Today my heart is SO FULL to
overflowing that I can hardly breath!!!!!
Let me tell you
about Hua Ying and Bin Bin!!!!!!!!!!
(Please forgive my poor writing style, grammar, etc. )
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Hua Ying...
As most of you know, I teach reading classes and help in the pre-school at a school for women who have moved to America from other countries and want to learn English. www.asfwc.org
Hua Ying first came to our school in
November. She had just moved to Toledo from China and had a great
desire to learn English. She knew the alphabet and how to read basic
words, but she spoke very little English. Mostly just “My name is
Hua Ying.” She has been working very hard and is older than most of
our other students, in her early 40s From the first day I met her, I
have loved her more and more every day. There was something in her
eyes that spoke of great, great sorrow and I have been praying for
her so much.
In mid December I was sitting with
several of our Chinese students, talking, talking, talking, like we
normally do, when Hua Ying started sharing her story with us.(The
advanced students translated for me.) With agony pouring out of her
she shared that, 7 years ago in China, her daughter died. Her little
girl was 10 years old and outside at school, when a snow-laden branch
broke off the tree she was sitting under and fell on top of her. Hua
Ying took her to the hospital and desperately tried to find help for
her daughter, who at this time was still alive. All of the doctors
were busy with other things. Her daughter died at the hospital while
Hua Ying was frantically trying to find someone to help her. As she
was telling us about this we were crying with her.
It was heart breaking to see the
torment she was still going through. This was such an immense and
open wound in her heart that was still throbbing and horrible.
Since that time we have become good
friends. About a month ago someone, I think it was one of our
volunteers, asked Hua Ying if she was a Christian. She told her, “No,
but I will be.” At that time she had started asking the Chinese
Christians at our school questions and then started attending church
with them.
Two weeks ago, on Friday afternoon,
three of our teachers(Linda, Mackenzie and Kristi) went to her house
for lunch. We often visit our students at their homes on Fridays.
Nan(a Chinese Christian advanced student) was also there to translate
for them all. Hua Ying had questions for them about Jesus and they
had a very good discussion.
When Linda asked her, “Do you want to
receive Jesus, do you want him to make you clean from your sins?”
Hua Ying said, in English, “YES!!!”
When they asked her questions to make
sure she understood, she said “YES! YES!”
So, they prayed with her and after she
got done praying she gestured with her hands and said, “I feel
something.”
Mackenzie said, “That is the Holy
Spirit!” and explained about that.
Wow! What a great time of rejoicing.
When I found out about this I cried and
cried. And when I saw Hua Ying on Monday morning I started weeping! I
just couldn't stop hugging her and crying.
Nan was there and I told Hua Ying,
through Nan, “I am crying because I am SO happy! Someday we will
all go to heaven. You and I, and all the rest of these Christian
women will be together forever!!! I am so happy!!!”
I can't adequately explain in words
what this moment was like, but it was intensely special.
Her countenance was so peaceful and
full of joy. All the grief that had lingered around her was totally
gone. She told me that she hadn't slept the night before because she
was so happy. 
Hua Ying is very excited to be baptized
at the Chinese church on Sunday. I am going to be able to go. Yay!!!
*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*'*Please pray for Hua Ying's husband.
Kristi accidentally left her purse at Hua Ying's house so that
evening, on the same day she became a Christian, Hua Ying invited
Kristi's family to dinner. Kristi was trying to help Hua Ying in the
kitchen, but Hua Ying kept pointing to her husband and motioning to
Kristi.
Kristi said, “Do you want me to tell
your husband about Jesus?”
Hua Ying said, “Yes, yes!”
So Kristi took a deep breath and went
over to where her husband was sitting with Hua Ying's husband and
started sharing with him about Christ. He listened to her and then
told her about what he believes in... communism.
He said, “I don't believe because I
am told to believe, but because it is what I
believe.”
After he was done talking she said,
with great concern, “Oh, that is TOO bad!!!”
He said something like, “It is okay.
I believe what I believe and you believe what you believe.”
She said, very seriously, “Oh, no.
One of us is
wrong.”
He sat back at this, just listening.
Kristi continued, “One of us is
wrong! You believe this(...) and I believe this(...). One of us is
wrong. And what if, what if you
are wrong?!?”
He didn't have anything to say to this.
He also wanted proof to what she was saying about Jesus.
She told him, “The only proof I have
to give you, sir, is this: when the Holy Spirit comes to live inside
of you, you have love where you didn't love, you have peace when
there shouldn't be peace, you have patience and kindness, you have
faithfulness and self-control.”
When she said this something lit up in
his eyes and he said, “Self-control.”
And he seemed to be thinking deeply
about what she shared. I believe that God wanted Kristi to forget her
purse that day so that she could come back and have this conversation
with him. Please pray for him
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Bin Bin...
BinBin(pronounced Bean-Bean) first came to our school in
early January. She is young, just a couple of years older than me.
She got married in December to a man she barley knew and moved to
America just 2 days before she came to our school. She has also
become a good friend of mine. She sent this picture to her family in
China, telling them about her new best friend. God has blessed me so
much! I have an intense love for all of the women at our school, but
there is something extra-special about three of my beginning level
students... Hua Ying, Bin Bin and Lan Yu. God has put such a tender
love in our hearts towards each other. Bin Bin is such a spunky,
cheerful, fun-loving friend. She always has a laughing heart and a
huge smile.
A couple of days ago Bin Bin's husband
became a Christian!!! Praise God!!!
This morning Hua Ying came into school
and we started talking. She was trying to tell me something about
Sunday.
I said, “Yes, the baptism! I will go
on Sunday.”
She said, “Bin Bin!”
I said, “Yes, Bin Bin's husband became
a Christian! That is so good!!!”
But she continued, “Bin Bin! Bin Bin's
husband Christian... Bin Bin
Christian!!!! Bin Bin baptize Sunday.”
I just stood there staring at her in
shock.
Then I said, “What?!? Bin Bin is a
Christian too?!? She wants to be baptized?”
She told me, “Yes! Yes!”
At that moment I felt like I was in a
dream, like I could have died of happiness!
When Bin Bin walked into my classroom
this morning I was amazed. She has always been cheerful, but this
morning she was radiant!
Wow! My heart is SO blessed!
After class Hua Ying and Bin Bin stayed
after to talk to me. Hua Ying explained that Bin Bin and her husband
had come over to her house yesterday to “study” and that Bin Bin
wanted to become a Christian.
I asked Bin Bin, “What did you think
when you talked to Hua Ying?”
She had a hard time putting it into
words, so I said, “Did you think, 'I need Jesus. I want Jesus.'?”
“Yes!”she replied, her eyes
sparkling like you wouldn't believe. “I want Jesus!!!” She had
the biggest grin on her face. Now we are sisters!!!
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During coffee break, between classes, I
was kneeling down talking to another student who was sitting at a
table. Hua Ying knelt down next to me, put her hands on my shoulders
and started speaking to me in rapid Chinese. Christina(the pastor's
wife from the CMA Chinese church in Toledo and also one of my
advanced students) translated what she was saying. She said that Hua
Ying was impacted deep in her heart by what I told her about us all
being in heaven together someday. She said that she would never
forget it for the rest of her life.
As Christina was telling me what she
said, Hua Ying had her hands on my shoulders and was looking at me
with tears pooling in her eyes saying, “Yes!”
Then she gave me a big hug and said
with much conviction, “I LOVE
you!”
Oh my, I started cryyyyyying!
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me! I can't think of anything more beautiful than the look on
Bin Bin's face this morning, or the tears in Hua Ying's eyes as she
talked about us being together for eternity! This is what makes life
worth living. All the difficult trials, all the agonizing moments,
all the frustrating situations... they are all way more than
worth going through for days like these. 
My beginning reading class... Hua Ying, Bin Bin, Goksun(from Turkey) and Lan Yu.
There are two more women in this class who are not in this pic...
Sohad from Iraq and Farzana from Afghanistan.
P.S.
Please pray for Lan Yun. Her heart has been deeply affected by all of this. She is going to come to church and the baptism on Sunday. We are going to sit together. She told me today that she has never been to a church and is excited to go. She is so precious. PLEASE pray for her to come to Jesus!!!
 Hua Ying, Bin Bin and Lan Yu | 
