My family and I had the privilege of traveling to China a week ago to partner in ministry with our friends at Haidian Church in Beijing. Many of you have read or heard of the longstanding relationship our church has with this vibrant church, and it’s an honor to watch and play a small part in the powerful things God is doing in this massive and quickly growing nation.
We arrived on a Wednesday evening, and since this was the first mission trip I’ve taken with an 8-year-old, 12-year-old, and 15-year-old, we took part of the next 2 days to get settled and meet some of the people we planned to spend time with. Saturday was spent in 2 sessions with about 75-80 volunteers at Haidian Church (part of a total of over 500 people who currently serve in some capacity in their worship ministry). This was a great opportunity to build friendships, pray with people, and encourage both spiritually and practically. I talked with them about how to focus our hearts on Jesus in music rehearsals, mitigate conflict in teams, mutually submit to one another as we serve and use technology to solve problems. Great people, good questions, and such open hearts. Then we headed to a small dinner with Pastor Peter Wu (the lead pastor of Haidian Church) and a few others. As we were sitting at dinner, Pastor Wu asked me to preach for their Sunday morning English speaking service—something I was not prepared for! However, I was honored to share from God’s Word with the people. It was a late night and early morning as I spent serious time with the Lord preparing a message.
Sunday was by far the most exciting day of ministry I’ve had in my 3 trips to China. Ali (my 15-year-old daughter) and Kim (my wife) were asked to play violin and piano as special music in a Chinese language service and the English service. The church was packed—standing room only. Worship was vibrant, and the people sang with such passion (both Chinese and English). The English service is a moving place to be because people of many ethnicities from every corner of the world meet to worship together. Preaching the Word in that service was a joy and an honor. The Lord gave me some thoughts from Ephesians 5:15-21 about centering our lives on worship, prioritizing daily personal worship with the Lord, and letting that flow out into the way we see and treat others.
After the services, we spent the entire Sunday afternoon and evening ministering to people. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. We started in a room at one restaurant from 1:00-5:00pm, and went to another restaurant from 5:30-8:00pm with a steady stream of people coming to ask both Kim and me questions. Some were leaders in the church, some were parents raising children, young single adults, you name it—we got asked questions on every imaginable topic:
How do I live righteously prior to marriage?
How do I live as a godly mother and deal with the guilt I feel when I yell at my kids?
How do we teach kids at church camp and Sunday school to obey?
How do I know if the voice I hear is God’s voice or my own?
How do I overcome fear and gain confidence in my faith?
Why did you say in your sermon that God created the heavens? In school I was taught about a Big Bang and people evolved from monkeys. Which one is true? (try answering that one through a translator!)
It was such a blessing to be able to open the Scripture over and over again and talk with people about what God thinks about life. My overall impression is that people are hungry to take what they know about God in their heads and learn how to intersect that with their daily lives. My wife was really good in those conversations. She had many women gathered around her, asking for advice on parenting and being a godly woman. We were honored to be given a place of ministry. The entire day was spent talking to people, praying with them and sharing life.
The capstone of the day was at dinner that evening. There was a young lady there whose parents attended the life group that was hosting the meal. She was heading off in a few days for school to a far away province in Western China. She had believed in God before, but one of the women in the group had been discipling her, and the young lady had finally made a decision to get baptized that evening. Since Mark Nicklas and I baptized a guy in a restaurant in China back in April, I guess the life group figured we have a “restaurant baptism” ministry! So the young lady and I had a conversation about the basics of faith in Jesus, we got a bowl of water and some towels, and we celebrated baptism right there in the restaurant! My kids were impacted. They couldn’t believe the open hearts of people to talk about faith in Jesus and share life together. It feels like you go from 0-60 in relationships with people in a matter of minutes.
Spending a Sunday in Beijing was an eye opening experience for us. Since people work such long hours in China, they don’t get to fellowship with each other much during the week. Believers there truly maximize their Sundays. It’s not just “go to church and then go home.” It’s unplanned, there is time for people and relationships, and the fellowship is rich. There is no difference between the teaching of the Word in church and the living of the Word in the afternoon. It’s just all ministry. It was humbling to be part of and challenging to consider that we don’t do this as often here at home. Our busy, individualistic, American lifestyle prevents so many of us (my family included) from enjoying this kind of life with the family of God. In a nation that is still a small percentage Christian, the Chinese believers rely on each other so much. It is beautiful.
"It's unplanned, there is time for people and relationships, and the fellowship is rich...the Chinese believers rely on each other so much. It is beautiful."
I know many of you were praying with us as we traveled. God answered those prayers with safety, good times of ministry, and some deep work in our hearts. Thank you for your partnership in the work God is doing here at home and around the world.
Brent
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