LIFE IMPACTS LIFE
By G, a Chinese Scholar in the Midwest Area
This morning, my wife, Z, handed me a bag of fruit and asked me to visit Karen, a long-time friend and sister in Christ who currently lives in an assisted living facility nearby. Since that visit today, I’ve been reflecting on the story of how God brought Karen into our lives and the journey we have shared.
Reflecting on God’s Work in Our Lives
We first met Karen and her husband, Carl, long ago when we had just arrived in the United States from mainland China. They had just moved back from Hong Kong, where they had lived as missionaries, and we were all attending a friendship dinner with China Outreach Ministries (COM).
Tom, the local staff leader for COM, still remembers that my visit to that COM dinner wasn’t fun! I had accidentally parked my old Toyota Camry on the wrong side of a shared parking lot, and the car was towed.COM staff, including Tom, quickly helped us find the towing company, and I got my car back. The cost was $300, though, a huge amount of money for someone who had just arrived here. Tom’s wife, Kathy, prayed for us, “Oh, God, please don’t let them not come back to us.”
At that time, neither Z nor I knew much about Christianity. We were just so impressed by the friendliness and hospitality of everyone at the dinner.
Z once asked me, “Why do they love Chinese people so much?” I didn’t know the answer until I became a Christian later.
Remembering How Our Journey Began
I grew up in a rural area in southern China, and Z grew up in central China by the Yellow River. Neither of us had ever heard of Christianity before we moved to the United States. I was even proud of myself as an atheist and materialist.
The first day when I visited the lab where I worked, my research supervisor asked me, “Do you believe in God?”
“No,” I answered without hesitation, startling my supervisor.
Not long after, however, we attended that providential COM dinner.
Then we were welcomed to a local Chinese Christian church by the students and scholars we had met at the dinner.
Three years after we moved here, by God’s grace, both of us decided to follow Jesus.
God’s work through COM’s staff and volunteers helped us grow spiritually early in our faith journey. Z still remembers how Kathy led her in her first prayer aloud during a prayer meeting on campus. Karen and Carl led a small group Bible study at our cozy home for at least two years, and many of the group members later became Christians.
Life always impacts life.
Since those early days, we have continued to be involved in COM’s friendship dinners and outreach field trips, and we have become friends with many of COM’s staff and volunteers. Though hosting a stranger is not common in Chinese culture, by God’s grace and the examples from many COM host families, we have often hosted Chinese students and scholars.
We have also been actively involved in our church’s ministries to serve Chinese students, scholars, and local Chinese communities. And we have shared the gospel with our family members and friends back in China. Praise the Lord! Many of them have received Jesus as their Savior!
I had a great conversation with Karen when I visited her today. The conversation vividly brought back my fading memories. I felt so grateful that we have been surrounded and helped by faithful servants of Jesus.
When I was leaving Karen’s home, she said, “We love you!”
“We love you, too,” I gently replied.
“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8), and “we love because he loved us first” (1 John 4:19). God blessed us through COM’s great work, and we became a blessing to others who continue to pass on the blessings. This is life impacting life. Glory to the Lord!
