NANNING, China—Five years ago, after a 23-year career in environmental management, Cyndi Levesque of San Antonio began thinking about retiring early and pursuing a new vocation.
“I felt a strong urge by God to do more with my life than continue in a comfortable job where I tried to fit God’s work into my own busy career,” she said. “I have always been very active in church, but I felt a call to give God more of my time.”
Levesque enrolled in a Christian ministry degree program at Wayland Baptist University’s San Antonio campus. Soon after starting classes, she began to feel inexplicably drawn toward the people of China—a country she had never visited and knew little about.
Cyndi Levesque of San Antonio teaches English at Guangxi University, a school with 30,000 students. (PHOTO/CBF)
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Now, as a recently appointed Cooperative Baptist Fellowship representative, Entrekin lives in Nanning, China, where she teaches English writing and speaking classes to students on the campus of Guangxi University during the week and free English language classes at a Chinese Protestant church in downtown Nanning on Sunday evenings.
Levesque teaches on the same university campus where recently retired CBF representatives Don and Karen Barnes taught six years, and her weekly English classes at Gong He Lu Church are the same classes that the Barnes taught.
Levesque and her husband, Marc, live in the Barnes’ old two-bedroom apartment—a detail they were surprised, and delighted, to learn upon arriving in China in August.
“I believe God had this plan that we were to come here to replace Don and Karen,” Levesque said. “Don’t get me wrong. We could never replace them. But we’re here in their apartment, teaching their classes. God had (these) plans many years before I knew them.”
This semester, Levesque has 18 classes a week at the university and a total of 80 students—all of them eager to speak English and improve their oral language skills, she said.
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“I think it’s because they realize English is a universal language. If they know English, or some English, they will improve their situation in life,” Levesque said. She added that not all her students are English majors, but all are required to speak English. “Some will become interpreters or go into a business where they must speak English.”
Gong He Lu Church
Levesque has been pleased to discover that some university students also attend the free English language classes she teaches at Gong He Lu Church. Although her university teaching contract prohibits her from teaching religion in a campus classroom, Chinese law assures the freedom to discuss religion within a government registered church or meeting place.
In the one-and-a-half hour weekly class attended by up to 50 students of wide-ranging ages, Levesque teaches a practical lesson, such as how to say, “Hello, how are you?” A Bible story follows each lesson. Currently teaching from the gospel of Mark, she uses Scripture to explain the difference between present tense and past tense verbs. Vocabulary words, such as “disciple,” also are taken from the text.
“We talk about: ‘What does it mean to be happy? What does it mean to have faith?’” Levesque said. “This opens the door to talk about Christ and what he did for us. I feel very good about being able to share whatever is on my heart in these classes at the church. It’s an open forum to share my faith.”
On the 30-minute bus ride back to the campus following her Sunday evening class, Levesque often is approached by a Chinese individual. Some ask her, “May I practice my English?” Others open a conversation by saying, “I went to Guangxi University.”
If it’s the latter, Levesque said she usually asks who the person’s teachers were, and many times, the answer is Don and Karen Barnes.
“You won’t believe how many people taking English classes in this part of China have been impacted by Don and Karen Barnes over the years,” Levesque said.
An example of Christ
Like the Barnes, Levesque tries to be an example of Christ by being available to students and fellow teachers for help or friendship.
“Being the presence of Christ here on the university campus is all about relationship and developing friendships that can prepare the way for questions about what I believe,” Levesque said.
Other opportunities involve encouraging Chinese Christians.
“Recently, we met a young, disabled Christian man whose hand had been blown off by a bomb,” Levesque said. “He desperately wanted an English study Bible, and we were able to get one for him from Hong Kong. This encouraged not only his English study, but also his faith walk.”
Although she doesn’t know how long she may stay, or what new opportunities may arise, Levesque feels perfect peace about where she is and what she is doing in China.
“I know that God has been preparing this place for me because of all the answers to my prayers. I can’t tell you the big picture, but God has a plan,” Levesque said.
“It may be that one person we touch may go on to become a church leader in China some day. I am blessed that my husband has always encouraged and supported me to find and follow God’s will, which now involves both of us being here in China.
“Every day we get up and pray, ‘God, show us what you want us to do.’ It’s just such a powerful feeling to be where God wants you to be.”
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