Leaving For China

Following is a reprint of a post from a few months ago, but it's worth repeating.  Wednesday morning, four of the five guys above, along with their chaperone David Samuel, are leaving their friends and families to spend their Christmas break in China.  Focused on their call and their mission, these guys have raised over $10,000 to invest their time and resources in a foreign country.

They impress and inspire me.  How about you?

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Last summer a team of students and adult sponsors went to Cherokee, North Carolina for a week of work projects and mission work. Like most trips of this nature, those who went came back with much more than sore muscles and finished projects. God dealt with people and, in one particular case, infected a group of five young men in an unbelieveable way.

Marc Chewning returned from Cherokee knowing that he wanted to do more to help others know and understand the love of God. Shortly after arriving back home in Powhatan, he was mowing the grass. A bird skeleton was lying in the yard; he noticed it and thought to himself, "That's gross." He passed the skeleton again and was suddenly impacted by a powerful thought.

"How many times do we do that same thing with people? Notice, think "that's gross", and turn and walk away..."

Marc couldn't shake the thought of hurt and broken people who were ignored and left in need, often by those who claim to follow Jesus and his command to "love your neighbor as yourself."

After a flurry of communication with some of his partners from the Cherokee mission trip, Marc felt certain that God was speaking, and clearly calling them to go. They weren't sure where they were to go, but the compulsion to act was undeniable.

With the strength of their conviction and the boldness that comes from an encounter with God, these five guys starting moving. In spite of the fact that they weren't sure exactly what was ahead, they unashamedly began to declare that God had called them, and they starting looking for the next step.

Their journey led them to the front steps of the International Mission Board in Richmond (in spite of several wrong turns and a brief period of being lost), where they simply walked through the door and made themselves available. They were warmly received and graciously encouraged, and it was there that they received clarification as to the path before them.

Marc Chewning, Elijah Schiarelli, Joseph Freeman and Andrew Basic are going to spend their Christmas break in China. They will work within the specific guidelines of a Mission Board project, but what they will do is not as important as the fact that God spoke, and they said, quite simply, "Yes."

In response to the need for an adult chaperone, David Samuel also said "Yes", and he will join them. Robert Moroney will be unable to travel to China, but he said, "Yes" to the call to support those on the journey from home.

Pray for these guys.  And pray for their families, who will face the holiday with their children many miles away.  Give their moms and dads an extra hug or two.  And pray.