Where were you...

on May 12, 2008 at 2:28 PM?

Don't remember?

It is a moment I will never forget.

May 12, 2008 was the day that an 8.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the Sichuan Province, China....Beichuan, Mianzhu, Dujiangyan, and the surrounding areas.

While life continued as normal in America that day, May 12th is a day that China will never forget.

On May 12, 2008...

87,000 people lost their lives.

1.5 million homes were destroyed.

On May 12, 2009...as we remember,

200,000 people still remain jobless.

20,000 people still remain missing, buried beneath rubble.

On May 12, 2008 I was in my apartment when it began to shake. I couldn't find matching shoes. I threw on flipflops and ran out the door, barely able to make it down the stairwell that was moving in all directions. I joined my neighbors along with Todd and Scott outside. We were all ok, and didn't realize until later that even though our area of town received minimal damage, our city would never be the same.

Chengdu, China is my favorite place in all of the world. My heart is there and my heart breaks for the people who live there. Most of them live in darkness, most of them do not know God. When tragedy strikes in America, we are lucky. We usually question God. We know and serve a HUGE and powerful God. We are able to see Him in circumstances, even when they seem grim. Unfortunately, most people in China do not even know God, so its hard to see Him in anything, you can't question someone you don't know about or don't believe in. So my hope and my prayer today, as we remember those who lost their lives in the Sichuan earthquake, and more importantly, those who survived, is that even in the midst of tragedy, and as the people continue to rebuild their lives, that it will continue to open the hearts of the people to the amazing God that I'm lucky to know. God is able to take rubble and turn it into something good and for His glory.