Over 7,000 miles away from where the Hui people reside, a small group of ladies wanted to take part in sharing the Good News with this unreached people group. Meanwhile, our team was anticipating a busy Christmas season, full of festive parties and opportunities to share the Good News with big groups of people. These ladies got together and utilized their gifts of sewing and creativity to play their part in this endeavor. They formed ideas, cut patterns, and worked at their sewing machines to create costumes that represented each person of the Christmas story.
A sweet Hui family, who own a hole in the wall restaurant, cooked up a special dish of “Big Plate Chicken” to serve on Thanksgiving evening to their foreign friends and special memories were made, deepening their relationship. Kiddos dressed up as angels and shepherds and heard the true story of Christmas while wearing costumes and having fun with their friends.
How do you spend your Christmas? When do you start preparing and celebrating? Stores begin stocking their shelves with Christmas decorations the day after Halloween. Billions of dollars are spent on Christmas gifts the day after Thanksgiving. Christmas parties, tree lightning ceremonies and many other festive occasions fill up the schedules of many in the west.
Moving overseas increases the amount of transition that workers face on a regular basis. For many people who are working to see the Gospel go forth among the Hui, transition is a big part of life. For starters, many of us are transitioning to a completely new culture, a new language, new food, sights and smells.
The more you travel internationally, the higher the likelihood you will experience the frustrations of getting, changing, or reapplying for a visa. Visas are a necessary part of living in many countries. This is also true if you work with the Hui in China. Visa problems can be especially stressful since delays or hiccups may cause you to unexpectedly leave the country, force you to change airline tickets, and even be rejected entry into the country.
My home among the Hui is on the edge of the Gobi Desert, the largest desert in Asia with an area of 500,000 square meters. The weather is dry, and it rarely rains or snows. I come from a place in America that has a very similar climate so it was not a hard adjustment adapting to the physical environment. However most recently I lived in the Pacific Northwest where rain is much more common. Sometimes my spirit seems to match the environment in its dryness, and I long for rain to quench my thirst spiritually.
