hokalee - From China with Love 1
How should I start? I should say I am glad that I came back in one piece…
You know, walking around at 2700m altitude is not that easy at all… the breathlessness, the dizzy feeling, some of us even got headache as well (a HK church mate just died for altitude effect after a Yunnan trip, where the altitude is at 4000m, a week before my departure…) The dry weather was not helping, it made me felt itchy all the time… Some of us had to put loads of sun block during the day, and loads of lotion for the night… then it came the dry air which made me cough day & night, even food was not to my favour - the super spices food and all lamb meals just made my dummy sick! Don’t mention the bumpy roads, heavy rainfalls, and the sharp & slippery cliff climbing… and trust me, you don’t even want to know about the TOILET! What an adventure!!! ha ha ha :P But it’s not all that bad…
In the past 12 days, I had a privilege to witness God’s great hand at work and his love for the nation. After 6 years of labouring by the previous Qinghai Work Party members, this year, we have 10 young people converted to Christ. These young people had come to our annual Qinghai Summer School (where we teach English & activities) every year, and all of them were under our student sponsorship scheme. As the daily home visits went by, I experienced their warm hospitality, their appreciation of our generosities, and loving care to their kids & family. I realized that giving is not a one off event. It’s the continuous care that touches people and softened their stone hearts.
We, 24 members of the camp, had also experienced a number of spiritual confrontations, such as the hotel we stayed in the village is right in front of a Muslim mosque, so, we had to tolerate the 1 a.m. chanting, 4 a.m. chanting, 5 a.m. bells, 6 a.m. bells…etc… for most of the nights that we stayed in the town. That means from getting up at 6 a.m. to prepare morning prayer, teaching from 9 a.m. in the day, followed by the home visits, then the team meetings and group meetings after dinner, when we could eventually stop for a little rest at about 12 midnight, not long after, we would start to hear all these chanting and bells… to be honest, it’s very disturbing and made us restless. However, as we prayed and prayed, we all got used to it and got over it.
Thank God that we also had an opportunity to visit the one and only Christian church in the town. Minister Wong is at his 30’s, and was well trained at the Beijing Theological School for 4 years. The congregation is around 30, mainly are elderly.
The Church was built before the Cultural Revolution. So it has a real ‘history’ to tell. The older members of the church witnessed the changes and they are all very grateful to the Lord. It is a real blessing that there is a Christian church nearby, and the new believers can come to the church to learn and grow in truth.
One thing you may be curious, we 24 people are all came from different part of the world, we didn’t know each other before, and the first time we gathered together was already in Qinghai. With all these tiredness and diet disorder, you may think we people might lose our temper or even fell serious sick, but praise to God, none of us do. We all stayed in calm and peace, practised humble in front of God and men, and we exercised the love & grace of God. We also wondered at how God protected us in harmony and unity.
In a nut cell, though (to me) it’s a super tough journey (spiritually & physically), once again, God proved to me that he is faithful to us, and took good care of all of us regardless the visible environment and resources.
To me, personally, I have grown in faith and the Lord has been so kind that he keep proving me that my Calling to China is for real. I may go again to visit the people in this little town in the coming January (2005), to see these lovely children once more, and visit the Officials & teachers who we had shared gospel with, plus to bring some supplements to Minister Wong, e.g. Bible Study tools & new believer follow-up course book... etc.
Please kindly pray for me, as the Head of the Education Bureau who found favour in me, and keep inviting me to teach at their Secondary school. I agree that teaching in a local school is one of the most effective way to share & practise gospel, but the weather in winter can drop to -15c, I’m not that sure about my physical adaptation… Though I know God put favour in the officials so they delighted my service, but I can’t say this is the place that God put me in for long. However, I think I should go back and check out whether I can cope with it in reality – for weather, diet, custom & living…
Anyhow, I’m glad that I returned in one piece and got this chance to share the news with you. There are much more ‘details’ regarding the new believers and spiritual warfare. If you want to know, write me individually la…
Thanks for your continuously prayers
Love you in Christ always, Carrie :D
2004-08-05