We thought the best had happened, but the best was yet to come… We enter the massive doors on another temple and make our way up a red carpet staircase to the top where the main building is located. I felt like I was living a dream and was a child again. At the top, we realize that they are filming other scenes. We look around and take some pictures, and all of the sudden a large man runs over to us and tells us we cannot take photos because of contracts and stuff. We stopped and then he proceeded to ask us if we wanted to go in the temple to watch the scene being filmed. We jumped on it immediately and went inside the building to watch the filming taking place! Pretty cool! Apparently this tv show is a big deal in China and some big named people were in it! That lasted about 20 minutes and then we walked back outside with the man. He was fascinated with Matt’s beard and wanted to touch it, HAHA… He did and then told Matt & I that if we were staying in China, he would be happy to make us soldiers in his Chinese tv show because he loved our beards! That was awesome! Who gets to be on Chinese tv?! After we hung out with the man, we thanked him and we decided to go explore some more of the sets.
The next set was set up like a ancient Chinese town, with beautiful cobble stone streets, red clay walls, old prisoner wagons, and roofs made of straw. It kinda reminded me of a mid-evil city! Haha, they had costumes there that you could dress up with and walk around the city in… So of course, we were not about to miss the opportunity to do something as cool as that. It was hilarious! We all had such a blast! The people in this city do not see a lot of Westerners, so if you are ever in Jiaozuo, Henan, China… Expect to take LOTS of photos with Chinese people… They love us! Especially if you have a beard. People will follow you around till they get a photo with you. Its pretty awesome.
We finished up at the set and headed to the location that they called “The Sacrifical Alter”. This was the highest point in the tv studio. It was a 360 view of the city of Jiaozuo, the movie sets, and all the surrounding mountains. It was beautiful! As we set up there atop the mountain, the song “God of This City”, came to my mind. I looked out over the massive expanse of the city we have been calling home too for the past 3 weeks and began to pray for the people there. In a city where Christians are persecuted and told when and where they can worship, I believe a revival is breaking out. I believe that chains are being broken miracles are taking place, people are getting healed, and the Gospel is reaching the lost. I walked up to Sara to realize that she was doing the same thing I was doing. Praying over the city.
After we finished up, we headed back down the hundreds of stairs we had walked up to get there, and said goodbye to the “tv studio”. We got on a bus and headed back downtown. Before we called it an evening, we decided to go visit the local zoo because it cost less than $1.00 to get in. It was crazy how close you could get to the animals! Our group actually got to touch a lion! A lion! How many people can say that they touched an lion?! Not many! Haha… We headed back to the main street in Jiaozuo, grabbed some more street food, and called it a night.
The Lord is good. I am realizing that more and more. God is changing me life. He is calling me into things that I never thought possible. He is molding me, and reshaping my life to look more like his. He is working in and thru me. The God of the universe is using me! Last week, Joshua was having some neck pain and had been suffering for 2 days solid with it. Matt & I had the opportunity to pray healing over his neck. Instantly his neck was healed! This is stuff that I never believed possible! God using me to help heal people! 6 months ago, I would have never believed that and probably would have laughed if you told me this would be happening. He is calling me into boldness and confidence.
Its amazing what God will do in you and through you when you take him out of a box… He might even take you on a little adventure in the process…
