This blog is about angels. I am convinced that they exist.
In the developed, Western world, we live comfortably. We have plenty of food, we have a closet full of clothes. Heat, air conditioning, plumbing, information….we have access to so much. We don’t think we need to rely on God to meet our most basic needs.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest in me.
~2 Corinthians 12:9
SO TRUE.
When we CANNOT do something on our own, we get the opportunity to see God do it for us.
I know, I know- we don’t like to think that we aren’t self sufficient. We can do everything on our own, right?
Well let me tell you, navigating the streets of Beijing when you’re sick, overheated, and don’t speak Mandarin is not something you can really do on your own.
So this is my story.
I started out in Ji’an, China. It’s a city of about 4 million people (so small no one really knows about it-really) in Jiangxi province. It’s about 1100 miles away from Beijing. I took a train there- a slow train- and it took 20 hours. Chinese trains have pretty nasty bathrooms, so I opted to not eat or drink too much for those 20 hours, in order to minimize my potential need to use the facilities. I didn’t sleep well, and I was a bit nervous about my whole independent travel in China. I think I ate a few crackers, some sunflower seeds, an apple, and half a carrot in 20 hours. Add about two bottles of water, and still it’s obvious that that’s not really enough to sustain a person in a healthy way for a day.
Oops.
So I get to Beijing feeling a little crappy, but hey, I just rode on a train for 20 hours, I figured that was pretty natural. I was carrying with me a backpack, a drawstring bag, a pathetic imitation Louis Vuitton bag (seriously, it was embarrassing, but it was cheap) and a plastic bag full of the food that I should have eaten on the train. I’m equipped with a small stack of index cards with Chinese phrases written on them (“I am looking for bus #426. Can you tell me where the station is?”) and a raw sense of adventure (sort of). After about 20 minutes of trying to look like I confidently know where I’m going and I feel completely comfortable in this hot Beijing train terminal, a brief exchange of charades and Mandarin that I didn’t understand with the ladies at the information desk, and a trek to the FARTHEST bus stand away from the main station across bunches of Chinese people and all of their stuff sitting on the ground trying to stay somewhat cool in the ridiculous tropical heat- I found the right bus, (I know that was a ridiculous run-on sentence. Imagine that I’m telling you the story in person, and it seems a little less overwhelming.) So I get in the line for the bus, which is of course ridiculously long, and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
And wait.
It wasn’t actually that long. Probably about 20 minutes. But by this time I realize that I am not physically up to par, and the smoggy Beijing air is only allowing about a third of the oxygen into my lungs as I normally get in one breath.
One bus comes and fills up, and I’m still in line.
Another bus comes, and I get the very last seat. I had to stare down a girl that didn’t want to move over so I could sit, but thank you God I was sitting on the bus.
Now I think it’s about an hour until I get to Zhangzizhonglu stop.
Could that name be any longer and more difficult for me to pronounce?
Luckily there is English narration on the bus.
“This stop is______. The next stop will be…….”
I can do this. I CAN DO THIS.
Wait. I’m definitely overheating. I’m thirsty. WHY IS IT SO HOT IN CHINA?!?
I’m going to faint. I am going to fall out of this seat onto the floor and all the Chinese people are going to stare EVEN MORE at this white girl with red hair and a bunch of stuff. And then I am going to be in a very bad way.
Help me God. Just keep me awake. Keep my brain functioning. Keep me from passing out. Your power is made perfect in my weakness, and I am extremely weak right now. In every sense.
Half an hour passes. I wonder if I should show my card (“I am getting off at Zhangzizhonglu stop. Can you tell me when it is?”) to the girl sitting next to me. The one I had to glare at to get her to scoot over. Or can I figure this out on my own? Pride is a sin, I should just swallow my pride, even though I think she probably won’t ride the bus that long and she probably already doesn’t like me…
Now I feel cold.
That is a bad sign. It’s a bazillion degrees on this bus, I should not feel cold.
A bunch of people get off the bus. The girl next to me is gone. I scoot over to let someone sit in my spot as I take hers.
The next stop is mine!! Of course now it’s harder for me to get out, but whatever.
The nice thing about standing out in foreign countries is that it doesn’t matter if you do something stupid, have a ridiculous amount of stuff, or, in my case, look like death. They’re going to stare at you anyway, so who cares?
So I get off the bus. Now I need to walk down this street, turn right, turn right again, and it’s on the left.
I can handle this.
So I walk and look for the street. I pass one that has a very similar name, but it’s not the same as the one I have written down, so I keep walking.
And I walk.
And walk.
And walk.
And walk.
I think it was about a mile. I’m not sure. I try not to let myself stop, because I know that starting up again will be more difficult than just plugging along. So I carry all my things, try to get a good lungful of air, and keep my eyes open for my street. I still feel sick, but hopeful that I will get there soon.
I won’t get there soon. It’s been too long. I went too far. I messed up somewhere.
Crap.
“God, just get me to the hostel. Please, I can’t do this by myself. I can’t even ask for help! I don’t think they’ll understand me. Just get me there, somehow. Just get me there.”
*I want to point out that this whole time I never felt unsafe. I never felt threatened or afraid, just exhausted and ill.
The next intersection I come across has A LOT of taxis going through.
YAY! TAXIS!!!!
So I try to flag one down. And it’s full. And so is the next one, and the next one, and the next one….
I’m holding me hand out desperately at some random busy intersection in Beijing. Eventually there HAS to be an empty one. Even if I have to stand here for half an hour, there will be one eventually….
I still believe that if I stood there long enough I would have gotten a taxi and gotten there. I might have fainted first, but I think I would have made it.
Lucky for me, God wanted to show me how awesome He is instead.
So I put my bags down on the sidewalk and stand there with a meager hand outstretched toward the street.
Please God? Sooner rather than later? Please get me there. I need to lie down. I need water. I know you are powerful and you can get me there relatively soon…
A girl walks up to me out of nowhere.
“Excuse me, can I help you??”
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Help has arrived!
IN ENGLISH!!
“YES! I’m trying to get to this hostel…” I show her my card with Chinese on it.
She pulls out her iPhone and looks up where it is. She points to my bag on the ground.
“Is it very heavy?”
“Yes. I’m exhausted, I just can’t carry it anymore.”
“I think your hostel is close by…”
“How close?”
“Two or three kilometers….”
!!!!
I don’t know exactly how far that is, but I know it’s over a mile. And I don’t think I can do that.
“Are you trying to get a taxi?” She asks me.
“Yes. I just can’t walk anymore.”
“It’s very hard to get a taxi at this time. It’s very busy. I think it’s better to walk.”
I must have given her the most pathetically shocked and intimidated look ever. But she grabs two of my four bags and says “this way.”
And then, though windy backways and across one busy street, she walks me all the way to the hostel.
Wow.
She helps me check in, which goes a little more quickly and smoothly in Mandarin than it could have in English.
She tells me goodbye, and I watch her go, amazed.
The girl who shows me to my room asks if she was my friend.
I tell her no, she’s just some really nice girl who helped when I was lost.
Aka, an angel.
