It is so good to get home to Janelle and, in the near future, to my daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren – number 8 is due later this month. I wanted to give you an update that I hope conveys how wonderfully overwhelming this trip to China has been. I feel like an incredibly small, inadequate cog in a huge and very different nation, but I praise God I get to do what I do and, in no small measure, it’s because of your partnership.
Let me introduce you to some of my new friends. Hopefully, this will motivate you to pray for them.
This is Peak. I mentioned him before. Whenever I would see Peak he would run up to me and bury his head in my chest and say, "How are you friend?" You have to love him. He continues to read the Bible. It was Peak who helped me learn some Chinese while I was in Beijing. Understand that my Chinese is on the level of an 8 month old. I do have aspirations of getting my Chinese to the level of a 2 year old some day.
Left to right: Annabelle - Doc - May
First, let me introduce you to May. Oh, my, I love her. She is such an open, honest soul. Her company helps legally blind children. She's so kind. I wanted you to read a few excerpts from her emails. We continue to email back and forth and she is going to attempt to get my Chinese to the 2 year-old level.
I do enjoy your class, but I'm afraid I'm not qualified to be a student in that class. I'm still a "seeker", a "lost sheep", even not sure if there is God or not in the world. But I like going to church and enjoy the Christian songs and inspiring preaching... Some friends suggested me to talk to you, but I don't want to make you feel disappointed, because I'm quite "stubborn".
A few days later …
It's great to have your encouragement to keep on seeking the answers. Sometime I feel my mind is too limited, maybe hard to find out the truth till the end of life …
Just before our final meeting …
Thank you for kindly offering to share your understanding of God with me. It will be very lucky if the "lost sheep" can be leaded by a good "shepherd".
Pray for May as she seeks to know the truth about God.
On the far left in the picture above is Annabel. I usually call her Anna. She’s a believer and has an incredible heart for God. Let me share with you a few excerpts from her emails.
I'm Annabel, your student on last sunday afternoon. Hope you still remember me :)
To be frank, I was a hearer before. I tried to find myself thousands of hundurds of excuses such as I was so busy, I was under a huge pressure, it's too long from church to my home and so forth. I was sinful, I confess.
So, please doc, help me! I can't be a hearer any more, I need to do something, and I keen to do something! I could speak flurent English, I can play piano, I have two strong hands, I have a heart filled with love and eager to share.
Anna is planning on taking some Chinese courses from Dallas Theological Seminary. It cost around $450 to $500 an hour, but they give scholarships to Chinese nationals. I don’t know exactly how, but I’m confident God will enable her to go to seminary. Pray for Annabelle to continue to grow.
Han - Doc - Cathy
This is Han and Cathy. Cathy is my friend and often my guide as I travel through China. She told me there was a man whom she thought wanted to marry her, but he wasn’t a Christian. I warned her over and over and over to not marry a non-Christian but wait for God to provide someone. She asked if I could meet him and maybe talk to him. She accompanied me to the airport for my trip home and asked Han if he wanted to come. In the taxi, she prodded me, “Do you think this would be a good time to share the gospel with Han?” Han was in the backseat with Cathy and I was in the front seat with the driver. I said, “I guess so.” Then I started sharing the gospel over my shoulder. He had only been to church once in his life – and that was with Cathy. He didn’t own and had never read the Bible. We arrived at the airport just as I asked him if he would like to place his faith in Christ. He said, “Yes.” I got my boarding pass, then we went to a coffee shop and I started all over again. Cathy gave him her Bible as a gift and so I looked at the verses in his first and only Bible. He told me he didn’t have any peace in his heart and felt empty. He wanted to trust Christ. I asked him if he had ever prayed? He said, “No.” I tried to explain prayer – I know it sounds simple, but it’s not. Then we prayed together. It was incredible! Pray for Han to continue to walk with God as well as for his relationship with Cathy.
I don’t have a picture of Jennifer because it all happened so fast. I was in a church in the Haidien district one Sunday and afterwards a woman comes up to talk to me. She has broken English, but I learn she is a successful engineer who designs water plants. She is in Beijing to learn English. She told me she hadn’t been to church much, but this morning her heart was moved. I asked her if she had a Bible and she said no, so I bought her a Chinese – English Bible and “The Purpose Driven Life” in Chinese. She was so excited. I’m trying to help her via email. I wanted to share a few excerpts from her email with you as well.
I believe that God exists in the world.
Thank you for your prays to the God for me.After I felt my heart was the baptism .I felt very happy and peace. I appreciat that yo give me the Holy Beble .when I get to home I start to read it . Even if it is strange and difficult for me. I will keep going to read it. I feel It will be the joy of my life.
Later …
my sincere and God`s blessing let me met you.This will be the spiritual wealth of my life.I miss you.Yes,we will must continue to be good friends and grow in our friendship with each other and our friendship with God.
I talked by Skype with Jennifer this week. She was so excited. She told me she was reading her Bible when I called. As I was about to hang up I asked her if I could pray for her. She said, “Pray?” I explained what prayer was and then she said, “Okay, you pray.” She had never prayed before so I said, “When I pray I usually close my eyes. She said, “Okay.” I prayed for her and then said, “Amen.” Then I said, “Jennifer, it has been so good talking to you again. Thank you for letting me pray for you.” She said, “Okay. Can I open my eyes now?” She is so sweet and open to knowing the Lord. She has a tough road. She has no church in her hometown of 400,000. Pray for her to find a few other believers. Later, she sent me an email and told me a little about her life:
Thank you very very much for calling me across the ocean shore in the distant and pray for me.Although we are far apart, but I can feel your staedfast love as God.
I am a government official,a water engineer.I m 44 years old.but I was 11years old ,my mother died.In 1988 II graduated from Changchun Institute of Water.At that time.I was a top student,a secretary of Communist Youth League branch.And then I worked for local Water Conservancy Bureau until now.
This is just a small sampling of the people and opportunities I encountered. I didn’t want to overwhelm you so I limited my sharing to these few. I plan to return in June. Pray for me. I’m probably a little to open in my emails and phone calls when in China. I’m going to try to be a little more careful next trip, but here I can just open up and share. I love our freedom. Thanks so much for your partnership. doc
