“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? And I said, “Here am I, Send me!”
I wanted to take some time over these next 11 weeks to share more about the countries I will be ministering in with the awesome people of U Squad on The World Race.
The first country on our route is China; to be honest I was excited about every country on the list except China. It was not on my mind to go to China. It wasn’t on my list of countries that I wrote down and was praying that God would take me too. BUT now I am excited for what is to come in our first country on the route. Possibly because it seems like everywhere I go I meet people who have friends, or children in China ministering. There are exciting things happening, and I am blessed that God is allowing me to be part of it.
Some quick facts about China:
China is the third largest state in the world, and contains the highest mountains and plateaus in the world. China is very diverse and has near 500 distinct ethnic groups, only 55 of these are officially recognized.
Capital: Beijing
Government: One Party “Socialist” Republic
Population: (2010) 1,330,584,783
Religion: Buddhist (~18%), Daoist (Taoist), Christian (3-4%), Muslim (1-2%), Atheist (15%)
Things I will possibly have to get used to while there: Spitting, Smoking, Staring, Loud conversations, pushing, shoving, general disrespect for others.
Ministry:
Ministry in each country will look different for each team. Some of the things that I have noticed teams do while in China (via blog stalking) are: working in special needs orphanages, housing renovations, ministry to college student through what’s called an English corner, and other outreach. Part of the adventure, at least for me in not truly knowing what I will be doing when I get to China, but making myself available to whatever God has in store for me there. Be sure to subscribe to my blog (Subscribe tab to the left) so you can stay in the know throughout the world race.
Ways you can pray for China
- Pray for increased faith of existing Christians despite increasing persecution
- Pray that God would raise up more leaders in the church. That they would teach the pure word of God, free from governmental influence.
- Pray for additional scripture and for Christian media to be available to unreached people groups
Pray for me and my team that:
- God would go before us and prepare the hearts of those we are to meet and minister to.
- We would make ourselves ready and available for how God wants to use us.
- For safety in all that we do.
- For us to easily acclimate to the climate and the adjustment of living in another country.
- For God's provision in meeting deadlines in these upcoming weeks.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support and for helping send me to the nations!
God Bless you!
Anna
