Ruth's Journey - Part 13

A Bridge Too Far?

    It is fascinating to watch people work with their hands. The art of creating is truly a gift from the Lord.  Writing, sewing, farming, florists are all examples of people utilizing their gifting. There is also the design that takes patience and time like a mother holding her young child’s hand and as the years wash over the relationship the design concludes in reciprocity when the young child now holds the hand of an elderly  mother or father. God has graciously given each one of us the best gifts. We become stewards of these gifts for the purpose of edifying to further his kingdom. These gifts also provide us an outlet to worship Him.  As we toured the factory in China, we watched a society almost completely void of the Lord’s presence create something from the Bible for a ministry and it was amazing.  I doubt any of the employees of this factory knew our passion for this doll they were making.  I doubly doubt they knew who Ruth was or Jesus Christ is. I watched these Chinese factory workers be faithful to their employer and to their creativity. I also watched them be faithful to our vision.  These dolls are sculpted then individually painted and sewn by hands created for worship.  They just don’t know they are created for worship.  They don’t know they are free in Christ. Is this God’s workmanship?  Wasn’t Ruth herself from Moab which presents some obvious parallels? This manufacturer was chosen by us, to help us facilitate the Biblical message.  This ministry is about God’s word in action, therefore shouldn’t His word be actionable to these factory workers?

Visiting China once doesn’t exactly make me an expert in foreign relations. I don’t  even consider myself an expert in God’s ways which I guess is okay since His ways are different. God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” (Isaiah 55:8)    Ok, that’s good enough for me!   We walked into China with this exciting plan to tweet our total experience on a daily basis to those interested parties at home, but it wasn’t long before we felt the restrictions imposed by the Chinese government which made us appreciate our home that much more. The people however were different from what I expected.  When we visited Beijing, we walked the city and found people to be friendly and engaging. We walked through the hutongs which are alleys where the Chinese people open for business by selling there craftsmanship right outside their small very modest housing and got a sense of urban life in China.  There was even a park where the elderly would gather on a daily basis to exercise, swim and I think socialize.  Remember I couldn’t speak Chinese, so they could have been telling each other to move over.  After all, this section of the park was extremely crowded.

I knew when I left China the Lord had given us a way to share just a small piece of ourselves as well as Him. I believe it when He says He wants that no one shall perish (2 Peter 3:9).  And we are expecting  “… in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). I know there are people in China that are spreading the gospel.  In our own small way we are building our own bridge to the gospel with our partners in China.  The Freedom Girls is just one small piece in a much larger story which is His Story.  Every single man and women working in that factory working long days and sometimes into the evening has a story.  They are a creation of an Almighty God and not their government. 

We would love for you to comment on our experience or tell us about your own experience of building bridges in your business.  Join the Discussion and edify the family of Christian Business owners.

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