LOVE

"A great moment captured with most of the people at one of our parties."

Last night we threw our 2nd party. We had about the same amount of people, over 40, show up and enjoy our festivities. The greatest part about experiencing these parties is that we get to be a part of some of the most purely motivated Christ-like fellowship imaginable. What could be better then playing games with 40 people who all want to become brothers and sisters and learn more about Jesus? Throw in some of the most amazing fresh fruit you’ll ever find--and you’ve got yourself a good ol’ fashioned night of blessings. Truly the Lord has been gracious to us to grant us multitudes of opportunity to not only be used by the Spirit, but to enjoy them as well. One of the most common themes you’ll discover if you speak to any of us on this team when we get back to the states is: letting go; letting the Spirit take control; watch the light go on in the eyes of our readers; and allow us to enjoy the moment and be grateful to Whom deserves it. That truly encapsulates the feelings we get when we speak one-to-one with these amazing people. And it especially culminates when we all gather together in our tiny space and celebrate with a party.

We were also given the opportunity to experience something that was rare, un-safe, radical, scandalous, passionate, and life-changing. Here’s the story:

In order to reach our destination we first had to take a 40 minute car ride. After the car ride came a 20 minute crowded, public transportation, bus ride. We then proceeded to walk across downtown Xiamen for another 10 minutes. Finally, Caleb--one of our readers and guide for that day--took us to a building and said, “We’re here”. It was a tall building with a big metal gate prohibiting anybody from walking in. Caleb punched in a code in the number box to the right of the gate. We then walked in, and continued down a dark hallway until we reached the elevator. After riding the elevator up 3 floors we again walked down another dark hallway. Turning the corner another hallway awaited us with a faint light at the end of it. We walked into the room with the faint light and saw a room with all white and blank walls. There was a stage with a piano on it, a powerpoint projector, and about 110 seats. People then began to literally slide the front middle walls to the sides and behind it was a giant illuminated cross carved into the hidden wall. We were at an illegal church service! We were so excited! And to make a long story short: We have never experienced a fellowship like it! We were guests at the most passionate, real, and life-changing worship service we’ve ever attended. And we didn’t even speak the language! Some of us were moved to tears, others of us were communicating with God in a new way, others were lifting their hands in praise, and others were just touched by the Spirit. We will never be the same after what we experienced at that illegal service. Truth be told: there were moments afterward where we yearned to be illegal Christians rather than legal ones. That was truly an experience to treasure.

Please continue to be praying specifically for the readers that are on our list. We have many of them, and they all have their storms, celebrations, questions, and lives through which they are attempting to persevere. We are especially reaching some pinnacle moments with readers that are opening their hearts more. We would like to explain, briefly, some details about a few readers and plead that you please pray for these specific situations as well.

Tammy has a reader named Tina. We met Tina last year and she quickly became one of our favorites. She has been a believer for a little while now. However, with one of her last sessions with Tammy, we have discovered that Tina is struggling. Tina said, “It is very difficult for me to communicate with God lately. I feel like we are on opposite sides of the river and I do not know how to get to the other side.” Tina is a girl full of excitement, joy, and is loved very much. Please pray for her.

Mitch Clay has a reader named Angela. She is the closest to fluent English we will experience while we are here with our readers. Angela believes in God and wants to know Him better. She even read the whole Gospel of Luke in one night! But she, however, is very passionate about NOT being a Christian. Angela apparently had a bad experience with a Christian group being hurtful to her. So, she wants to be a believer in God without being a follower of God. This has created a very interesting and yet confusing situation. Please pray for the moments to come with her and Mitch that they work through this.

Julie has a reader named An Jou (pronounced Ann Shoe). What makes this particular situation exciting is that Julie inherited a very rare situation with An Jou is that she came to the LST program already knowing when and where she was going to be baptized. This is great because baptisms are something short-term LST mission trip goers don’t typically get to experience. Please be prayerful that An Jou’s baptism is a celebration for her and her family. But also pray that she will be able to withstand how much the devil will tempt her and try to distract her after such a decision is made. We all know how difficult this can be, and there are very few Christians in China. An Jou will definitely need prayers.

Mitchell Roush has a reader named Louis. He came to LST earlier this summer with the middle-aged couple that was here before us. Louis had never heard of Jesus before at all. He has been reading with Mitch and playing basketball with him several times now. Louis is a lot of fun with a great sense-of-humor. Since starting to come to LST, he has purchased his own Bible, which he is reading, and he has begun to pray with God fairly regularly. This is very exciting news! However, the idea of devoting his whole life to Jesus is still very scary to him and he doesn’t know if he will able to make the decision about baptism because of that. Please be prayerful that the Spirit can continue to touch Louis’ heart.

Thank you so much for your support, prayers, love, and passion to become part of this mission with us. The Spirit is certainly active and providing many people with courage we didn’t know existed! We will continue to pray for all of you as well. From Jimei, China: We love you!

~ Grace and Peace be with you