Sung Neng Yee/Nora Sung

I just finished the book China Cry, the story of a little Chinese girl named Sung Neng Yee born in pre-Communist China. She grew up to be called Nora (Lam) Sung in the the United States. From her birth in Peking (Beijing) to a mother who could not keep her to her loving and wealthy adoptive parents; to being forced to flee from the invading Japanese; to being given hope and relief when the Japanese were defeated; to a devotee of Communism, thinking it a great new order; to re-seeking God, whom she knew as a child, as a result of Communism's suspicious persecution. Then, through many, many hardships and faith-building steps and leaps, from China to Hong Kong to the U.S. and then back to Hong Kong and, at last, China. The story is incredible, and I HIGHLY SUGGEST you read it for yourself. I was SO encouraged by all the amazing miracles God did. There were so many times Neng Yee protested or questioned God because she couldn't see the big picture, but then she many, MANY times found out later how huge an impact these difficult events and her obedience had had on bringing others to Christ. What an indescribably AWESOME God we serve! I wish that Neng Yee were still alive (she died in 2004) so that I could personally write and tell her how powerfully I have identified with her. Through her story, I have seen confirmation of the importance, beauty, and worthwhileness of submitting oneself to God and boldly believing that He will cause everything to fall into place as a result. Maybe not in the ways my little mind forsees as "best," for how often my plans and expectations of what is "good" or "best" are wrong, but only seen as such in hindsight! But He will cause them to fall where they truly will be "best," for He is omniscient AND has my best interests at heart. How awesome! And He has chosen to use ME and YOU in that process of implementing his good and perfect will!!! Can I get a "Hallelujah!" from anyone out there?

Thank you, God, for your indescribable goodness, faithfulness, love, and majesty! As it says in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do," and in Isaiah 64:6, "...all our righteous acts are like filthy rags..." You are the Potter; we are the Clay. Mold us, please, into beautiful things, and help us yield to your will, and help us to humbly realize that it is by Your power alone, and in no way our own that great things are done. Soli Deo gloria.

A Frustration:

Allow me, briefly, to mention a frustration I have with the Christian sub-culture.

Disclaimer: I am in no way saying I am perfect and amazing and do the right thing all the time, neither from pure nor calculated motives. However, it frustrates me to listen to a Christian radio station that sends listeners to foreign countries purely for the sake of going to a concert. I keep hearing this contest go on, and I think, "Really? A trip to Ireland? What about the starving kids all over the world? What about humanitarian efforts?" I can understand sending people free CDs; it's both marketing and a source of encouragement and the Message of Christ. I can kind of understand sending people to concerts, though that's iffy, depending on the amount of money going into the whole thing. But the stations are provided those kinds of giveaways. But who is funding transporting people to foreign countries to go to concerts? I want to be a part of a sub-culture that focuses its energies and monies toward curing diseases or curing people of preventable diseases or providing drinking water and food to those who need it.

As I said before, I am far from perfect, but is it just me or does sending people on overseas vacations sound a little too much like American pop culture than being the hands and feet of Christ?

Feel free to argue.