The reality of being in China hit me today. A country rich with culture and history going way back… I’m talking pre 8 track tapes!
Early this morning, we left the rest of the groups and headed out to our city of ministry for the next 6 days, “won gai.”
We got on the bus with only a phrase book in Chinese and no translator. When we reached our destination, we planned to send out Ashley and Gary to find a hotel, while Katherine and I gaurded the luggage. Not long after they left we were surrounded by people staring at us and looking strangely at our huge packs. I got a little nervous as some of them would touch our bags, wishing about then I had some sort of defense, perhaps a stun gun or such. However, they were just curious.
As the crowd began to grow more and more, Katherine tried to distract them with the phrase book. All of a sudden out of nowhere came a Chinese angel! A man that taught English in a school pushed his way through the crowd and asked if we needed help. We explained we were waiting on our friends to come back. He offered to help us find a hotel and even gave us tips about interesting places to visit in the city. While we talked to him, the newness of the foreigners wore off and the crowd died down.
Gary and Ashley came back with not much success. We were so thankful for our new English speaking friend who led us to a decent hotel with a good price. He helped us pay and get to our rooms. He even gave us his “mobile” number (he learned English from the British) so that we can call him later for dinner. He is hopefully going to take us to a good place. Tomorrow he also wants us to come speak to his English class so they can practice. Praise God for such a divine appointment. We hope to make good friends with this teacher and maybe even share our faith.
China is such a different experience than other places like Guatemala or Mexico, where I at least can get by understanding the language. Instead of watching the NCAA tournament right now, I get to watch competitive badminton and Chinese operas. They play all the sports you don’t hear too much about. I’m suprised I haven’t seen any field hockey or ping pong yet on Chinese television. Nevertheless, I’m excited about the next 6 days in “won gai.” I can’t wait to see how God will work!
