Coming back to the states brings the past two weeks into perspective. I cannot really explain all that went on because the majority of people reading this don't want to sit through a day by day rundown of what happened. However, I can sum the trip into a sentence. The country of China now has faces, names, and feelings. Landing on the ground in Hong Kong was cool. Driving through the streets of the big city was downright incredible. However, I only saw another city: cold, consumed by money, and busy. Despite culture shock, the main difference from my life here in Chicago is that I could have gotten lost in the faces much faster. I was just another number, another tourist, another American with American dollars. In return, I had no love for these people. I had no connection with them. The problems I face in the states are the same they face in China as far as humanity is concerned. I worry about money and power and position as does every resident of Hong Kong.

Needless to say, I was scared that my heart would be as cold and hard as the stares that I got. However, my love for the Chinese was found on the spiritual level. I went from the wealth of Hong Kong to the more simple life of Hoi Ping. I could now digest what I was seeing. I established the relationships that I needed in order to even care about the problems in that country. My love existed only because the Divine wrote it upon my heart. I could not attribute this to anything but my care for the body of Christ because apart from the spiritual, I could not and did not love.

However, the spiritual came about through the eyes of a child. Her english name is Tracy and I unfortunately do not know her certainly beautiful Chinese name. She is pictured above. My love for the people of China began as God inscribed it into my being, but was nutured and blossomed into an all-encompassing compassion for the Chinese through the innocence of a five year old child. From my love of their spirit to my desire to see them well fed, my heart grew in its humanity. Tracy contains my love for that country within her eyes and smile. We cannot see true happiness in her smile. To me, this symbolizes the minimal and uncertain hope that the many of the Chinese put into their pagan gods. Nevertheless, they search. Her eyes symbolize the intricate beauty that God has woven into His people over there. Not only physical, as Tracy is a beautiful little child, but God has pieced together a people who are curious for more knowledge and who want to share with you their tradition.

I cannot explain why this picture hit me so hard, but I know that I will forever love these people because of the way the Lord connected me to a culture through the face of a child. No matter how many more hours I stare at her, I will not be satisfied with two weeks in China. The people of China need hearts that love them and love Christ. I had no idea that they could capture my heart by simply being who God created them to be. I guess I should not be surprised at the basic ways that God sometimes works.