Well as most of you all know I spent Christmas Eve with Craig and his Chinese friend E-Fay, and it was a really amazing night. When I asked Craig if his E-Fay would like to come over for dinner he really didn’t think he would be into it because I had never even met him before. However to our surprise she was really into it and really wanted to hang out and talk. So for dinner I made all think American food, like a whole turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and a bunch of other stuff, because he normally doesn’t eat American food and he wanted to have an authentic American Christmas dinner.

It was a little after 5 when they showed up and oddly enough it wasn’t really awkward at all, it was amazing. E-Fay gave off such and amazing joyful vibe, it was really contagious, and I instantly felt like we had know each other for years. So we start talking about stuff and this guy is so cool to talk to. We both have had our fair share of family persecution we started to talk about that.

E-Fay grew up and got his bachelor’s in thermal engineering in china. He became a Christian in between his 3rd and 4th year in college.  To give you a little background on his family his mom is a doctor and his dad is pretty high up in government security. I didn’t know this about china but to have a Christian meeting or church that isn’t state run is “Forbidden.” It was really interesting E-Fay’s English wasn’t that good and he doesn’t know the word illegal, so he would say forbidden. I was thinking about it and the word forbidden is so much of a better word to describe Christianity there, using that word really conveys such a serious tone. As you can tell, E-Fay accepting Christ in a country where his “underground church” is forbidden and having a dad high in the government security would not be good.

Before I go any farther I need to tell you a little about Chinese society and culture. Chinese students have the same 12-grade system we have here in America, but in China peoples lives revolve around it. I mad be wrong on this but from what I could understand the school systems are not state “public” schools, all elementary schools require tuition and are not free. What was really amazing is that E-Fay was saying every kid works as hard as they can so they can get into the best universities.  He was floored when I told him no one really cares that much about school here in America, Most high school student are just after a “Good Time.”

E-Fay was saying that students really don’t do anything in their lives besides school. No one had jobs and no one parties and no one just gets together to hang out. Sometimes a few guys will go out and play basketball for an hour once a week but that is rare. Student’s primary focus in life is doing the best in school, therefore outreaching to people before they are in college is basically not possible. Even in college it’s very rare to be able to reach out to there people. E-Fay said that most college student that are Christian’s had come from or went to America for a little bit and started spreading the word.

Hearing about how hard it is to outreach to students in china really makes me realize how blessed we are in America to have the opportunity to safely outreach to people. Because in china not only are young people consumed with school but it is also forbidden so it is extra hard. You really risk a lot by trying to outreach to people. I never really thought about it but being Christian in America we really take for granted the ability to even outreach to people.

Now it is truly a miracle E-Fay became a Christian. Its even more amazing that the son of a government official accepted Christ. After E-Fay accepted Christ the lord really started to work and chance his life in amazing ways. However to his parents, which were non-Christian, these were not good changes. E-Fay was accepted to Case Western College with a hefty scholarship but ended up turning it down because he wanted to see where the lord led him.  The most amazing thing is that he actually told his parents that!!! Needless to say that did not go ever well. His dad even threaded to tell the government police of the “underground Christian church” he was part of.

On a side note we had been hanging out for about an hour and a half now and E-Fay had eaten about three huge plates of food, and is a small guy. He absolutely loves American food, it was so funny to see. At this time Craig needed to leave but E-Fay was having so much fun talking to me that he decided to just stay and talk with me alone. This is the most amazing thing about brothers in Christ, is that unspoken basic trust.

After this he basically just asked me a bazillion questions about youth culture in America, which I wont bore you with.  However my favorite thing about the meeting was that I’m more affirmed now about what our ministry is doing and how were doing it than ever before. E-Fay was saying that our fellowship is almost identical to the way the Christian church is growing in china. E-Fay kept saying how lucky he is to find Craig and to work with our fellowship.

I can say I look forward to seeing this brother more and learning a  lot from him. I can say that I would really like to take a mission’s trip this summer to china or Taiwan (W/ the Gibson’s) to see how the church in Asia is going.

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