Sunday August 9, 2009

We got up early this morning because we had numerous places to go.We first went to an outlet mall to buy umbrellas because it was supposed to rain heavily.Then we went the zoo to see the pandas.We saw about 8 pandas, they were so adorable!After seeing the pandas we went to the International Church of Beijing and a really neat thing happened.

Side note:This past fall I had been praying if God wanted me to go back to Honduras where I had gone the previous spring break with my church.I didn't feel God calling me back there, at least not this year.I started praying and asking God where He wanted me.I went to a weekend retreat at our school called Spiritual Rush and the speaker, John Randall, spoke on getting outside of our comfort zone and serving in other countries.He started listing countries and then he said China and right then and there I felt God press China on my heart.My honest first reaction was "China? Really God are you sure?"Never in a million years would I have thought I would be going to China.I told my parents that night what I felt called to and it was funny because my mom told me she had just read that Beijing was one of the most polluted places in the world haha and who would have thought that was the place I would be going.Both my parents encouraged me though that if that is where in fact God wanted me He would continue to reveal His will for me.Spiritual Rush ended on Saturday night and Sunday evening I had planned on going to a Business as Mission conference in Plano with my Management professor and a couple of classmates.I looked up Business as Mission on the internet to get a little background before we went and I found out that the man who created Business as Mission organization is stationed in China.I got so excited.I thought I am a business major and I feel God calling me to China, this must be where He wants me!So I went to the conference to hear Dwight Nordstrom talk about his organization and purpose.Although I didn't feel that is where God wanted me at the point in time, I really enjoyed it.I then questioned if I heard God right on being called to China so I continued to pray for God to reveal where He wanted me.Just a couple of days later I was checking my email at work and I always delete the mass emails after I have read them, but for some reason I didn't delete this one.It was an email about the DBU ESL program and then I read CHINA.Right then God pressed on my heart, "this is where I want you to go."After work that day I went to fill out an application and the rest is history.

This all began in October, the conferences and all, and nine months later we step out of our van to go into a church and a man came over to greet us.He began asking where we were from and what we were doing.As he was talking I was thinking to myself man does he look familiar and as he continued to direct traffic he said "Business as Mission" and it hit me.I said "Oh my gosh, I saw you speak in Plano just a couple of months ago" and he gave me his card.What a small world—to see him in Dallas and then a couple months later at a church in China!God works in such cool ways!I looked for him afterwards, but couldn't find him.After seeing him though it got me thinking.Our team had talked about why we thought God specifically called us on this trip.Just the other night at the Friday night fellowship a Chinese American man briefly talked to me and he gave me his card.I didn't have any pockets at the time so I put his card at the front of my bible.Later when I opened my bible his card fell out and I looked on it and it said his name and then under his name it said Senior Financial Planner and I didn't even know how to react.We had not even talked about professions and for those of you who do not know, God has placed a desire on my heart to be a financial planner.Both experiences were just really cool to see how God was confirming His desires for me and who knows maybe one day I will be working in China with one of those men.

It has been really cool how God has been showing us our passions here in China because we have been wondering why He had called us here when most of us had never before felt called to China.My roommate Melissa has a heart for Muslims and will be going to Iraq in the spring and it turns out her T.A.'s boyfriend is Muslim, China is one of the most populated Muslim countries, and she has seen numerous Mosques as we have been out and about.It has been cool to witness God revealing that to her when she was wondering with her heart for Muslims why God would send her to China.God is so awesome!I love all the special ways He confirms and reveals Himself!

After church we went to the Hutong, which is an over 100 year old village that shows what old China used to look like.It was neat.It did start to pour on us so it was good that Grace had taken us to get umbrellas.I actually bought a poncho haha.We rode these rigshaws around the village.That was cool.When the emperor used to stay there, there is this secret passage way that leads up to Tiananmen Square.It was a secret passage for military use.

After Hutong, Grace took us to eat Peking duck.She ordered so many wonderful dishes as she always does.

It was a long, but wonderful day!I can't believe this is our last week of teaching!I have mixed feelings.I am excited to see my family and friends and share all that God has done here in China and in me, but it is going to be so hard to leave!

"I press toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:14