Making Some Nice Russian Friends on a Delightful Sunday in Guangzhou, China

No matter what country we have travelled to in any part of the world, we always look for a church where we can attend the Sunday Service on Sunday. It was no exception during our travel in China. We landed in Guangzhou on late Friday night. After a day of rest on Saturday, we looked for a local church for our Sunday worship. We did find an English church not too far away. We prayed hard that J. would come with us. At the beginning, he was reluctant as he was enjoying his late sleep in for the weekend. I didn't give up but kept praying while I was preparing food in the kitchen. Finally, just before our departure from the apartment, J. agreed that he would come with us. Hallelujah, how great was that. Parents, don't give up, just keep praying for your kids and grown up children. They will come around one day TO God.

We hailed a taxi and arrived at the address. It wasn't easy to find but the church people were helpful. As soon as we called them, a lady came and guided us to the church gathering place. It was an unit localted high in a big highrise building overlooking the city of Guangzhou.There were about fiftenn twenty people at the service and it was biligual with earphone translation. The preacher was passionate about his messaage and the congregation was friendly and welcoming. I was glad that J. was willing to sit through the entire sermon without leaving his spot. We were very impressed with the warmth of the congregation. After the service, everyone stayed behind for coffee and friendly chats for a long time. I have ever seen a church where people were so willing to stay behind for social time. We were told that most people would go for a lunch afterwards every Sunday after the social time too. We were invited to join them this time too.

We did join the church for lunch at a restaurant in a shopping mall. The shopping mall was huge even in North American standard! Because it was close to New Year, all the shops were all deccorated. In the main hall, there was a huge golden dragon placed in the middle welcoming visitors to the mall. This was more than a shopping mall. It offered many things to its visitors. With our new friends, we had a good time sitting at the viewing station watching kids and grown-ups alike having fun on the skating rink! We didn't expect to see a skating rink in a southern Chinese city with hot climate most of the year.

There were many interesting things to see such as arts classes and educational displays. There was an animal display in a museum within the mall! I could imagine how excited our children would have been if we had brought them here when they were young.

We had a fantastic time talking, enjoying a nice lunch and getting acquainted with our new Russian friends. Thank you, our wonderful friends in China!You have made our visit to Guangzhou an absolutely wonderful experience and we look forward to seeing you again in the future! RT, Guangzhou, China 02252024