In the summer of 1998, I went on a mission trip with English Language Institute in Sichuan province in China. This is a program in which Christian college students and teachers have a short term opportunity to teach english to Chinese high school and college students.
For a summary of the trip, see my post-trip newsletter at the bottom
of the page.
Greetings from Arizona! Yes, I'm back from
my adventure in China. The trip was an unqualified success. God really
blessed our work there.
Our team of 12 teachers and a team leader
were in the city of Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan province, for 5 weeks.
We started off the trip in Beijing and were shown many of the famous sites
such as the Great Wall, The Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.
Unfortunately we missed Tienamen Square. The sightseeing was fun,
but we were anxious to get to our city and meet our students. That
desire was soon satisfied and we were off and running in our summer of
English instruction. Each of the teachers had a class of about 12
students. It was initially a challenge because most of our kids'
level of English was significantly lower than we had anticipated.
As did everyone else, I learned to compensate somewhat by speaking a bit
slower, a bit more clearly and with a bit more basic vocabulary.
The kids also learned pretty quickly, so that by the latter part of the
trip we had pretty good communication going. In addition to class
time, we did many games and activities with them. Some of the highlights
included a talk show with the teachers as guests, acting out an American
wedding (I got married, never figured on that happening in China!), American
holiday night, carnival game night and a camp-wide water fight/muddy tug
of war. We also went on some weekend out-of town trips to a waterpark,
a panda preserve, and a beautiful mountain reservation where we got to
hike and see some stunning scenery.
I was surprised by the amount of freedom
we had to talk with the students about religion and God. In Sichuan,
which is quite far from the capital of Beijing, there wasn't a sense of
an oppressive, ever-present government looking down and monitoring all
public thought and discussion. Of course that's just an impression
and if someone stepped too far out of line I'm sure that he'd soon get
to know his government officials quite well. Still, I think that those
in the distant interior regions do enjoy a relatively higher level of personal
freedom. From day one, the school officials knew we were a Christian
group and had no problem with us talking with the students about religious
topics, even in the classroom. In our lessons, we didn't promote
Christianity, but we did talk about different religions of the world to
get them thinking about life outside their sphere of experience.
In activities, we had many chances to tell them some things about God.
During our American holiday night we told the Christmas story, the Easter
story and told them the Lord's Prayer that people say before Thanksgiving
dinner. We had another night when students could ask the teachers
questions about different aspects of American life. One of the areas was
religion and there were many excellent, seeking questions asked about God
in general and Christianity in particular. There were also numerous
occasions informally when we could talk to students. For example, during
meals students would often ask about our grace and we could tell them a
little about why we thanked God for our meals.
Of course, of more importance
than the actual things we did and said, is the relationships we built with
our Chinese students. For only being with them for a month, I was
amazed at how close we got to them. And I can't believe how much
they loved us. This program, called Camp China, is such a departure from
their usual style of school. The Chinese school system is very rigid, strict
and work intensive. To have a time in school in which speaking, creative
thinking and having fun are emphasized is completely new to them.
Having teachers that reach out to them to be their friend and show them
love is also foreign, so to speak. In addition, Chinese generally
like Americans, and we were the first Americans most of them have known.
Even considering all this, I was unprepared for the outpouring of love
and affection they showed us , especially towards the end of the trip.
I'm certain we impacted them deeply. I believe we planted many spiritual
seeds over the summer, and I have no doubt that someday when these people
start making spiritual decisions, they will remember their Christian American
teachers and it will influence them.
It took a lot of work, a lot of time and a
lot of money to get to China to spend the summer with our kids, but I feel
that it was a bargain. As I've often heard people say of trips like
this, I think I probably received as many or more blessings than our students
did. It was an incredible privilege to be able to go and it was the most
fulfilling experience I've had in a very long time, if not ever.
I just want to thank you for helping me to
go on this trip. It certainly wouldn't have been possible without
the generous prayer and support of so many of my friends. I hope
I can see you soon and if you have time, I can show you my photo album.
Yours in Christ,
Jonathan Stephenson