TESTIMONY!

STSM China Testimony

As Christians, Jesus says this to us: “A new command I give you: Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35). For the majority of my life, I focused on the first half of these verses, not truly understanding the meaning of this commandment. In my one month in China, the latter half became so clear to me. The latter half of this commandment points out why we should love one another: so that we can preach the gospel through actions.
China is a country where the gospel cannot be preached. We cannot verbally express the good news to anyone unless the Chinese people ask us. However, they will not ask us unless we give them a good reason why. On the second to last day of the trip, our team went to the Pearl Market next to the Temple of Heaven. In these markets, sellers try to rip off buyers by deliberately lying to them. They’ll do anything for money. Right before it was time to go, I took one final glance around to see if I wanted anything else. I saw in the corner of my eye, a little girl in a booth, lying to make money. I thought nothing of it at the time, but reflecting back, that scene is heartbreaking. This story epitomizes the heart of the Chinese people. Young and old, rich and poor are all deceived by the devil. Instead of “In God We Trust”, China’s motto is “In Learning We Trust”.
China is one of the most spiritually dark countries in this world. They truly depend on themselves and therefore have no hope. The saddest thing about Chinese people is that they think they are happy but they do not understand true happiness. By describing the lost in China, I’ve essentially described every lost person in this world. However, in China, because of the government and people, the darkness is so much more evident.
I had one month in Beijing, Hunchun, and Yincheon to save as many people as possible. Being in China, however, I felt like my God-given “ability” to share the gospel was useless. I did not understand the meaning of evangelism. To me, saving lives was a numbers game. I wanted to get as many people as possible. But on this trip, I realized that preaching the Word is not about talking about our faith, it is about acting out our faith. The latter half of John 13:34-35 became so much more powerful. We could not openly preach the gospel, but in secret, we could present the good news by loving one another and by loving the people.
I went to China and I did not save a single person. Yet I am satisfied. I was simply a planter of seeds, trusting in a God who is greater than the Chinese government and the cold hearts of the Chinese people. God is so much greater than me. He is the “righteous God, who searches minds and hearts” and he will “bring to an end the violence of the wicked” (Psalm 7:9). I thought our team was so limited in China, but in reality we were free. Free to share love so much through actions that words were not needed. Knowing that God would do His work eased all my frustration and worries about not saving a single person.
Besides learning to be a love witness, God helped me gain vision for how I could live a Christ-centered, mission-oriented life. I would not say I gained a heart for China, but I did gain a heart for the lost. Part of this trip opened my eyes to the darkness of North Korea as well. On the Chinese-North Korea border, I gazed into North Korea knowing that there was very little light in there. There is so much work to be done not only in that country but the rest of the world. I thank God for opening my eyes to the darkness in this world on this trip. “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10), yet in His perfect love and mercy, we can all be made righteous. Knowing this, let us all live accordingly. Let us all follow Christ’s new commandment no matter what country we’re in, knowing that our obedience can save souls.