Some Hundredfold
"some fell upon good soil and produced a crop. Some tenfold, some hundredfold..."
C arrived late to the terminal but considering she was traveling from the other side of Beijing and the traffic - it was no surprise. I waited for her in the familiar "Queens Cafe" just outside the baggage claim area. A fitting place for a cup of "Cafe Americana."
She was apologetic and humble, happy to see me and to help out - not as much could be said of the cab driver who was not too quick to try and help us lift the "Monster Bag" into the trunk.
We made our way to the University Hotel (my Beijing home for the last 4 years) and had just enough time for a short nap. I needed it from the 4:30 am wake up call.
Too soon C reminded me we needed to meet Ms S for lunch. It was wonderful to see her and spend time with her even though it was short. She has made all the arrangements for tonight's performance which she warned the student's might not be too many.
After lunch we made our way back to the hotel through the University park and to the waiting nap zone. Air-conditioned without construction - made it easy to catch up on some rest before the performance.
The University driver arrived at 4:00 and Ms S brought some small gifts to show her appreciation. We loaded ourselves and the props into the car and set off in hopes to bypass the coming 5:00 traffic.
The campus was an hour with no traffic - our hopes were high.
C and the driver had quite a lively exchange during the course of our journey. He even shared he read the Bible his grandmother had given him everyday - but did not believe ...yet.
"Some seed fell upon fallow ground and the birds of the air..."
When we finally arrived at our destination the campus building where the performance was located was all but deserted - granted it was still an hour till show time but I was thinking it might be a bust - nobody showing up at all.
We were led into a teachers lounge and as I put my makeup on, C told me there was another performance of the military scheduled at the same time. She said "maybe some have to go to the other purr-fo-mans."
Oh well...
If five show up then it will be a great performance for those five people!
At 6:00, the director brought me a clip on mic and led us down to the waiting audience. When I walked into the room the applause and laugher was almost deafening. There were not 5 people in the auditorium - there were over 500!! And they just kept pouring in and trying to find a place to sit or stand. Cell phones came at me from every hand and angle. "This way please, look this way. Let me take your picture." Talk about paparrazzi!!
Finally, we got started, I spoke slowly and judging by the laughter and applause in all the right places, they understood. The stories were great fun and the freshman students were dramatic even without my coaching. Uproars came from the crowd. It sure was a surprise to me.
At the end, I took questions and again God gave me the opportunity to bring glory to His Son and to sow a few seeds for the Kingdom. "I visit orphans because I am a Christian and this is what the Bible teaches us to do."
"pure religion undefiled..."
