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| Hiking through the Gorge with the crew. clockwise from bottom left: Bob (me), Bex, Sanna, Liesl, Yana |
Dear Praying Friends,
Vacation was spiritually
refreshing. Getting away from work, especially, made it physically a break as
well. When you live at work, it can be difficult to de-stress. I thought I
would share a few stories of God’s interventions with you all.
Chinese New Year’s Eve, Susanna
and I were invited to stay with Yellow, one of our co-workers. Her family
generously opened their home to us, and provided food so abundantly we couldn’t
have possibly eaten more! Yellow’s family was very sweet, and her grandmother
commanded us to come again. -We will.
Anyway, I was very tired with a
cold, so I retired early, at about 8. I chided myself. Here I had an
opportunity to reach out and get to know one of my co-workers, and I wasn’t
physically well enough to do so. Sometimes I get so frustrated! Then, the Holy
Spirit reproved me. “Barbara, your flesh may be weak, but your spirit is ready.
You are more useful to me on your knees than speaking with your mouth right
now.” Ouch. -I prayed until I fell asleep.
In the morning, Susanna shared
their conversation with me. God had heard my prayers, and had blessed their
words. Over and over, Susanna had been able to share her belief in one Most
High God, His commands, and His love. Yellow asked how to start reading the
Bible that she had, and Susanna told her that some read a Proverb a day. (That
may seem a strange way to start someone in the Bible, but old proverbs are very
important and respected wisdom here.) It was a good reminder that sometimes,
you can be more effective on your knees than your feet.
While we
were in Taipei, Susanna and I did our best to see the sights without wearing
ourselves out too much. There were several malls, one of which is a giant ball.
We thought we would enjoy walking more than taking a bus, so we tried to get
there on our own. However, the roads in Taipei are not typical gridline city
streets, and we quickly got frustrated. We could see the mall but couldn’t
access it. So, we ended up going to Taipei 101 instead. Wandering around the
food court, who should we run into? Another TESOL team! If we had made it to
the other mall, we would have missed such good fellowship with them. God is so
amazing.
Flying
to Taipei from Hong Kong, I had high hopes of sleep. -Vacations can be so
tiring sometimes, because your body actually allows itself to relax. I smiled
to the lady in the seat next to me; then prepared to get comfortable. She looks
over at me. “You look very young.” I smiled again. “I get that a lot.” Her
reply: “What are you doing here?” “I’m an English teacher.” “Really? You look
like junior high.” “That’s what everyone tells me.” From there, my new friend
made small talk, for her English was quite good.
The
airline came through to serve us lunch. (something that hardly ever happens
Stateside on an hour flight.) I thanked the flight attendant, and then bowed my
head in prayer. My seatmate watches, and says, “I see that you are a…” she didn’t
know the right word, so she made the Catholic prayer sign. I answered, “A
Christian? I am not catholic, but yes. I follow Shan Di. The Most High God.” (That name is significant to them.) She asked a few questions. She was not really
open to the gospel, but she was curious. The conversation ended with her
commenting on “Though we are different and come from different cultures, I
think that we agree on the importance of love.” Yes indeed! The love of Jesus,
however, is so vastly different than any other type of love you see on earth.
As we prepared to leave, I thought how God must have arranged a divine
appointment for me to meet this lady. Hopefully, the seeds planted will
eventually bear fruit. Pray that God would bring other Christians across her
path to share the love of God with her.
Happy in the Service of the King,
Barbara J. Sutton
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