Mickey and Prince

For two weeks, my family hosted two Chinese high school students who attended a short course in English language in Baradene College in Auckland. They adopted English names to make it easy for us, the lanky Mickey (Li Bingzheng) and the wimpy-ish Prince (Wang Yihan).

While Prince spent most of his time playing computer games after school, Mickey socialized with us, speaking as much English as he was able, helping out in some house chores and, even, cooking  home-made noodles.

I learned from Mickey that he did not believe in God and thought that people who went to temples were there only to seek favors.  While this could have been an opportunity to evangelize, I kept my desire on leash, afraid that we might alienate them.  But always before we took our meals together, I asked them if it was alright if we prayed, and they obliged.  At no instance did we argue with them about their non-belief; for it is not for us to judge. “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” (John 12:46)

On Sunday, we told them that we were going to church to attend the mass. It came as a total surprise to us, as Mickey said that he’d like to join us.  He was observant of the Eucharistic celebration, and I asked him if he knew the name of the person on the cross in the altar. He said, “Jesus”. It was fortunate, too, that two pilgrims from the World Youth Day 2013 narrated their experiences.

But I guess one of the most amazing things we experienced during those two weeks was composing on August 13 an original song, “I Say Hello”, that I initially wrote English lyrics. I asked Mickey if he could write a Chinese translation, and he did so in about two hours. Inspired by his enthusiasm, I was able to create a melody in less than 30 minutes. We then made a rough recording of the English/Chinese song.

When they left in the early morning of August 17, Mickey handed to me a handwritten letter. One line read: “I feel I had fallen in love with your family and New Zealand.”

Those words were worth enough to warm our hearts.  As they left, I prayed that they had seen the light of Jesus through our praying, our caring and our friendship. Farewell and God bless you, Mickey and Prince.