iPhone Caper

Well, I should have said "Lord willing" when I promised more pictures...my phone was lost/stolen last night.  We went out to eat at a local Thai reastaurant.  It was our favorite meal so far and very reasonable.  Eating out with 2 toddlers is even more of a challenge than getting a family picture ;).  They really weren't too bad, but it requires a lot of entertaining.

When we left our hotel, we were headed to the German restaurant that is on our suggested restaurant list.  But somehow, we couldn't find it.  The part of the street we walked on was much more narrow and busy than where we have been doing much of our eating and exploring.  Greg was in the front pushing Fisher, Sterling and Cutter were behind him and Trinity and I were pulling up the rear.  I felt like people were so close to me and it was very uncomfortable.  But there are so many people, it's like that a lot.  There is a trade fair in town right now, it's the largest one of its kind in the world.  So take the normal amount of people and add to that and you get a wonderful mix of nationalities and cultures that has been so neat to witness.  Greg and I talked about how it would be like this in heaven.  

Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 

So while Trinity and I were pulling up the rear, there was a gentleman who I believe was from Africa walking behind me.  He walked very close, but so did everyone else!  But after walking very close behind me for quite some time, very patiently I thought, since our caravan was a rather slow one ;) he all of a sudden rushed past me and went up ahead of us.  I thought it was strange, but didn't realize why until later.  We realized we were not going to be able to find the German restaurant, so we turned around and headed to find the Thai restaurant.  We found it, sat down and ordered, and had a feast!  We had pineapple and shrimp fried rice, scallops, beef and vegetables.  Every bit of it was delicious!  We paid our bill, and walked back to the hotel just as the sun was beginning to set.  I thought the hotel looked beautiful at night, and wanted to get a picture to post.  When I went to the pocket where my phone was, it was gone!  Greg and I talked about maybe it fell out at the restaurant when we went to pull out Fisher's board book to entertain him at dinner.  He doubted it, because he said he would have heard it hit the ground.  Greg decided to walk back alone to check, since crossing the particular street we had to cross to get there required many steps and was hard to maneuver with the strollers.  No luck.  He said it wasn't there and he asked the manager, who spoke English, who said it wasn't there either.  I'm so hoping that it turns up at the hotel in lost and found or something, but I keep thinking back to that African man who had been following so closely behind me.  My thoughts this morning have just gone back and forth as to how if he needed to steal, he must have been in a sad state of affairs, so lost.  I have prayed for him this morning and hoped that if he was able to get into my phone, that something on there would point Him to Christ.  Greg has identity theft on the family, so we aren't extremely concerned about that part of the loss.  What concerns me the most is the sheer number if people here who need Christ!  That is the worst kind of loss.

We also went yesterday to the Five Rams statue, which is the Guangzhou city symbol.  The legend has it that this area was very poor and suffering from famine.  A ram god came down and brought them rice and ended the famine.  I know there is much more to the legend, but it seemed to me that it was more than a legend.  As our guide explained it to us, it seemed that she believed it.  They don't worship the statue, but it represents the god(s) who blessed them.  My heart aches for this people.  How do I share Jesus with people who are so rooted in superstition and tradition?  We have been instructed to only share our faith if we are asked, but not to initiate the conversation.  I have been praying for an opportunity to share with our guide, but all of our attempts have failed.  Please join me in praying for her and for the people of China.  

I was pleased to learn last night on a Facebook page I found, Bibles for China, that the number of Chinese Christians is growing.  This is great news!  The government is loosening restrictions on the printing and distributing of Bibles here, praise The Lord!  But what they said is that many, many Chinese Christians cannot afford a Bible.  Most live on about $500 (USD) a year, so $5 for a Bible is much more than they can afford.  William Cameron Townsend said, "The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue.  It needs not furlough, and is never considered a foreigner."  This is from their website:

Over the years Bibles for China has worked with several “in-country” partners. One of those partners conducted an informal survey one year after a Bible distribution. Their finding were that many of the Bibles had been read cover to cover in six weeks, most Bibles were shared with five others (both friends and family), and three of those five committed their life to Christ after reading the Bible. Isaiah 55:11 tells us that God’s Word will, “achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

I know the power of God's word!  I pray more Chinese will find The One True God of the Bible!