Most Recent Books Read:   Dune, by Frank Herbert and Out of the Saltshaker and into the World, by Becky Pippert

Favorite Quote: "You have to let it go, Neo. Fear, doubt, disbelief. Free your mind." - Morpheus from The Matrix.

Fashion Consultant:   My mom - Since I usually don't care what I wear and I hate going shopping, my mom pretty much buys all my clothes for me, especially when she runs into sales. In fact, she sometimes seems to understand the fashions of the times better than I do.