Greetings from a place where it still is in the mid 90’s for daily
temperatures 🙂
Wow. I just witnessed an amazing event tonight. You’ve heard the
phrase, everything is bigger in Texas, I’m sure. I would have to
submit that, in fact, everything is biggest in Asia. Today
was National Day, the 60th anniversary of the Asian government in
power (kind of like our 4th of July), and boy was there a
celebration. Sooo many fireworks! Take the best fireworks display
you have ever seen with all of the types of fireworks you have
seen, then add a few new ones you haven’t seen, then multiply by
about 50. That’s Asia fireworks. I was told the total cost the
government spent on the show just in G-town was over 3,000,000 yuan.
That’s about half a million dollars! And there were so so so many
people there. Now, another cool thing about this show is, you know
how in America when there’s fireworks people just watch and clap at
the end? Not here. Every single new set of fireworks that went of
there was an oooo or aaaahhh or wwaaaah!! It was so very cool to be
a part of and experience :).
There is always so much that has happened between updates. This
week hasn’t been as eventful or visibly fruitful as the one before,
but non-the-less it has been filled with some pretty cool stuff.
GOd has directed more than a few people into my path who are hungry
for Him, one girl who was practically begging to come into the
family (God said it wasn’t the right time or place). At the
English corner this past week I found myself totally relaxed and
surrounded by people asking questions about God and asking
questions allowing me to talk to them about God. For example,
there are just some questions that are absolute gifts from above.
I got one question that went something like this: The economy in
America is struggling and there is a lot of financial hardship, and
jobs are scarce. How do you feel about this, are you worried?
Bada bing, bada boom.. open door to talk about security in God and
how my hope is not in present circumstances but in eternity. Also
about how faith is not based upon how things appear in the now. He
is so good and is taking care of me, molding and leading me.
I was walking through campus with some friends and nothing too
spectacular was happening on the conversational level (we weren’t
talking about God or anything, just random shooting the breeze and
whatnot). We walked to the river (this was at night) and just
talked there, with a coolish breeze and many lights. I was so at
peace and rest in Dad, it was one of the first times I didn’t feel
under pressure or constantly on my toes. Conversation just flowed
and I got to tell stories about God and his Son and the cool stuff
they did. After a somewhat medium length lull in conversation, all
of the sudden I hear a “hello” on my left. So I strike up a
conversation and figure out about this guy, named Alex, and his
friend David. We get to talking, and by God’s grace and divinity
we ended up talking about Him. I got a statement as follows.. I
see that many Asians are becoming Christians, but I don’t know why. I
ended up getting to share the whole good news with these two right
there and then, and both were really open, especially David. It
was just a really refreshing conversation and they were really real
about how they felt and what they believed. I really enjoy the new
friendship with them, and i just love these guys. I met with Alex
again and we were talking, and he said, “I don’t believe in God
yet” … That’s right, yet. It is just amazing to me some of the
simple yet such powerful things that come out of their mouths.
Which reminds me, quote of the year so far.
In the initial meeting and conversation with Alex and David,
towards the end of it, David says, and I quote: “Wow, God is so
mightyful!” Too good and too true. That He is David, that He is.
I had the privilege of leading a Bible study this past week. Get
this, we talked about what to teach on and were all set to go. We
were praying together beforehand and I opened my book and just felt
God leading me. He changed what I was going to teach on 15 mins
before I was about to talk.. and to something I don’t think I had
ever read! (It was out of Deut. and totally fit perfectly with the
week and this weekend.. explanation to follow) Mo brought a friend
and she almost came into the family that night, but reconsidered
and said, I think I need more time, I need to choose between some
of my Asian culture and beliefs and the Lord. I know she didn’t
accept yet, but man that’s encouraging. She gets it. She gets
that she will be giving her life over. Dad is amazing. Flat out,
just incredible.
Stephen had lost his Bible so he didn’t bring it with him. We told
him to look for it more and if he couldn’t find it we’d figure
something out. I get a txt from Mo a little while later saying,
Adriel, we found the Bible! It’s a miracle! It is so encouraging to
hear an outlook shift from this guy who has been in the family for
less than 2 weeks.