Recently widowed, Frankie Wyatt listened to and obeyed God. Though she was in her early sixties, she took a step of faith and went to China. For more than ten years, she made several trips to China, staying there for most of the year. She coordinated teams that would come in to do mission work. She then taught English in several Chinese schools. For those who wanted more help with English, Frankie taught them in the privacy of her apartment, using the Bible as her textbook.
This book is based on emails that Frankie sent while in China. Many emails are quoted in the book, so it is like reading a missionary letter sent directly to you.
Frankie shares her experiences in a conversational style, whether struggling with learning the Chinese language or celebrating with joy when someone accepts Jesus as their Savior. Some of her stories are very moving, and others are humorous. The reader will learn what it is like to serve God in a different country and how important it is for us to support missionaries both financially and in prayer.
In June 2005, Lynn (who would act as our interpreter) and I joined a group that was going to Inner Mongolia for a two-week teaching assignment. We met the summer team (Tim, Melody, and Gail) at the airport in Beijing, and we all took the train into Inner Mongolia. It was an all-night trip lasting eight hours. Lynn had reserved two sleeper cars, which sleep four people each. We had brought snacks to eat for the evening dinner. The train was slow, but the clickety-clack of the wheels on the track lulled me to sleep.
We arrived at our destination city in the early morning. The school officials, including the headmaster and some of the teachers, met us and took us to the hotel, where we got settled and had breakfast. Then they escorted us to the school. The students were all standing on the athletic field, waiting for the opening ceremonies. There was a stage with chairs and microphones set up for us. Tim and I were asked to say a few words. It was a wonderful greeting, very colorful.
The students were dismissed to their classrooms, and we were escorted to the teachers’ lounge, where the headmaster introduced us to the Chinese English teachers and assigned each of us to different classrooms, where we would be teaching English to the students. Melody shared the Christmas and Easter story in her classroom. The morning went well, and at noon, they took all of us for a big banquet lunch with several of the English teachers and school officials.
After lunch, we went back to the teachers’ lounge, where they separated us into smaller groups with the Chinese English teachers, so we could help them with teaching English to their students. In Melody’s group, one of her teachers, May, burst into tears and wouldn’t stop crying. Melody came over to me and told me about the situation, saying, “I’m not sure what I said that she is crying so uncontrollably.” I asked Lynn to come with me to Melody’s group and find out what had happened.
Lynn started talking with May, and her testimony was eye-opening. She told Lynn that a few years ago, she was very ill, and the doctors had told her to go home and get her affairs in order because there was no hope for her. She was going to die. May said that her mother told her that there was “something up there” and pointed to the sky. Her mother prayed for her, and May said, “I started praying as well. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to get married and have a child.” (May and her mother didn’t know to whom they were praying. They just sensed that there was someone in control.) Miraculously, May was completely healed. She returned to the doctor, who asked her what she was doing there.
“You are supposed to be dead,” the doctor said.
“I’m not,” she said, and then told him what had happened.
That morning, when Melody had shared with the class about Jesus coming as God to earth as a baby, living a sinless life, being crucified for our sins, and rising from the dead, it had touched May’s heart. She finished her testimony in English by saying, “NOW I KNOW HIS NAME! JESUS!” By this time, Lynn, the summer team, and I were crying and rejoicing with her. We serve an awesome God! Jesus drew her to Himself even before she knew His name.
Lynn had been to this school before and had met some of the believers. She took us to meet with some of them, and Sunday we were able to go to the church. It was a couple of house churches, but the government had given them a building where they could meet. The service was wonderful, and afterwards an elderly Chinese lady come over to me in tears and said, “Now I know that soon Christ will return. The Christians from the East and West have met.” She was so sweet. We heard many stories about how God was working in this heavily Muslim area.
During the two weeks, we were able to share the good news about Jesus with some of the teachers and students. We gave out seventy-five Bibles and had twenty-seven decisions for Christ.
Lynn also had a testimony of miraculous healing. A few years before, God had healed her of stomach cancer. She is a wonderful witness for Jesus and has led hundreds of Chinese to the Lord.
When it came time for us to leave, about fifty teachers and students accompanied us to the train station to see us off. The students were crying and begging us to stay. Of course, we couldn’t, but it made us feel sad to leave them. We had made so many friends. We were crying; the students were crying. What a mess we all were! Finally, the train started moving, and the students ran along the side as far as they could go, crying and waving to us. What a wonderful experience to see what God was doing around the world. Praise God for allowing us this experience in Inner Mongolia!