I wrote this blog on January 13th.
When I leave the places where I am staying to do ministry, I have no clue on what will happen. Last night was one of those nights. I was dealing with stomach pains from food I ate. I believe I was suffering from gluttony at the time because we ate American food and I could not help but overeat. I truly did not want to go on the outreach because I had been in bed all day with my stomach ache, but I felt that I should go. All I knew before leaving was that I was going to a church.
When I got downstairs to go eat, I thought to myself ‘I will see how my stomach is after dinner’. The thing that happened was Danny got a call telling us that we were leaving right away to go. Colleen and Sarah stayed behind to go to an English corner while Danny, Kyle, Lindsey and I headed out to meet our contact of the time. Upon meeting her, we found out that we were going to go to a Three Self Church here in China. She told us that we would be teaching children about Noah’s ark. She had made a lesson for us to do. All we had to do was follow the plans. I was thinking how am I going to make it through the night and was this the best decision I made.
After taking a bus and walking for about a mile, we arrived at a church building. The building was so beautiful and old. It was strange to see the church with crosses all over it in the middle of the city in China. Our contact lead us up the stairs to sit in the first hour of service. Upon sitting down, I was just chuckling to myself. The bench was so close that you could barely walk down it to sit. I then looked at Kyle who could barely sit with his long legs. It was awesome to see the people of China worship. They put their whole heart and soul into it. You could see and feel God being radiated through the worship.
After the hour was done, we were lead downstairs. We were given our lesson plans for the story of Noah. Now I will stop in my tale to tell you how God has worked to change me in the last few months. When I was in Mississippi this summer, I was placed in the bible school role the first week. My teammates realized that it was not a good role and so I did not have to do it much after the first time. At the end of the summer, I remember going to kid’s club so I could be with my niece. The person in charge played the song so rise and shine and I wanted nothing to do with it. I even left to talk to the adults. Now I was in a position to do a song I had learned because Gracia did it for Kid’s club. This time I smiled and sang with a loud voice. It really does not matter how much you sing in tune for these children. The only thing you have to do is show God’s love on your face. I was so happy to be there to show my love for God to these children. After teaching the song, Danny and I took the 10-12 year olds. We reviewed English colors, verbs, animals, and weather. Our contact teaches English to the children in order to get the parents to church. After the English review, I told them the story of Noah. We ended by singing our song, ‘So Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory.’ I was so full of energy from just getting to show my love for God. Danny reviewed it all and then we were done.
As we left the church, I was so happy I was glad that I chose to go. I was on a personal high. I believe I was beaming. I got to show God’s love to four children and teach them some English. I didn’t know what I would have missed if I had decided not to go. Thank you God for changing us to your image.
As I look back at this event, I am still smiling. I enjoyed myself so very much. It made me truly realize how much I had changed and how great God is.
