I have just spent 10 days and 10 nights with an American missionary family in Lanzhou, Northern part of Central China in late December. A lot has happened and I’d like to try jotting down some of my thoughts during my trip….
Originally, I wanted to visit that lovely American Mennonite family aiming to enjoy a homely Christmas time. However, once I landed in Lanzhou and met them, Father told me, ‘you’re going to minister!’ Honestly, I was surprised and doubtful if I had heard it right….
After getting to know each other more, the mother, who is very loving and motherly, started to consult me for different kinds of advices, including how to discipline/teach her children biblically, how to deal with some cultural conflicts in China and how to set boundaries.
To my surprise, while responding to the mother’s questions, I found that it was my very first opportunity to verbalise a lot of my biblical Fatherheart beliefs which seemed to have freshly internalised in me. While I was trying to speak from my heart, the mother seemed to be amazed. I was on one hand amused by that new experience, on the other hand felt content and fulfilled from doing something meaningful. :)
Because of the extreme cold and dry weather, i.e. about -6~-15*C there, we stayed indoor most of the time. And because of the big number of people (8 kids and 5 adults including myself) in the house, the girls and I spent lots of time in the kitchen cooking, washing dishes and tidying up.
Besides doing household work, the girls and I sang a lot of traditional hymns—both English and Putonghua in the house and in the car, which I truly enjoyed especially when I don’t have church friends who can sing hymns with nowadays.
Furthermore, there was one unforgettable encounter… The father was sent by his church to engage in humanitarian work in China. He invited me to be his interpreter during his visit to a 28-year-old girl who was paralysed and blind from falling down from a tree at the age of 9. Although I was assigned to do translation only, God led me gently and politely to take-over and eventually speak most of the time during that village visit.
When we were showing our care, the girl’s father was in tears and then suddenly took off the girl’s blanket and showed me how twisted her spine was, so I saw some holes on her knees and heels—with a very strong smell. I was overwhelmingly heartbroken and desperate to pray for her. After prayers, I chatted with her and learnt that she does feel depressed and despaired sometimes: even though she wears a godly and lovely smile on her face.
While witnessing her hardship, I felt too inadequate and speechless. In fact, during the whole visit, I kept praying in tongue on how to react, respond and bless the girl. Aligning with Him and working with Him simultaneously was another new experience for me—which was delightful and amazing! Anyway, I just wanted to bless her with more blessings, joy and grace from Above. I prayed that God would send more angels to protect her… Straightaway she told me, ‘you are such an angel sent by Him!’
Although being urged by the father to leave soon, I still desired to take a photo of her for prayerful remembrance. The only way to have my photo taken with her was to lie down beside her on her bed. Surely I’ll never forget that strong smell. I can hardly describe how I felt. I just felt extremely overwhelmed and upset… When I looked at that photo again, I found that she and I looked alike. The more I think of that, the more I feel humble and blessed….
Last but not least, since the mother is pregnant but her 33-week-embryo might have health problems, I volunteered to escort her to see the hospital specialists on my last day. On top of being an interpreter, I discussed with the specialists and tried to discern the ‘solutions’ for the mother—hoping to bring peace and life to her. Thankfully, things got sorted out and there was a god-sent medical consultant at the end who spoke life to her. Praise God! :)
P.S. It’s very common for Chinese flights to have delays. I’m very grateful that the domestic flights I took during my whole journey went amazingly smooth! Obviously He is working!
コメント