J. Hudson Taylor

Today I took some time to flip through a few photo albums of my two trips to East Asia. Even though some of the names of my Chinese friends have escaped me, just the glimpse of their faces has opened the flood gates to emotions that have been dormant for a long time. As I think back to all the sites I saw and all the crazy things our team did, I'm thankful to have been part of everything that took place during those trips.

I remember back when I found out that a dear family friend of mine had just been diagnosed with cancer and I was explaining the situation with one of my friends, Jo. After a few brief moments of silence, I remember looking up through teary eyes and seeing that Jo was also crying. But for a different reason. She then asked me, "Do you believe that God can heal cancer?" Whoa! To think that God had allowed me to share more about my faith because of this family tragedy completely blew my mind.

I miss the wonderful man that sat at the front desk of our dorm and the lady that I would buy watermelon from every couple of days. Then I came upon a few pictures of the children that we sang songs with at a coffee shop down the street and one of a close friend of our team who's joyful smile could always light up a room. Boy do I miss him! And then I remember how I felt after I left the Buddhist temple that afternoon - how my heart broke for the futility of it all.

Then I picked up Hudson Taylor's biography. I thought it would be fitting to read since he had such a huge impact in touching China for God. He spent many years preparing to go by learning to endure hardships, live cheaply and trust God for everything. In the first 30 pages of this book, I confirmed what my next task is in my journey toward overseas missions - pray earnestly and trust whole-heartedly. This quote jumped out at me as I was reading:

"Dear God, please give me some work to do for you, as an outlet for my love and gratitude." J. Hudson Taylor. (Taken from J. Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ, Roger Steer. OMF Literature, 1990.)

So today I pray his simple prayer trusting that God will be faithful in guiding me on the path He has set out before me. And since Hudson prepared for many years, if God keeps me here for longer than I would like or foresee, I pray that I would be just as willing to stay.