Hello from China!
I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to get a blog up, there was a slight mishap (chinese doors are super confusing and horrible) and we got locked out of our room for a few days, so I didn’t have my computer! After 16 hours on a plane and 19 hours on a train, we are safe in Harbin. The city is beautiful! I love it here, the people are so friendly, the food is fantastic, there’s just a light happy feel to it. Harbin is pretty far north in china so it’s a little chilly, it feels a bit like late October back home. Our lodgings are incredible this month, we are in cute apartments so we have beds and hot showers, and we’re right next to a mall so we can just walk across the street and get wifi and groceries and most importantly; ice cream.
Ministry this month is very relational. We have paired up with team Uniquely Knit and have been assigned an area of Harbin and a university. At the university we find people to talk to and make friends with, which isn’t hard because people love coming up to us and speaking English. They also have English Corners where they get together and practice that we visit to meet people. Basically, we’re just making friends with people and sharing our faith with them. We also walk around the area we have been assigned looking for day cares to teach at and get to know kids and parents. It’s fun, I love exploring the city and meeting so many friendly people.
Things you can pray for:
-Pray for our conversations to be guided toward God, and that the Chinese people would see the authenticity of our faith. It’s so easy to just try and throw Jesus into conversations just to check it off our list and say we tried, instead of really investing and sharing with these people. We aren’t here to “make converts”, we’re here to share the hope and love of Christ.
-We met a super sweet woman in our apartment complex name Candy, and she invited us to her home and is going to cook us a traditional Chinese meal Thursday. This is an incredible opportunity to share with her, please pray for us.
-This kind of ministry is hard for me. I’m so glad we get to do it because God will use it to grow me, but it’s hard. I’ve never been one to just strike up long conversations with strangers, it takes a lot of effort and energy from me, and it’s easy to get discouraged seeing how naturally others can carry on great conversations. Pray for the Holy Spirit to speak through me and give me the right words to say.
-I have had a cold since the plane ride and while it’s getting better (don’t worry mom 😉 I am very drained at the end of the day. Pray for quick healing.
– The university we are ministering to is called the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), so the people are very smart and scientific. I think this may affect our ministry, they are used thinking scientifically and faith may be hard for them to grasp. Pray for open minds.
-Heatherly Kids!-
I’ve been on the lookout for cultural things for you to study! This week is the Moon Festival here in China, and there are a lot of neat traditions that go along with that. Say hi to Timothy for me!
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers, I am learning and growing so much and love experiencing how gracious and amazing our God is.
