China Journey and Journal

I have definitely become somewhat of a journal freak, although this was always in my blood. I kept journals in my teens. Around 20 years ago I began to write things down. Now I have a journal for everything from my garden to prayer and lots in between. I have 7 active blogs, this being one of them.

My good friend John Foster, before I went to China, bought me a journal. I began it the day before I left. Last night I literally dug it out. It became buried under a stack of stuff. I began to read it.

China is a wonderful land, full of wonderful people. I read about meeting Lucy's family for the first time. What a meeting it was. They were so happy to see her and I was part of the package! I felt like I had come back home after a long journey.

I hope to use the journal for this blog.

I am glad and in awe to be connected to CHINA!

The Heart of China- Its People!

I found the people of China to be among the warmest I have ever met. I felt very welcomed in the country and it was not hard to make friends there.

Over one billion people in China and yet with its great urban areas, family is still very important.

I loved the meal times, not just because of the good food but because of the rich conversation that took place around the table. They took time to talk and enjoy each other's company!

Way Back When I Was A Kid

I was born 6 years after all the round eyed missionaries were forced to leave China. There was still talk about the work that went on as I remember growing up but that talk was just history... or was it? A professor in Bible College (Dr. T. Crichton Mitchell) used to call history: His Story. He contended that God was sovereign and involved deeply in all the events of life on this planet.
Little did I know back then how much my heart would be tied in with this place where over one billion people live. This place where history is well preserved among the people... ancient history- very ancient history. This place and people that are now very much on my heart.

Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret

On May 26, 1866, the first party of the China Inland Mission set out on a four month journey from England to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to China's Interior.

On May 26, 1992 God drew my heart more deeply to that man's work and the land in which he is buried.

In September 2005, after years of the LORD drawing my heart to that land, I got to visit it, not as a normal tourist, but as a special visitor, staying not in hotels but in the homes of my wife's family there. This had great meaning for me. I took along the book that this post gets its name from and read it in its entirety while I was there.

I am so thankful for the China Connection in my life and hope to communicate some of it in this blog. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy the journey with me.