I am Ally Wang, a [Chinese] visiting scholar in UMBC. Through an email from Chris and Debbie, I came to know your church. I still remember that in my first reply to the email, I cast him lots of questions, such as even, “where is the church? How far is it from my place? Could you pick me up if I want to go?” Since then, I have been going to your church and started the connection with the church.
At the beginning, I had two purposes to go to the church. One is that I am really searching for something as an anchor of my life; the other is that I want to practice my English. But the pastor’s humorous sermons and his passion gave me a very deep impression. Then, many other friends through Chris and Debbie always can give me lots of encouragements. From there, I have many chances to talk with many local American friends to improve my English, such as Colette, Nancy, Don, etc. . . .
For me, this community stands for love. People help each other. It’s a loving place. I began to go to the church eagerly every Sunday morning. I spent my Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, in the church, without loneliness any more. I truly enjoy this church. I will return to China on March 14, [2014]. But I want to share with you my gratitude before I leave here.
· I am thankful for the help of Chris and Debbie. They have done a lot for me, such as always picking me up, introducing me to friends, and helping me search for the meaning of life.
· I am thankful for the help of Colette. She is so kindly and friendly that she took me to a woman group, where I came to learn some American culture. She went to a special supermarket with me and invited me to her house. Now, she is in Africa to help the children in need. I learned a lot from her. So, I want to pray that everything is OK for her during the trip.
· I am thankful for the help of Don. He is a deep thinker, wise and confident. I think he is a typical American, working hard and playing hard. He led me to study the Bible, as if teaching a young sister. He helped me a lot, and we had many great conversations. Indeed, I learned a lot from him.
· I am thankful for the help of Nancy. She introduced me to her Bible small group. I came to know the five women in the group. We shared our pains, worries, and hope. They shared with me how to walk to God.
· I am thankful for Pastor Dane and his wife Jo. While visiting them, Dane taught me a lot of things about life, desire, happiness and so on.
· I am thankful for the nursery teachers. They showed me how to teach and love the kids in a way I have never experienced before.
I have a lot to be thankful for. As a visitor to this church, what I want to say is that I will keep the love out of this church forever, even though I don’t know whether I will have another chance to come back to visit this church again in my life time. This past Sunday was my last visit to the church and say goodbye to all of you. And I want to say, you are all welcome to my country China. If any of you have a chance to visit Guangzhou, please let me know.
Thankful for all of you.
—Ally
