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.

Freedom

Right now I'm reading The Heavenly Man, a nonfiction book recommended to me prior to my trip to China.  It tells the story of Brother Yun, a Chinese pastor who has faced heavy persecution for his faith and ministry.

I've lost track of how many times he's been arrested, and I'm only in chapter ten (of twenty-nine).  Every time he faces brutal torture, undying faith, and miraculous escapes.

In reading this testimony, I can't help but wonder what the church in the United States would look like if we had that kind of faith.  The faith where we'd be willing to face electric shock, starvation, and frigid temperatures all because we believe in God.  would we be found faithful or would we relent?  It's convicting.

But it also makes me thankful for what we, as Americans, have.  The persecution we may face is verbal slander and judgment not physical abuse and death.  We live in a country where we don't have to be afraid of our churches being attacked by the government and our members arrested for simply being on the premises.  We can play our Christian music in our cars, at festivals, and even in retail stores.  We can proclaim we believe with our t-shirts, bumper stickers, and blog posts.

For this I am grateful.  But I know the price for this freedom was very high.  Men and women have lost lives and limbs fighting for our independence.  For my right to write this blog post.  For your opportunity to read it.

Please take the time to thank a soldier.  Not just on Independence Day, Veterans' Day, and Memorial Day, but any day and every day that you are grateful for your comfortable life free from persecution.

Now, let's go out and proclaim God with more than just our music, bumper stickers, t-shirts, and blog posts. God can and does use Americans just as He uses Brother Yun and Chinese Christians.

Have you thanked Christ for the price He paid for that freedom, too?

<>< Katie

Happy Birthday, Homeland

For the last ten years or so, my church has done a patriotic musical every Fourth of July, and I have made it part of my Independence Day celebration.  One of the songs we do is entitled "Salute to the Armed Forces" where we sing the song of every branch of our military.  When their song is sung, the veterans are told to stand.  The congregation and choir alike applaud them for their sacrifice as we sing together. 

It's a powerful moment.  Or string of moments.  It's amazing to be in the congregation as amen and women all around you stand and are honored for their willingness to give.  One year, I sang in the choir and sitting in the second row was a solider in his dress blues.  I don't know if there was a dry eye in the building.

This year, something a little bit different happened. After we applauded, without the prompting of the choir or the director, the entire congregation moved to keep the beat with our hands.  I wasn't quite sure how to handle this in my no clapping, barely sing along Lutheran congregation.  We were all clapping together and singing at the top of our lungs.

In ten years, that has never happened before.  It happened at both performances this year.  Wow.

Those men and women who stood and could not stand deserve more than a round of applause.  So many more gave the ultimate sacrifice in laying down their lives so that I can sit here and type this sentence.  So many of them suffered horrific injuries, physical and emotional.  They've experienced more than I can ever imagine and they did it all for us. 
Army.
Navy.
Coast Guard.
Air Force.
Marines.
Thank you!

Happy birthday, America.  I am so glad to call you my homeland.

<>< Katie