Sleeping in until 9:30am, now that’s more like it! This morning, as I was spending time with the Lord, I was reading over the first part of James chapter 1 about trials and temptations. There wasn’t a specific reason why I decided to read James; I just kind of flipped to it. In first sentence after James’ greeting to his intended audience of the new Jewish Christians, he writes “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” (v. 2-3) I’m not exactly sure of the first thing when I think of when a trial comes my way, but I definitely have a hard time considering it a joy, nonetheless pure joy. For example, when I see a test I have studied for all night the day prior and know how to answer 1 out of every 4 problems, I don’t consider it joy. Nor do I see joy when our speakers aren’t working for a BYX party, even 5 minutes after the party was supposed to start. And I definitely don’t consider it joy when I can’t understand locals in a foreign country.
But James goes on to write, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generous to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him,” (v.5) and “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (v.12). So, do I just ask God for wisdom and then I will be able to answer 4 out of the 4 problems, or do I just ask God that I will fully understand Chinese and I will be able to speak fluently? I don’t necessarily think that is what James is trying to get at (not that God can’t do them), but maybe it means that I should ask God for wisdom so I know how to prepare better for tests, and ask for wisdom so that I can better handle a high-stress-level situation when our BYX speakers don’t work, and then I will be able to persevere through that trial. It’s so easy for me to think ‘I can do this, people view me as a leader—I should be able to solve this problem, or get through this sticky situation,’ but that’s dangerous thinking. Christ said, as he was paralleling himself to the true vine, “If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15 v.5) Here Jesus is proclaiming to the audience that we must remain in Him, otherwise we are powerless—the power that we have comes from God. Luckily, Jesus goes on to say, “If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you,” (John 15 v.7) a promise from Christ.
In times of trial, my encouragement to you would be to not try and solve the problem by yourself, but to lean on the unchanging, all-powerful, and all-loving God—He will help you persevere.
I had my first encounter with Chinese businessmen today! Neal, Chui chui, and I met the owner and his English translator of an electric car producer in Shenzhen. It was interesting to see the dynamic at the table; the owner of the company, who didn’t speak a lick of English, is viewed as someone who is supposed to be highly respected (due to his position and his age), so he didn’t participate much in our lunchtime conversation. His English translator was very polite, but tried to sell us (and specifically me) three-wheeled electric cars and fiberglass material items. We really weren’t interested, but were respectful and heard out his sales pitch. After our lunch, we (sans the businessmen) hopped on a train for a 1 hour ride to Guangzhou, where Chui chui’s family is from.
When we arrived in Guangzhou I was dropped off at my hotel where I took an hour nap. It’s common for Chinese businessmen and workers to take a 30-50 minute nap in the middle of the day, usually after lunch. After waking up, Neal and I went to a Starbucks (got our caffeine fill) and then went to a bookstore where I bought travel books on Shanghai and Beijing. When paying for the books, I tried to use my credit card. The cashier asked if I had cash instead but I didn’t at the time. She then looked at the back of my card, and said “it doesn’t have a signature” (in Chinese). I looked at the card and saw a smudged pen mark. Do people really care if there is a signature on the back of a credit card? Anywhos, I signed the back of the credit card again, with her watching, and then gave the card to her. She then proceeded to go to her manager, gave him my card, and then he called a local Chinese bank. I had already contacted my bank, letting them know that I was traveling in China, but for some reason this man wanted to call the bank anyway. He then got the OK and gave me back the card, in which I gave to the cashier. The card worked and I then signed the receipt. Upon giving her my signed receipt, she asked for my credit card. She then looked at the signature on the back of my credit card and compared it to the signature on the receipt, after I had just signed both of them in front of her. Redonkulous. I laughed as I walked away.
I met Chui chui’s family at dinner, where we had some delicious Cantonese food. It is Cantonese custom, before you start eating, to clean your dishes at the dinner table—even if you know the dishes are clean. To clean your dishes you take the pot of tea on the table (tea is at every meal) and pour it over your cup, soup spoon, and chopsticks. You pour the “dirty” tea into a specified bowl at the table, and then you can eat. At dinner I ate frog, fish, and some spicy beef. One of the main questions I had from people before I left for China was, “What are going to eat while in China?” or “Will your stomach be able to handle the food?” My answers to those are: everything and yes. So far the food I’ve eaten has been very good and has settled well. If anyone plans to travel to China I would highly suggest to fully experience the culture, and more specifically, eat authentic Chinese food.
The last thing that we did was walk around in the Guangzhou downtown square. Last year Guangzhou hosted the 2010 Pan-Asian Games (basically the Asian Olympics), and as a result the past 5 years were spent constructing new buildings and developing an awesome downtown. It was beautiful, and can be described as LED (lights) Heaven. Below are pictures from the park.
Chui chui's family
-Alex
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