Love is an universal language by Carmen Yan
Love is a Universal Language
Carmen Yan
During my first venture into China as an English teacher this past summer, I discovered what it means to show love and receive it from a people of whose true culture and language I know relatively little (being a CBC). We only taught for two weeks, but God’s pre-arrangements were evident as we met person after person whose hearts were wide open to us and what we had to teach them. As a result, I have learned just as much from them as vice versa, if not more.
An encounter that sticks in my mind was with a teenage student in the small discussion group I was leading. Halfway into the first week, Tom asked when we were going to teach them the song “The True Meaning of Love” – a song we weren’t even planning to introduce until the end of the week! As it turned out, he had walked past another discussion group just as they were looking at PowerPoint slides with those song lyrics on them. He explained that he recognized it because his dad, a doctor, had learned that same song from a MSI medical team some time ago and had sung it at home. Wow!
A week later, Tom invited our whole team to join him, his friend Kelvin, and his parents to a home-cooked meal. Yum…how could we resist? During this visit, both Kelvin and Tom were eager to share about their lives as students in China and about the Chinese educational system. Even though I’d heard stories before, it still stunned me that these very students faced the daily reality of LONG school days and harshly competitive grading scales. And to think we complain about rubrics and 3:30 pm ending times! I was impressed at their high levels of work ethic and ability to persevere, but also saddened with the knowledge that most of them had little choice but to “stick with it.” Sensing Tom’s stress about his upcoming nation-wide examination, our conversation turned to such topics as self-worth, true success, and the meaning of life (i.e. striving to become #1 shouldn’t be the primary focus of your life). We had some good discussion, eye-opening for both parties, and then we shared a tasty meal. Before we left, Tom’s mother shared with us a favorite song of hers: “I Have A China Heart.” It’s a beautiful song and I could really sense the love she harbored for her country as she sang.
Such experiences were like God’s fingerprints all throughout our trip. What a way to learn about and to serve your native land! Even after I returned to Canada, my Father showed me that our absence would not mean the end of His work. Waiting in my e-mail inbox was a message from Tom: … I’m so happy that I could spend the wonderful time with you. Because of your correct views of life, I will feel happier in the rest of my life. As you can see, a person who doesn’t have a correct view of life is like having no soul.
May His love continue to spread unabated throughout this thirsty land!
