ATLANTA (ABP) — Larry and Sarah Ballew compare their work in Macau, China to the bamboo scaffolding around a new building.
It's an appropriate metaphor for Macau, an old city being transformed by new hotels and casinos. With more than 500,000 people living in an area of less than 12 square miles, the southern Chinese city has one of the highest population densities in the world. The Ballews, who live in Macau as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship global missions affiliates, estimate that less than 1 percent of people there are Christians.
The bamboo scaffolding is not beautiful in itself, Larry Ballew, a native of Blacksburg, Va., said. It is used by the workers to climb high in the building process and to protect them from falling — something with a definite purpose and place that will eventually be removed.
“Our work is support and is not to be permanent in nature,” Larry Ballew said. “The support we provide with local workers should result in more permanent structures and works.”
Over the past years, the Ballews have established an outreach ministry to restaurant workers. Often restaurant employees work 12-hour days with only a day or two off per month. Many have left their families to come to Macau in search of decent wages, but they make only $500 a month and usually live in small apartments with seven to 10 co-workers.
“We hold a number of English classes in the restaurant where the students work. But we also rent a very small office space that can be used for small groups of students and tutoring,” Larry Ballew said. “Helping people learn to speak English is being the presence of Christ, as we help people improve their life-state and job opportunities.”
The Ballews also teach English classes at local schools. They see a need for more English teachers and work to connect Christians in the United States with ministry opportunities in Macau.
“There are many, many needs and opportunities but not enough Christian workers,” Sarah Ballew said. “We constantly come face to face with our own limits, primarily our time limits. We really need help for all the opportunities that are present in the city.”
As CBF affiliates, the Ballews are self-supporting but receive training opportunities and inclusion on a peer team of global mission workers. They have lived in Macau since 1996 and were commissioned in 2005.
“The affiliate model is good for us because it provides us with accountable relationships in Asia, as well as a legitimate connection for our relationship with supporters in the United States,” Larry Ballew said. “Being connected to CBF this way helps us to assure people that who we are and what we are doing is legitimate.”
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