dosomething

Chinese customs

With the China trip coming up, here’s another China story to whet your appetite! This one is courtesy of Claire from Barnsley – cheers, Claire, great story and really encouraging.

If you want to come with us on the trip this summer, email Michelle for more details.

Hey guys. In the summer I went to China to deliver some Bibles. It was very cool! Here are some of the things that happened…

God taught me about his faithfulness. When I first arrived I was told to get on a particular bus and for some reason after I got on the bus I was really worried that I might be on the wrong one. At one particular stop everyone on the bus got off except me, which was pretty worrying. I just sat there and panicked for a few minutes because I thought I was totally lost in the middle of China and I didn’t even know where I was going! God reminded me of the bit where it says, “If God did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us, won’t he also, along with him, graciously give us all things.” I held on so tightly to that verse and kept reminding myself that God is faithful and he knows where I am (even if I don’t!) and he knows where I’m going. He gave Jesus for us and so there’s no way he’s going to abandon me in the middle of China! Stuff like this happened a few times… when someone tried to steal my passport, when I got lost, and when I thought I’d lost my passport. Every time I had a little panic and then reminded myself that God is good and he is always faithful, and I’m glad to say everything worked out fine.

Crossing the border was exciting! It was pretty intense, not because I thought anything really bad would happen, but just because I really wanted to get through! The first time I crossed the border I got caught (!) but it wasn’t that bad, somehow they still let me take quite a few books into China with me! It was such a weird feeling to have your stuff confiscated, you were standing there guilty, but all the time I was thinking how Jesus was unjustly condemned and it just felt like we were standing there together and it felt like such a privilege to share in that.

On the second day we went to the same border and I got recognised by the lady who checks your passport which was slightly worrying, but this time I walked straight though customs and no-one stopped me. It felt so good! The funniest thing is that you can’t run and jump or burst out laughing in case they notice you. Instead you just have to keep walking calmly with a bored expression on your face, but inside you want to burst!

In the second week I got stopped at the border again and this time I felt really sad. I’m not really sure why, but it just kinda felt like I’d failed. Our group spent some time praying…at first I just cried and God comforted me, and then we asked him what we should do. Either we could just give up, or we could go and reclaim our luggage and try crossing the border again. I wasn’t sure what would happen if we got caught for a second time-whether they would just take the books off us as normal, or if anything more serious would happen. But I know it’s good to suffer for Jesus and on the other hand, if we walked past the same security guards with the same bags 2 hours after getting caught then that’s amazing, that’s God’s power at work and it brings him even greater glory! We decided to try again and it was so much fun! I didn’t feel worried at all. We had to wait for about an hour to get our books back and then go through loads of different check points again. All the time we were waiting I was praying and singing and having such a good time! In the end we walked past the same security guard and I even put my bag on the x-ray machine but no-one stopped us. We took 2 full bags of bibles into China! We were so, so happy and we laughed and praised God, it was amazing. The best thing is that in a human way it would have been impossible, but with God it was possible and it brought him so much glory and pleasure.

*All the excitingness of crossing border was great, but one of the most special things from my trip was learning that Jesus is our travelling companion and intimacy with him is the most amazing thing. Often when I had my quiet time in the morning and when I was crossing the border alone, I had such a special time with Jesus, when it was just us and all I wanted to do was to give him my love. *