Final Update: Back in NYC

Hey all,

We were all hoping that our flight would get delayed cuz of the typhoon. Too bad that didn’t happen and we didn’t get to stay a day longer in Shanghai and we’re back in nyc now. The typhoon was weaksauce!

We really saw God move. We’re debriefing now but grab one of us and we would love to share in person.

Ann is feeling better, thanks to those who prayed, but now Christine is sick. Please lift her up. Every day was so packed and long and physically tiring, but we tried to give it all each day. Now that we’re home, we’re looking forward to getting some rest!

Some recap:

Friday Outreach Night

We invited a buncha non-christian friends that we had met during the two weeks. It was a full house. Christine shared her testimony, GCC presented a skit, P. Yohan preached, and people raised their hands to accept Jesus. We really saw God working during this time. Everyone seemed engaged and interested. People who were closed to Christianity left with a great impression and I think they took a huge stride into really believing in Christ. Tracy (one of the friends I met on campus) came with another friend Lynn. Tracy seems really close to believing. She asked for a bible so I gave her one, and as she was speaking with Ann, she asked about Ann’s testimony.

I was saying goodbye to three of my friends whom I met at English Corner. They said they really enjoyed the night. When I asked if they wanted to believe in Jesus, they were hesitant but not completely closed, because they said they wanted to learn more about it. I had the privilege of praying for them (The opportunity came up spontaneously when I was walking them out). I’m grateful l for the opportunity. As I prayed for Taylor, she teared up and said it felt weird in her heart. Now, you’d think it would be my cue to say “That’s the Holy Spirit, Taylor!” But nope. Instead, I ended up saying something stupid like “Ohh that’s great, Taylor!” and ended at that. Oh dear.. The girls said they felt at peace and they left blessed from the night. I pray that all three would come to know the living God!

Unexpected Surprise on Saturday

We gave a professional seminar (our final ministry) from 10 to 5. The people who came out were new people whom we had never met before. Afterward the seminar, we invited some of them for dinner. Honestly, I thought we were “done” but nope, the table next to ours was praying for Martin one by one and he came to christ at the restaurant, just like that! Praise God! He came to Sunday service, and lol, he was telling people that today was his first “birth” day! Then he asked me something like, “When are you born?” (I believe he was asking when I accepted JC.) Something about a born-again Christian is really refreshing.

Sunday

We usually have Chinese service at 2pm, but we held an English service for the teams and the leaders of the church. We got to pray for the leaders during this service. All the leaders are pretty much new believers that came to Christ recently. Well, Jack, who came to saturday professional seminar, came out. Right before the Chinese Service, two members from GCC team shared the gospel with him and Jack came to Christ just like that too, right on time for the service. Pretty cool!

This is all I will share for now. Hope to share more in person. Thank you SO much for praying and supporting us. I felt like we were all enveloped and sustained by your prayers throughout the entire trip. Thankful for this church.

Karen

Seminars about God and work

Yesterday Karen and I gave our presentations on design education and working life, respectively. Afterward, one of the members from GCC gave a presentation on resume building and we had a time where we would help our friends with their resumes.

After lunch we went Tienzefang with our friends. Tienzefang is a place with lot of vintage shops in a tight location with narrow streets and old traditional Chinese houses. The first place that we all went to was Shokay, the Yak store that Ann works at. We all bought different things but the most popular item was the little animal dolls made of Yak yarn. Afterward Karen, our three friends Lynn, Jane, Lucie, and I went to several different shops and hung out. The best shop was the teashop where we got to try free cups of tea. One of my favorite tea was the Rose tea where hot water is poured on a dried rose and the rose blooms. We also got lot of complementary gifts because Karen bought a lot of tea. Overall we had so much fun hanging out with our friends.

Grace told us today that while sharing the gospel is important, it’s also just as important to build a relationship with the person first and genuinely care and love the person. The gospel is not all about giving the best theories and convincing evidences, but really showing that God loves them for who they are. Right now, I really feel that God is opening up our and their hearts and forming loving relationships here in Shanghai.

Church up in here!

Today we got to wship with the members of Reach (Kate’s Ch) and participate in communion. Wrshiping in Chinese was really great and refreshing. P Ulysses gave the srmn and we felwshiped with the members afterwards. I found out about a guy from Reach who came to Chst a few weeks ago, and got baptized right away! His girlfriend came to Chst last week and today, there was a seeker who came to the service also. I asked Kate what it is about China that it’s booming with new believrs, and she said that G has opened up a wide window at this point in time for China. She said now is really the time to pick the fruits because they are ripe as ever. I really see that this is really the day of slvation for China. Harvest is really really plentiful here, and it’s been super fun to be able to witness and be a part of the slvation story of China.

Karen