Meet Shirley

Meet Shirley. Well, imagine at least. We don't have a picture of Shirley yet, so you'll just have to let your imagination run wild. Back to the point though. Shirley is one of Dale's students majoring in "Teaching Chinese to Foreigners". After getting a few really interesting, spiritual emails from some student named Shirley, Dale really looked into it and figured out exactly who she is.

Shirley sits in the front row of Dale's class because she has a disability that keeps her from using her legs well. She walks with a cane and needs a long time to get to and from the classrooms. Dale didn't realize all of this the first time he invited her to go eat lunch at the school cafeteria, but Shirley happily agreed. They talked about how all of her family is Buddhist, but she believes in God. Last semester she attended a local student Christian group on Sundays along with one of her good friends who rode Shirley on the back of her bike. Then this semester her friend got really busy and stopped going to the meetings. Shirley was too embarrassed to ask anyone else to take her to the meetings, so she stopped going. The Christians in the group had given her a Bible, which she took home during Chinese New Year. When Shirley's father found the Bible one day, he scolded her and threw the Bible in the trash.

Shirley is a special girl who has a heart already open to God. She's eager to know Him and she needs lots of love. Since that first lunch, Dale has packed a lunch every Tuesday before he goes to class so that he and Shirley can stay in the classroom (instead of walking across campus to the cafeteria). They talk together, study the Bible, and eat really poorly made sandwiches. Lots of things about Shirley's life seem sad, but she has lots of joy.

Please pray that Shirley will find everything she's looking for and needs - in Jesus - and that her heart will be fully opened to God's truth and goodness.