Calling the transition from Swaziland to Hong Kong to China extreme would be an understatement; we literally went from 100+ degrees in Swazi almost every day to 50-60ish and rainy for 3 days in HK to temperatures below freezing in China, all in less than a week. Each person probably realized in our minds that rapidly changing environments was something that we signed up for, but our bodies did not. One unwelcome result of this was illness sweeping through most of the squad, even though almost every team was serving by itself. Had I been able to have Internet last month, I would have updated about the epidemic and certainly would have asked for prayers, but it just didn't work out that way.
Unfortunately, I also fell victim to severe sickness, as did most of my team at some point. As I felt my health declining, I became really discouraged at the thought of not being able to go and visit with the kids everyday, because I was afraid of infecting them–since I'm in that setting I'm sure if one gets sick they all do–and also because I just wouldn't feel up to facing the cold and exerting so much energy to entertain them. BUT, my God is a good and sovereign God who loves His children and loves to bless them. Because of my inability to leave the apartment some days, I was able step into the role of planning the Christmas parties for the Eagles' Wings kids. (If any of you don't know, my major at WVU was Public Relations and, should I obtain a secular job at some point, planning events is the business I want to get into, so this was absolutely perfect!) Even in a circumstance as undesirable as being ill, the Lord dropped an opportunity to do something I love straight into my lap. Ahhh, that's one good Dad (:
So several of my days, with help from Liz and Isaac, in China were spent planning and gathering materials for the Christmas parties we would put on for the E.W. kids. We had a completely blank template except that we had about a two-hour time frame that needed to include some music, a modified Christmas story to not include the name of Jesus, and Santa Claus coming at the end to give each of the children one present.
As we poured over the plans for the parties, I prayed constantly for God to direct these events however He wanted them to go and however we as a team would glorify Him best, showcasing His love to the kids even if we couldn't outright speak His name. Some days I spent hours wrapping presents for the kids, of whom there are over 50 and almost all of which were wrapped in funky shapes because there weren't very many boxes to use. Not only did I get to match names with faces through wrapping their gifts and checking the list over and over again, but the Lord also allowed us opportunities to pray over each present and each child, that somehow they would know in their hearts that the presents came from Jesus, a Savior who loves them even if they have been discarded and downtrodden by the world, and that one way or the other they each would come to know and love Him as much as He does them.
This may not have been what I thought my ministry would look like in December, although I still did get to spend a substantial amount of time with the kids (which I LOVED!), but in a month where I was fighting tooth and nail for my joy, the Lord provided so many ways to spur it on and proved over and over again that He is fighting for me too.
