To those who have been following my journey from the beginning, I want to first apologize for how long it has taken me to post a blog. I have so much I have wanted to say and share with each of you but I have struggled with putting it all into words. It is my hope and intention to be better about it throughout the rest of my race. I’m very much embracing the “better late than never” mentality here haha but I sincerely hope you enjoy hearing more about my experiences in CHINA!
Life in China was nothing like I expected it would be. When you come on the Race, you kinda prepare yourself for the most stretching living conditions (think dirt floor, no AC, lots of bugs, etc…). We, however, were very pampered with comfy beds, hot showers, a laundry room equipped with a washer AND dryer, air conditioning, and a plethora of delicious food options out in the village. A typical day consisted of breakfast, a prayer meeting (one of my favorite things we did all month), quiet time, ministry all day, and then Pink Noodle for dinner followed by team time/free time to hang out with each other.
Each week on the Race, we are given an off day which provides us some much needed rest time and an adventure day where we can go out and explore these amazing places God has brought us to. Our adventure days in China were filled with exploring places around Beijing such as the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and of course the Great Wall of China (my personal favorite).
For ministry in China, we were privileged to serve at a foster care home outside of Beijing. This home was so special and unlike any place I have ever been to. It is run by foreigners and exists to rescue children in China who have been abandoned because of some “undesirable” trait about them (usually a physical deformity or an illness). They not only take the kids in, but they also pay for their surgeries and other medical expenses, and then work tirelessly to get them adopted into loving families. So much prayer goes into what they do and we have heard countless stories of God answering prayers for healing, provision, and families to adopt these sweet children.
Contrary to what y’all are probably thinking, I did not spend my time at this ministry site holding and loving on orphans. I actually rarely saw the kids in the foster home. The purpose behind our ministry was to serve, encourage and support some of the workers that the LORD has already put in place in China. We did this by tutoring and spending time with their kids, putting on an “after school program” of sorts for them, working in their local factory, and doing work projects around the foster home. Another huge part of our ministry was prayer. We were blessed to have a prayer room open to us 24 hours a day and we got to spend time daily thanking God for who He is, interceding for China and praying for healing for the kids in the foster home.
God taught me a lot about prayer this first month and used it to challenge and stretch me in a lot of ways. Through it, He revealed to me more of who He is and more of who I am as a daughter of Christ. He showed me the areas of my life that are not pleasing to him. He made me more passionate about seeing his kingdom come and his name glorified amongst all the nations. He used prayer to draw me into a deeper relationship with him and challenged me through it to trust him completely. I am convinced now more than ever that prayer is important, that our prayers matter, and that Mark Batterson was 100% correct when he said “the greatest tragedy in life are the prayers that go unanswered because they go unasked.”
I now want to challenge each of you with what God has challenged me with – keep fighting on your knees. Pray knowing that God hears you. Don’t take silence or unanswered prayers as God forgetting about you or ignoring you. He hasn’t forgotten about you and He’s not ignoring you. He is moving and responding to your prayers, even you cannot see the immediate results right now. Keep petitioning God and trust him to answer in his own perfect way on his own perfect time. Don’t give up on prayer. Don’t give up on God. Keep seeking. Keep asking. Keep trusting.
Thank you for taking an interest in my journey and taking time to read my blog!
Hallie 🙂
