I try to avoid spiritual allusions as much as possible when I write. I am a deeply spiritual person, but in writing it comes out sounding trite. There are certain phrases that are so overused that they become plastic. For better or worse, I would rather have a deep understanding that God’s hand is orchestrating every part of my life and never mention it than say something that makes God seem small or cliché…or even that would give the impression that I am some spiritual elite. I am, of course, I just don’t want people to know I’m A Team.
That said, I am going to attempt a story that needs to be told. Its probably the most remarkable thing that has happened in my life…or has been revealed to me at this point. Its about a girl named Judy… at least that was the name her first English teacher gave her. Her real name is Ji Jing Jie.
I have written some about my path to China. Like many people who go overseas, I felt inadequate to go. Like I wasn’t at the level I needed to be. Funny, that makes me think of Mario Brothers. I was at level three and somehow found a way to make a hole in the roof, breezed over the top of it and next thing I knew I was at level eight…without fireballs…and I was scared. Honestly, I never had a heart for the world. I still don’t…not really. I had done a missions class for a semester in college where I learned about all the things going on in the world, but mostly we just listened to stories from real people about their experiences. I truly believe, no amount of pleading for the souls of people, or descriptions of poverty and bereavement would ever have convinced me to be a missionary. Unfortunately, I’m not that compassionate. But when I heard story after story about what God was doing all over the world, people who had suffered and been tortured for the gospel, it got me excited…not to save people, but to get caught up in the flow of His mighty works in this big world.
I would go back home to my little world of business classes, sorority meetings and movie nights, and I knew there was something much bigger out there if I had the guts to try. Ultimately we all live in our own little world, whether its in Slovakia or Corsicana, we’re just little people. I just wanted to witness God in a bigger way…catch a glimpse of His glory with a wider lens. But I was afraid about any expectations there were about MY role in all of this. There are certain underlying assumptions that people have about missionaries…that they have a mission, for instance…or some deep love for the nations, or at least the specific people they are ministering to…or that they are ministering at all. These things made me nervous.
The week before our team got on the plane for China, we had a briefing in California. Hundreds of young people from all over the States gathered and prepared to go to East Asia. They gave us a whole day to be alone and in prayer. I went down to the beach and had a long conversation with the Lord about what was going to happen. I don’t remember much about it, but what I do remember was asking to be used by him like a tool. I was very aware that I didn’t have much to offer and the thought of going over there to save people didn’t sit well in my soul. A hammer can’t do anything without a person to lift it and exert some sort of power behind it. So I just asked God to do big things…and if he got around to it… to use me to do it. I was already going to be there anyway. The whole idea that God would use me, when he could just use a sunset or a rock to speak of His love and grace for the world, was pretty humbling. I’m not sure what I expected, but I knew even with the best training, ultimately I was me. I also asked God to make His work evident, because I tend to take credit for a lot of things He does.
Fast-forward about a month and I’m walking around on my new campus, trying to ignore the heat, and looking for Chinese girls that I could meet briefly and write their name and number in my little book. Little did they know I would eventually create an excel spreadsheet on a hidden drive in my computer with their Chinese name, English name, class, dorm number, room number and phone number, with interested? and not interested columns beside them. This was for efficiency and effectiveness of the mission. It seemed a little CIA to me, but what the hell did I know? They were all just strange faces to me and I was doing my job.
Then I would go back to my dorm and start sorting. Freshman or Sophomore? Highlight and add to the spreadsheet. Junior or Senior? Ex out. There was a strategy and juniors and seniors don’t have the time we need to grow them into leaders. One name, I don’t remember it now, went into the sophomore category with a star to give her a call. I set up a tea at a quaint little tea house near the campus. She decided to bring eight friends. The nine of us sat around a table eating wasabi peas and drinking tea while they practiced their conversational English. I asked them questions like…”What is your favorite hobby?” “What is your major?” “Do you have a boyfriend?” and “Where is your hometown?” Finally I tried some deeper questions. “What is success to you?” Most of the girls said money. If they can have more money that will show that they are successful. One girl, who was not very outspoken until this moment, said firmly “I do not think money means success. There are many things in life more important than money.” I found out her name was Judy as we talked more on lighter subjects. The next day I sent her a text to see if she wanted to meet for lunch.
A few days later we were at a little soup place near campus eating a bowl of noodles and pig liver soup. I gulped down bite by bite with a fake pleasant smile on my face and tried to get to know my new friend Judy. I asked about her family, where they lived, are they close...”I know many Chinese are Buddhist, is your family?”
“Only my grandmother, we are taught in school that there is no God, just to believe in ourselves.”
This is a phrase I had heard a few times already. “Judy, is this what you believe?” I ask.
“No, I do not think I believe this.”
I’m intrigued…”What do you believe?”
She answers, “I believe..” long pause as she searches for the english word… “Christianity.”
My spoon drops into my bowl and I try not to appear shocked as I try to get to the bottom of this. I ask if her parents are Christians…no…does she have friends who are Christians…no…does she know or has she known any Christian believers…no. Huh? Her dad knew a Christian once, maybe they worked together. He came home one day with a Bible that his friend gave him. She didn’t think her dad ever picked it up or looked at it. But she couldn’t help herself…she started reading it. And then an amazing thing happened…she believed it.
As I’m piecing together her amazing story, I feel my spirit pull away from myself and look down on the two of us at a soup place..in a random city…in China…and I wonder what God is seeing. Tears filling my eyes, I tell her that I am a Christian too, and that means we are sisters. She smiles, her calm sweet smile, then her brain starts working, “Can you teach me the Bible? There is so much that I don’t understand.” I only spent the last six months praying, preparing, raising $30,000 and training for this exact scenario. “Sure, I can probably make some time in my schedule for that.”
Over the next few months I walked her through the verses that tell you about personally receiving Christ into your heart…what that means and looks like. Then for the next year and a half she would come over and study the Bible with me once a week. She would soak it up and she grew in wisdom and maturity in faith so quickly. She is the quiet leader type. A soft and compassionate spirit, with a firm solid belief and a quick, intelligent mind. She’s the kind that fits twice as much in her day as everyone else, but is half as stressed. She is calm and sure. I learned so much from her.
By the time I left, she was leading friends and classmates to Christ and during her senior year, when I was back at home, she lead her own Bible studies and trained other girls. She is still involved with some campus ministry and volunteers at an orphanage regularly. I can’t believe I got to have her in my life. When I look back on that prayer I prayed in LA, I couldn’t have imagined how God was going to answer it. He did all the work, I just got to be there to witness it. He knew he had a daughter stranded alone in a dark city, so he picked me up out of America and plopped me down in front of her one day. Kristyn, meet Judy. Judy, meet Kristyn. I’ve been preparing you both for this day.
