China Part I - Han

Hello blog!

Well, I have not posted on here in a while--a long while. I have had intentions to though!! I have gotten complaints from people because I say "I'll post again soon" and don't.. So, sorry about that! But for now I want to share a story from my trip.
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Now first off, from the moment I step in the airport, I think about my mission to wherever my destination may be. I pray about the people I will minister there, for God to prepare their hearts and minds to our message. I know that we are supposed to be on mission all the time, and I am a strong believer in that, but for some reason when I'm on a mission trip I think and pray about the ministering I will be doing at my destination -the plane ride is just a means to get me there, and It never occurred to me to pray for who God would have me minister to on the plane, or on the way to my destination. But from now on I will be, thanks to an encounter with a 19 year old Chinese exchange student named Han.

As I walked down the isle to my plane seat on the first flight, I came to my row. I saw that I would be seated in the middle, between a woman at the window and a young Chinese guy on the isle. I did the usual, shoving my backpack into the tiny space they give you under the seat in front of you and wondering why I packed so dang much in my carry on. As the plane got into the air, the guy to my right, Han, started a conversation. I was glad, and we started to talk. I found out that he attends an American university in the north, but that he is from China and was returning to his family's city very close to the city I was going to. We talked for a while, then there was a little bit of silence. Then I had that feeling-that feeling that you know God is going to ask you to do something, and that you will feel extremely guilty by not following through. God was asking me to evangelize to Han-- to figure out his "status" on what he believed. I knew I had to. I knew if I didn't at least figure out if he was a Christian or not I would feel like crud later, so, I took a deep breath (wondering what I was getting into) and opened up the door..

"Soooo... do you go to a Church near your school?"

"Oh-ah, no, I don't do Church." He said, being caught a little off gaurd.

"OK. Well, what do you believe about God?"

He went on to tell me that in his mind there is no God, and that he believes strongly in evolution; he is a science major, so he basically believes everything he learns about evolution from his textbooks at his secular school. I told him I was a Christian.

Me: "Hmmm, ok. I tell you what, how about you tell me your beliefs and then I get to tell you my Christian beliefs?"

He said ok, and told me his beliefs. From the Big Bang, to us coming from monkeys, to there being no God, he believes it all, along with some weird mystical beliefs his Grandmother taught him. Well, that set it off for me. I literally dropped an Evange-Bomb right on his brain. (You can always carry those bombs on the plane, right? :P) Poor guy. He had no idea what kind of Creationist-God loving-always-open-to-sharing-my-faith- (especially with Chinese students!) kind of chick he was sitting next to. I took him %100 through creation to salvation. It was incredible, and as I talked with him I found myself getting more and more energized and into it with every word I was saying. I loved every minute of it. It started to be more of a God ad creation vs. evolution discussion/debate and I made big points on how,

"You're a smart guy, Han. I mean, you're a science major, you know about all of the intricate tiny cells in our body, and how detailed science is. These kind of things can't come from some random chance of chemicals blowing up out of no where- there had to be, and there is an Intelligent Designer behind all of this. And He loves you, and He sent his Son to die for you, and..............."

And on I went. He would try and tell me how evolution just had to be the way, but I was the only one with proof that creation was the way. His main issue was faith in the unseen, but I told him how evolution is totally faith in unseen things, and that it is just a theory with barely any true evidence. It was amazing, and I really encouraged him to find and get a Bible and start reading through the gospels. I would have loved to have had a Bible to give him. He said he would try to get one, and that he was interested in what I was saying. I gave him a salvation bracelet a team member sitting on the row behind me had, and he loved it. I got his e-mail address, and I am going to e-mail him soon. I would love to get his address in America and send him a copy of the movie "Expelled," ( I haven't seen it, but heard it is awesome and amazing how the evolution theory is busted and creation points to God.) or maybe some of the books or DVDs called "Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution". I told him about those resources and he was interested. He also told me, though, that "I don't think I could really be a Christian since there aren't very many at my university." I told him that I'm sure that there is a church near his university and Christian groups within his school. Another funny thing he said was "Yeah, my friend has a Bible in Chinese, and I was reading it one time, but I think I want to get an English Bible because the Chinese one was boring." LOL. Hmmm. Well.. OK then! Good luck to ya! Ha, I can just imagine the poor guy starting and reading through Leviticus or Numbers imagining how on earth Christians read that. I told him that the Gospels were a great place to start. =)

Another cool thing was that we were on the same following flight from LA to Hong Kong as well. We were not near each other, but since he was by himself, he came along with the college team and I. It was so neat because he knew that we were all Christians and from the same church, and when I introduced him to our team they were so inclusive and awesome to him, so I think that really gave him a great impression of what being a Christian is about. One guy on our team who brought his guitar got it out while we were waiting at the airport and played a few things, then he even let Han do some stuff on it since Han played guitar too! I think he really liked the team.

Please pray for Han. Please pray that God would be tugging at his heart from the words he heard on that plane ride, and that I would be able to reach out to him more via e-mail.

Well, it you've stuck with my long post 'till now I commend you. =) I learned that even an hour into a mission trip God will be moving in big ways, and that we are on mission to everyone we meet not only at our destination, but to the people sitting next to us on the plane, to the airport workers and the flight attendants. Even if it is a simple smile and thank you, and something to make them wonder what is different about you, we are on mission. We are on mission no matter where we go.