Progress in December

Searching for someone to fix up our new apartment, GaoYan met a Christian contractor. His family is also Christian. They meet with a large group on Sundays. The contractor’s wife called a sister who lives close by to us. She visited our home one night to encourage and pray with GaoYan and her mom.

In my English classes we studied the birth of Jesus Christ starting with John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” Mary and Joseph, birth in a manger, the shepherds, and the wise men. The students were surprised to learn that Mary was younger than any of them. I also played some Christmas songs Michael W. Smith “Welcome to Our World” and MercyMe “What Child is This?”

I have not appreciated Wednesday night “required” English corners. Finally they are over for the semester. Looking back, however, I can think of four students specifically who have heard the good news message.

The WenSan group hosted a fabulous well planned Christmas party at a school for autistic children. I have enjoyed visiting their services for the past month. And we are looking forward to building some relationships in a small group setting during the semester break.

GaoYan Caleb and I have been spending some time with a young boy named Eric and his parents. They lived in Los Angeles for two years, so Eric speaks English better than most other seven years olds in Hangzhou. Eric’s dad is a doctor. Last night we learned Eric’s dad does stem cell research for liver regeneration.

Reading the book Simple Church, how is a clearly defined focused plan with movement so that disciples develop applied to a small congregation in China? How is a focused plan applied to me so that I can become a better disciple of Christ?