Every childhood night playing capture the flag adequately prepared me for my first part of ministry in China.
I arrived in the beautiful city of Beijing, just to spend 12 hours trying to embrace my new home country for the next month. The following day we took a 16-hour train to enter the Northwest Mountains of China. Upon our arrival we were met by our ministry host and a group of four alumni world racers who were in China on another missionary venture. We spent the day in the big city where the train had stationed. In the midst of getting to know our new friends we began to fold track ‘shot’, which was Christian literature books folded into one another and held in place by a rubber band. A single booklet of the literature was called a ‘flat’ and the ‘shot’ was used to reach farther places on our nighttime adventures that lied ahead.
(Jumping pictures at our hostel in Beijing)
The next morning one of the alumni racers drove us four hours to the village we will call home for the next few weeks. He showed us the lay of the land and we were taken to have some traditional Chinese steamed buns.
( Cam & Ravi eating traditional Chinese steamed buns)
The night of adventure began with an hour drive to meet up with the rest of our new friends who had stayed in the bigger city while we got settled into our apartment. We sat around a campfire for nearly three hours waiting for nightfall to be our cover. We got back into our cars and stuffed our pockets, sleeves, and my trusty fanny pack with ‘flat’ and ‘shot’ ready to share our beliefs with the unsuspecting natives.
The first time I got out of the van I was terrified. It was after midnight and the horror stories of being chased by villagers and dogs while around the campfire most definitely did not calm my nerves. I was accompanied by one of the men on my team and we were off.
The map was embedded in my head, trying to hit big clusters of housing to cover as much as possible in a short amount of time. Each team of two had a task at hand, an area to cover, and a meeting place to be when we concluded our missions. The first village we hit went opposite of our plan almost immediately. The road my partner and I were supposed to track bomb was perpendicular to the main road with five guys sitting outside. In an attempt to avoid any persons we tried to take back alleys to get to the road we wanted to be on. We could not find where we were supposed to go, but followed the road ahead to run into a huge mosque. The moon was non-existent, but the stars were shining so brightly behind this huge temple. Even though I was still terrified, my heart broke for these people who did not know the truth of Jesus Christ. My fear subsided as I started throwing ‘shot’ at the temple that stood before me.
The second village housing was a little more straightforward. My partner and I were the first team dropped off and were assigned to track bomb rows and rows of monk housing. We would lay ‘flats’ at the entrance to each doorway and would throw ‘shots’ into the courtyards as we turned to the next row. We soon started to separate and each did rows of housing on our own to cover more ground. Covered by the barking of dogs we finished our designated area and were heading up the main road to return were we would all get back in the car. As we began up the road I took one side of the road, and my partner the other, hitting every door to businesses and residents. I began to increase my speed and had an overwhelming sense of joy as I finished laying down the Christian literature. At that moment, in a little village in China, I really felt God was using me in big ways and that I was fulfilling purpose by being apart of this trip. In that moment I knew I was supposed to be here, I knew I was fighting for my beliefs on behalf of others and I knew that God would bless this new season I have entered.
Despite raised eyes about leaving security to spread the gospel for a year, I have felt more stability in my time in China than I have ever felt back home. I look forward to the year of growth that is before me. Thank you so much for your continued prayers!
