Through My Eyes: A Collection of Poems
About this ebook
“It’s a long trail a-winding”. That is an old saying, but here it is a pun, because Ian Traill’s Chinese wife is called Long Weina. It is indeed a long trail from Scotland to Australia, and then to China; from being a champion powerlifter to being an English teacher in China and missionary.
Such is the life of my good friend, Ian Traill.
Born in Scotland, he migrated to Australia with his family when he was two years old. He was not an academic person, but he always had a flair for engineering, from the time he was a young child.
Ian is a strong man. He represented Australia in powerlifting and could have become a World Champion had not his life been dramatically changed by a living experience with the Lord Jesus Christ.
After a disastrous marriage where he lost everything, he came to China to teach English. It was in China that he met his lovely wife, Weina. They have a beautiful little girl named, Li Ya.
The poems in this volume reflect the trials, triumphs and delights of his life, both before and after his coming to Christ. Some of them talk of his love for Christ, some of his love for his children, some for his wife, some of his love for his country, Australia, and some of his love for his adopted country, China.
Ian is a strong man, sometimes gruff, but with a soft heart. Tread carefully as you read these poems. You are treading on holy ground – seeing the heart of a man with a tough exterior, but one who can be moved to tears by the pains of other people.
Sincerely
Fred Corlett
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About the author
Dr. Ian Traill is a missionary to China where he has been for the past 15 years.
Previously he had planted a Church in Daylesford, Victoria, Australia and now he is involved in planting Churches in China and developing Traillblazer, Tony Smits Bible College throughout the nation.
Arriving in August 2000 to take up a position teaching English at Universities and Colleges, working as a "tentmakers" ministry, he has been conducting Bible classes and training people in the area of leadership with the view of them starting their own home church. Ian has a strong desire to bring teaching to the people, thus he has written many books.
A missionary is one who is sent to cross over geographic and cross-cultural boundaries to plant the Word of God and a local church, thus establishing God’s culture in a new location. The Gospel of John clearly portrays Jesus as fulfilling the ministry of a missionary sent from God (John 3:17-34, 4:34, 5:23, 5:36-38, 6:29-57, 7:16-33, 8:16-42, 9:4, 10:36, 11:42, 12:44-49, and13:20). Jesus Christ came as a missionary to this world to save us, but non-Christians reading His story in a newspaper at that time, would say that He was a failure. We, of course, are aware He did not fail. It is because of His mission that we are here today, and it was through someone else that we heard about Jesus too. Faith comes by hearing the Word, but if there is no preacher how can people hear? So we are going to all nations.
