From China With Love

From left, Vikin, (another of our Chinese students), Apple, Jaime, Isis) 

Over Spring Break, our WCS ministry team took 26 of our upper school students on a mission trip to Edmund, Oklahoma. For many of our students, this was their first experience with this kind of service. They spent a week touching the lives of underprivileged kids and in the process, had their lives touched, as well. My devotional tonight is written by one of my most gifted students whose name is Apple. A sophomore from China, Apple is as hard working, kind, and compassionate teenager as I have ever met. She told me that this was her first real opportunity as an international student to spend time with her classmates away from school and she now feels an incredible bond to her peers. At my suggestion, she also included a copy in her native Mandarin. If you would like to see more about our kids, our campus ministers, and their terrific experience, please go to this link set up by one of our team, Ms. Laren McCormack. 
www.wcsokc2012.blogspot.com  

1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart. This verse expresses most of my feelings from the mission trip. Since this is the first year I am in the U.S., and since we seldom have these kinds of mission trips in China, it was really an awesome trip for me! The first time I met the kids at the Capitol Hill Church in Oklahoma City, I was kind of afraid. I wasn't sure I would have the chance to talk to the children as I saw almost all of my fellow students had at least one child  with them. The good thing was on the day we went to the zoo, some more kids came, so that I could have the opportunity to be with Jaime and his sister,  Isis. Jaime is a really quiet but smart kid, who always gets first place in his class at school. His sister, surprisingly, is older than me, but her smiling face always gives me a warm feeling. The most impressive thing was that they secretly bought a golden coin with a flamingo on it. It wasn’t that expensive, only 51 cents, but it was a considerable amount of money to them. They gave the golden coin to me, considering it as a memory! Another thing which impressed me came on the last day. A guy named Andrey, who works at that church, voluntarily shared his own experience with us. He said, “I even wanted to commit suicide when I was thirteen, but God saved me at that time. He opened the door for me, and let me in…… Just keep praying! I'm not sure whether it will make your dream come true but I definitely believe it would help you to make your dream come closer to you.” This mission trip covered only six days, but it will influence my life for more than sixty years. FINALLY !!! HOORAYYY!! IT'S MY PLEASURE TO SHARE MY PRECIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH OTHERS!! =)) THANK YOU, COACH HAWLEY FOR GIVING ME THIS CHANCE TO WRITE DOWN MY FEELINGS. 彼得前书 1：22 你们既因顺从真理，洁净了自己的心，以致爱兄弟没有虚假，就当从心里彼此切实相爱。 这是最能传达我心生的圣经语句。这次任务旅行可以说是我最喜爱的旅行之一，因为这是我在美国的第一年，而且在中国像此类旅行非常少。当我第一次在国会教会，奥克拉荷马城见到这些孩子的时候，我感到些许害怕，因为当我看到几乎所有的美国学生都有至少一个自己跟随的孩子进行交流时，我怀疑我自己是否能有机会与这些孩子们交流。好事是当我们去动物园的那天，更多的孩子来了，因此我也有了机会和杰米和他的姐姐艾西斯呆在一起。杰米是个安静但却很聪明的孩子，他总是能再班里获得第一名；他的姐姐艾西斯，令我惊讶的是她居然比我年长，但是她的微笑总是能带给我很温暖的感觉。令我感触最深的是他们悄悄地用51美分买了一枚印有火烈鸟的纪念币送给我，说是作为纪念，虽然这些钱对我来说真的不算什么，但是对他们来说也是一笔不小的数目了。另外一件使我感动的事是在我们离开前的最后一天，一个在这所教会工作，名叫安德雷的男人，自愿地与我们分享了他自己的人生经历，他说道“我甚至在我十三岁的时候想过去自杀，但是上帝救赎了我，他为我打开了那扇门，并且让我进入......一直不停地祈祷，虽然我不能确定地说祈祷一定会让你的梦想成真，但是我能确信不停地祷告一定会让你离成功更近一步。”虽然这次任务旅行只有短短六天，但是它能影响我六十年的人生。 God bless, Steve Luke 18:1 www.hawleybooks.com E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com