An essay by Susan

Each day at the end of camp we have a volunteer "free talk" session. This group reads an essay from the NPR "This I Believe" series. The Chinese discuss both new words and the meaning of the essay. It can be challenging to express feelings in a second language and this session stretches teachers in their oral English skills.

Susan has attended the camp several times. She has served as a host to the American team and has attended this extra free talk session faithfully for nine years. Susan was inspired to pen this essay for today's free talk group.

This I believe---2015

Susan

Nine years ago, in 2007 when the camp first started, we hosted 7 Americans. To be honest, I was more nervous than excited. What foreigners’ faith is like was a mystery in my heart. 

At home Valerie and Nathan saw the worship altar and the statue of Buddha and asked me what it was about. And in fact, I was not very sure what it was about. And then they asked me whether I believe there are ghosts. I immediately answered---No. But, when I gave it a second thought I doubted my answer, even though I thought I was an atheist.

On one weekend Valerie went shopping with a Chinese English teacher. That teacher ended up taking Valerie to her relatives’ to practice their oral English and to watch an American movie. 

Valerie couldn’t get back home until it was midnight. I was mad at that teacher but Valerie just said that she had a long day. I was shocked because I thought she should have been madder than me. I began to be curious about why she reacted like that. Was it because of her faith?

In nearly every camp there have been Americans who have told me that they had been to either Africa or South America to do volunteer work to help the poor or the needy or the disabled. I felt confused about why they would like to do that. When I asked, they would say that Jesus Christ wanted them to do that. Then I gradually realized that this is the power of faith.

Through these 9 years, I have read many books. Among them, there are some like Will to Live, Love without Limbs, A Grace Disguised, and Letters to Lizzie. They are all true stories which are about misfortune or adversity which came from either heredity or disease or accidents. The endings are usually not very happy but the writers are very tolerant. They either lost their loved ones or had to fight against the disability for the whole rest of their lives. But they all have something in common: they never complain about the unfairness, and they all seek strength from Jesus Christ. They all attributed what they gained to Jesus Christ.