Atomically confused from crossing the International Date Line, the 2011 Beijing Team touched down at one of the largest terminals in the world, BCIA. Even though we were warned that the massive structure, made to impress Olympic visitors, would make us feel small, it is hard to imagine. Although armed thoroughly with art supplies, gifts, games, business books, cameras, thoughts, experiences, and an ambitious schedule, we were unable to foresee the richness of the time that lay ahead.
Our Chinese friends' quickly rescued us from the impersonal terminal and overwhelmed our team with hospitality. We were spoiled with food, rides, translators, and love, a testament to the relationships developed over the past five years; not to mention our liaison, a City Church member now living in Beijing. The immediate welcome and help we received freed, and inspired, us to give the few loaves and fish we had packed. After our first restless night at the Hotel on Dongzhong Street—pronounced, done⋅ger⋅man—we woke up ready to spring our ambitious plans into action.
City Hope's Urban Beautification projects in San Francisco inspired us to paint in Beijing, a city with a flourishing arts community. A partner of City Church, Compassion for Migrant Children, was a prime place for City Church to leave our hand-print. There we met Hamilton, the regional director, who introduced us to the work and vision behind these after-school centers for the migrants of Beijing, an under-served population that now comprises the majority of the people in the city. Pastor Paul Trudeau put his art background right to use, sketching robots, spacemen, and rocket dogs. In the meantime, the rest of the team played games and did art projects with the little ones that flock to the center. During the week, the team had fun transforming the bland, dirty hallway into a colorful world beyond. A number of small miracles helped us finish our projects, one was finding enough acrylic paint.
The two 4 x 6 foot, pre-stretched, and primed canvases delivered to our next partner The Starfish Project, an organization that serves exploited woman, was another miracle. When we arrived the founder and CEO, eager to build on the success of the business consulting offered by our team last year, explained the story, the plan for the future, and the growth challenges in depth. Starfish wants to train and encourage the woman to take greater responsibility in their jewelry business. That night, we hit the books and put together a training on team development and helped start the conversation on how each person is a piece in their beautiful mosaic. After the training, we broke into teams for an appropriate exercise, painting, something new to the women. Hesitant at first, the women finished two pieces that they can display on their walls confidently.
Throughout the week, we had the privilege of participating in the house church movement and witnessed a thriving community that loves God and one another. As guests, we were entrusted with two major responsibilities, the Sunday sermon and an outreach event in the park. We found after meeting with different small groups and ministry leaders, the people faced similar faith challenges. We were afforded the opportunity to address the topic of ministry burnout with the leaders who are following God in mission to transform their city. Nearly on the other side of the planet, we were encouraged by finding that God's truth and ministry is the same in Beijing as it is in San Francisco.
As we unpack from the richness of our time, it is impossible to leave without seeing what a privilege it is to share faith openly with others. We got on the plane with a few loaves and some fish and now our baskets are full. Our team is looking forward to sharing the leftovers with the community that we represented at 7pm on Sunday, May 8th—sign up here.