I have cousins who are missionaries in China. They keep a guest bedroom ready in case anyone wants to come and visit. No one has yet, but hopefully I’ll get the chance to.

Until then, they’ve connected me with an organization that pairs Westerners with people who want to learn/practice their English. And along the way, you share with them about God.

They try to pair you by lifestyle so that you have some connection to start off with. And they give you a basic outline of words and sentences you can use, but other than that….you just call.

So, I called. 7 am my time, 7 pm hers. Lily is 32, in customer service and single. We fumbled through the first couple of minutes of the skype call much like you do on a blind date. Interview style questions, except there with a language barrier.  But with each question the awkwardness eased, and we became friends.

Our conversations are reminiscent of those I would have with my girlfriends; finding a relationship, work success, finances. She shared with me the struggles she has had with her father – she hasn’t seen him in 4 years but now that he’s older she feels like she needs to repair that relationship. We probably talk too much about guys, though.

But in between those conversations are the ones where I share the grace of God. Sometimes that starts with a question about what my weekend looks like, or the trip to Cambodia I took. And in those moments, I see her asking more questions, and taking notes.

I wasn’t really sure what this looked like before I started, but it has turned out to be one of the highlights of my week. If you think you’d like to do a little mission work from the comfort of your couch, I’d be happy to talk to you about it.

Here’s Lily and her nephew Wang Yu Xia from our call this evening.

amanda

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pps – Lily hasn’t been to church since her grandmother passed away. She wants me to email her the link to my church so she can watch with me on Sunday! You can watch with us here: http://www.northpointonline.tv/  #ilmc