Cover Story by Shawn McAniff But only one idea held her bluish-hazel eyes,...five missionaries needed $5,000 to start a church.

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Cover Stories | Send mail to The Voice In China, sacrifice means five earrings Angela Silver bundles in four layers and gloves to grade papers and send email in her near-freezing office.-Angela Silver, photo During February's missions conference, The Voice editor, Shawn McAniff, interviewed one missionary about her sacrificial giving. She asked The Voice to change her name and omit her mission organization's name to protect their security. American missionary Angela Silver stared at the printout in her left hand. The sheet listed the financial needs of other missionaries in her mission organization. English composition papers, Chinese-English translation books and family pictures cluttered her desk. But only one idea held her bluish-hazel eye, however. Several hundred miles to the east in Tibet, five missionaries needed $5,000 to start a church. Silver, a 1988 Multnomah Bible College graduate who now teaches English to college students in China, knew she could help her friends. During the last several years, $9,000 had accumulated in her account from generous churches, friends and anonymous donors. As she thought about the missionar-ies, the Lord said, "Just bless them. Bless them." Silver dashed out an Email. She requested that her mission's finance officer transfer $5,000 into the needy missionaries' account. She pressed send. A smile stretched across her face, and her eyes closed momentarily. "I enjoy doing that because I know they are in need," Silver said. "They are going to ask God to provide for them. He's given me more than I need. It makes sense to pass it on where it's needed. It's His. It's His. It's His." For Silver, who has studied and worked in eastern China since 1992, living sacrificially translates into sharing her life. On another occasion she gave $1,000 so missionaries could receive additional training. She regularly opts for a 60 cent Chinese rice-vegetable-chicken plate lunch and green tea instead of splurging on a $3 Kentucky Fried Chicken feast. Despite residing in a city of 9 million where taxis and electric buses crowd the streets, Silver rides her navy-blue, 10-speed mountain bike most places. The daily choices make the difference, Silver said. "[Such as] if I'm going to eat Dzjoujig, [ethnic chicken nuggets] or if I'm going to McDonalds. It's a question of paying 15 cents or $2. It's little things, but week after week it adds up," she said. Silver does more than live frugally to financially bless others. She chooses to live ascetically so she can minister to college students. In 1996, the university where Silver had spent her first four years studying Chinese hired her to teach English composition and conversation. The job, however, required her to live on campus in what Westerners would consider modest conditions. Silver accepted the job and the conditions and prayed for opportunities to share the Gospel. Silver, a single, 37-year-old San Francisco native, lives in her own 8 by 11 dorm room, furnished with a twin bed, bookshelf, desk, television, and two wooden chairs with thin cushions. Spices and cooking supplies crowd makeshift shelves constructed out of the type of foam used to package electronics. She and seven other international teachers share a bathroom and kitchen. Often, the decaying plumbing breaks and the teachers endure up to three days of no showers and no hot water. The university also has no indoor heating. During winter, Silver's room and office temperature averages 36 degrees Fahrenheit, three degrees above the outside temperature. To stay warm, Silver bundles her 6-foot-1 frame in a shirt, sweater vest, wool sweater and sweatshirt, and she dons blue knit gloves without fingertips. She doesn't run her space heater out of consideration for students who drop by her room to watch the 7 p.m. English news, learn about Western culture and polish their English. They are accustomed to living in temperatures five degrees above freezing. Even at 50 degrees Fahrenheit, Silver said, the students flush. The students and missionaries have become a home away from home for Silver. They are family. But she also admits that she dearly misses her brother and sister and her nieces and nephews back in California. Leaving China for furlough is extremely hard, Silver said, because of the close friendships that she has formed. Silver paused, looked away and wiped tears from her eyes. Leaving the States is equally hard, the missionary said, "because it's like having your heart ripped in two." Six weeks after she started teaching, a student approached Silver. The student's black eyes sparkled, and her oval face beamed with delight. "I know how many pairs of earrings you have," the student told Silver. "You've got five pairs of earrings. I've been watching." Silver stared at the student. She was like a kid, really proud of herself for having paid attention to Silver's earrings. I've got 10 pairs of earrings, Silver thought; I'm glad I've only worn five to class. After that, Silver made a point not to wear any other earrings to class. "The more I wear, the richer I am. The richer I am, the more distance I build between me and my students," Silver said. Students don't expect her to be just like them, Silver said, but too much affluence hinders relationships from forming. And for Silver, ministry hinges on relationships. "Teaching English is one of the most obvious ways to reach the Chinese," Silver said. "The students want to learn English. They are hungry for information from the West. "They ask: 'What is Easter for anyways?' 'What's a wedding like?' 'Do you know any Michael Jackson songs?' "No," Silver said, smiling, "but I know some Michael Card songs." The students' child-like curiosity gives "you natural opportunities to share the Gospel in these contexts," she said. In fact, Silver's greatest joy isn't financially blessing others or living frugally. Her greatest joy comes from God using her to share Jesus Christ with her students. "I had three students come to the Lord a couple years ago," Silver said. "That was the most exciting time in my life so far." Silver's eyes glance away and then back. Raising her left hand, she forms a "C" with her fingers. "You're the pipe," Silver said. "The water's what God's providing. It's coming through me, coming through my hands. In and out. What I need He provides for. And the rest I pass on. Let someone else be blessed." Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Cover Stories | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2001 The Voice. 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