Through Their Eyes

One of the things that I love about international and cross-cultural ministry is the opportunity to see life and faith through the eyes of those with which I'm spending time.

Sometimes it is a look of confusion when a common-to-us term is used and I have to try and translate or explain it; sometimes it is a twinkle in an eye when there is understanding; or a grin of success when a joke or a tease is done in a second language.

I frequently have Chinese students join me at church.   Some have faith, others don't.  I'm always curious as to what they think, what they understood, what they "take away" from their time there.

For Easter my parents and I had four students join us at church and then go back to Mom & Dad's for brunch.  As is typical, Dad made jokes that earned him some courtesy laughs - "the girls" didn't really "get" some of what he was trying to say, but being respectful they smiled anyways.  When asked what they thought about the service, one answered, "I really liked it.  I liked how the pastor shared the whole story.  I had never heard it before."  (If you want to hear the sermon by Pastor Eric Waters, you can click here.)

As we spoke more about it, they shared that they are starting to hear more and more from their friends (who are still in China and attending university there) about their faith and becoming Christians.  They have been emailing and chatting and having their beliefs opened to new things.

Not everyone has the opportunity to travel to another country to experience another culture firsthand, but everyone does have the opportunity to find someone from another country living here, and experience it firsthand with them.  You might be surprised what you see when you look through their eyes!