Sunday July 25

Today was a transition day as we flew from Beijing to a city further west to begin our “official” ministry. Upon arrival, we met a group from McKinney Fellowship Bible for lunch. It was a great time of hearing how they have been working with youth in the earthquake zone as well as doing friendship evangelism through conversational English at a Western coffee house. We were encouraged and challenged by their stories and fellowship. In the afternoon, we visited the school that we will be teaching English at for the next four days in order to meet our local contacts and assess our classroom space. In the evening we met to plan for the next day as well as to have a devotional on five thresholds of conversion – the first being building trust. We finished with a time of prayer for our work. We all feel inadequate for our task but are trusting God – knowing that He loves to use weak vessels to achieve His purposes.

We were reminded today of how God is at work in all circumstances and there really are no “non-ministry” days. Even though today was supposedly a transition day and our “official” ministry in this new city had not begun, God blessed us with both a conversion and opportunities to plant seeds. The conversion was one of those rare instances where those who planted the seeds were also able to reap the harvest. A young lady that Dan & Sarah first talked to about Jesus several years ago during their ministry here, declared to Sarah today that she was ready to accept Christ! I’m sure Sarah will be providing more details, but as this is sure to be a highlight of our trip, I wanted you to be able to rejoice with us in what God has done.

Additionally, God provided opportunities for some of us to plant seeds today in something as simple as the plane ride from Beijing. I sat next to a 23 year old man who had just graduated from university and is starting his career as a designer of fighter planes for the government. We talked about many things including his family, his country, and his love of NBA basketball. He saw that I was reading Watchman Nee’s “The Normal Christian Life” and asked me about it. Through this I was able to find out that he has an Aunt who is a believer and has been trying to get him to consider Christianity. He said his grandmother is Buddhist and this has created many arguments between his Aunt and grandmother. He mentioned how large of a book the Bible was and said he has been too busy with his studies. I suggested that he might want to just read the book of John to find out more. Please pray that God would use this encounter to spur him to read the Bible and consider the claims of Christ.

Mike Busch