WRITTEN IN RED: DONGGUAN CHINA
March 29 Thursday 2007

A question I still get asked is, “Why do you keep an online journal?” Those asking it usually expect me to reply straight away, but to be honest, the answer has become quite difficult for me to pin-point.

And then there are others who ask the question in a rhetorical fashion, dropping off-hand comments loaded with cynicism and sometimes spite, which far from being constructive, actually reveal more about their own character than anything else.

Like I said at the beginning, the reason why I keep an online journal is difficult to pin-point. In fact, I think the reason why I write down my thoughts and experiences changes with time. In the seven years that I've been journaling, I'd say that my reasons have ranged from: needing a creative outlet; to wanting to meet new people; to expressing sorrow, joy and bitterness (the latter of which I regret); to publicly declaring what God has done in my life.

I don't know most of the people who read my website, but I know that lives are being touched by God through it. I don't know how it works, and I know it has nothing to do with me, but I receive emails from people who have been encouraged by what they see and read: People who want to know more about Jesus; people who have found the courage to move to a new country; people who have set up their own blogs to share what God is doing in their lives; people who have gone back to church; people who have lost a loved one to cancer and found hope in these pages; and finally a person who decided to re-take her A-Levels instead of taking her life.

I still get the odd piece of hate-mail, more often than not from people who don't like Chinese people, or from people who have an issue with God and/or Christians, and who feel better about themselves after telling me so.

So why do I keep an online journal? I'm still not entirely sure. But until I feel or hear otherwise, I will continue to share what an awesome God I serve and how He's moving in Hong Kong, UK or wherever it is that I am - which brings me to the photos on the right.

They were taken in a hotel ballroom in Dongguan, China, where Tom, Jacinta, Derek and I were invited to lead worship at a celebration dinner. The theme was "Written in Red" and Derek spoke on God's love. Around 140 people turned up and the response was really positive.

The event was organised by a young adults fellowship called Koinonia, that meets once a week at someone's house. The group has only been running for about half a year, but the impact it has had on the city is pretty incredible. I felt so blessed to receive a first-hand glimpse of what God is doing in China, and I'm so grateful to my buddy Aaron for inviting us up in the first place, which probably wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the medium of online journaling.