Continued from: East Meets West – One Out of A Billion
During my two weeks at the cultural exchange Lacy and I spent almost every spare moment together. I took naps while she studied in her dorm room, we ate lunch and dinner together most days, and I even hung out in the library with her while she read.
More than anything else we talked. One afternoon she brought a friend to meet me. We made our way to a secluded piece of grass where we could talk more openly. Then Lacy explained, “This is Susan (name changed) she is also a sister.”
We spent a few hours encouraging each other, laughing about life, and enjoying the time together. “How did you come to know Christ?” I asked Lacy, curious about how God makes Him self known in a nation where less then 1% of people are Christians and sharing Christ is illegal.
Lacy responded, “When I was about 8 years old I got very sick. I had Tuberculosis and was deathly ill. At that point my mom knew a lady who was a Christian. She said that if my mom and I prayed in Jesus name, he would heal me. So we prayed, put our faith in Jesus, and he completely healed me.” I was astounded by Lacy’s story. I’ve read books about God healing people in China but it was affirming to hear it first hand.
She continued, “After that my mom and would gather with other believers to worship in secret. While I was young I grew in my faith a lot but when I got into junior high school I begin to go my own way instead of following God. Success is very important here in China so I always studied hard and was at the top of my high school class. Despite all that I failed the college entrance exams and had to go to a bad University.”
As Lacy spoke about her failure, she turned her eyes to the ground and her voice was quiet. In China anyone who doesn’t live up to an incredibly high standard of success is shamed. A huge part of the culture is saving face, which means never bringing shame on your self or your family. After a heavy pause she began to speak again.
“It was very hard for me to accept going to a lower University, but good things happened while I was there. Through the friendship of cultural exchange students who know Jesus I came back to God and now I am living my life completely for him. We have a group of Christians on campus who meet every week and right now I am learning everything I can about the Bible so that my senior year I can help lead those meetings and encourage others.” As she spoke I was awed because even though Lacy and I come from two completely different worlds we could relate because God had worked in both our lives.
This year I’ve loved watching how God reaches every person in a way that’s specific to their personality and culture. God is so much bigger than our man made differences.
After Lacy finished her story I asked, “What is it like being a Christian here, is it hard?”
“More than anything else it’s lonely,” She replied. “We go to a school of 4,000 people and only 8 are believers. When people find out I’m a Christian they laugh at me, make fun of me, and ask, ‘why would you believe something that stupid? Why don’t you just believe in your self like everyone else?’ But when they say that, I just pray for them, I want them to know the hope that I have.”
“Are you ever scared that you will get in trouble from the government for sharing with your friends?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“I could get in trouble, but it’s worth it. At the moment the government doesn’t care much about me because I am a University student. They are more interested in persecuting adult leaders. Even if I did get in trouble, it doesn’t matter.”
As she spoke about the possibility of loosing everything for her beliefs I begin to wonder: If Christianity was illegal in the United States how many Americans would be Christians? I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I faced jail time, loss of freedom, ostracism from friends and family, and a destroyed reputation for living out my faith.
Many Chinese Christians ask that the rest of the world would not pray for the persecution to end. They realize that facing adversity actually makes strengthens their faith. Instead they want Christians to ask that God give them strength and endurance in the trials.
Here are some prayer requests that Lacy shared with me:
- Her friends and roommates to come to know Christ.
- More Christian friends and amazing godly husband (someday) who she can minister with.
- More Mission Opportunities – Her campus fellowship often goes to towns where only one family in the whole area knows Christ to encourage that family.
- Good Leadership – She wants to lead her campus Christian group in two years.
- Knowledge of God’s word – She is really thirsty to learn more from the Bible.
