Howdy folks,
I hope all is well with you. This is the first update on this thing in like three months. Alot has happened and I will attempt to talk about a little of it all.
I visited Lhasa and 5 other Tibetan cities in the T.A.R. (Tibetan Autonomous Region). The whole trip was awesome and the Father showed me so much about himself there. I remember being in small towns and just remembering that God loves all these people and that JC died for them. I then asked the question who is going to go to these people.
I think I'm going to just post my last update on here so that I dont have to write as much. BTW, if you arent getting my update and you want to email me at b.hirschy@swissmail.org with the heading "I WANT ON YOUR LIST!"
BRIAN
PS
If anyone has a suggestion to host pictures please let me know because my account has turned stupid on me and wont allow me to post any more pictures... Again, email me at b.hirschy@swissmail.org
******* UPDATE BEGINS HERE *******
Hello again Friends!
Much has happened in the last month and a half. I got back from my trip around the middle of last month. After that I had a good chance to actually rest for about a week. The truth is that I needed it. The last three weeks have seemed busier than when I'm teaching and everything is in full swing. Anyways, let me get you up to speed on what has been going on.
As you know I left for Lhasa, Everest, and several small towns in the T.A.R. (Tibetan Autonomous Region) on the 30th of December. From Xining we took a train to Gormul. This is when the real adventure started for us. There are many many different ways to get from Gormul to Lhasa, all of which are more than uncomfortable really. We ended up in a small (VERY small) van. Honestly the road from Gormul to Lhasa was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life. We followed a mountain range all the way down and it was just amazing to stare at 18,000 + feet mountains almost all the way there. After 30 hours in cramped vehicles we arrived in Lhasa around 3 am on the Jan 1st 2006. I spent my new years in a cramped van while the driver blasted Chinese techno music. I will never forget this new years!
We spent 4 days initially in Lhasa. I had asked the Father to really let me see the culture and to really see the Spiritual state of T.bet. The Father was absolutely faithful to show me this. During my first four days in Lhasa we visited two of the main monasteries in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The Gelugpa sect is the main sect in Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th Dalai Llama is the head of this sect. We also visited the Potala Palace as well as several holy places in Tibetan Buddhism. The neat thing to me was that I met up with two of my Tibetan friends that live in Lhasa. Both are Buddhist. It was neat in the fact that both have studied Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan History in University here so they were able to explain everything that we saw. It was very sad in the fact that they are both sold out to Tibetan Buddhism. Like I have said in other emails, its virtually impossible in the mind of a Tibetan to separate being a Tibetan with being a Tibetan Buddhist. They are one in the same in the minds of the Tibetan people. In my mind, this is one of the greatest acts of deception possible. You would be amazed at the amount of Tibetans that here the message of JC and are in agreement with all parts of it; even understanding it completely but in their minds there is no way to be a Tibetan and not be Buddhist. Even last week I heard a friend talk about sharing with a Tibetan and their exact reply was "It's impossible to live here and be a Chr.stian." We truly fight against something that is beyond our flesh and in this case prayer is our most powerful tool. Please please beg the Father to remove the lies presented to the Tibetan people.
On the 6th of January we left Lhasa headed for Mount Everest base camp. I spent 7 days in a Land Cruiser. We stayed the night in 4 different Tibetan towns along the way to Everest. If you ever get the chance to read "Seven Years in Tibet" I would highly recommend it. The book paints a remarkably accurate description of the landscape as well as the people that inhabit it. It was amazing to see nomads who have never seen a white person before in there life. In these places I asked the Father to really show me Tibetan culture. Once again he was perfectly faithful. I was able to talk to Tibetans from all over Tibet and to be able to share culture. The most amazing thing to me was that for 8 straight days we didn't drop below 14,000 feet nor did we see any real plant life. The Tibetan landscape during winter has been described to me by friend as "the surface of the moon." This a very accurate description. The amazing part is that the Tibetans scratch out an existence in this climate and landscape.
Another thing that struck me like a ton of bricks was that there really is no one among these people, among the nomads, among the small Tibetan villages, among the herders and sheep farmers sharing the good news! The Father used a simple conversation in a VERY small town called Shigar to touch my heart. Shigar is a town about 125 km north of Everest. We had stopped in Shigar around 2 p.m. that day in preparation for Everst Base Camp the next day. Shigar has 10 buildings and about 35 people living in the town. We had around 9 hours of day light to burn in this town. Because China is one time zone, when you go that far west the sun doesn't go down until around 8 pm. I ended up talking to some of the local boys who spoke decent Chinese for a while. In a joking manner I asked then which way I should go to get to Beijing and pointed in the direction of Nepal. They responded with "Yes, I think so." being dead serious. Later on one of them asked me where Beijing was. I was absolutely shocked. I then asked them if that had been to some of the nearby surrounding towns and villages to which some of them replied that they had never been that far. Some of these boys and teenagers had never been farther than 25 kilometers away from Shigar and if they had, it certainly wasn't in the direction of civilization. Later that night the Father broke my heart with "Who will share with these people? I love them you know." Who is going to go to the small villages in the middle of nowhere like Shigar and several of the other towns we visited. Who is going to go there? Once again, we must ask the Father to raise up laborers for the harvest.
On the trip from Lhasa to Everest I was able to stop at two of the other main Gelugpa monasteries. The Father kept breaking my heart over and over for the Tibetan people and for the lies that that hold as truth. Most Tibetans have no clue what they worship. Most Tibetans have no clue about the cornerstones of Tibetan Buddhism at all. The thing that was absolutely crushing to me was this fact. Most of them don't have a clue but if you are a Tibetan you embrace Tibetan Buddhism and do your best to follow what you know. The Tibetan people need your prayers!
We spent around 6 hours at Everst Base Camp. I was incredibly overdressed for the event, but nonetheless I was well prepared. I wore three pairs of pants as well as 4 shirts and a heavy coat. Because the sun was out the temperature felt like it was around 60 degrees. Seriously, I was burning alive!! The difference in the temperature in the shade is amazing. The actual air temperature was right around freezing but It felt like it was 55 to 60 degrees. If you see my pictures I'm wearing two shirts because I had to shed so many layers. My heart was in a constant state of worship for those 6 hours. I couldn't stop starring at the mountain and thinking about how marvelously made it was! What an amazing creator!
We got back into Lhasa on the 13th. We met back up with our Tibetan friends and spent most of time walking around the city. Because Lhasa is the center for Tibetan Spirituality the city is packed with pilgrims from everywhere in Tibet. It was absolutely amazing to see the culture and to think that two people who are both Tibetan could live almost 1400 km away from each other. Tibet is HUGE!!
I arrived back in Xining on the 17th of January and spent the next few days getting reacquainted with a Chinese/Tibetan city. I slept for about 3 days straight and enjoyed a heater for the first time in almost 20 days. Most of the places that we stayed at our our trip lacked heat. It's just the way they do it down there. We didn't even have a Yak dung stove!
The next two weeks were spent building relationships with students who stayed in town as well as with Spring Festival activities. Spring festival encompasses several celebrations such as Chinese new year and the Lantern Festival. Most Chinese people get off for around 2 weeks to celebrate the new year. It's a time where many people travel back home to be with their families. I ended up eating dinner with my landlord's family who lives directly below me on several occasions. These weeks were spent catching up on reading as well. I've been reading almost everything I can get my hands on about Tibetan culture and history. It's been an absolute blessing to be able to understand more and more about the culture of my co-workers and students.
Chinese New Year was the 29th of January. For the last month and a half all I have heard is FIREWORKS!! Mostly just firecrackers. The night of the 28th was the craziest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. It absolutely blew the 4th of July out of the water in my opinion. Everyone was shooting of fireworks and honestly it sounded like a war zone. I couldn't hear and thing for almost 2 hours because so many people were setting of so many fireworks. I have some video footage that I will try to post to the web as soon as possible.
Yesterday evening was the Lantern Festival. I'm still not sure what it celebrates other than THOUSANDS of Chinese people walking around holding lanterns. I helped a family manage their children through the crowd all evening. It was fun to see so many Chinese and Tibetans out enjoying the festival. The festival is like a fair that is about 7 miles long.
In other news, I start official work at the factory tomorrow. I will be setting up information systems as well as web--based inventory systems for the company. Teaching starts the 1st of March. I will be very busy for the next 4 months. Please remember me in your prayers!
Also, please remember to pray for the following things
1. Students -- Most of our students live in other places. Please pray for them as they return. Also pray spiritual protection over them
2. My work -- I have a VERY busy work schedule for the next four months. Please pray that the Father sustains me
3. Teams -- Over the next 5 months several teams will be in and out of XN. Please pray that the Father brings people what he wants here
4. Laborers -- Beseech the Lord of the Harvest!!
Also, If you are interested in Tibetan History and culture I suggest the following books!
1. High Adventures In T.bet
2. The Dragon in the Land of the Snow
3. Seven Years in Tibet
4. Tibet, Tibet
5. The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia
6. Sharing JC in the Buddhist World
7. G.d Spoke Tibetan
8. Biography's "The Dalai Lama"
If you are interested in a more comprehensive list please email me. There are several other books that I have read over the last few months that I can't think of at the moment.
Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers!
In Love,
Brian M. Hirschy
History written by a T.betan who lives in America. It's certainly banned here in China, but its said to be the best record of the last 100 years of T.betan history, thus making it a must for me. Its really important to know the history of the place that I live and also the History of the people. I have visited most of the places in this book also, so its personal as well. Also, the fact that you know about these events and also have travelled to those places gives you an incredible amount of credibility in the T.betan's eyes.
