by Bibles for China

We currently have a father-daughter team on a Bible distribution in rural China. They have shared these thoughts with us, in the form of a prayer:

Dear Lord -

I praise you for your amazing creation. I praise you that you continue to re-create. Your faithfulness and majesty astound me.

What an amazing journey! It is humbling to be here. The work we are doing is exciting. It’s simple work, really. It’s work that leaves the results squarely in your hands. It’s work that leaves the nurturing in the hands of those who live here. We bring Bibles to those who can’t get them. Your spirit does the rest. For those who believe, allow your Word to make them more like Christ. For those who do not, allow your Word to bring them to you. Please move the Bibles into the hands that need them so your Kingdom may be strengthened and extended.

Thank you for allowing us to look into the faces. The smiling faces. The crying faces. Faces overjoyed and beaming. Bewildered faces. Faces wrinkled with age and experience and endurance. Faces filled with the vigor of youth. The confused faces of those too young to even understand. I love those faces, Lord…but not as much as you do.

Thank you for allowing us to touch the hands. The hands that humbly accepted the gift of your Word. The hands that shook ours. The hands that reached out to help us up the trail or over the ditch or into the building. The hands that have labored for years. The hands suddenly soft and tender holding ours as we walked beside them. The hands of little ones holding a Bible for the very first time. Work through those hands, Lord. Comfort with those hands. Heal with those hands. Let them be your hands.

Thank you for allowing us to bask in the warmth of their hearts. Hearts opened willingly to people they have never met before; to people who look a little different and sound very much so. Hearts that have yet to know you. Hearts that have welcomed you willingly. Hearts that have been yours for decades, even when it couldn’t be publicly acknowledged. Be at home in those hearts.

Be at work through the servants you have placed here. Help them minister to one another. Help them lead those yet to believe into fellowship with you. Help them create community so they may nurture one another.

Thank you for calling us here, Lord. This country, despite her differences from ours, is precious to our family. She is a part of our family–a family so tremendously grateful for the amazing gifts you and she have shared with us that we can only respond by helping her as you direct. Bring her people to you, Lord. Allow them to understand the gift of Grace you offer and encourage them to accept. May that gift bring freedom…from sin and death and fear. May that gift bring peace…within…forever. May that gift bring faith, hope and–the greatest of these–love.

This trip has changed us, Lord. Let it make us more like Christ. Allow what we’ve seen to make a difference in how we live. Let us take away more than we’ve been blessed to bring. Help us share it with all we meet.  Amen