The first four days, he rode on horseback through the mountains in hip-deep snow until he found a place where he could get on a bus. The bus trip took two days. He arrived early one morning and came to class, but after one hour, sheepishly asked me if he could skip the next hour and go get some sleep.

Such devotion to learning awes me. This student comes from a very remote place where the language is not even the same as the other Mongols’ language. In that area, the educational level is so poor that, when this student first came to our school, he couldn’t speak, read, or write any of the languages used here (no Chinese, no Mongolian, no English). The first term, he failed in all of his courses because he could understand nothing, but he has persevered with such ferocity as I have never seen before. Now, he’s getting passing grades in all of his courses and continues to improve. His English name is Ballard. He’s just sixteen.

As I think of Ballard’s fervent devotion to educating his mind, I ask my own Teacher to help me have the same passion and drive to learn the will and character of Christ. May we all have the same devotion in our search for education in the school of Heaven.

Editor's Note—Missionary X continues to plant churches and establish translation work for minority groups in the autonomous regions of northern China, and writes to us anonymously for security reasons.