Just Smile

Several friends & I this month had an incredible opportunity to spend time with and get to know a local missionary worker in China. We sat in a small room full of bunk beds at a hostel & in a quiet manner-heard his story of how this man got from Colorado Springs all the way to China. I couldn’t help but share a glimpse of his story with you & hope that you will be inspired as much as I was.

This man discovered at 8 years old that he was called to go share the love of Jesus to the un-reached people groups of this earth.

At 12 years old he made a decision to go to China & started a plan.

He studied at University and actually received 5 degrees, one of them being in the Chinese language. This man is a genius!

Many years later he was invited from one of the China Universities for him to go & do his student teaching for one of the classes. Upon arrival-they saw how young he was and realized that he would have been teaching people older than himself-so they sent him to a middle school to do his teaching internship.

During classes at first he said that he walked in fear and timidity-he did not want to get kicked out for being open about the gospel-yet he knew that is why he was in china-so he could share the gospel & wanted to do so, very badly. 

One day when he was walking around town-he had been asking God for an answer-to show him what he should do in this tough situation of wanting to be wise & not increase his chances in getting kicked out, yet at the same time he wanted to do what he was called to do in China.

To his surprise, walking by a basketball court he saw a young gal playing basketball in the middle of the hot day, & even more surprised, he noticed that she was using her left hand. (In china i’ve been told it’s looked down upon in some areas to use your left hand)

In that moment, he decided that he would go and play basketball with her & possibly teach her some new skills, for he was also left handed too.

As they started playing basketball, this young gal started to share the gospel with him & he claims that he was utterly SHOCKED! He went on to say that God used a random gal playing basketball to show him that he no longer needed to walk in a spirit of timidy and fear but of power & love!

This same gal that he met playing basketball-also started to share encouraging bible verses to him over text on a daily basis. At first, he was so scared! Because the government in China is able to look through every text message and phone call recording-& seems to keep a close eye on anything that expresses the Christian faith.

This man went to the extent to ask this gal to please stop sending those bible verses over text-for he was afraid of the government finding out about him as a missionary worker in China, covering up as a teacher.

But, in a series of conversations this gal, she shared something with him that would change his life forever. She said something along the lines of “I know there is risk to sending those verses to you. I know I could get in a lot of trouble too, 5 years of jail. I also know what I do and share with others may upset the governor if he finds out, but I am more concerned about what my eternal governor thinks & that is what is important to me”

This left him inspired-in which he went on to start sharing pieces and tid-bits of the gospel story and stories in the bible during classes & also inspired him to walk in more boldness wherever he went-despite the laws & rules that were against him sharing his faith in Jesus.

Woah!!!

One more story this man shared that I think will inspire you too is a story about God’s miracle through one big smile.

This friend of mine shared that one day in China several years back he started to walk with so much boldness in love, that he even started handing out books on the street that shared the gospel with people. He used to get questioned for hours at a time & stopped in the streets by officials due to him being a foreigner in a place that was so secluded from outside contacts of China.

One day when he was handing out books to those he met-he was also stopped and questioned. The officer said that “He knew he was trouble but was unsure what kind of trouble he was to China so would have to take him to the police station to be questioned more.” Upon getting into the police car, Peter initially started out terrified & wondering if his life calling to live in China was about to be jepordized.

During that car ride he prayed for God’s miraculous intervention & was not sure how that would come about because he had a load of books in his back pack-surely he would be found out.

But here is where it get’s a little wild and crazy. Handcuffed and all, the policeman escorted him inside the police building to be questioned. As soon as he stepped into that door of the police station, the biggest smile appeared on his face and he could not control the joy he felt on the inside. He said he kept telling himself “stop it ___, you should act serious in a situation like this”

Long story short-He found himself connecting really well and hitting it off with the person who was supposed to question him, take his passport away, check his bags, and make him sign a ” proven guilty” paper. In that same time, the police staff member decided that searching through his bags and questioning him was not nessasary-so said he was free to go.

In utter shock-this man got up and walked away & realized that God answered his prayer for a miracle through the unstoppable smile that was put on his face in the most unconventional circumstances.

Talk about favor. How awesome is God, right?!

This man is not only a teacher here in China, but also a business owner who is running a rock climbing gym for the locals in a certain part of China. The rock climbing Gym is open in the evenings, & in the mornings the facility is used as a space to have bible studies, fellowship, and worship with believers & those interested in learning more about Jesus.

From my tid-bit of personal experience & learning from people like him-China has great challenges and risks when it comes to sharing the good news to others, but that does not stop local believers or international travelers from sharing something that means so much to them, in love.  I have the greatest respect for those who have served in China & continue to do so today!

Despite the real life persecution that happens to people in China who are boldly professing their faith-there is so much good that is happening too. The “secret” house church life is booming, believers are growing in numbers, freedom is happening, and lives are being made new!

For those of you who have given it your everything to make the love of Jesus known to the people God has entrusted you with-I commend and affirm you! To those in America-where we are free to express our beliefs and share our faith in Jesus without punishment-I encourage you to press in more! Let boldness in love, overflow out of you, what is there to loose?!

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love, and self discipline” 2 Timothy 1:7

Please partner with me in prayer for our brothers & sisters across the world today. You are awesome! 

Until next time, Kailey