Hey Hey Hey!!! Update from CHINA!!!!
The Lord has been doing amazing things here in China. Small little things that create miracles. He is so good. Always.
I want to share a story about some of the girls we met here in Dalian. Their story is a testimony of God’s faithfulness to pursue His children. It is also a reminder to be faithful to what God calls you to do personally.
I told you a bit about Wang Lin (Esther) and Han Yu (Jade) in my last update. I met Esther at the after school program with Jessica whom we met through Tom. Esther came to English corner with Jade, who later came with more of her friends.
A couple weeks ago, Brandon and I went with Jade, Esther, and Autumn to an Ocean World here in Dalian. We saw lots of coral and fish. We saw a dolphin show and a seal show. We walked through a water tunnel where sharks swam above our heads. It was really neat seeing parts of Dalian and getting to know our friends better. Afterward we met up with Amanda and Faith to eat dinner all together. We had talked to both Jade and Esther before about God who loved them, created them, and desired a relationship with them. All the other times we talked with them, they were a bit interested but didn’t want to make a commitment to anything. However, that night after talking with Faith over dinner, Jade decided to give her heart to Jesus. J
We are pretty sure that she also explained what happened with both Autumn and Esther. We know that God has planted the seeds in their hearts. God is faithful and will produce a harvest when the time is ready.
Their story is an example of following after the faithfulness of God. God puts relationships into our lives. It is our responsibility to follow what He tells us to do. If we wouldn’t have made friends with Tom, we wouldn’t have met Jessica. If no Jessica, no Esther, which means no Jade.
We were frustrated at first because we kept sharing the gospel with Tom, but it seemed that no fruit was coming. But it was through him that we were able to meet Jade. And through that relationship Jade is now a sister in Christ.
Thank you for all your prayers for our ministry in China. It may seem that what has been done is so small, but we cannot judge the impact of what we do based on a number. So many have been impacted in small ways. God is faithful and will produce the harvest. We can just plant the seeds. It some cases we get to water the seeds. And in others, like Jade, we get to bring in the harvest. I am so excited that we get to plant and water those other seeds so that one day others will reap the harvest of our work.
We left Dalian for Dandong on February 9. We were hoping to go to Yenji a few days after that so that the NK team could go in for the 14-19. All of our days got rearranged. The team finally went in February 24-29, ten days after when they were scheduled to go in. Only the three Korean boys were allowed to go in though. The rest of our team stayed in Yenji praying and fasting for those in North Korea. Everyone on our team fasted during this time. God did crazy amazing things in each of our lives.
I do not know how each of our team members were impacted, but I can tell you bits of what God has been doing in my life. The first couple of weeks here in China were very hard for me. I tried to do everything on my own without trusting and leaning on God for support. But the Lord started working on my heart, leading me into new levels of intimacy. When I found out that the team was going into NK, I began to ask the Lord what He wanted me to do during this time. I have a huge passion for purity and holiness. “The pure in heart will see God” (Matthew 6:8). I want to see God. I want to be so close to Him. I wanted to use this time to grow even closer than I thought possible with God. I felt like the Lord was calling me to a ten day only water fast followed by a ten day Daniel fast (only fruits/veggies and water). During this time I would be praying for North Korea and also reading the Bible.
My fast began when I was in Dandong. Every day we would go down as a group to the river along the edge of the city. Across the river is North Korea. We could actually look into the country while we were praying. A couple of times we went down to the river at night. There was a bridge that went from China to NK. The bridge was only lit up half way across. Once it reached the halfway point, it was complete darkness. There were almost no lights on the other side. It was such an incredible experience praying for the nation of North Korea while looking into it.
We arrived in Yenji on February 18. Once the team entered into NK, I began to attempt a sleep fast. From February 24-29, I probably sleep ten hours total. I spent that time praying and reading through the Bible. I read through the entire Bible. God did so much work in my life. He challenged me to grow deeper and closer to Him. He challenged me to surrender absolutely everything over to Him so that there was nothing left in me that wasn’t from Him. He challenged me to purity and holiness.
It was one of the most amazing weeks of my life.
God is so awesome.
