all in a week
The last week has been FULL. Starting with the devastating storms that ripped through the south. I was captivated by the coverage and heartbroken to hear that our new friends Justin and Alana Karl who serve with Campus Crusade in Tuscaloosa at the university of alabama lost nearly everything but their lives surviving the tornado. If you haven't seen their interview on fox news here's the link:
If the Lord puts it on your heart to give to meet their immediate needs here is a link that goes directly to an emergency fund for the Karls: https://give.ccci.org/give/2732127
Also Alana writes a blog so if you're interested in keeping up with the recovery progress Alana's is:
http://justinandalanakarl.blogspot.com
http://justinandalanakarl.blogspot.com
Friday I flew down to Destin for our first ever regional women's staff retreat. I did not know what to expect (other than that I'd be missing R intensely, being gone on his birthday), but it was such a sweet time with great friends. I definitely reconnected with some women that other than during my wedding week I hadn't really been able to catch up with since returning from Asia. Just as I was processing all of the food for thought the retreat offered and reconnecting with the Lord, Sunday night Obama announced the capture/death of Usama Bin Laden.
That announcement has brought so many ambivalent feelings to heart. I remember in the wake of 9-11 facing the fact that I too have this same disease in my heart and am capable on some level of unspeakable evil were it not for the grace of Christ. It certainly makes me ready for the day I will stand before Christ and be like Him.
I returned from our retreat Monday (was that just yesterday!?) morning to our favorite evacuee- R's brother J. He attends Covenant college and due to the damage in Chattanooga and a lack of water on the mountain they cancelled finals and evacuated the campus. So we get him as a houseguest for another few days!
What I really wanted to post about in all of this was our experience last night. Through mutual friends R & I were asked to help communicate and translate with a PhD student at Georgia Tech from China. It was definitely my favorite 2 hours of the last week.
It was a joy to hear about sweet Ping's search for God which began with what sounds like the biggest disappointment of her life- her wedding. Ping married a man from a rural Chinese Christian background. His family is "devoutly" Christian (although from her account of it- there seems to be some syncretism in practice) and insisted on a "Christian" wedding.
Most Chinese girls dream of a traditional ceremony where they wear a red qipao and observe many Chinese traditions (some superstitious but some just traditions). In recent years though, many Chinese girls have been exposed to Western movies and TV shows which romanticize the "western"/ "Christian" wedding showing a beautiful chapel, white dress, and lots of flowers.
Ping would have been content with either but what she received was an hour and a half prayer time during her ceremony in a dialect she couldn't understand. She was neglected the traditional Chinese wedding but her dreams of a Christian wedding were unmet as well.
I was so sad that this had been her first exposure to believers! But as the evening went on we saw that the Lord has been pursuing her in the US and she continues to seek out believers and ask questions about the gospel and the Bible. Please pray with us that God will continue to change her heart about who Christians are but most of all speak to her clearly about who He is!
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