My Second Day in China

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, my second day started shortly after midnight. With two days of travel and getting settled in here I was three days behind in my reading through the Bible. I decided to catch that up and see if I would get sleepy. I didn’t get sleepy, but the material read was in Deuteronomy, Psalms, Proverbs and John and was especially meaningful. After reading I laid back down, but sleep was nowhere to be found, so after awhile I got up to work on my laptop and wait for breakfast time to come.

Breakfast time arrived so I got cleaned up, but I wasn’t sure if Jiajing’s dad was still here or had gone to work. I wasn’t real sure what to do, but I felt led to go out and eat breakfast. When I reached the lower level above the first floor I met the woman who cares for the plants seen in the picture below. When she saw me she got so excited and reached out both hands to me, which were covered with dirt from working up the soil for her spring plants. She wanted to talk to me so bad, but she knew no English and I knew no Chinese. It was still a marvelous few minutes.

On my way back from breakfast my path crossed her son on his way to school. He spotted me and hollered out, “Mr. Steve! Good morning.” I responded, “Good English! It is so good to see you.” On my last two trips I have been helping him with his English. On one of those trips we went on a little trip together and took the picture below.

After about ten minutes of walking I finally got to where breakfast was being served on the sidewalk. I passed up a dozen other places to get to where I wanted to go. I waited in line and placed my order by pointing to what the last customer ordered and paid what she paid. My drink was poured and placed on one of their very small tables. I pulled up a stool and sat down with two unrelated Chinese people and waited for my plate of dumplings to be served. I knew the waiter was trying to remember me and by the time I had finished eating he had remembered who I was and when I got up to leave he went crazy with excitement and wanted to shake my hand. It was a very touching moment. I have been in these back alleys enough that people have come to know me and as I walk along it is fun to watch the light bulbs go on as people remember who I am and that I am back with them.

As I walked to and from breakfast I watched the exercise groups and listened to their music. I noticed many other things and felt again part of their culture. It was so good to be back to a life missing many of our creature comforts of the west. I watched people, bent over from years of hard life shuffle along the way as I prayed for their release from the bondage of spiritual darkness that had a grip on their souls. I knew where many would spend an eternity and it made my heart ache. In America they are out of sight and thus out of mind, but here among them, their spiritual condition tears at my heart and provides me with a different view of life. It helps me better understand how God feels, which I find very humbling.

I still haven’t shared my thoughts. Maybe next time.