Hudson Taylor & China

I wrote part of this yesterday (Friday) but I am just getting it posted today! This happened Friday afternoon!

Today was the day we have been so excited about. Our family got to share about the life of Hudson Taylor, first missionary to inland China. It was so much fun to learn about his amazing life! What a man of faith!

We shared about his life in a fun way. As we told the kids (17 in attendance) about him the children made a picture book to remember the important facts about his life. Each of the boys wrote a report about the most amazing thing they remembered from his biography that we read together as a read-aloud.

Weston wrote about when he almost died from a small finger prick. The doctors said he would die...but God saved him. Franklin wrote about when he was aboard a ship in the middle of a typhoon. They thought they were doomed...but God saved him. Finally, Mason wrote about when Hudson Taylor was mobbed by a rioting 10,000 angry people. They were set to kill Hudson and his missionary friends...but God saved him. I shared about the fact that his mother and sister were praying for him the moment he accepted Christ! (I thought that was so encouraging for a mother to know!)

Finally we shared that by the time he died, he had over 825 missionaries in China with the mission organization he started. And, I get tears as I type this, over 18,000 people had been baptized into the Christian faith through his witness to the nation! 18,000 people through one man's obedience to the call of Christ! Isn't that amazing?!

After we shared about the life of Hudson Taylor, Kristy Smith shared about a ministry her family has with the orphans of China today. Kristy and her daughters make disposable diaper covers for an orphanage in China. If you look closely around the chalkboard in the pictures you can see photos. These are pictures of orphans in China. Their family prays for these children by name!
After the two lessons, the kids got to go downstairs into Kristy's incredible "Kid-room!" (She has such a fun house!) Kristy gave the children lessons on how to make reusable wipes for the orphanage in China.

All of the children had to cut two 10" x 10" pieces of fabric. (We used baby receiving blankets.) After cutting the fabric, the kids all got to sit at a sewing machine and actually sew the wipe together! The boys wouldn't ever admit it, but they LOVED it! I learned that they are better with a sewing machine than I am! Talk about straight stitches!

Everyone was so excited to know that something they had made would be helping babies on the other side of the world! How awesome is that! Hudson Taylor would be proud that their hearts are being instilled with a love for missions at a young age!

Doesn't Mason look

excited that I am taking his picture sitting at a sewing machine? LOL! Braden made a wipe as well, but he wouldn't pose for the picture. Maybe next time...I am sure we will do this again!

The boys enjoyed all of this so much. On the way home today, they asked me when we could teach about another missionary. How cool is that?! We plan to eat our Chinese meal with chopsticks soon! :)


If you would like to be more informed of the state of China, please check out my friend Becki's BLOG. Becki is a long-lost friend of mine from High Point - we have been blessed to reconnect through blogging! Her family has adopted a precious little girl from China and she has a really cool video about how to be praying for the people of China. With the Olympics being held there in 2008, and the World Expo in 2010, I think we should all be praying for hearts to be open to the Truth of Jesus Christ. Also, please pray for all of the Christians in the country now - may they stay encouraged to share the love of Christ with others!