A 13-hour plane ride finally ended on Saturday, March 25 for four CBC students who were part of a missionary team called to go on a mission trip to China over Spring Break.
The students included freshmen Allison Bisher and Averi Ratliff, sophomore Shelby Redmond and junior Matt James.
“One thing that was different [about the culture] was whenever we had a conversation with a Chinese student at a university or a high school, we would talk about Jesus and they would always be open about it and say ‘Who is this Jesus?’ ‘Tell us more about him,’ but in America it’s a little bit different,” says junior Matt James.
James said the trip gave a different perspective of another culture, which made him want to build relationships with other people.
Ratliff says China had been on her radar for a few years and she had been in deep prayer about where God wanted her to serve.
“I was picturing more like upper class for most people and more of like you would think of a Chinese restaurant, and it was nothing like that,” says Ratliff.
Ratliff states that the food was different from America’s Chinese food.
“The food was greasy and it was cold and all savory. I was expecting sweet Chinese food like we have in America,” she says.
She found that she could share the gospel directly with people in China.
“I thought you had to go in and if you’re a Christian, you should keep it on the down-low because you didn’t want the government to hear and send you away, but being a Christian was not illegal there,” says Ratliff.
Bisher said she is very thankful that she went on the trip because God helped show her things about herself and some possible things she might be doing in the future.
“I just feel that something is calling me back to China,” states Bisher.
Bisher says that teaching internationally would be a huge opportunity and calls it a good mission field, as God has shown her that teachers are needed everywhere.
“Spiritually, [this trip] made me realize that sometimes when you grow up in your Christian life, you forget that raw feeling of getting your first Bible or being in a room of other Christians wanting to know more, it just sort of opened my eyes to that childlike faith again,” says Bisher.
Bisher says that she didn’t do anything special to prepare for this trip because she kept trying to avoid it.
“I prayed, but I didn’t do anything because I was secretly trying to hide and avoid God,” says Bisher.
Ratliff has a message for anyone wondering what such a trip would be like.
“If you haven’t gone on a short term mission trip yet, go,” says Ratliff. “It will change your life.”
Submitted Photo
