I’ve gotta be honest.
I thought I would hate China. Hate it.
I’ve never had a desire to go to China. Nothing about what I knew about China appealed to me (which was very little). A month ago, all I thought about China was that it was crowded and polluted. I almost had disgust in my heart toward this country, a country I had never even been to, and I let those thoughts color my view of the country as a whole, including the people.
Man, did the Father have something else in store for me.
But not only has He used this beautiful country and it’s incredibly sweet people to change my view on the powerhouse that is China, but He also used it to change my heart.
Let me tell you about a girl named Sally.
But first you need to know about the language barrier in China. No one speaks English. Really, no one. It’s almost a miracle if you find someone who speaks English. This was surprising to me at first, I thought, “Wouldn’t China be the ONE country on our route that SHOULD speak English?” Yeah, no. Think about it. China is so self-sufficient. They don’t need us or our language!
Now, back to Sally.
My team took an overnight train from Kunming to our first destination on our trip through China. We happened (pshhhh, it was definitely God) to sit next to a 22 year old girl named Sally(her English name) who spoke broken English. She helped us buy snacks on the train, find the hot water for our noodles, etc. She was super sweet and even cuter. She’s a student traveling back to school to study over the summer for her upcoming exams. We were so blessed by her already, we had no idea the extent of blessing she would be. We arrived with an address and name of our hostel. That was it! Which is usually how it is on the race, but in China where no one speaks your language it makes it that much harder. Sally ended up taking us all the way to our hostel, which consisted of her calling our hostel owner multiple times, waiting in the cold for our bus, taking us on two buses and essentially climbing a mountain with us(it really wasn’t a mountain, but with my pack it felt like it) to get to the hostel. She stayed and made sure we got safely in our rooms and even stayed for breakfast with us. Oh, did I mention that this is all in the weeeee hours of the morning and it’s freezing out!
Man, I don’t even know this girl and she was the only reason we made it to our hostel safely.
The next day we agree to meet her for dinner. She wanted to make us traditional Chinese food. So I call Sally and set up a time. She and her friend Nancy (also, her English name- I can’t even attempt to pronounce their real names) show up at our hostel and take us to the market where they buy tons of veggies, fruit, and ingredients to make dumplings! All the while strolling through the streets with her arm locked in mine, as if we have been friends for years.
I was giddy just by walking around with them! I felt so loved and they don’t even know me! They don’t know the ugliness in my heart. They don’t know what I’ve been through.
We get to Sally and Nancy’s dorm and all of their friends are waiting. Thankfully I remembered to bring my UNO cards – Praise! We ended up teaching their friends how to play UNO while Sally cooked us all a feast! After playing cards, learning how to make dumplings, and laughing, a lot, dinner was ready and what a feast it was! We fumbled through our meal, trying our best to use the chopsticks they gave us. I still don’t understand how they eat so gracefully with STICKS! I dropped my chopsticks multiple times, always met with at least 5 more sets being stuck out toward me, like they anticipated my clumsiness.
Most of the girls were studying English, so we were able to have amazing conversation about their families and cultures and even got to share about our own, including the real meaning of Christmas if ya get my drift. Most of them were Buddhist or followed “nature.” Eventually they walked us to where we could catch a bus home and we made plans to meet them again and go to the park the next day.
As I sat in my bunk at the hostel that night I kept thinking about how loved I felt by Sally and her friends. They do not even know the love of Jesus, and yet they overflowed with this joyful abundance. They loved me, a stranger, as if we had been friends since we were little girls. It didn’t even take her a day to love me well. It was immediate. No reservations. No questions asked.
Today I discovered some new music, a huge deal to me. Especially on the Race when you have long bus and train rides. I want to share that song with you and hope that you will click the link and listen to it yourself (link at bottom). Listen to the lyrics carefully and let the Father love you!
One particular line from the song hit me like a ton of bricks.
Lord, you waited so patiently for all this to finally hit me.
And it hit me.
Sally, a 22 year old, Chinese girl, who follows “nature” has loved me better than I love almost everyone I meet. And that was it. She loved me so well and she didn’t even know me. She still really doesn’t, even after spending multiple days with her. She doesn’t know my heart or what I have been through.
Yet, she still loved me. Almost recklessly. With no reservations. She put herself out there and invited me in. She let me into her life. She cooked me dinner, took me to the park, and wouldn’t let me pay for ANYTHING! This is what the Father is calling me to. This is what He has been calling me to ever since I accepted His son.
‘Cuz You’re holding me now, there’s no rules to follow.
I have known Christ for quite a while. I grew up in a Christian household, yet it took me this long to really get it. It took meeting a girl on a train in Asia for me to get it. That walking like Christ everyday really just means to love people. To love them even when you don’t know them. Heck, even when you don’t speak the same language! Even if you don’t know their background or what religion they follow. To immediately, recklessly love people.
I know who You are now, I’m running a different way.
The past few months on the Race I have been discovering who the Father is and how much He loves me, and I feel like He has really been preparing me for this month. Not that you need to be prepared to love people well, but I guess I did. I had so much yuck in my heart, He needed to clear it all out first so that I could love people with everything I have. He’s been showing me how everything really points back to Him. Everything. It all points back to how much the Father loves me.
And, man does He love me abundantly. So much I can’t even handle it. #iCANNOTeven
For me to be like Him, I have to love people abundantly. That doesn’t mean it isn’t hard sometimes. It is definitely hard sometimes. Really hard, and sometimes uncomfortable or out of my comfort zone. But that is what makes it so beautiful! Because to love outrageously, all we have to do is pour out the outrageous, beautiful, makes-no-sense love that the Father gives to us. I can’t love people well out of my own strength. Kara can be a jerk sometimes. But my Father is always loving. Always gracious. His love goes out of it’s way.
His love doesn’t just tell you what bus to get on, it takes you there itself.
So yeah, China. China surprised me. China has taught me what loving people abundantly looks like. Who woulda thought?!
So overwhelmed by You, Jesus.
‘Peace Song’ by Kye Kye Click Here!
