Midway through last month, I began having visions of ballerinas. This is really nothing new to me. If you read my 50 Facts blog you would know that I tend to daydream about being a world renowned Olympian, a sassy salsa dancer, a risk-taking reporter…
I’m sure you get the picture.
Typically, though, these thoughts only flood my mind when the Olympics are on, I just got done watching Dancing with the Stars, or I saw some crazy reporter standing in the middle of a hurricane on CNN.
It’s really not common to see ballerinas swarming the streets and studios in Nsoko, Swaziland. (And we never did, in case you were wondering). So, for me to be daydreaming about being a ballerina every single day for nearly 3 weeks was a little strange. Did I think anything of it? Well, no, because I am a little strange.
Little did I know, God was planting a seed for the following month of ministry.
We arrived in China on December 8 and found out that we would be visiting a couple universities near our flat. On the first day of ministry, four of us took the bus up the road and hiked a steep hill. Fourty-five minutes later, we reached the entrance of the university.
The nearest doorway led us to the performing arts department. We heard singing in the distance, billboards and pictures lined the outside walls of the university, and young men and women wore similar outfits as they frantically scurried to their next destination. After circling the area, we decided to head into the nearest building to warm up.
Nearly 10 steps into the building, my peripheral caught a young woman in a leotard to my left. I looked through the glass door and saw ballerinas swarming the classroom.
Coincidence? I think not.
At this point, I had to share all that had been running through my mind with my team. Just as I finished explaining, the doors swung open, and it was like the room was barfing ballerinas. I walked against the traffic asking if anyone could speak English, until finally, one student said, “Come back in 10 minutes?”
Was this a statement? She answered in a questioning manner.
“Okay?! …. Thank you!” I replied, mimicking her puzzled response.
We didn’t even leave the entrance of the classroom; I just shifted my weight on my feet for 10 minutes and admired God’s humor.
“Wait, did the student that speaks English leave?” I asked my teammates.
“Yeah, I saw her walk out,” Lynette said.
I felt a hint of disappointment. Up until this point we'd had no luck finding anyone that spoke English.
Ten minutes passed. I walked back to the classroom door.
“Does anyone here speak English?” I asked again, realizing these five words consumed my vocabulary.
A girl screamed.
I jumped.
Apparently, someone spoke English.
From the changing room I could see a young woman walking toward me until she reached the doorway.
“Hello,” she said.
“Hi! I’m sorry to bother you, but my friends and I are visiting the area and we were wondering if you would mind if we sat in on your class today?” I asked.
“Oh, ugh, no problem! Come in,” she said.
“Thank you so much!… By the way, my name is Katie. What is your name?”
“My name is Cloud,” she said with the warmest smile on her face.
Cloud.
Cloud…
It’s nice to put a name to the ballerina from my visions.
