At their request, a delegation of officials of the Beijing Municipal Government from China asked if they could meet with someone from the Chicago Church of Christ to learn more about how our faith affected our service to our society.
God continues to amaze me. The small, daily miracles of life are enough. In additon He gives me a Lord and Savior to save me from my sins and myself, gives me an incredible wife and children, a purpose and a mission, a spiritual family that spreads around the globe. Then there are moments in history I have to pinch yourself to be sure I don't miss.
How can I forget peering over the Berlin Wall as a teenage seeing a woman leaning out her window looking back at me through a field of barbwire, mines and armed guards with orders to shoot to kill. Or that visit to Dachau, Germany seeing the gas chambers and almost smelling the ovens where humans were turned into soap. Or the Killing Fields in Cambodia and the shrine in Kigali, Rwanda to human slaughter that is incomprehensible.
Then there are the opposite experiences. Times at once so profound, stirring and humbling that you know you have touched a significant part of history and may never fully appreciate it. That's how I felt when I met Nelson Mandella as HOPE worldwide presented him with the very first HOPE Unity Award at his home in Johannesburg. I felt that again when I spent the afternoon hosting the vice-mayor of Moscow showing him the Amish country in Pennsylvania sharing about our parallel lives with his growing up in the Soviet Union and my growing up as the son of a US military man during the Cold War. Last month I was blessed with another of those moments in time.
The Chicago Church of Christ was asked to host a delegation of 24 members of the Beijing Municipal Government who were in town taking a class at Northwestern and visiting several companies studying multicultural groups and social action. It was a great opportunity to share that the diverse multicultural makeup and unity in our churches come from God and our convictions. So we were able to share the gospel and our lives.
Co-lead Evangelist Darren Gauthier (pictured above left) gave an excellent multicultural presentation that prompted many requests for copies. Our lead administrator Bill Sanders answered some administrative questions. Marcia served as a great hostess and provided very popular refreshments. Kurt Roskopf helped set up and prep.
But Xin Batino (right) was the star of the day and fittingly the key to our connecting. Xin is from Beijing. After graduating with a degree from Beijing University, she became a disciple while studying for her Masters Degree at University of Illinois at Chicago. Xin and her husband Winston lead the downtown campus ministries in Chicago. She shared her conversion, helped translate and assisted the group translator in answering questions.
We were invited to lunch where we had excellent conversations. We were left with some Chinese gifts, numerous business cards and an invitation to bring a delegation of college students for a cultural exchange program to Beijing! The group went on to meet with government, business and media in New York and Washington, DC before returning home.
Given past history, it is significant that the Beijing delegation wanted to meet with a church. They explained that they are looking for new ways in their society. They understand that churches play a very important role in American society especially in social service and they are trying to learn about it. Isn't that how many people started being interested in Jesus?
The delegates included high ranking officials from social sciences, office of culture, newspapers, television, radio, intellectual property, publications, literary art and even culture law enforcement. Please pray for all cultures to find their commonality in our humanity and our Creator. Pray for hearts to be open to the gospel. And for more doors to open to the billions of souls in China.
This opportunity reminded me of why I love to travel and see new cultures. It is amazing how God has created so many fascinating and unique civilizations. Our societies are separated by some incredibly deep differences. Yet people everywhere are basically the same. One of the delegates wanted to know about our children and we had a great time showing each other pictures of our families. We loved sharing that one of our daughter-in-laws is half Chinese. And I got to show off the grandkids!
This entire experience made me more appreciative of what God has done in Chicago and in our family of churches around the world in teaching people how to love him and one another. Truly we have become one of the very few multi-cultural churches in the world because we are Cross cultural. By the grace of God.
Roger Lamb
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