I waited patiently for the bus to arrive. It was taking forever. I had waited for almost an hour and it seemed like the bus just didn’t want to show up. I was still on the campus of the Hubei Institute of Education. China….in the middle of winter.
My apartment was just a few feet away and I thought about just going home. It was really cold and windy outside and my jacket was barely keeping me warm. My full-grown six-inch beard was coming in very handy at keeping my face warm during this wintertime. It also made quite a few people fear me. That was handy too. But, I knew I could just go home and be happy. No. I needed to go. If I didn’t go it was going to be a missed opportunity. I needed onto this bus. I just hoped my plan would work.
So, I waited. I found the only seat left on the ground in the general area of the bus arrival area. I sat down and put my oversized headphones on to drown out all of the noise. Michael Buble carried my mind away to a different place. I turned it up as loud as it would go. It was so loud and I concentrated on what I was about to do and say. This should be fun. If it works….
There were about two hundred people waiting for the same fifty-person bus. This was going to be fun trying to get on. There is nothing quite like the feeling of being cattle.
Suddenly, I felt the group around me all stand up and rush forward. Oh, No! This isn’t going to be good. I am too far from the door. They have the jump on me! I needed to get to that door.
It was time for me to make my presence felt. It was time to stand out in the crowd and make sure everyone knew that I was bigger than all of them. Otherwise, I wasn’t getting on this bus. Not in a million years.
So, I arose and made my entire 6’1 frame known and seen. Here I was, full beard, long hair, bulky jacket, huge headphones on, walking as fast as I could towards the bus door. I looked up and spoke in English as loud as I could. “Jesus loves all of you!” Everyone stopped.
They all looked at me, quieted down, and made a path that led me straight to the door of the bus. As I neared the bus door, I turned around and saw a few of my students staring at me. No surprise there. Then I saw little Lily, my student from my favorite class (American Culture through Movies).
She looked at me and smiled. “Mr. Brandon. You are so scary, but your words are so kind. Who loves us? Who is Jesus? Is He on the bus?”
“Why, yes He is, Lily. Come on. Come sit by me and I will tell you all about Him.” So she did.
It worked. My daily bible study was off to a great start. I had found a new way to share Jesus with my students.
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