When living in a closed country you have to be creative in finding ways to share the truth.  You learn to find topics or activities that are accepted there that can be used to bridge the person to the gospel.

One such topic is holidays.  Many Western holidays are not only allowed to be taught and talked about but are also being celebrated, though in mostly shallow ways.  For example, most places in China celebrate Christmas as a time to buy things and even decorate buildings.  Sadly there is no knowledge of the birth of Jesus. So every Christmas while living in China naturally gave us the opportunity to share the true meaning of the holiday. At times this was done in a classroom as a history lesson, or through inviting our Chinese friends into our home to have a Christmas party where gifts would be given, carols taught and the Nativity story shared.  We were always met with genuine curiosity and amazement from our friends as it was their first time hearing about this remarkable story.

God’s gifts and examples of His love are all around us.  Living in a place where His name can’t be taught makes you search for Him in even deeper ways.