Monday, August 1, 2011

Foreigner

Hi friends!  I know I said I probably wouldn't blog here while I am in China... but I just can't help it.  God's been teaching me some cool things and I want to share them.  You can also keep up with Amber's and my adventure in China at: TheChinaAdventures.blogspot.com


Ephesians 2:19 has a whole new meaning now after being in China for a week and a half.  The verse says, "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God" (ESV). 

I think I used to always interpret that as being rejected no more, being accepted into God's family.  But having spent a week and a half in an area of China where the only Americans we see are the six members of our own team, I know what it means to be a foreigner.

To be a foreigner means to be pointed at, stared at, and watched.  To struggle to communicate, to fumble with money, and question every item your chopsticks put into your mouth.

To be a member of the family means you have a bed, a place at the table, you understand the language, you eat the food, and you're included.  There's no longer a need to impress, on either side, because, congratulations, you're in!  The need to stare is gone because you're together as one family.

I will always be a foreigner in China but even here among my brothers and sisters in Christ, we are a family!  Amen.

<>< Katie

PS: This post was sent via email because blogs, like many other things, are blocked in China.  Any grave errors will be corrected upon my return to the States next week.

2 comments:

Hold my hand: a social worker's blog said...

Have a safe trip.

Doris

StorytellERdoc said...

Yeah Katie!!! You made it! I hope this is but one of several amazing trips you will have in your lifetime. I'm jealous of and happy for you all wrapped in one big ball!

Have a great time.
Jim