“I didn’t go to China to see results. I went to share Jesus through my life.”
“Even though I don’t know God, I’ve had a glimpse of who He really is because of your selflessness,” Janeson told me. Janeson came from a wealthy, yet broken, family. One day he invited my co-worker and me to his home to meet his mother. Before we left, he thanked us for coming to China as volunteers.
This past summer, the Lord called me to share my faith in communist China. Because I went as an English teacher, I felt a great responsibility to show my students who Christ really is. As a foreigner, I was not allowed to talk about Christianity or religion at all, on threat of imprisonment. But every day I asked God to help me live and share His light.
From July to November, I taught students of all ages, from 3 years old to 43! Despite the restrictions, I still found ways to share my beliefs. Once in conversation class I asked my students, “Why do we exist?” Most of their answers were either “to have a career,” “to help support our families,” or “to have a good life.” Then someone asked me, “What about you?” I explained, “I believe the purpose of life is service. When we live selfless lives, we will find genuine happiness.” (Of course, I couldn’t tell them it was a biblical principle.) I didn’t fully understand the impact of that conversation until just before I left, two months later.
Jessica was an agnostic. We often had discussions about premarital and same-gender unions, suicide, and other such things. She was in favor of all of them! Usually after our discussion, she would ask, “What about you, Jerry? What’s your view?” and I would tell her. A few weeks before I left, she said, “Now I understand your views, Jerry. Now I understand that God is not glorified when we kill ourselves or have same-gender or premarital unions.” Today she is a baptized member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church!
During my four-month stay, I sometimes got depressed and thought, I’m not really doing anything. It seems I’m only teaching English and nothing is happening. But while I was doubting, the Lord showed me something. I was reading a missionary book about Nate Saint, in which he mentioned, “We are sent into a mission field not to reap results, but to show love.” Then I realized my mission trip was successful, not only because souls were touched, but because Jesus was seen through selflessness.
