By Susan Heffner
We began our journey at 4:00 am from the Comfort Inn Motel in Dallas. The airport was almost empty and we were able to relax with a cup of coffee before boarding the first leg of the trip to San Francisco.
I had already started looking for the divine appointments because I knew God didn’t intend on wasting any time to accomplish His purposes. I noticed a young woman telling her sweetheart good by - waving until he was out of sight. Later I noticed some tears but didn’t make eye contact. After arriving in San Francisco we saw each other again and she smiled and waved as if we had met. This was one of those times you can make an impact without doing a thing. I thought we might be brought together later but didn’t meet again.
The flight from Dallas to San Francisco was pleasant. I connected with the young woman next to me in a couple of conversations. We watched the movie together and had a few laughs. As we were leaving the plane a young (everyone is young to us) Chinese couple with a small boy were sitting behind us and I made a comment to them about how good their son was during the flight. The beamed with pride. This was my divine appointment.
I’ll regress back to the San Francisco terminal while waiting a man sat across from me while I was on the phone with my daughter. We were laughing about some things and Ashley also told me that she and Billy (her husband) were making changes in their relationship and putting God first. Billy had committed to be the spiritual leader of the family. This was a gift from God to me and tears of joy began to flow. The man across from me began to stare in a strange way. I wanted to share a a scripture with Ashley so I got out my Bible. This really caused him to look (Gary, my husband, was at the ticket counter when this took place). I started to feel a little uncomfortable. I tried to smile at him but he just turned away. My imagination started thinking things like he was a secret police and was going to report me when we got off the plane in China for having a Bible. Was this another divine appointment? Where is Gary?
After boarding the plane I noticed he sat on the same row but the other side of the plane. I was relieved but only for a short time. He moved to our side of the plane and sat across the row from Gary. As it turned out he slept most of the trip but I also wondered if this was Gary’s appointment and wasn’t noticed.
The couple we’d met earlier were seated next to me. They remembered us and we exchanged greetings. After settling in she began a conversation. Not long after we began talking she asked if I was a Christian! I said “yes, are you?” She replied “not yet.” Needless to say I was excited The rest of the trip we had many conversations and I was able to share Christ with her. She had a lot of questions but wasn’t ready to make a commitment. I had taken the book Victory over Darkness with me and used it to explain some of the questions. I offered to give her the book and she began reading it immediately. It prompted more questions. We exchanged phone numbers and email. I plan to contact her when we return to Beijing. They currently live in Dallas and came to visit family. This meeting fulfilled one of the words spoken over me before we left by Julia. She said I would connect with a little boy that that would stay with me a long time and the impact will come for him- in years to come. I believe Jing and her family will accept Christ.
We arrived in Beijing tired but excited that God was already moving! The time difference was 13 hours so it was late afternoon there but my body thought it was the middle of the night. I remember the new smells of the city and how different the neighborhoods looked. People were sitting in courtyards of apartment buildings around small tables-- lots of conversation.
I woke up several times during the night and got up at 3 am We were able to leisurely get dressed and caught the shuttle at 6;15. Breakfast on the plane was a bit unusual what they call porrage was like refried beans with a little rice and rice water, no seasoning- yuck! There was some sort of brown boiled egg and package of something pickled a roll with something brown on the inside. I ate the fruit cocktail.
To be continued at a later date.