if 2008 olympics adopted the vision of 'One World. One Dream',
then 2009 sichuan journey should adopt 'One Family. One Kingdom' as conclusion.
 
if beijing waited this long to host olympics,
then i'd say this Kingdom of God has waited for us since the beginning of time.
 
teamwork, nicole said One Family was written by all 70 of us involved in this project, not just music team.  i think that where i got stuck, because i didn't feel my contribution towards the creativity of melody, nor lyrics.  i was frustrated, because music team's bonding is too tight that left no room for others to involve.  i wonder if i am involved in one of these inner circles at Across that also give outsiders an intimadating feeling.  nicole also said joseph's editing job was excellent, and this synergy effect adds impact to our MTV.  team work, how can i not see this simple thing? i was a part of this!
 

One Family: http://www.acrossuhub.com/acrossuhub/programs/special/

i watched the One Family video again tonight, i really watched it this time. it was impactful, what we did was amazing.  if Across can become a group of passionate youths that goes contribute to wherever that is need in this world, it would be so beautiful.  

in the midst of photo exhibition, early bird deadlines, booths, churches, blah blah blah, i took long moments to reflect and quiet down myself lately.  it's partly intentional, also partly a result from this sichuan trip.  the experience was internalized, and i feel i'm more calm and settled with God's plan.  (you probably know me by now that i can be quite spontanous, which can be good for creative marketing team, but it can be quiet emotional dealing with my own life.)  
 
from the sichuan trip, i learned about team work.  mostly, i thought about, "what's team work if God tells you that you have to give up 2 of your members?"  and from doing this photo exhibition, i have lots of reflection too. i remember past campers spoke about the Beta 2.22 camp, it was held in winter Feb 22, and one of the challenge was to build your own wooden boat and have your whole team transported over to an island.  just when everybody thought that they got to their destination, the instructor said, there is a tidal wave, and you must only choose one of your members to swim back in freezing water to get more equipment, of your whole team can swim back together.  it would have been nerve racking if we have one member that doesn't know how to swim, because this means the next question is, "who do you choose to die/dive into water?"  i reflected back, in this sichuan case, God chose two of our Canadian members to go through this, because they were held at custom with suspected H1N1.  needless to say the custom treated you like you really do have the killer disease, without respect and was not at all a dignified experience.
 
i may be romanticizing things, but i did learn a lot about team work from this incidence, especially how we should see team work. to this date, my thoughts from sichuan are still very scattered, but this email sums up one thought of mine.

 i wish to share a story with you.

back in july, i treated a patient who's a painter, he's 70 years old and was a professor at art school. even though i was only on the units few days a week, i'd always put on his favorite jazz CD during his treatment (also cuz jazz was my favorite.), at the end of his treatment, he brought us posters of his paintings as a token of thanks. 

last friday, we had to stay overtime for an emergency case, as this patient has cancer spread to his spine and leg; looking at the chart, i recognized the name.  it's half a year since his last treatment, but it is apparent that he looked more pale, fragile, tired, when i saw him,

i said, 'hi! do you remember me?"
he was delighted, and had put a big smile on his face and said, 'yes, i do remember you.' 
then i go, 'i put up your poster in my bed room' (i didn't, but i did take one home). 
then he goes, 'which one?',
'the 'Unleashed' one with the dog; the one with the naked lady was too vulgar to put in my room.'
the old man showed even a bigger smile, with concave eyes, and said, 'oh you didn't think that. com'on, you're young.'

the conversation went on during the treatment setup, his breathing was heavy as he was experiencing a lot of pain while lying on his back. i offered to put in Frank Sinatra so he can concentrate on the music rather than his pain, he agreed and smiled.

yesterday, he came in with a letter-size photo-paper; on it, it printed an abstract painting,
"this was inspired from my trip to shanghai, i want you to have it.",
i showed my natural energy of 'WOW, thanks! this is inspiring." and then we continue with treatment as usual.

i came back from lunch today while my other partners deliver his treatment; after his treatment, i went into the treatment room to take him down the treatment couch. he said, 'oh, you are here.' and smile. i helped him down the bed, he was a bit clumpsy, and when he was able to catch a breath after sitting up, he said, "you'll make him happy."

i smiled. don't know how to respond. as there is no guy, nor have i the confidence to make him happy. i just hope i make a small but positive difference in people's lives.