Jamie Yan from Texas 2010年6月

這是從德州來的顏廷婷姐妹的見證。她來自台灣生長在德州。去年六月參加愛心體驗團來四川幫 助摸底。她有很深的體驗。

Ｍy experience at Sichuan, China.

I first learned about the Children’s Village when a Herald volunteer shared her story during a dinner party hosted by the Dallas Herald Crusades in December 2009. At the time I was touched by the story and thought it would be nice to visit the children one day but I didn’t set any plans to visit any time soon. January 2010, I decided to take a summer trip to Shanghai to visit my aging grandfather, I wondered if there were any summer trips scheduled to visit the new Mianyang Children’s Village. Thank the Lord a short term Trip of Love was scheduled for June to Sichuan, China. On June 2010, I left the US to China, visiting four different cities in Sichuan, Chengdu成都, Wenchuan汶川, Mianzhu綿竹, and Mianyang綿 陽.

I first landed in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan. After meeting with the rest of the team from the US, we headed toward town. It wasn’t even summer, the weather was already hot and dry. I prayed for some rain. Since the second day was Sunday, we all decided to attend Sunday worship service at a local church. And guess what, it rained. The church was built in 1933 using simple black bricks. The interior had some wear and tear due to aging, but it was complete with a pulpit, choir, and a baptismal place. The number of people in attendance on Lord’s Day astonished me, there weren’t even enough seats for all five of us to sit together, we had to sit in two separate locations. About 90% of churchgoers were elderly, I wondered where were the young people. Could it be that today’s Chinese youth have not had the blessings of knowing the Lord? I pray this would change in the future. 

The next day, after meeting with the Hong Kong Gratia Foundation team, we visited Sichuan School of Theology. The school already has 24 years of history, has 80 students and 19 teachers. Each year the school produces 40 graduates, but the demand in China for preachers is much higher than the school is able to supply. With the number of Christians increasing in China, not all areas have preachers. In some areas, one preacher is responsible for 5000 Christians. That is a heavy burden for one person to bear.

We got up early the next morning and headed our way to Mianyang. On the way, we stopped by Wenchuan, where the Great Sichuan Earthquake took place. The earthquake happened on 5/12/2008 at 14:28, measured at 8 magnitudes. This was one of the deadliest earthquakes in China, killing almost 70,000 people. It was already late in the afternoon when we arrived in Wenchuan. The city looked like a ghost town, dark and cold, not a single person was seen on the street besides our group. As I walked down the streets, I passed by many damaged buildings. Instead of tearing them down, the government has decided to keep the buildings intact for the earthquake memorial park. No one said a word as we walked through the park, only cameras made clicking sounds. Finally we walked upon a clock tower stopped at 14:28, we gathered for a group picture and moved on. I am not sure if it was because everyone was overwhelmed with sadness or we ran out of time, we all wanted to leave that place. I quietly said a prayer for the victims and their family before getting into the car.

In a town nearby, Mianzhu, a brand new church with new offices and dormitory buildings is being built to house the growing number of Christians after the quake. The number of Christians in the region has increased from hundreds to thousands. Praise the Lord for bringing more Chinese brothers and sisters home.

When we got to the new Children’s Village in Mianyang, Franco, a young engineer from the US who 1 is overseeing the construction, was already waiting for us with plastic bags and mosquito repellent in hand. “The bags are to protect your shoes from wet dirt.” Franco told us as he handed each of us two plastic bags. We carefully covered our shoes with bags and followed Franco for a tour. The new build had two buildings. Once finished, the new place is able to house 216 children, complete with classrooms, auditoriums, cafeteria, offices, and private living sectors for staff. Construction is scheduled to finish in the fall.

We spent the next two days visiting children and their family in Zitong, a very poor village one hour east of Mianyang. All of the children come from families live below poverty level; they live in houses most Americans would consider “unlivable” with no running water and no indoor pluming. This one family we visited lives on a hill. Because there is no road, we walked on wet dirt for almost 45 minutes to get to the house. An elderly couple, their son and a bright-eyed seven-year-old little girl live there. The little girl was abandoned by her birth parents as an infant and was found by the elderly lady one morning in a basket as she worked in the rice paddy. Although the family is poor but they did their best to provide for the child. But recently due to old age and health issues, the family is finding increasingly difficult to care for the girl. I am very happy to say that this little girl alone with 14 other children from the area will be coming to the Children’s Village in the fall.

On our way home, I kept thinking about the children, their innocence, their smiles, and their maturity. I never felt the slightest sadness or bitterness from any of those children, no one complained or asked for any candy or toy. The children all seemed happy despite their misfortunes. But why don’t they compare themselves to fellow classmates? Why don’t they say “I want what she is wearing or her toy.” They are surrounded by other much wealthier children in school yet they seemed content and happy with what they have, never showed any embarrassment by their mismatched clothes, their simple haircuts, never asked for more. People say poor children mature early, it is true. But why? Could it be that those children are able to understand at a very young age that happiness is not about what you want but celebrating what you have, what the Lord has given us?

While China still needs our prayers, rebuilding Wenchuan may take another 10 years, but the new Children’s Village is almost complete, and these children are almost home. And I believe the Lord will take me to the children once again. I believe the children will grew under Lord’s love and will pass His love to more people in China.

By Jamie Yan from Texas
June 2010