China; a country that God is in deep pursuit of.
It has been one week since my squad and I landed in Beijing, and approximately 6 days since we have resided in Harbin. I say approximately because we were all a little delusional as to what day it was after our 18 hour plane ride and 20 hour train adventure. Our “entertainment,” if you want to call it that, was hearing about the majority of our squad’s first experience using the squatty potty… on a moving train might I add! Let’s just say we were all rejoicing when we found out our living conditions in Harbin included Western toilets.
The first day we arrived in Harbin a small number of us jumped on the opportunity to meet students at an English Corner… a place for Chinese students to practice their English with native speakers. Leading us to the University were two students, Leo and Simona. That evening, Simona, her roommate CiCi, and I spent the hour talking about God and His love for us. I wasn’t expecting it to be so easy to share the Gospel with them, but our conversation naturally progressed to this topic once they asked about the purpose for my groups visit. Praise God for this wonderful opportunity and the relationships he led our group to in the first evening!
So far, I have found ministry in China to be relatively easy. Because Harbin is not a major tourist attraction, many of the residents in this area are surprised to see so many Americans congregated. Any time we venture out in public in groups of 3 or larger, we often are approached by giddy students wanting to practice their English and make American friends. This makes our first ministry goal to gather names and phone numbers of local Chinese interested in learning about God and church very effortless.
As I reflect on the past couple of days of ministry and working with the Chinese, I have had two revelations. First, it amazes me that God can use the simplicity of our ability to speak English and live in America as a means to reach people in this country. I know from past state side mission work that blind approaches in the US are often difficult, since a majority of people are turned off from talking about God. The people we meet in China are open and interested in learning about God; we must recognize that God desires to reach these people and is making it very simple for Western believers to do so.
Second, I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of believers I have been meeting in China. We often hear in America of the danger to be open about religion and Christianity in China, but we are learning that this is mainly a precaution of the past. For example, one evening I was waiting for a friend in the lower level of a nearby mall when a janitor approached me and began exclaiming in my face “Amen! Hallelujah!” It took me a minute to realize what he was saying, but he then proceeded to speak to me in Chinese. A younger women walked by us and I quickly pulled her aside to ask if she spoke English. She said, “Yes,” and began translating everything the man was saying to me. She translated, “He wants to tell you that he is a Christian.” After smiling big, she then continued with her own input, “Are you a Christian? I am a Christian too!” God had His hand over this divine appointment and I was able to speak with both of them about the local church I was working with. They were encouraged by my squad’s ministry and very interested to get connected to a community of believers nearby.
As we boldly seek out new friends in China I believe God is gathering up the younger generation to know Him personally. It has only been one week and I am already able to witness so much fruit from the work God lead us to in Harbin. Please continue to pray for more divine appointments and super natural strength for the Chinese Christians that will continue to follow up with the people we meet.
