China Trip: TESTIMONY

For two weeks, I was in Heyuan, a city situated in the northern part of the Chinese province of Guangdong. Heyuan is a 3 hour drive north-east of Guangzhou city. It has a population of over 3 million. A river divides the city into it’s old and new parts. In the old part of the city, the local church and its surrounding compound provided us with accommodation and facilities to hold the summer school classes. The students were on their summer holidays and the church has graciously organised this summer school. There were 12 of us on the team from Melbourne, plus a 15-month-old baby. We taught conversational English to the 150+ students. Students were categorised into Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Special Advanced classes, as determined by an aptitude test they completed a few months back. I was allocated to the Special class, and taught alongside the two Caucasians on our team, Jenny and her daughter Megan. Being the special class, I guess we had it easier: they could understand a lot more English than the other classes! Over the two weeks, we not only taught the 38 students in our class conversational English, but we did it through various topics. We were not allowed to preach, but we subtly did it through topics such as Love, Honour, Forgiveness, Greed/Selfishness, etc. We spent much time with the students, in the classroom, in after-class sessions rehearsing for the Students Concert on the final night, and on numerous occasions where we took the students out for a meal or drinks and dessert. The bond between teachers and students grew, and even after a short 2-week period, leaving them behind was very hard. Here are the lessons I have personally learnt:

“Do not to take anything for granted.”
I had always wanted to go to a place like China, Cambodia, Africa, and some parts of South America – places where poverty still ran rampant. Although I stayed in a city, the residents lived on a lot less money than we do. I’ve learnt that everything I have is a blessing. Perhaps the biggest thing for me is money. That is something I definitely cannot take for granted. In Australia, we have been blessed with much. And with great blessings come great responsibility. There were people there in China who were living on a much lesser income, yet still lived in contentment. It was a greater blessing to be a blessing. A simple thing like taking the students out for dinner meant a great deal for them.

“It’s the heart that counts.”
Church on Sunday began at 8:00am. However at 7:00am, people were already at church. They were learning the songs they would actually sing in the service proper. The masses turned up for music practice! It makes me think of people who turn up after the praise and worship has ended! Furthermore, when the church was packed, both upstairs and downstairs, people filled up the overflow room like crazy. And where was their overflow room? Outside!! They practically sat on anything they can rest upon – old stools, pieces of wood or rock and knee-high walls surrounding the garden. As long as they can get an earful of the word of God, it didn’t matter where they sat! That tells me of their commitment – their heart – to be connected to God and to God’s people. When the service concluded, many people stayed in their seats and quietly prayed before heading out the door. Their love for God was clearly visible. It was truly a challenge for me. One lady wanted me to pray for her. I explained that I have to pray in English because I don’t speak Mandarin or Hakka, their local dialect. Through a translator, she told me her prayer requests, and I prayed with her. Moments earlier the pastor was preaching on “Doing the Lord’s Work.” I was praying that I would be an effective servant for God and for a chance to minister for Him, even in a place where I couldn’t understand their language nor culture. Was it a coincidence that this lady had asked me amongst the other team-members standing nearby? I didn’t think so. I’ve learnt that this was what it means to walk according to God’s ways – it was about having a willing and obedient servant’s heart. It somehow made it easier to understand how God can orchestrate things.

“Small things have great significance.”
The second youngest student in my class was a girl named Sophie, aged 14. She was extremely quiet. If she needed to ask us for something, she would ask someone else to ask us. At the end of the first day, she wanted to join another class because her friend was there. Our team leader was also the headmaster of the summer school, and he didn’t allow anyone to simply move from one class to another. So she stuck in our class, usually sitting on one of the back tables, keeping to herself. On one of the days, the topic was Advertisements. After the initial teaching and showing examples, we had a practical part of the class. For this topic, students were to bring something from home, and then draw/write up an advertisement on it. Sophie didn’t bring anything, and she sat alone with a blank piece of paper in front of her for a good 20 minutes or so. I sat beside her and asked if she knew what to do. She shook her head. Then I asked if I can help. She shrugged. I then asked if she wanted me to draw some flowers for her. She nodded. As I started to draw a bunch of roses on the piece of paper with some pencils and textas, she began to grab some crayons and help add colour to the roses. It was a bouquet now, not just a bunch of flowers, complete with some blue ribbon tied around the stems. Adding a heading, some text and a price tag (for some reason she put ¥150!), it was a masterpiece. The moment came at the end of the class when she said her first English sentence in class: “Thankyou for drawing the flowers for me.” I hadn’t noticed the brightness of anyone’s smile until that moment. Just one small favour plastered that smile on her face for the rest of the course. The dinner at McDonalds a few days later brought out the hyperactivity in her.

“When who you are, how you behave, what you believe, think and say are in agreement, then you’re someone worth listening to.”
During the feedback session on the last day, it wasn’t actually the act of speaking English that they got the most out of – it was the values that we taught. We would ask questions like:
• "When you think of love, what other things would you think about?"
• "When you receive love, how do you feel?"
• "When you give love, how do you feel?"
• "What is honour and who do you honour?"
• "When someone is dishonoured, how will he/she feel and what will he/she end up doing?"
• "How should you treat someone who has been dishonoured?"
The class came up with their answers – and they were good! We even split the class into two and gave them a topic of debate: "Is love a strength or a weakness?" In the end the students came up with the conclusion:
"Love is a strength, as it empowers and builds. When it tears down and is based on selfish ambitions – a weakness – it is not love at all. True love is hard to find."
The students really got a lot out of these lessons and they came up with ways to demonstrate them, even outside of class. These were the seeds that we planted.

"We're all part of God's team, and we play different roles."
I have learnt to accept and be grateful for gifts, no matter how big or small. It is a blessing when people give, and I should not rob them of that blessing by denying their gift. One part of me wanted to refuse when some people took us (some people in our team) out for dinner and wanted to pay for all of us. We were already losing the argument that ensued. My spirit felt uneasy with the way I was thinking. I had to let go, even if my mind was telling me that it does seem like the people were sacrificing way out of their means. These things happened quite a lot and it began even well before my trip.
Even here at home people were donating money. I have learnt to also accept these gratefully. Not everyone will actually go on an overseas trip. But the few who go represent all of God's team. And those who don't go have the opportunity to support those who go - in prayer, in encouragement, and financially. They also take part on the journey of someone going overseas by sowing into the ministry. Not everyone can be the legs that go, but we can all be the hands that take them there!

It's about being a willing and obedient servant of God. You don't need a specific calling to step out – all you need is to GO, and God will provide the means. If you don't know, just GO!

"...the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." - Matthew 9:37, Luke 10:2a (NIV)