through new eyes; a fresh perspective

I'm on my seventh year of living in China. I feel like I've spent my entire adult life so far here. When we moved here Chris and I had been married less than a year. We were young, vibrant, passionate, willing, in love with God and each other, but we were also ignorant. We knew it would be hard, but we had no idea how hard. We were ready for a challenge. Why did we leave our family and friends to live all the way on the other side of the world? God told us to. God put into both of our hearts a special love for the people of this country. God had given us the ability to live cross-culturally, to adapt, to learn a new language, to survive. I remember how scared I was to even leave our apartment those first several months when were living in Shanghai. I couldn't speak the language. I truly felt like a fish out of water struggling to breath. Every meal was a challenge. We didn't know how to order when we went out, but I also didn't know how to cook in our apartment. All we had was a hot plate! I remember the first night we spent in Shanghai. The company we were going to work with had picked us up from the airport and dropped us off. They were are all going out of town for the Spring Festival so they dropped us off and said, "See you in a few weeks!" That was it. WE KNEW NO ONE. That first night was bitter cold. We had no hot water, and we were grimy and gross from the many days of traveling. We shivered in freezing water then dried ourselves with the clothes from our suitcase because we had no towels. I remember shivering next to Chris in that hard hard Chinese bed in that freezing apartment in January and crying. What the heck were we doing??!! The next morning we awoke to find cockroaches stuck to the airline stickers and duck tape on our suitcases. The following weeks we got out our maps and our dictionaries and found the stores we needed, the subway line, and the right bus routes. Slowly we figured things out. During that period we celebrated Valentine's Day and my 24th birthday.

From the very beginning It was hard. We lost our teaching jobs one week after beginning them because the person in charge of our company didn't comply with some government regulations. But we kept on. We enrolled at a university and began the arduous and incredible task of learning this language.

Time passed. We learned, we grew, we shared, we moved, we battled, we won, we lost, we rejoiced, we cried, we ministered, we became parents, and we embraced this strange land as our home. I think back to those days where I truly felt so foreign. Now I feel like I belong here as much as a white person can. The local people call me "foreign" which I will always be because of my white skin, large light eyes, long nose, and American birth, and I am proud of and grateful for my American heritage. Yet I feel at home here.

So time passes. I hear the words of Isaiah so clearly in my heart, "The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord stands forever." But as time goes on we become bogged down by the incredible difficulties of living here. The brokenness and tenderness for the lost becomes calloused and hardened by the constant struggle and stresses of living daily life cross-culturally. And sometimes you don't even realize this is happening.

This was happening to me. Then Jenn came to live with us. Oh how she reminds me of myself seven years ago! She's young, on fire, full of life, full of potential and a willingness to forsake all for the cause of Christ! She recently accompanied Chris and some of our staff on a trip to our farms to see the opportunities there. She blogged about it, and I was convicted. The Lord spoke to my heart and reminded me of why I first came. He ripped off the callouses and renewed my tenderness for the people of this country who are so steeped in hopeless darkness. I was so thankful for this, but then my heart broke even more. The Father has given us so many opportunities to share here, to help the poor farmers, to encourage and lift up those who know Him out in the villages yet we can't do it!!! We have neither the financial resources nor the man power to do it! We have been crying out to many in the USA regarding these things for years yet they remain silent!! I truly don't understand. People get so excited when we share about what's going on. They give us a nice pat on the back and a, "Good job Chris and Liz", but then they turn away. But we won't be discouraged. Thankfully what we do is not the work of man. It is God's and for his Glory. He is sovereign. We will always be let down by people as we will also let others down in our sinful frailty, but Oh praise the Lord who is above all that!!! Though we may lose it all! Though we may have to move on, He is in control. Join me in prayer. Join me in asking Him what he would have you do in your own lives to forsake all and serve him wholeheartedly.

And I would encourage you to read Jenn's blog to get a fresh perspective on our work here.

Thanks for reading!