First Opportunity to Share!

Ri-Ri, Me, Megan, Yyphinx

Tonight was a very cool night for me! It was my beautiful teammate Megan's Birthday and we went to dinner with two of her male students: Kyle and Damon. Both of which are quite fashionable for China! They whiten their skin with make-up, get their hair "waved" at a beauty salon, and wear the latest trends in fashion appearing to us Americans as quite metro! They are the funniest two students I have met and truly enjoyed spending dinner with them! We went out to eat at a nearby restaurant where they ordered us fish (cooked right from the sea and brought in a dish to our table fins and all!) as well as some rice and bread! It was truly an adventure for my stomach but I ended up being surprised by how much I enjoyed the dish! We talked about several things, and I really enjoyed the new friendship with these two! Men here in China are quite different from guys in America! I have to say I am quite impressed over here! These guys paid for our entire meal, and made sure to pick out the fish meat so that we wouldn't have to dig around for it in the bones and such! I was honored! When we headed back, we got ice cream and made our way to Megan's apartment. On our way, we ran into Megan's other student Ri-Ri. I have mentioned Ri-Ri before; when I first met her I had an instant connection with her and we have been very close since! (She is my Chinese language tudor) I was so excited to run into her and two other students because they joined us and came over to Megan's apartment! When we got there, we enjoyed cake (chinese style= high on the frosting, low on the cake). We had a great conversation, joking and laughing with them because they are older and more advanced English students! I truly felt at home tonight with them! Then, somehow the conversation turned to our faith. Ri-Ri asked why Megan and I chose to believe. We explained as best we could- I instantly was in a state of protection however. When questions like this come up, they are gems: rare and fragile. As Megan shared an abbreviated part of her testimony after I shared mine, I couldn't help but feel the dire need to lift up our words and conversation to the Father. I was acutely aware that one wrong word, or mis-communication and she might shut down from the topic. We also had four other students in the room and it is crucial to be cautious how we share; even the Chinese students who are like-minded must be careful of their own expression of Hope. As always though, He was faithful to answer my thought! Ri-ri continued asking questions... one of her friends, Johnny, (also Megan's student) had received the Good Word from Megan last week with Chinese and English translation. This student, Ri-Ri, mentioned that he was now carrying it everywhere with him and she was curious about it! She said she needed a new book to read and so Megan offered her a Good Book exactly like Johnny's! She took it with such enthusiasm and said she would read through it quickly! That is what people do here in this culture, they take things much more seriously than we do.... For example, Johnny received the Good Book last week and has already read through the entire book of Matthew. PTL! It is clear there is hunger here! I can only ask that Ri-Ri have the same thirst as Johnny has seemed to find. Needless to say, we got to share abbreviated versions of our testimonies with five students tonight and they are going home tonight with the Good Word and some like-minded music that Megan shared with them! I am so thankful to be apart of their lives and that Megan has allowed me to connect with Ri-Ri! I hope to ask her to do a Book study with me so please be on your knees about this! I am truly in awe of the Father's work here!! The pic above gives you an image of Ri-Ri!!