Saturday, September 09, 2006

Yan Xia Xia

There are people you meet for only a brief moment and you just don’t forget about them. They remain in your mind and you wonder how they are. I met Yan xia xia (pronounced as yan-siya-siya) in a train station in Beijing. She’s a pretty stylish teen with her hair styled up and her clothes all savvied like the pictures you see in fashion magazines. My friends and I were sitting on the floor waiting for our train and she was sitting on one of the chairs just beside me. It was pretty obvious that she wanted to interact with us because we were speaking English. As I’ve said before the Chinese, especially the youth, are drawn to English-speakers because they want to practice speaking it.

“Hello.” I said smiling at her.

Her Chinese eyes widened and she greeted me back. “Hello. Where are you from?”

I told her that we are from the Philippines and that we came here to visit friends.

“My foreign teacher is also from the Philippines.”

“Really, you’re teacher must be very good. You speak English very well.”

She smiled and thanked me politely. I was actually very proud that her teacher is Filipino. Many Filipino professionals work in China as English teachers and teachers in China are well-respected and well-compensated.

We talked about various things. She told me stories of her life as a student; how she likes to watch television and read books. We even discussed about the government. She is very aware of what’s happening in her country of which I will not elaborate here. She talked about how she wants them changed. Indeed, for such a young age this girl is an intellectual! I admit that at first I thought she was just one of those one-dimensional teens that talk about pop-star fads. I judged too quickly. Within minutes of our conversation I was impressed at how she presented issues and how she asked the difficult questions.

“You’re very intelligent.” I said looking at her intently. “You ask the difficult questions. Keep on asking them, and someday you will get your answers”

It was time to leave. The station announcer called for the passengers of our train to line up and prepare to board. But before we leave she wrote my name in Chinese characters just to show me how it looked.

“These are good characters.” She said pointing at the page in my notebook, making sure I look at the characters. “You’re name means ‘prosperous’ in Chinese.”

She did not know it but at that moment I felt very blessed at what she did. Now, everytime I write my name I remember her. My only regret is not having enough time to tell her about my Savior. Until now I pray for her every so often laying hands on the page she wrote in. I cry sometimes asking God to find this girl who wrote my Chinese name in my notebook.

“Find her, Lord, and send someone to tell her about You.”


11 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Lord will honor your prayers. That page of your notebook is your point of contact and lots of things are happening in the spiritual realm. I experienced laying hands on the writing activities of my students. After two years, one of those students who was a Taoist came and received the Name above all names. Amazing talaga si Lord noh?

Leng said...

Nakakaiyak te gi! Hindi kaya pang-China ka talaga. :) Love you and miss you like crazy. mwah mwah

Anonymous said...

very touching po!!!!!!!!

there must be reason Why your ways came accross! ask God....i will pray for that too........if God will give you the privilege to meet her again and bring hope in her life! hindi yun sayang, just consider God's timing! just pray because God will honor it....and the ultimate hope u will ever have is that you'll see her in heaven if you CONTINUE praying for her salvation because nothing is impossible with God!

you are a blessing sister!

CHERRYANN

shing said...

I agree with Leng...maybe you're really meant for the youth abroad...Ate Gi, I miss you. Salamat sa kwento...marami kang pinupukaw sa damdamin ko. Mwah!

Anonymous said...

ate gi.. to God be all the glory. praise Him for your passion. :-)

Pinoy Pan de Sal said...

Yup alps TGBATG! And to the rest of you guys na nagcomment - you inspire me by the life you live. I know we have the same heart and passion regarding missions. Kung anuman ang kalooban ng Diyos lets all strive to do it and work together to acheive our God-given goals.

Gigi

Anonymous said...

wow. galing u been to beijing. how i wish... ni hao ma, xiexie... wla lang :)

turtlepace said...

God bless you and your mission...:) ang ganda siguro diyan....hehe

Anonymous said...

What a nice "souvenir" from this Chinese lady. Like you, I would have done the same thing -- laid hands on her handwriting and continue praying for her. The Lord knows the motives of your heart and will honor your good intentions.

Wouldn't it be nice to sign your name in Chinese now that you have a point of reference?

P.S. It's always nice to get involved in "missions journalism," 'no? Keep it up! God bless.

Pinoy Pan de Sal said...

china and nikki! ni hao? xiexie for dropping by.


jayred, un ba tawag dun - missions journalism? cool! salamat!

Venusian said...

Hi G,
I like your story from here...

Sana makabalik ka uli dito.. :-D

Thanks for sharing.

~Siena