Since 1998, we have been involved with China, teaching English and sharing inspiration and hope with those whom we have been blessed to meet there. (We have spent some time, on and off, back in the USA, so our total time in China has been about 6 years.) We love China; we love the people; we love the culture; we love the food... And we are very pleased to be going back, this time as representatives of Clear Creek. We have been deeply impressed thus far by CC's devotion and energy toward this goal we share - to open doors, touch hearts, and see good things happen in our adoptive homeland - 中国.
Some of you have gotten to know us pretty well during our too-short time in Chattanooga [we’re loving this place, by the way], but others may still be wondering exactly who we are, so let us introduce ourselves:
Jason is a bluegrass musician who listens to Christian rap. He (I, actually) has a long-time passion for skateboarding and for what has come to be known as "extreme" BMX bicycling. [We used to call it "freestyle."] Jason speaks Chinese fairly well, can read and write some, and has the goal of becoming "spiritually fluent" - i.e., able to talk to people about real-life/spiritual issues (rather than just ordering "xiaolong" and buying train tickets) - by the end of our first year in Hangzhou [HZ]. I'm excited about going to HZ because it's simply a great place to live. I felt really comfortable and immediately "at home" there when we visited for a month in March this year, which quite honestly has not been the case in some other Chinese cities we have visited or lived in.
As for Cecely... well, Cec is letting me to write her bio, which I wanted to do, but am finding more difficult than I imagined. How can I tell you about her without sounding too "over-the-top" with all of my effusive praise and admiration? Seriously. She's so lovable and wise and fun to be around… Here are some of the facts, though: Cec is a newly-certified Christian yoga instructor, an avid reader, and a published author [check out the Feb/Mar 2007 issue of Christian Woman]. She has been, and continues to be, deeply attached to China. In fact, I should admit upfront that Cec is the one who has often kept me going when I could have just as easily given up and come home. That’s just the way Cec is: devoted, stable, consistent—but never boring! She is, so to speak, my ballast in an unstable world.
So... that's us.