This blog entry is one of a series of reflections from the CBFVA Mission Immersion Experience to Macau, China with CBF field personnel Larry and Sarah Ballew. The following reflection was written by Chip Turner, lay leader at Churchland Baptist Church in Chesapeake, Virginia.
I have heard it said that you really don’t know a person until you have walked a mile in their shoes. Well, I have travelled over 8,000 miles with a group of people who until March 22 of this year were all complete strangers to me. It is amazing how close you can get with a group of people when you are working toward a common goal, spreading goodwill and fellowship to others in a foreign land.
On May 6th, our group of 10 left the United States for what I thought was a mission to help the people of Macau. After a marathon flight that lasted over 16 hours and a 40 mile ferry ride we landed in the streets of Macau. I have never been out of the United States, so to say it was intimidating would be an understatement.
The next morning, as we continued to acclimate to the temperature and humidity as well as the city, we gradually began to feel a sense of comfort with each other as well as with Larry and Sarah Ballew, our hosts. Our charge for the week was to assist with the Ballew’s ministry and to attempt to make connections with the members of their English Language Class and Macau Baptist Church. If I originally had any reservations about this, they were quickly put to rest the moment I met some of the people in the class. I found each of them to be warm and inviting and interested in showing off their city.
As the week progressed and we took part, as a group, in such activities as Bible study, youth group, and both Cantonese and Mandarin church services, I found myself becoming closer to the people of Macau and those in my travel group. I found Larry and Sarah to be very dedicated to their work and successful. It is rewarding to work with people who are putting forth such effort in an attempt to teach others and it was refreshing to be a part of it. Their work is a vine that is bearing fruit. All week I thought about how I could properly tell their story, and in the process took several hundred photos in an attempt to cover all that they do.
Ironically, for all the photographs I took, I chose one sent to me by a young man I met while in Macau as the theme for my post. I have exchanged several emails with Cory since my return and he has asked for my prayers as he applies to graduate school in Canada. I have gladly done so and hope to continue this online relationship with him and his friend Jenny. If the group’s goal was to make connections with people in Macau, I think we were successful. As for my original thought of going with the intent of helping people in Macau, I feel that maybe I took more away than I left behind. The trip, the travel group, the Ballew’s and the people I met, all helped me more, or at least as much as I helped them.