After we left our ministry site in China, we headed to Beijing to meet the rest of our squad for our 8-month debrief. At debrief we talked about coming home. We talked about what it might look like for us when we go back home to the way it was before the race. Honestly I don’t think it will be that hard to come home. There will definitely be things I miss, but I’m kind of excited to be somewhere longer than a month. Plus, I have such awesome support from all of my family and friends that it will be a blessing to be able to see and talk with all of you.
However during debrief, there was one night where we worshiped in an upper room in the hostel we were staying in Beijing. As we were singing, telling stories, and laughing together I had this thought that what we were doing was really special… we were praising God and enjoying one another in Beijing! We were in China, a place where so many people are persecuted for their faith, and we were praising His name boldly. It’s been over two weeks since this happened, but I was reading Psalm 67 the other day and it made me think of how we all came together in Beijing to praise Him.
Psalm 67
“God be merciful to us and bless us,
And cause His face to shine upon us, Selah
That Your way may be known on earth,
Your salvation among all the nations.
Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!
For You shall judge the people righteously,
And govern the nations on earth. Selah
Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
Then the earth shall yield her increase;
God, our own God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us,
And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.”
Some pictures of our China excursions!
Terracotta Soldiers
2008 Olympic Park
Tiananmen Square + surrounding area
The Great Wall
