My language teacher walked into our classroom yesterday, and without saying anything, we all knew something was wrong. He struggled through the first two periods of class, trying his best to stay focused on teaching the class. When the second period was just about over, he stopped everything he was doing and sat down. He told us to take a break and come back in fifteen minutes. When the bell rang for the third period to begin, we came back into the room. He told us that he was completely unable to continue teaching the class. For the next forty minutes, he sat in the front of the room and told us about his “life story”.
His name is Shi WeiGuo. Right now, I believe he is 31 years old. He says that his family sees him as a failure. Each time his parents call, the first thing they ask is when will he get married and provide for them. They tell him he is different. That he has a problem. He talked about how the stress and pressure are too much to handle. This past weekend, he and his new girlfriend got into a silly fight and now he is really starting to believe that he is a failure. So many lies are invading his mind. He is broken and lost and looking for answers.
There were about 12 of us in the class. We all listened and occasionally asked questions. For the most part, I sat silently and prayed. A classmate raised his hand and suggested that my teacher let class out early so he can go get drunk. My teacher said that he’d only feel worse afterwords. I’ve never seen anything like this before. My teacher was completely unable to teach us. He sat down and confided in a bunch of foreigners from a handful of different countries. He wants answers. He wants hope. And the majority of the responses he got from the class was to “drink away the pain” or go hook up with someone. Praise God that he rejected these suggestions.
As I think about it now, I wish I could go back to yesterday and say more. Right now, my heart truly hurts for him. Not because he got into a fight. Not even because he feels different. My heart hurts because he (like so many other people in this broken nation) are looking for answers and hope, but have never heard of the Truth that I know. Even in my most lonely moments, I am never alone. But to him, when he is surrounded by all that life has to offer him, he feels hopeless. Please pray for him. Pray that, as he searches for answers, that he would be led to the feet of Jesus. And, as I have another month of class before finals, pray that God would use me to share and testify. Pray that I would have boldness to speak of the Truth that I know.
I live in a nation filled with lost people. The majority of Asian people have never held a Bible in their hands, never heard the name of Jesus, never understood the concept of salvation and grace. These people pray to idols built by human hands. They say they believe in themselves, and at the end of the day, feel like failures.
But praise God! Salvation is near! He is at work in this nation! He is at work on my university! At church on Sunday, there were 3 or 4 students from my university that attended for the first time ever!! Each week there are more and more new people! On Wednesdays, a bunch of us meet in one of the small parks on campus for worship – it’s an outdoor worship/ church meeting, where hundreds of students are given the opportunity to join with us in praising God. Each Thursday, our ID Art Club meets, where we dive into the gift of creativity given to us by God himself. This is just a small part of what is going on at my university; there is so much that I don’t even know of. God will not relent! His Kingdom is advancing! Pray that God would continue to build His church in Asia!.
~Amilah