Freedom in the year of our Lord: Part 2

Alright. This is really late (whoops) but I wanted to talk about my trip to Paris as best I can. It seems that when people ask me how the trip went I can get out words like "amazing" and "life changing" but anything more than that gets caught in my throat. The Lord did some absolutely amazing things in those 10 days of my life.
First, He stretched me. This trip opened my eyes to things I had no idea existed. I did things I've never done before. I spoke Chinese. I held more adorable Asian babies than I can count. I shared the gospel from beginning to end with a woman the church pastor brought me and said, "This is Ching Ching. You share gospel with her." "...Okay." (Pray that her eyes would be opened by the way.)
I prayed with prostitutes. I witnessed human trafficking firsthand. I got engaged to a ten year old who spoke 5 words of English. In the process of all of this, I fell in love with the Chinese people and even more in love with Jesus Christ.
During this week and a half I didn't do anything extraordinary. I simply loved these people the way Jesus loved them. It's so simple I really felt like I hadn't done anything all week. Until one of the church deacons, as he choked back tears, thanked us for coming because through our loving them and wanting nothing in return, they had seen God's love.
One woman in the church named Snow, who I admire greatly, was a huge blessing to me that week. (See pictures.) After a day she was calling me her baby and would come up and give me huge hugs and kisses like my grandmother would. If you could see her worship, especially when singing Amazing Grace, your walk with the Lord would have new life breathed into it. She gave me a Chinese massage one day (weird but so good), and as she did she prayed over me. "Satan out! Pain out! Just Jesus! Jesus come like a river on Alyssa. Come." Most humbling and blessed experience. In addition, her nuggets of wisdom throughout the week always caught me off guard and sank into a thirsty part of my soul. When I asked her what songs we should sing one day, she replied, "I don't know, baby. Ask Him." Mmm. How could I forget? When I told her I was sad to leave she came back with, "Alyssa what you did with the children changed them on the inside. They are different now. You have done good." Even now her words bring me peace.
I miss her. I miss everyone I met. I miss hearing cute Chinese chatter all day long. I miss hugs from little people and being chased and laughed at. I miss being exhausted at the end of each day but at the same time feeling completely fulfilled. I miss being used by God for something greater than myself that only He can take credit for. I miss doing what I know now I was created to do.
Please continue to pray for the Han Chinese people group in Paris and the Chinese all over the world. I know the Lord is going to do something amazing with these people. Also, while you're praying, please lift me up. Pray that the Lord would give me clear direction as to what I'm supposed to do with this passion for the Chinese people that He's given me. But above all, pray that He would be glorified. In all things.
I'll be posting more specific stories (hopefully) soon. Thank you to everyone who made this experience possible for me and lifted me up in prayer while I was gone! It means more than you realize and way more than I can convey in a blog post. Thank you, thank you, thank you.