Before arriving in the USA, Kim was in a quandary about her twelve-year old son. He was “just a kid” and probably would not like to hang out with us adults. His English is not very good and In any case, he had lots of studies and he could stay at home and do that.
My thought: “Why would a 12 year old boy come all the way from China to do homework?” My church was having a youth camp beginning on the day after they arrived. I checked with the youth leaders and asked if they would shepherd a young boy who had very little, if any, English language skills. Of course they would welcome him with open arms.
The Wang fammily arrived at the airport at 10pm on a Sunday night. I had collected the camping gear that Alex would need plus got some camping clothing from the local thrift shop that I thought he would fit. I packed him up and at 7:30am the next morning dropped him at the church meeting place. He was nervous but adventurous. The youth leaders were very welcoming and off they went for the next five days.
When we picked him up after five days, he was beaming with joy. He had made friends, picked up English teenage slag phrases, and had met Jesus. When the group gave a “camp presentation” at church he was right in there with them. He was only too anxious to get his mother and father, brother & aunt into church the next Sunday. His older brother, having been in college in the USA had heard about church and Jesus, but now, after seeing his younger brother beaming, he was convinced, being a Christian was a good thing.
To be continued…