I never thought this would happen…

CHINA - Paul du Plessis 

I know Christ!! What a privilege!! I am in China! I have the best friends and fellow worshippers in the world!! All this is things that I thought that only would happen with the rich and famous…but guess what, its not! But the one thing that I never thought would happen to me was...

...to teach Chinese children and teenagers!!!!

I taught this past week a few classes, helping Chinese students learn English, and the time I taught more than 15 hours in total!
In this photo we have "oom Snoepie! We came to our “new town – Dandytang”, and we are still here. In the first few towns the police always followed our every move, but here no one cares. So we didn’t plan anything. We met an English teacher who knew some people. She invited us to her school on the Tuesday. We agreed, because we wanted to meet all those children and teenagers! I wanted to play basketball with them. We first went and taught smaller kids English on the Saturday and Sunday. That was fun in itself, because they don’t understand much English. I had a few classes, and the more I tried to teach them anything, the more nothing worked. We met also a Mr. Fan, he was quite extraordinaire.
He served us with dinner and lunch almost every day, with snacks and starters complete!
We taught on Saturday and Sunday because that is when they have extra classes. These Chinese children are hard workers.  Their school starts on a Monday morning at 7 o clock. Then the have a lunch period from 12:15 to 14:30. Then school starts again till 19:30.

Tuesday came and we were invited to the High School, nr 7 or something. We went early, and received breakfast, little dumplings. We went to different classes, alone, not knowing what to expect or to do. So when I entered the room, I just started praying, and God came through every time I prayed! I talked with the teenagers about South Africa – Nanfei (in their language), they asked questions concerning technology and communications in SA, as well as questions about the Olympic Games. One student asked me if I liked football and what is my opinion about us, SA, hosting the 2010 World Cup event. I was stunned. They have a good knowledge of what’s going on in the world.

So, I went to 4 classes on Tuesday. In each class I had to sing a song, and in one class I sang our national anthem, and they liked it a lot! After each song, they sang a song to me. One girl taught me a Chinese song about a flower and a girl. That was very funny! Me, singing in Chinese! I enjoyed it very much! That was a blessing just to share with them. I didn’t get the chance to share my faith with them, but I did establish a few friendships, with boys and girls!!! They really enjoyed our stay at the school, and afterwards we played basketball. I was in a super good team, and they passed the ball to me the whole time! In 3 minutes the whole school or nearly the whole school of 4000 students were standing around the court and cheering us on. We won eventually, but they laughed at me, because I tried to slam dunk, but I am not that tall.

Today, a Wednesday, we went to the kindergarten school. These young kiddies are learning English from a very small age. We played games, and I had to give each of them an English name! So, I started with Peter, Simon, Paul, Elizabeth, Esther, Ruth, etc. There were more than 20 names that I had to give. The teacher was standing beside me the whole time. Every time I prayed before giving a name, and just at that moment I got a name for the kid. So God provided a name for every little kid in that class. So, looking back at our time here in this town, I can say that we have worked a lot, and we have enjoyed every bit!

We are staying in a hotel, with a western toilet and shower, and with cable TV, with a heater and neat beds. We love it here. It is a hotel for old people. I say so because every morning at 6 o clock we hear the old people coming up the stairs for their morning exercises!

I have 2 last thought to share with you before I end this blog.
1. Be careful of what you ask of God, He just might give it to you…are you ready for it?
2. Where ever you are, whatever you are doing, always ask God for knowledge and wisdom, because He is faithful when we are unfaithful, He will help you no matter how big or small the situation!

Lots of love!!
Paul

….O yes, I almost forgot…..

JOIN   THE   GLOBAL   CHALLENGE!!!!