China
"Humble and Hungry Spiritually"
Hubei Mission – November 12-17, 2007
This was a follow-up visit after last year’s mission trip to Hubei. Our
journey started early morning of Nov. 12, in Petaling Jaya, when Pastor
Richard, David Chee, Loong and Pat boarded the Aeroline coach to
Singapore. Our next lap was boarding Tiger Airline to Shenzhen. When we
finally set foot in China, it was near mid-night. We were glad to meet
up with Lina (graduate from Nilai University) and a few
brothers-in-Christ. They very kindly took us to supper. Believe it or
not, we had two dozens of grilled oysters with fish porridge – out of
the world!
On the next morning – Nov. 13 - we got up at 5.30am to go to
Shenzhen airport to catch our plane to Wuhan. It was a pleasant trip.
We were served a minute breakfast with a small bottle of water. Good
enough until lunch, so we thought.
At
Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, our friend, Lu Tao, received us.
From the airport, we took a taxi (with 5 of us plus our luggage!) to a
place near the railway station. The taxi driver was very skilled. He
took us on narrow roads, winding between newly built shop houses, going
through barriers which he cleverly knew how to lift, and even passing
some traffic police (and he asked Richard and Pat to use a newspaper to
cover their faces so that they would not know there were five
passengers!) We got to our destination in one piece! The moment we
alighted, we felt the cold. It was around 5 to 6 degrees Centigrade.
While waiting for David’s friends near the railway station, Richard
bought some bananas for us to eat while waiting for lunch. David’s
friends – Li Ping and her younger brother, soon arrived. We walked a
little distance to a restaurant Lu Tao recommended. It was quite a big
restaurant. We were then famished due to the cold. We left the ordering
to Lu Tao, since he was our host.
After lunch, we took 2 taxis to the railway station. We waited outside
the station for David to purchase the tickets. We were amazed at the
number of people waiting. Some were so tired that they slept on top of
their luggage. As all rail tickets were sold out, we had to catch a
coach to Xiangfan. After a 3-hour ride, we arrived at the bus station.
Our host’s son came to fetch us in a brand new China-made van. Soon, we
were taken to their restaurant to have a sumptuous steam boat dinner.
It was a Xiangfan hot soup, with fish caught from a river. The soup had
a lot of spices in it. When you take a bite at one of the spices, it
temporarily numbs your tongue!
Next morning, our host took us for breakfast at a place near by. We had
noodles. Soon, David and Loong joined us. As David talked with Brother
Ying, the rest of us went for a walk, and soon landed at a foot-massage
place. Great stuff! For lunch, we had another steam boat – this time,
it was clear soup with fish. It also had the spices in it. Very tasty!
Other dishes consisted of a variety of vegetables and ‘tau fu.’
We went to the countryside in the afternoon. It was a hazy day. We saw
some shepherdess leading their cows to graze on the fields. There was
not much grass and whatever that was there was mostly brown. We went to
a site where a bible school will be established. This, itself, is a
miracle as the building was leased at a very low price and it will
house many bible students from all parts of China.
That night, Brother Lin took us to see the site of his building
project, just next to the restaurant where we were to have dinner. He
was building some shop houses with apartments above them. At the
moment, the ground was at the foundational stage. We prayed at the site
for success and safety for the project. Outside the restaurant, a
worker was continually preparing fish throughout the whole night. What
a lot of fish people consume in Xiangfan! It was another steam boat
meal – this time, the large pot had a divider for two types of soup -
hot soup and clear soup. We ate to our hearts content!
The next day, we set off at 6.30 am. It was a rainy day and the
temperature was around 4 to 5 degrees centigrade. About 60 persons were
expected for the training. Due to the heavy downpour, many could not
work in their fields. What happened then? They all came for the
training! That was how we got an audience of about 120 people! If you
were a farmer, would you rather come to Bible class than slog in the
cold fields? We would! Praise God.
We had noodles for breakfast. Pat had to go to the toilet straight
after this. A kind sister took an umbrella and led her to the back of
the house. To Pat’s surprise, it was an outdoor toilet with no roof!
So, with an umbrella, she had to do her business, squatting in the
rain! (Hey, CBC, you gotta experience this. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be
considered mission!)
The training started once the laptop and projector were set up. The
room was packed with people sitting shoulder to shoulder on low
benches, hardly a foot high. That didn’t bother the participants – they
sat there, taking notes. No one moved to go to the toilet until break
time. Due to the overcrowded situation, the spillover was in the
adjoining hall. David had to man the other laptop as the people outside
could not see the screen inside. Poor David, the cold made him shiver
most of the
time!
Lunch was another steamboat. It was welcomed as the temperature was
still very cold! We sat on low stools and ate with wooden chopsticks.
Richard taught from the book of Joshua, while Loong interpreted into
Mandarin.The training was done with power point. The people were very
diligent in taking notes. Loong will ask them if they have completed
copying. He
requested them to say ‘Hallelujah!’ if they finished. So, we often
heard a chorus of ‘hallelujah!’ and that was great encouragement to us.
After lunch, Pat had her chance to address the people. She gave a brief
personal testimony based on her anchor verse taken from Joshua 1:9.
Prior to this, Richard had taught about ‘memorial stones’ in one’s
life. Pat asked if anyone had any ‘memorial stones’ they want to share
relating to their lives. A few responded. It was heartening to see the
enthusiasm of the people. They were also very hungry for God. Loong did
a wonderful job throughout the training, with his lively interpretation
- and the people loved it.
Pat was delighted
to meet Rebekah, whom she met in 2006, at Jing Zhou. Rebekah is now
married to Isaac. They were waiting upon the Lord for future direction.
Rebekah is now learning English. (In March 2008, the Lord sent Rebekah
and Isaac as missionaries to Indonesia.)
November 16, Friday – On this day, we had only a half-day session.
Richard taught on the Leadership Principles of Joshua. After a quick
lunch at 11.30am, we were taken in the van to Wuhan International
airport. It rained all the way. As the weather was gloomy, we opened
the sky roof of the van to let daylight in. With us were Timothy and
the son of our host. Pat met Timothy last year when she taught at the
Bible school in Ling Kok, a village near Jing Zhou. Timothy had since
married and was on his way to meet his wife. We are amazed at how God
would arrange for such a meeting even though we had no communication
since last year.
From Wuhan, we flew to Shenzhen. We were glad there was a direct bus
from the airport to Zhuhai, and it only cost us RMB90 each. We checked
into a local hotel at Zhuhai. David had arranged for Sister Wang to
meet us. We went for a late dinner at a nearby restaurant. Later,
we ministered to the sister as she was looking for a confirmation from
God regarding her future. We talked and prayed for her, and we were
glad she received God’s revelation that evening. We parted with a very
much relieved sister. Praise God.
The next day was a pleasant morning and quite warm. As we walked back
from breakfast to the hotel, we saw a few women along the pavement
soliciting customers for a shoe shine. The charge was only RMB2 per
shine! Cheap! Cheap!
After checking out, we took a cab with all our luggage to the bookstore
recommended by Sister Wang. The store was below ground level. Richard
and Loong were fascinated by the variety of gadgets in the store and
bought some things. Satisfied with the purchases, we rushed to the
border. Due to the huge weekend exodus to the Casino city of Macau, we
decided to switch our entry point to the Vehicles Border.
An unauthorized taxi driver took us to the border, a short distance
(for a charge of RMB120 – slaughterer!) where we had to walk through
immigration to No-Man’s Land. There, we were told to get tickets for a
van ride to the Macau immigration. After a wait, we were told no more
issuance of tickets. At that point, we decided to take a hotel bus to
the border, and see what options await us there. Time was ticking
fast! After going through the Macau point, we went searching for
the hotel bus, but could not remember its registration plate. Loong
then looked up – just at where we stood was a bus to Macau airport! And
the charge was only RMB20 each compared to RMB35 if we had gotten
tickets from the Zhuhai side!
Fortunately, it was just a 10 minute ride to Macau airport. Whew! We
were a bit concerned as time was running out. We wanted to be at the
airport by 11.30 am. Due to the uncertainties of transport, we arrived
just before 12 noon! Praise God. All worked well.
As we were very familiar with Macau airport, we headed straight to the
AirAsia counter. We realised we had some time to kill after checking
in. So, we decided to give ourselves a treat. To get to the restaurant,
we had to go to the first floor. With no Macau currency, how are we to
pay for lunch? No problem – with HSBC card we can get some at the ATM.
We had a sumptuous meal - Chinese, by the way, and not Portugese. Well,
we really felt good after all the hassle we went through!
It had been a fruitful mission although we would have wanted to do more
teaching. As it turned out, the saints had their feed on the Book of
Joshua, and learnt about Godly Leadership through the life of Joshua.
We praise God for this wonderful trip. It has always been encouraging
to meet our Chinese brethren. They are so humble and hungry
spiritually. This trip, we managed to pray for everyone who wanted to
be ministered. We can see many have
sorrows and struggles in their lives. How wonderful and assuring to
know our God is in control and He will supply all their needs. We give
thanks to our Lord and King,
Jesus, our wonderful Saviour.
At
Wuhan Tianhe International Airport, our friend, Lu Tao, received us.
From the airport, we took a taxi (with 5 of us plus our luggage!) to a
place near the railway station. The taxi driver was very skilled. He
took us on narrow roads, winding between newly built shop houses, going
through barriers which he cleverly knew how to lift, and even passing
some traffic police (and he asked Richard and Pat to use a newspaper to
cover their faces so that they would not know there were five
passengers!) We got to our destination in one piece! The moment we
alighted, we felt the cold. It was around 5 to 6 degrees Centigrade.
He
requested them to say ‘Hallelujah!’ if they finished. So, we often
heard a chorus of ‘hallelujah!’ and that was great encouragement to us.
Pat was delighted
to meet Rebekah, whom she met in 2006, at Jing Zhou. Rebekah is now
married to Isaac. They were waiting upon the Lord for future direction.
Rebekah is now learning English. (In March 2008, the Lord sent Rebekah
and Isaac as missionaries to Indonesia.)