Posts Tagged ‘China DTS’
November 30th, 2010
Oh yes…we were on our way to China.
CHINA.
Writing about China 6 years later makes me appreciate the relationship I have with the Father even more.
Our outreach leader was a man named Rob Paugh…and today, he is one of the people we consider to be our good friend. We had the opportunity to teach english at The Global Institute for Languages which opened up the doors to the lives of students ages 5-50 years of age. In China, the position of “teacher” is revered and it is considered an honor for your teacher to visit your home…so, needless to say, we were invited to spend many evenings with the families of our students.
I remember the first time I went to dinner at one of my student’s homes…and thank God I was raised by a southern momma. On a whim, I bought an arrangement of flowers for the “woman of the house” before I made my way over. When I arrived at the home I knocked on the door and when the door was opened, I peered inside, and I am not kidding, there were 16 pairs of eyeballs looking back at me.
Talk about pressure… I had no idea that it was customary to gather ALL FAMILY to meet “the Teacher.”
However, here I was, for what was probably the first time in my life, feeling shy.
That’s right…no need to re-read, I WAS FEELING SHY. Now, I didn’t say I ACTED shy…just feelin’ it. I rolled with it though…and, had a great evening.
The second time I was invited back to this student’s home, the Mother asked me to follow her back into her bedroom. As I stepped into her room, she closed the door behind us. I remember being slightly frightened and stories of christians being tortured ran through my mind, however, I felt like if I had to, I could take down this women with a stature of 4′ 8″…just saying.
So, we are in her bedroom…she closes the door, walks to the window, closes the shutters AND the curtains, and then walks back to me and asks, “Are you a chrisitan?”
Now, for those of you who know me, you are aware that I do not walk in fear…I am from New Orleans, for God’s sake, but at this moment, I became fearful. You see, China has strict policies on religious freedom, and I wasn’t sure if this was a situation that I had been warned about…again, the torture stories came rolling through…
“Are you a christian?”
I answered, “yes.”
She smiled broadly, walked to a desk that was covered with a cloth with piles of books on it, removed the books, pulled back the cloth, and underneath the glass were pictures of her JESUS, along with scriptures hand written in broken English by her …
She showed me this hidden alter to the God we BOTH served and said, “Me too…”
I often wonder about her…we lost touch eventually, our lives taking different paths, however, I will never forget that precious moment, two sisters in Christ, praising Him, hidden behind closed doors…
Creating a Shift in Culture…
katherine
