Missions Elder: Mark Vanderheyden
In 1989, you, the people of Casa Grande Presbyterian Church, sent me to China on a teaching missionary service which truly changed my life. During that year, I fell in love with a group of students who I was instructing to become teachers of English in the Chinese school systems.
Over the next 35 years, with the numerous times that I moved, I lost contact with these students. But there was one student, Frank, who kept trying to find me.
Last February, I received a letter from a contact to a contact that Frank reached out to in order to find me. His success in contacting me led to the great joy of reconnecting with many of my former students (who are now 55 to 60 years old and who have become grandparents!) I was overjoyed to once again be in contact with my students!
So, in June I applied for a Chinese visa and in October, I traveled back to China. My first visit in 35 years. The changes in China were amazing! But I did not visit China to see the changes. Rather I went for the sold purpose of once again seeing my students.
I was overwhelmed with joy to see my students and there was a great deal of laughter and tears as we shared memories from 35 years ago. I felt like I was 33 again and my students shared that they felt like they were in their early 20s!
I wanted to reach out to you and let you know of the impact that YOU had on these people. Often with a mission project, we support others with prayers and finances but we never know what kind of impact we have. During our conversations, I thought of you from Casa Grande Presbyterian Church and I said to myself, "I need to write to them and let them know that what they did had an impact on these students."
In the fall of 1989, I sent a letter to the church and asked you to please send to me 150 tiny Christmas stockings so that I could do something special for my students. 35 years later, during our conversations, they brought up in conversations, "Tom, do you remember when you visited our dormitories and gave each of us a red sock for Christmas?"
In early 1990, I wrote you again and asked you to send me 90 copies of the book "Of Mice and Men" so that I could teach that novel in class. Once again, the students remembering 35 years ago said, "Do you remember when you gave each of us a copy of a book about a Mouse?" (some even remembered the themes of the novel!)
The Christmas stockings were an opportunity to share love and want nothing in return. Just like Christ came to earth and shared His love. He offered us the free gift of salvation.
"Of Mice and Men" is a great book about loving friends and protecting them (but it does end in a tragedy). Just like Christ loves us and with His death, He has protected us and offered us salvation.
Both the stockings and the novels brought up good conversations both in 1989 and in 2025.
So, I THANK YOU for supporting me 35 years ago when I traveled to China. I THANK YOU for sending Christmas Stockings and paperback novels...2 simple items that so affected my students that they remembered them all these years later!
God does use us in ways that we may never know or imagine. He definitely used YOU 35 years ago to make an impact on a group of students in Hengyang China! And He definitely used YOU to make an impact on me! My time as the youth pastor at Casa Grande Presbyterian Church was a time full of love and joy! Many years have passed since I have worked with you, but I have never forgotten you. I thank Our Father for YOU!
THANK YOU for being a blessing to my students! and THANK YOU for being a blessing to me!
I pray that you continue to follow Him and to let Him use you to be a blessing to others!
Tom Joyce
