Once I decided that is the best time for me to join this one life time journey to China, and once I knew I would serve as a team member in Commit Ministries International’s short term mission trip, I knew that would be a great adventure, and a place where God would be using us in His extraordinary ways.
Once I stepped down from the plane and got into the airport, I knew I would’ve stepped into a different culture, diving in a different worldview.
After I thought that my luggage was completely lost, because it never showed up on the conveyer belt, I said to myself I am in deep deep trouble. Different scenarios were running through my head, on how I would be surviving without clothing, without my toothbrush, without all the most necessary items somebody would need in a trip.
And I was sweating badly.
Once my luggage was found, I was starting to breathe normally. The anxiety and worries were disappearing and I was ready to go.
My good old friends from Commit Ministries International were awaiting for me at the exit from the airport. I was so happy to see them, although on my face and their faces the tiredness was visible.
As I said, it’s a different culture. But a different environment too. We went to a hotel where I was able to take a shower. It was a cloudy day as I was thinking, but the reality was that the smog within the city was so thick that you couldn’t see the sun – and the climate was so wet and hot, that right after I took the shower and went out – my T-shirt was soaking wet in the next hour or so.
Those ten days spent in China alongside Commit Ministry International – because this trip was planned, and setup, and available on their website – where you could actually register – were the best ten days of my entire life. I’ve seen a totally different culture who is embracing a different worldview. I’ve seen people being separated by the major Social Media Networks, like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Google, Whatsapp and still making a great living in spite of that.
One of the funniest things and dangerous as well as we’ve been traveling and taking sidewalks, was crossing streets. It was a great and a total adventure to try to cross a street in China. Because everyone is on the go, nobody is taking their time to let you crossing the street. So on a crossing zebra, you should’ve payed a lot of attention because either a bicycle, or a motor, or a vehicle could would stop in the last second and the drivers, weren’t so happy with you taking that crossing zebra.
The food was great in China, our team leader taking us to the safest places where we could eat. And also we could go having some groceries from the street markets which were so nicely designed. We travelled with the fastest train ever built, we also traveled a lot of time by bus, and by foot as well on shorter distances.
At the end of the trip we were invited to a great lunch hosted at a very nice hotel, on the very top of the building where the view was spectacular. The dishes were so greatly made, so various and so tasty, that I will never forget that experience.
Spiritually speaking we were visiting some churches, we were praying over the cities, places and people, we were sharing our testimony whenever possible, and we were laying hands as a sign of blessing for everyone who was next to us.
It was the best experience as that one was an eye opener for me. Any short term mission trip reveals a paradigm shift. You become more aware of the need for prayer at a global scale in your own private prayer life, you become aware that there are billions of people in desperate need of Christ, walking in darkness and ignorance. Interceding prayer became a reality in my life after those ten days spent in China. Spiritual warfare is at hand in China. You may not be seeing it with your own eyes, but spiritually you can experience that there is a world in deep deep need of Christ’s love.
I am inviting you to come over and see China. It’s one of the places you wouldn’t miss. It’s a place where your faith grows stronger, and your eyes, more widely open to see a spiritual reality I was unaware till then. So? What are you waiting for? Join in!
