As we walked into the gate of the school we were crowded by people starring at us, wanting to know what we were doing.
We were foreigners with a guitar, candy, and eggs…what?…yes…eggs…hardboiled eggs and they were painted…something they had never seen. As we walked the grounds of the school and up the stairs into the class room people flocked to us. By the time we entered the class room at least 10 extra people were with us.
We were taken to the English corner (aka the teachers lounge for the English teachers), there we were told to wait until they came to get us and “invited” us into their room. We were told about 30 children would be in the room.
Mr. D. left and about 5 minutes later came back in and invited us into the room. While we were still in the hall I could hear clapping and cheering coming from the room we were about to enter. I felt like we were movie stars, definitely not worthy of the way that we were being treated. We walked into a room filled with 100+ people…yes…100+ people. We walked in and onto stage where we stood and they applauded us.
After the cheering died down, we began to introduce ourselves and I shared what we were doing here in China. Then, they continued with a time of questions, where they asked us anything from “what is school like in America” to “what is your favorite song” to “do you really think China is about to take over the world”. It was a great time for them and for us. Many of them were shy and nervous about speaking to us in English, but they did a great job.
Then…Paul got to share the gospel with them, in the form of the Easter story. They were all very quiet and interested in what we had to say and absorbed every word that came out of his mouth. Later, they wanted us to share a song with them, so Friske pulled out her guitar and we began to sing “Sanctuary”. They all were very eager to learn the song and know the meaning of it. We sang it several times and by the end all 100+ people were worshipping God and singing this song. It was amazing. Later, one man even said to us, that was a song that he will never forget and that he and his kids will always remember us by.
We took a big group picture and said our good-byes and headed out the door. Of course, the minute we were out the door, people were there to “serve” us. just wanting to get close to us. They carried Friske’s guitar, carried our purses, our jackets and anything else they could get their hands on. What an amazing example of Jesus they were setting and they didn’t even know it.
As we made our way through all the crowds of people, down the stairs, to outside, we looked around to see if we all made it out and Friske and Laura were missing, they were no where to be found. We looked and looked for them and couldn’t find them.
About 15 minutes later our Chinese friend “Paul” came out and invited us into his classroom, so we agreed to go. When we got there…who did we find…Friske and Laura. they had already done a question and answer time and now they were teaching them the song “How Great is Our God”. As we walked in…the whole classroom of 40+ people were singing this song. They were consuming it, wanting to know every word and the meaning.
WOW…how great our God really is. The way that He opens the doors (literally) to be able to share His love, His greatness, andHis story to so many people and the way they are so eager to know.
When we left the School Mr. D and one of his friends Mr.Y wanted to take us for ice cream…What? it is literally freezing outside and they wanted to take us for ice cream, so we agreed. They bought us some lovely ice cream, and if you can’t sense my tone in that “lovely” let me tell you it was not so lovely, but in the name of Jesus we ate it and “enjoyed” it.
As they were walking us back to our hotel, they insisted on letting them take us out for dinner, so we agreed. We had an insisted rest for about 30 minutes in our hotel, then we were off to eat dinner. As we walked up to the restaurant, I thought Jesus…this is for you. I did not want to even enter this place, much less eat there…but in the name of Jesus I did.
They ordered chicken, noodles, and potatoes…you think not bad…right? Wrong…when they brought they tray out I once again found myself looking at the head, the claw, and everything else that a chicken has…but this time I didn’t have the option not to eat, they started putting things on my plate for me and I didn’t know what it was because it was all covered up by spices…so i closed my eyes and “enjoyed” and ate as much as I could.
At one point I looked up and one of the claws was gone…Mr. D’s son had it on his plate and was gnawing on it. Ughhhhh. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough I see Mr. Y pick up the head…and let’s just say the next time I looked up there was no sign of the head ever being there. It was then that I had to pull out the “I am so full…that was SOOOO good” phrase. They didn’t like this, but i literally could not stomach anymore…but I did it for Jesus.Let’s just say the verse “do all things to the glory of God” has a whole different meaning to me now.
We have been invited to go to one of the middle schools in the mountains and were suppose to go there today and share, but after talking to the principal they are “very busy” today. Pray that that stronghold will be broken and in the next few days the Lord will open the door for us to go there too.
