I see you. There, on the other side of the world. Your hands tremble. Your heart aches for all you hold. “Do others see us?” You must ask. “Are they blind? Are we irrelevant?”
You sit in a secret prison, aching for the freedom to just send a message and not be blocked.
You hold a torch, the entire world could learn from…one that’s humble and strong, eager and loving, patient and intelligent.
Yet, we fail to benefit from your power.
And I ask…“Are we blind? Do we not care? Why is the world not helping Chi*a?”
I have stepped on your land; north, south, west. I have seen your people, petite, strong, long, lean. There is a quiet grave that is layered generations. I can feel it when I walk on that land a world away.
America feels shallow. Here, Christian soil, yet persecution gives true richness. Trials build character and character gives depth, testing who people really are.
My Asain friends, you know how to give.
You give up willingly, selflessly, sacrificially, daily, in so many ways. You give in your lack, all the while, treating people with respect and dignity.
Oh how we need you; your culture of integrity, generosity, selflessness and humility.
It’s not you, but us who have gotten it all wrong.
Fire runs deep in so many of you.
You stand in the face of mighty forces, not recounting your belief system, rise and are called blessed, while standing all night in a cramped house or cave, singing praises fearlessly through the night.
I did not see one ounce of hate, in any of you. Although there are rumors of people disappearing, lives being lost because of faith resurrecting in secret places throughout your country….
Your integrity outlasts your desire for revenge. Your understanding of persecution and pain is that it makes you stronger, not weaker. It is for good and His glory and God will use wherever He leads you.
I find your faith strong. Strong like that in Scripture. While us, here in America, crumble at the slightest wind blowing our way…
You, there in Asia, face tornados, sickness and persecution, pain and few opportunities, yet you rise up each day with hope and strength, character and faith.
Today, there is a virus, spreading through your land. Many fear. The government fears. The non-believers fear. The world fears as we look on such pain and loss and suffering.
And yet, so many feel trapped, hands tied, unable to do anything.
Where I live, we hide in protection, buy masks and fear the public. We do not want sickness in Washington, where the flu has already spread.
But there, not the weak in spirit and those who don’t know Jesus…but the strong beckons of Light who live bold in the face of persecution…not only don’t break but don’t bend.
You are true faith, a bruised reed, not broken.
You stand tall in faith and instead of thinking about your own plight, you tread on, like soldiers, stepping through the darkest night, with a faith I only dream about, a hope that the world would be wise to look upon.
And my friends, some of you feel closer than a friend. You are my sisters.
Instead of looking inside with self-pity as those around you fall, you look upward, and grow stronger. 
You look around at the needs and find some way to meet with Jesus, so He can meet those needs.
I see you praying. Not, “Dear Jesus, help our day.” But wild and desperate prayers, falling on your faces, tears squirting, because you know…
There is no other hope, but Him.
And if anything, this letter is to remind you, “He hears you.” He hears you more than those living safe, protected lives with every opportunity.
Because God is about redeeming a captive people. Look at His people, all throughout Scripture.
Desperate cries, always capture the heart of God.
And oh, how I must repent for my own apathy. My worrying about whether there is a line at our nearby coffee shop, or whether my daughter has the right tights for her next ballet class…
Oh God, forgive me for my first-world problems.
I hate to say it, but most of us have forgotten, Chi*a. Forgotten a large and beautiful land who has enriched us with silk and tea, science and technology.
And it’s a pity, we “kick the gift-horse in the mouth”. We take and keep taking while your history lives long, used daily in each of our comfortable lives.
We have forgotten, we are not an island…us, the Western world. We are not exclusive or even priviledged, because we have not tasted a gospel or laid fast to integrity as richly and fully as you.
We have washed so well the outside of us, but left the insides tainted. Yet, God says, “right, justice, mercy and fidelity” are weightier than all. (Matt. 23:23 Amp.)
Zechariah 7:8-10 also teaches, “execute true justice, show mercy, and compassion to our brother.”
Yet, sometimes I wonder if we are so blinded by our rage (against government and other people) we can’t even see our brother….we cannot even see you?
We live here, in pety shelters, standing on sand, and yet, when the wind and waters come, could we even stand?
If we can’t see you, haven’t we alrleady failed? If we are blind to the world’s needs, haven’t we already discredited any kind of theology, defying the very walk of Jesus?
Yet, for those who see…can we see to learn, to lean in, to get low…Instead of rising ourselves up to be saviors or saints?
You are the great teachers. Us, only students.
I must admit, I do not know if you will disappear and be laid sick or be taken in an instant by a government filled with fear.
But I can say, as I look at my three slanted-eyed daughters….Faith lives on, hope lives on, YOU live on, here, in America….in the land of the free, in the hearts of people like me and my children.
I beg you, keep burning bright for Jesus, where you are, because there is not one of us that don’t need your model of perseverance, sacrifice and faith.
Continue to show the world, true believers are strong. Christ-like servants give out of their lack, listen out of humility and loves despite persecution.
We see you….I, at this moment, walk with you, in spirit, hope and faith. You will always be in my heart….
So, don’t lay down your torch.
There is a friend, that walks closer than a brother…and Chi*a…that is you.
I promise…We will meet again.
