It’s time! It’s time for a generation to rise up, to turn a country shrouded in darkness to a country that can’t help but proclaim His love and exclaim the ultimate satisfaction that can only be found in Him.
I thought we would have to be quiet and secretive about what we are doing here, but that’s not the case. In fact our squad even had a worship service outside our apartment in the courtyard drawing quite a few Chinese people to watch. They may not have understood what was going on, but they were witnessing over 40 people praising God. Here we can openly ask people to Bible studies and church. I see God here because it is so evident He is showing up in miraculous ways.
Persecution became real to me and was given a face when my teammate Kyle and I met a student named Frank. Frank is a believer who fears being kicked out of university for being a believer. His fear has controlled him, but when he agreed to a Bible study and is bringing his non-believer best friend I see God at work. I can see God saying you must only have fear of God, not of this world. Persecution is real and scary, but God is bigger and a life without Him has much greater consequences than any persecution.
God is here and He knows no language barriers, He knows no cultural barriers. One night Kyle and I went to dinner with 2 Chinese university students who couldn’t speak much English. 90% of communication was translate via an app on their phone as we spoke for nearly 2 hours. The next morning we went to a movie. We planned to see the Great Gatsby, but to have English subtitles we saw a Chinese movie instead called Silent Witness (sound Christian to you? I think so!). The movie was about a father’s love for his child. Are you kidding me?! Sounds like the Gospel in a Chinese movie to me! This idea was solidified with a quote in one of the closing scenes of the movie as the daughter reads a note about her father’s sacrifice that read “He gave his life for your freedom”. God just shows up in any way in any place. Period!
The next day for Autumn Festival we went with a group of Chinese students to a Buddhist temple. Buddhism is a religion filled with hopelessness in which you work for something you can never find, fulfillment and job. Unfortunately it entraps many in Asian cultures, but God breaks though that cultural barrier. The very next day after visiting the temple we met the same group that somehow doubled in size and walked them through the Gospel from creation to resurrection. We told them about the need for a relationship with Him and answered all their questions. It was one step away from Buddhism and one step towards God.
The first weekend my team was walking down Central Street and a girl in awe of a group of Americans asked to take a picture and talk with us. This is actually a normal occurrence that my teammate Rebekah has a great blog about that can be found here http://rebekahburney.theworldrace.org/?filename=take-photo (in fact you should read all my teammates blogs, they are good and blog more often than I do, you can find their blogs by clicking their name on the left side of the screen). Being an American is a gift here and I can hear God saying leverage their awe of foreigners and turn it into awe of me, their Father who is waiting on them to return home! The conversation after a picture led to an opportunity to spend the day with her and her friends in which we invited them to church. God uses all for His glory!
Speaking of church we went Sunday to a Chinese church. A church here in closed China with Bibles, a pastor, and even its own building. God broke through the political barrier of closed China and is raising up Chinese locals to break through to hearts of others. A perfect example is my great Chinese friend named Andy. Andy is a 23 year old university senior who led Sunday school about why Jesus had to come and die for us. While he spoke in Chinese I just know he gets it, he gets this whole God thing. As I sat in church I just felt overjoyed that God was already working here, that I get to be a small part of the picture here in Harbin this month, and that He will continue to be present here through people like Andy and the generation He is rising up to transform China and the world!
I can’t wait to see how God changes China long after I leave. I can’t wait to see what He has in store for the next 10 months in Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Japan, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Swaziland, and South Africa (SURPRISE! We had a huge route change before we left that I am really excited for). Finally I can’t wait to see how God radically transforms me and how He uses those changes to impact me and others for the rest of my life. Thanks to all my supporters for making this possible. With all your generosity I am now fully funded and I can’t thank you enough. I want to challenge you to continue following my journey to see how God wants to change your life through my journey and continue to pray for God’s direction and for His Spirit and presence to be evident in all places we go.
Please pray for me as I continue to lean into God and grow into the man He created me to be as I rely on His understanding and not my own and seek His direction daily. Pray for my team and our boldness to proclaim the best part of our lives, what unites us all together, God. Pray for the people here in China to be open and for the Spirit to urge them to make the best decision of their life, to follow Jesus, even though culturally it might be difficult.
