April 20, 2009

Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.
Psalm 133:1

Dear Friends,

Last weekend was the regional conference for Amity teachers in Gansu. As usual, it was a time for all of us to reflect on the ups and downs of our service in China, and to draw together for mutual support and strength. I was reminded during this conference of the many blessings I experience as a member of the Amity family. Almost all of my colleagues here in Gansu are older than I and have a vast wealth of experience that they bring with them. All are hardworking, all feel a call to serve in China, and all are attempting to live out that calling to the best of their abilities. As a result, they have been, and continue to be, a terrific support for me here.

However, even more than my Amity colleagues, I found myself giving thanks for my colleagues in Zhangye. As those who check my Facebook page are aware, I have been extremely busy this semester not only with my freshman oral English classes and Friday evening “English Movie Nights,” but also with my senior newspaper reading courses and the production of our spring musical drama. My days have been busy with grading papers, planning lessons, and teaching classes, while my nights have been full of coordinating films, teaching songs, and demonstrating dances. It’s been thrilling to teach and watch the progress of my students, but it’s also been very obvious that none of my work takes place in a vacuum. I have to coordinate my newspaper exams with two other teachers who also teach the subject, I have to liaise between the folks in building 3 (their classrooms have projection screens) and the English Department to publicize the English Movie Nights, and nowhere is the need for unity and cooperation more evident than in the drama production.

My co-directors, Gary and Danielle, are each busy with a different aspect of the production. Gary works primarily with the actors and stage directions, and occasionally I, or more often, Danielle, pop into rehearsals to assist. Danielle has been our “force of nature” in the English office, garnering money for our budget, getting props, painting scenery, and hunting down a video camera to record practices and the final performance. I have been choreographing dances, teaching songs, and generally explaining their roles in the performance to the two choruses.

With over 70 students involved in the production—not including the prop and set helpers—an undertaking of this magnitude simply isn’t possible alone. It requires unity and teamwork. I would never have the patience that Gary has to sit and work with Chinese students trying to act out a scene in English. I don't have the artistic ability Danielle has to design a set, nor have I been in Zhangye long enough to have an inkling of where to get pillows, cheap dishes, costumes, or other random items for props. Neither Gary nor Danielle has my musical experience with leading songs. The cooperation we have shared by bearing a different set of responsibilities has strengthened our unity and trust in one another, and I believe it will lead to an even better production as a result.

In Romans 12:4-5, the Apostle Paul write, “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” God has created everyone with unique talents, much like puzzle pieces, which may look perfectly fine by themselves, but can also become a part of something even more intricate and magnificent when placed properly with other pieces. Our drama and the body of Christ are much the same in my mind: Different talents, on their own, can be used to give glory to God, but when there is communion with others, when there is unity for a common goal, the final result can be even more than we had imagined.

May all of you discover the blessings of unity as you press on with others in your community of faith towards the goals of our heavenly Father.

At home in the body of Christ,

Rae

The 2009 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 117