Thursday, April 24, 2008

authentic chinese

Kevin and I went downtown Budapest this evening for an authentic Chinese dinner. One of the senior's dads from school invited all of his son's teachers and their spouses out to thank them for their work with him. I thought that was so kind.

The family-style dinner consisted of Chinese dishes that you would not typically be served in a Chinese restaurant because these are the ones that they think Americans would not like. We had squid ball soup, which was a bit chewy, along with like ten other dishes for appetizers. There were also lots of main course dishes as well, some of which we didn't know what they were but most of them delicious. We were also given chopsticks to eat with. They did bring out forks and knives in case we absolutely needed them. I am proud to say that I never used those!

(I know why Chinese people are so skinny... You burn more calories trying to pick up the food than you actually eat! I need some more work on my chopstick skills. But for my first time eating an entire meal with them, I think I did pretty well.)

I really appreciated what the father said to everyone there tonight (through a translator of course). His whole family accepted Christ together as their Lord and Savior back in 2002. He didn't grow in his faith very much until his son Benny started attending ICSB. He wanted to remind us that we are not just ministering to the kids who attend the school but we are ministering to and reaching the families as well, many of whom are not Christians. Sometimes I don't think about that, but it was wonderful to hear this father share how his relationship with the Lord grew through his son's involvement with loving believers at the school which then carried over into their home.

There are millions more stories from other people like that one tonight, so thank you to any and all who pray and give to any sort of ministry. God is always at work. What a blessing it is to hear those things and then share with you!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a really cool story and perspective on your role as teachers there. Thanks for sharing!

Stefanie Schocke said...

I could have done without the squid ball soup...even the name makes me not want to eat dinner. :)

What a nice idea to take you all out! It's so encouraging to hear stories of the Lord at work! I know sometimes people wonder if they are really ministering, it's great to hear it from someone who came to the Lord through such a ministry!

I hope that made sense, it's been a 14 hour day between school/working a the school...so I tend to not make sense after that!