Written by Kathleen Lindsey in California, USA

This was my third trip to China and it was very different from the first two.  For one thing, I was the leader of a team - a new and rather interesting experience for me.  I felt this was a trip more of encouragement than one of actual handing out of Bibles.  Since we met so many in leadership and not actual congregations, we encouraged them in their ministry and prayed for them at each distribution site.  The people were as wonderful as ever—loving and so excited to see us, thankful that we had come and very thankful to be receiving the Bibles.  We had more time to sit and engage in conversations with the leaders of the churches—a truly fun experience. 

Another difference on this trip was that the people sat WITH us at the tables when we ate (a wonderful change from the other trips!!) rather than at a different table, in a different room, or the church eating after we had eaten.  So we had more fellowship time than on previous trips.  They all offered us the usual snacks and tea.  At one of the churches they sang to us—We Are One in the Bonds of Love and at the Sunday service the church sang Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.  Again the music really touched my heart—especially the two songs I could sing along in English!!! (Though I really enjoyed hearing them in Chinese!!)  I am so thankful God has given us the gift of music!

We again traveled to “the remotest parts of the earth”—even driving IN a river to get there!!!  We couldn’t believe it.  The driver needed to get us to the unblocked part of the road, so he hit the river and didn’t get out until he could get back to the main road.  My verse for this trip is I Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”   I continue to pray for these churches—that they will get those Bibles out to the people who truly need them!

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Written by Ephraim Pang in Maryland, USA

Our team was scheduled to go to a rural area.  We had our itinerary and everything planned out so I thought that this should be a normal and easy trip. I knew nothing until after we had driven for more than an hour after our arrival and, instead, our itinerary had been changed in the last minute to go the opposite direction. Everything that we had planned for had been thrown out the window. Being the only Chinese speaking member in our team, I was getting concerned and started to panic, for I had never been to this region before. At this moment, God’s Word came to me wherein He said “Be still, and know that I am God”. Immediately a sense of comfort and security engulfed me and I thought that well, I am here to distribute the Word of God which is full of living promises and is the most powerful book on earth. God must have put me in this situation to truly experience first hand the power of His Word for which I came to distribute. I remembered another passage in the Bible that says: “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps”.  Immediately, I knew that God is in control and all I need to do is submit myself to Him and completely trust and obey in Him. Truly, over the next several days; our team witnessed God’s wonderful and amazing work among the Chinese brothers and sisters that we came across. Among them:  God’s answer to their prayers of bringing His Word to them; an elderly lady who is illiterate but amazingly can read the Bible; being able to witness directly to the bureau officials; and one thing that I had never expected to witness--a non-believer telling and sharing Jesus Christ with others based on what we told him. Praise God! Nothing is impossible with Him. This trip had been a humbling, challenging, convicting and transforming experience for me!

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Written by Konrad Circenis in Singapore

Our driver Che Jun Lin "John" was a substitution made on the day we arrived because of a last minute itinerary change to a different part our tour.  John was only scheduled to be our driver for two days.  When it came time for John to leave, he asked if he could stay on as our driver without pay.  John was a captive audience while we were on the road, at all our meals, in the hotel, and while we distributed Bibles. All of us could easily see that God was working in John’s life and that John was interested, but resisting. 

One evening we stayed up half the night answering John's questions.  Everything that had brought us together to that point, which seemed coincidental, was part of God’s plan.  There were just too many things that went wrong, and coincidentally brought us together, for it to really be coincidental.  Our team told John that it was obvious to us that God was reaching out to him for a purpose.  Just before leaving the region, we had a rare opportunity to enjoy a leisurely ride on a camel.  John was riding the lead camel followed by me, our interpreter, and the rest of our team.  While riding, John had been talking with the local camel herder who was on foot leading the caravan.  After a while, our interpreter told us that John had been witnessing all this time to the camel guide.  The witnessing started when the herder told John, ‘all I believe in is money.’  Praise the Lord for John's witness!  At the time I left the region, John had not yet professed faith in Jesus.  As I sat at the airport waiting for my flight, John told me that he had started reading his Bible given to him by us the night before.  John already sees the light.  Please pray for John to receive the light
 
On my several China Bible distribution trips I've encountered countless elderly women expressing their thanks for the Bibles brought to them.  Many of these women really stand out and are memorable for many important reasons, but several in particular who received Bibles through the distribution efforts have stated to me in all honesty that they can't read.  Later, upon examining the Bible,  they are excited beyond Words and acting like eager young school girls as they return to inform me that they can indeed read the Bible given to them.
 
God bless China!

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Written by Antonea Denene Palmer in South Carolina, USA

My trip in October 2008 to China was my very first mission trip. When I heard of the mission trip to China, I knew that this was what God wanted me to do. He graciously provided the funds needed, and my excitement was overwhelming.

My trip to China was not only the most amazing experience of my life, but also the most life changing. For me it was humbling, challenging, convicting and transforming. It was humbling as I began to realize the magnitude of God's work in China, and I was given an amazing opportunity to be a part of all of it. I was challenged by the tremendous faith of my Chinese Christian brothers and sisters who put their lives on the line each day for the cause of Christ in China as they give, share, teach and live the Christian life daily in the midst of a government that could end their lives at will. Christianity is alive and well in China.!!! Praise God!!!

As Americans, we have the freedom to serve God as often as we wish, to read the Bible whenever we want, to buy as many as we want and to go to church anyway we want, but we take that freedom and our relationship with God so lightly. I was convicted when I saw how precious the Word of God is to the Chinese believers. The smiles on their faces and the joy upon their faces showed that they saw God's Word as a precious jewel and a priceless possession to be treasured. How emotionally powerful it was to see children following along with the Proclaimer with the enthusiasm of finding a new hidden treasure.
 
I was transformed as I saw the hospitality of a group of people, who live in the worst of poverty, give so freely and who had so much joy in Jesus.  What lessons of hospitality and commitment to Christ we can learn from our brothers and sisters in China.  

As I write this testimony, I realize that my trip to China was indeed more for me than for my Chinese brothers and sisters.  My Lord and Savior knew that it was just what I needed.  I have been truly blessed, and I look forward with anticipation for my return trip to China.

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Written by Ver & Alene Walker in Washington, USA

On October 13 to 25, 2008 we were a part of the Bible distribution team in China.  We were blessed to be part of a team led by Pastor Ray and Thelma Feeck.  Our interpreter was K S Jou.  I am not sure who formed these teams, but God surely knew who to put us with.  During this trip, there were thousands of Bibles distributed to the rural areas of China.  Prior to the trip we had a myriad of questions and very few answers.  Pastor Gene’s response to many of these questions was, “You just have to see it”.  That turned out to be the best advice we could have been given.

God is truly at work in China and we were blessed to be a small part of that work.  We quickly learned that China is a land of contradictions.  While there are many modern cities, there are also MANY very poor rural areas.  This is the area where the Bible distribution took place. Most of the people we encountered were very excited to receive what was most likely their very first Bible.  They were very appreciative and very friendly.

One of the pieces of advice that we received was to look into the eyes of the people.  Of course, this advice was meant to get us to see the heart of the people.  We quickly saw how much these people love the Lord and how eager they are to learn more from His Word.  It was a special blessing to get to meet our brothers and sisters in the Lord for the very first time.  We will truly have a reunion in Heaven one day.

We are not sure how God is going to use this trip to mold our future. We do know that the ministry we were involved in was much larger than just distributing Bibles.  It was also a ministry of prayer for the churches, prayer for individuals within those churches and encouraging the people with our presence.  We will be strong advocates for encouraging others to contribute toward the purchase of Bibles for China.  We see that there is a need to distribute as many Bibles as possible while this door is open.  May God be glorified through this ministry and may His Word help the people of China to grow in their Christian faith.

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Written by Ted Noble in Colorado, USA

After 17 years, it was good to be back in China to see all of the changes. Yet the greatest blessing was to see the continued spiritual hunger and what Grace for Asia is doing to meet it. I do not know of any place where you can go and see more joy on the faces of believers when the Word of God is placed in their hands. I will never forget it!

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Written by Joseph Sin in Singapore

Distributing Bibles in the rural areas of China let me feel the love and presence of God everywhere in this world, even at the remote villages where access is difficult.  It also reminds me of Romans 1:20 where Paul said that men are without excuse of not knowing God because God’s invisible qualities have been clearly seen.  It is amazing to see these far-from-city villagers know God and worship God, even without a Bible.  In spite of their poverty, they exhibited love and a generous heart to give.  They gave us fruits and food they could barely afford.  I now truly appreciate the worship song “Give Thanks” which sings “Let the poor say I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us.”

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Written by Thelma Feeck in Indiana, USA

It was warm and light and comfortable at our house in Mid-America the day when I said “yes” to going to China as part of a team led by my husband. In late November, however, the warmth, light and comfort were traded for a cold coal-mining area of rural China where dismal gray seemed to reign all day because of the pollution.  There was little evidence of any human comforts. The people seemed to live their lives out-of-doors where it might be warmer (if the sun were to break through the veil of pollution) rather than in their unheated, windowless, door-less homes.

Many Chinese Christians had heard that we were coming and left their various activities outdoors to crowd into a cold church on a weekday morning. Why?  To see Americans---some for the very first time-- and to hold (absolutely the first time) his or her very own copy of the Bible.

Just as I could not have anticipated the cold , the dreariness, the hovels, neither could I ever have anticipated the joy with which God’s Word was received, nor the emotion which was generated in my own heart when I saw the light, the warmth, the beauty in the eyes and on the faces of these dear people. It was altogether evident that God had made His light shine in the hearts of people who had little else.

What a privilege it was to make such a trip and to witness first-hand what God is doing in China!!

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Written by Jim Smith in California, USA

I enjoyed traveling to China, which is an amazingly vast country filled with many contrasting ideas and lifestyles. In the midst of it all, it was exciting to see growing churches filled with people hungry to receive, read and study the Word of God. Everywhere we went, people were appreciative of the free gifts we were bringing, Bibles that brought the good news of Jesus Christ. We were always welcomed as people bringing the greatest gift in the world. It is always a joy to experience giving people a gift that will last for eternity.  This trip always reminds me of the great privilege it is to be able to read God’s Word.

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Written by Dr. Paul E. Horn in California, USA

I highly recommend this China trip to anyone who wants to do a mission event. The staff is excellent and will help to meet any problem.  The Chinese people are very friendly, even if they do not have much of this world’s goods.  The goal is to help those who cannot afford to buy their own Bible.  They are very eager to grow spiritually, so they desire to have a Bible of their own to read and study at home.  We were blessed by their testimonies and music.

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 Written by Romy Lim in Manila, Philippines

I have been visiting China for the past ten years, and one of the most fascinating things about the trips is I can always experience the presence of God there. Seeing what God is doing among the churches in China, is like walking the streets among the cities in the book of Acts.

You have to be here in China and interact with the Chinese Christians to understand the feeling.

I’ve had a chance to see God work in amazing ways in China. This Bible distribution mission with Grace for Asia is one of them. To see a Bible being given to thousands of people across China who would wait all day for a free Bible--the Word of God is awesome!

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Written by Marie Carl in Singapore

Distributing Bibles in China on behalf of Grace for Asia was a memorable experience that has been impressed upon my heart for the rest of my life.  I was blessed 1,000 times over by the sincere and Godly faith of the Chinese people.  They may not have been as well off financially, but were far richer in spirit that I could ever imagine to be.  I was humbled by their hospitality and genuine Christian spirit and by the love of God that was shared and sincerely felt, despite the language barrier.  The fact that they were poor was not a hindrance to their faith in God. In fact, the gift of God's word that we shared so enthusiastically made them richer than you or I could ever imagine.  I am looking forward to the opportunity to go to China again and share the love of God with my new brothers and sisters in Christ.  Thank you, Grace for Asia!!

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Written by Dick Varder in California, USA