London III

Right after graduating from college I jumped on a plane heading for China. There were two teams of fifteen of us from my church that were going to spend the next six weeks together. I knew one girl from my sorority and one guy from my high school. I knew neither of them well. I went because I knew if I didn’t I would probably never go on another mission trip. I had no idea what life after college held for me, but being a missionary was never one of my career options and I needed to put my two cents in before it was too late. Plus I was certainly going to meet my husband right away and start having babies and life was going to be too hectic to think about running off to other countries.
That six weeks was life changing for me in ways that I still have trouble articulating. I learned that I could be very happy even when I am very uncomfortable. For some reason, as Americans, we are so afraid to be uncomfortable. It is the one thing we are constantly guarding against. I was hot all the time and I had to sleep under a mosquito net and sit in a class for four hours straight every day and eat some things that I didn’t know were edible. But I didn’t die and I was very happy at times. I learned that being the first person to speak the name of Jesus to someone is just as profound as leading them to Christ. I learned that being friends with people from another culture is very difficult and it takes a lot of work, but is so worth it. I learned that people who live overseas…missionaries…are just normal people that live in another country. I learned that I was just a few decisions away from being one of those people.
When I got home I was pretty confused about what life had for me and why in the world I got a visa to go live in London. But I went. What else was I going to do? Once I settled in with my new roommates I found a church down the street that was a few hundred years old. It was beautiful. The church is mostly dead in England…that’s what they say…but at this church people weren’t afraid to sing like they are here. People sang their guts out…not in emo charismatic style…but in sophisticated “I have been trained in the art of singing” style. They also had assigned people to come and read the passage of scripture…like reading scripture is a special ceremony and not something you use to prove your point. They would slowly walk up to the pulpit and when there was an eerie silence they would begin with their rich British accent reading slowly allowing the audience to soak in each word. I liked to go when John Stott would preach. He is pretty old and he wore these giant glasses and he had good natured eyes like Gandolf or Santa. Sometimes he would lose a word and there would be a long silence while he searched for the right word. About the time my cheeks were getting pink he would pick up and move forward just as eloquently as before.
My roommate and I decided we wanted to get more involved in this church while we were there. We went to a newcomer’s class to learn more. They split us off into groups and in my group there was a young Chinese girl named Cathy. Cathy explained that she came to the class because a friend told her that she should go to church. She didn’t know anything about Christianity but thought she might want to be a Christian. Talking to her afterwards, I found out that she went to the same university in China that I visited a few months before. For those of you who aren't good with Geography...China is a very large country with many large cities and a population of over a billion people. Just by the way. The next day she called me to come over and make sushi with her. Over the course of the next month we hung out some and she agreed to go to a class at church for people with questions about Christianity. But only if I attend with her. After the first night they announced sign ups for their annual retreat. Cathy said she would go if I did. I got someone to cover my shift and we were off to the retreat that weekend. So there I was in a tiny car with one of the young pastors driving, Cathy next to me and a few other people heading to a castle where the retreat was to be held. The castle was unbelievably beautiful. It was close to Christmas and we were on a hillside overlooking a little village that could be minimized and placed on the mantle in my house on some cotton. I wish I remembered more about that weekend other than being really uncomfortable with a bunch of complete strangers but for some reason the one thing that sticks out in my mind was a fascinating tree in the yard. It was transported from Lebanon as a gift. I wish I had taken a picture of that tree.
I was amazed at Cathy, that God put her in my life. I was praying about whether to go back to China for a year or two. Meeting Cathy in London, when I was ready to let China go, somehow brought me back to the world where China was a possibility. It reminded me that I loved meeting Chinese girls…even when they decide they don’t want to believe in my God. It reminded me that God is working all over the world. People are never too far away to have their hearts joined together, if only for a time. He is working in people’s hearts, teaching them truths about him through other people and in spite of other people. I sat in the internet café near my flat in London and downloaded the application to work in China for a year, filled it out and turned it in. So it was settled. I was going to China via London.