My team, along with Quake and Libre are in a small city somewhere in China for two weeks. Yes, that is vague, but a group of people from around the world has spent close to fifteen years building relationships in this city and forging bonds, and well, I’d rather not ruin it. Given that, all names have been changed, and many many pictures I’ve taken can never be posted online. You will have to wait until I get home to see them!
We had some of the most structured time in China of all the teams. We were doing a cultural exchange with a university here. Every day from 9-11am we had class. Our classes range dfrom learning to speak the language, a demonstration of the Chinese Tea Ceremony, making Jiaozi (yummy dumplings), character calligraphy, traditional music, and Chinese traditional medicine (and massage).
The exchange part came every afternoon when we had English Corner. The Chinese university students were told where we would be, and they were encouraged to come speak English with us. Most of them were English majors, and since kids in China start learning English at age eight, they are mostly understandable.
We were in a region where people have never even heard of Jesus, and this was one of my initial hurdles to overcome. What do you mean people haven’t heard of Jesus? They have churches in China. They have the internet. But these are both highly regulated. So they are kept in the dark by their government (yeah, more on that later).
Think back to your childhood. Think of Christmas. How old were you when you learned why people celebrated this holiday? How old were you when you first heard about little baby Jesus? Three? Four? Five? Most Americans, even those who celebrate Christmas peripherally, know what the holiday is about. Most people have heard the stories. They know Christmas, and Easter and most of the historical events surrounding those holidays. Where we were, the majority of these students hadn’t ever heard of Jesus. Ever. Not in a history book, not in passing reference to Christmas, nothing.
During our ‘free’ time, we were just encouraged to make lunch dates with the students and hang out with them. We were encouraged to share the gospel with these naive university students, if the opportunity arose. And if it didn’t, we were just going to be good witnesses, and be ‘Jesus with skin on’ for them. Yeah. No big deal. No tall order or lofty ambitions there.
The Chinese Tea Ceremony
Joel, always the good student, gives it a try!
