So I have some good news and some bad news… My new friend Duling was chosen for a really good internship, which is awesome! But the bad news is she will be training all week so she will be too busy to meet. It feels like a defeat, but we definitely connected and can keep in contact after I leave. It's one of those times where I have to remember I can't save anyone, and God doesn't need me to do His work here. So, maybe just meeting her and planting the seed was all I needed to do. But definitely join me in continuing to pray for her, and I will also keep contact with her after we leave. So it's definitely not a defeat, I just probably won't see the whole picture.
But, on an uplifting note, I met some older women in the park today. They came up to us and were rolling off Chinese, so we were smiling and saying, "Sorry, English… Megua, dui bu xi (America, sorry)." But that's spelled phonetically so it's not legit Chinese. Anyway they kept going and pointing and Chinese-ing when they pointed up and said "Yesu". Immediately we were like "YESU? JESUS?!" And they were like, "yes, yes." We made like praying hands and were saying Yesu, and they were like, "Yes, yes!" The love of Jesus is so powerful. It is beyond language and beyond comprehension. It was just a really good encouragement to meet them. We have been praying over Harbin and over all of China that the Christians here would no longer be content to be silent. That they would have incredible boldness in their faith and no matter what the consequences are, they would refuse to hide their faith. Because of past limitations, many people are very secretive about their Christian faith, but there are Christians here! And they are powerful forces for good in a land that's in the dark. And these two ladies were proof that not everyone is being silent.
Prayers:
-Hannah has had some really bad headaches, so everyone please be in prayer for her
-Duling to keep thinking about things we talked about and not lose contact with me. And that ultimately she would be united with a church here in Harbin that would pour into her
-Pray for all of our squad this week as we finish our time in china. This journey is going to be full of goodbyes and many of us have made good friends. Pray for peace as we leave that God would continue the work He has began in several of our new relationships, and that china would gain some great new believers through contacts we have made.
Side note! I can't even tell you all how encouraged I am by your comments! I love hearing from you and since Facebook doesn't work here, my blog comments are the only way I can hear from many of you! So thank you so much, it means so much to me that you take the time to follow our journey and care about what I have to say. I love you all 🙂
