On Christmas day I received an email from a faculty member of a university in China. It was one of those emails that caused me to sit back and think about the four years I have spent in China.
My son Mike traveled with me to China last fall and stayed for a week. During that week Jiajing’s parents and a close friend planned several events for Mike and me. One of them was to travel to another city where there is found a very well preserved ancient city wall and a related museum – a blog entry dated 10/3/2008 describes this trip. It was on this trip that I was introduced to this faculty member.
She acted as our tour guide and at times our interpreter. As we spent time together she learned about my work in China and asked a few questions about Christianity, which I enjoyed answering. She asked me if I had an extra Bible and if I did would I provide her with one. I had an extra one and arranged to have it delivered to her at a later time.
The email indicated that she had gone to church for Christmas eve service and that she was reading the Bible on a daily basis. This is what caught my attention and caused me to think of the lives God has touched through me during my time in China. I think of lives that have been touched at different levels of society and those who have become my spiritual brothers and sisters. As I thought about this I realized that I need to pray more to produce more fruit to honor God with.
I also pray for health and strength so that I can continue to make these long tiring trips. Through God’s grace he has provided me with a loving Chinese family that I live with that watch over me and care for me. As a result they are partners with me in the work that I am involved in. To think God can use someone like me with my faults and weaknesses to advance his kingdom in another culture is very humbling and exciting.
How are you investing your life with God? It is an awesome experience, one you don’t want to let slip by.
PS – I would like to introduce you to another blog that I have. It is a devotional that I developed from the book of Philippians. I have posted the introduction so that you can see what I have planned. I have already placed 67 entries on the scheduler to start posting on January fifth at a rate of five each week. Take a minute and check it out by using the following link:
