I had met a Chinese couple at my church months earlier.  Upon learning that I would be traveling to China as a part of a missions trip, they offered to help me with some basic language lessons.  And so began our friendship.  Several days a week I would go to meet them on the Ohio State University campus, where they were graduate students and lived in married student housing.

Following my return from China, they invited me to attend a Bible study that they facilitated on Campus.  Relatively new Christians themselves, they had started pulling together other Chinese students - Christians as well as non-believers - to meet and fellowship and worship.  They asked if I would come and share with their group about China Service Ventures and the work that we are involved with in Xinyang.

As I spoke, telling stories and sharing pictures, he sat on the edge of the group.  While he didn't say much, you could tell that something was going on inside of his head.  My friends had said that he wasn't a Christian, but that he came to their gathering on a regular basis.

"So you travel from Columbus to China, just to serve?" he asked with an intent but confused look on his face.  "Yep.  I am a Christian.  I believe that we are called to go, serve, and help others."  I could tell that he was thinking deeply about what I had said.

Later we were looking at some scripture.  I saw that he did not have a Bible.  I pulled out one that I had purchased in Beijing and gave it to him.  He got a smile on his face.  He said that he had never had a Bible before.

Did I ultimately go to China to help the kids and do the health assessments?  Or was His purpose for me going so that I would be equipped and have the opportunity to share the story and Bible with this Buckeye? 

Join China Service Ventures in sharing His word in China and the United States.