Snow!

This has been a very cold winter.  It snowed three times (maybe 4 times)!  Ok, the last time it snowed, it it did not stick.  The other times we had plenty of snow to play in.

This is the small pond near our apartment during the snow in January.

The kids made a little snow man.

We were all walking to the store, and Eryn saw a large icicle on the sidewalk.  She wanted to pick it up, but I made her wait until we were on the way back.  She was really fascinated with the icicle.  Soon after I let her pick it up, she dropped it and it broke into several pieces.  She used two pieces to make the bill on this "snow duck".

snow on some New Year's decorations

 Snow in the city is not always beautiful.  These bushes are covered in frozen slush from the road, gross!

Tonight is supposed to be cold again, and then rainy tomorrow. Tomorrow night there is the possibility of some ice, but for the most part, the bitterness of Chinese winter is over!
We will all be very happy to have some warmer weather.

From Everywhere to Everywhere

I took this blog post from a book on global missions that I recently read, but the truth of it has hit home to us recently. The idea is that missions is not just about Americans or other Westerners going to other countries with the Good News. That's still an important thing (as evidenced by the fact that we're in China doing it!), but the reality of the world today is that Americans are going to China, Chinese people are going to America, and everybody in between is going all over the world too. We've gotten a taste of our role in this "global" mission during the last few weeks.

Three weeks ago we found out that a church in Lisa's hometown (Monteagle, TN) has started reaching out to the few Chinese people in their town. It's encouraging to hear about their work and also kind of amazing - I think there are about 4,000 people in the town, but even they are reaching out to Chinese people. We've helped them find some Chinese Bibles and provided them with some other study material too. It's really cool to be involved in cross-cultural missions here in China and in middle Tennessee!

Then about two weeks ago we had some complicated bank business that resulted in us having to call our Chattanooga bank. While on the phone waiting I struck up conversation with the worker and found out that she and her husband are looking for a new church. She grew up in the church of Christ and her father was a preacher in another city, but they've never found a church family in Chattanooga. While waiting for my business to be completed, I bragged on the family at Clear Creek and encouraged them to swing by sometime. I've also been in communication with her by email since then.

These two recent events, along with our decision to move back to the US after this next semester, have proved to me that there is good work for us to do. There are people from all cultures, from all over the world, right at our doorstep, or just a (Skype) call away!

{late edit} I forgot when I was originally writing this that Lisa's latest cooking adventure is another example of this. For quite a while, she's been friends with some foreign students from Afghanistan who attend our university studying Chinese. And recently she's been to their house to learn how to cook some native desserts. While she's there she's been able to talk to the family, play with their kids, and take them some of our food. The mom of the family is adamant that we all go sometime to have a full meal sometime, too!

Tunnel Vision

Tunnel vision – limited vision, as in seeing only your own point of view.

LinLi’s parents were both in the hospital with pneumonia and double pneumonia. Shane and Shelly and James of JiuLian group went to visit and pray for them. The Hardin family went to visit and pray for them.

After the hospital and during Spring Festival LinLi’s parents came to visit our house. LinLi’s Dad is a stock broker, so a lot of the conversation in the past was about the news, American and Chinese culture, and active ways to approach life. GaoYan sees him as her tea teacher. Just as GaoYan was pouring the first tiny cup of tea, LinLi’s parents both got out their iphones and began an extravaganza talking about their new found faith in Jesus Christ. “Check out this jesusvideo.org. My daughter loaded a Bible on my phone. It has large print so I can see it. Before I would read the Bible and the print was so small the lines would run together. I can just enter the verse so I don’t have to turn pages of a thick Bible. I can search words like Eagle Isaiah 40:31. Each morning I listen to this short devotion and pray.” We passed iphones and tiny tea cups around the table for two hours. They are so excited. Jesus is all they can talk about now.

GaoYan and I both said, “We are really encouraged you came to visit and talk. Shane had invited us to go to his hometown, BUT our kids were tired of Spring Festival visiting. AND we did not want to be an inconvenience for Shane’s family. AND it’s a two hour drive in Spring Festival traffic. AND it is cold and rainy. …”

For certain, I spend most of my days seeing with tunnel vision. I get so focused on my own little worries, complaints, excuses, and doubts. I have lived with tunnel vision so long I can even put a big silly grin on my face standing in the tunnel.



I am surprised and amazed when God shows us just a little bit of His big picture. God’s designs and plans are so great, so powerful I don’t really believe it until I see it.

LinLi’s Dad announced, “Tomorrow your family will go to Shane’s home. We would go ourselves but LinLi’s mom still has one more day of IV at the hospital.”

Valentine’s Day. Just as we drove out of a mountain tunnel with views of a new valley, LinLi’s parents called. “Mom is finished getting the IV. We are on the way and will also eat supper with Shane’s family tonight.”

Shane’s family was hosting a large gathering of relatives for the Spring Festival.

Shane’s Dad said, “We are so happy for the friends Shane has met in Hangzhou. We are so proud of Shane.”
LinLi’s Dad confirmed, “They are all good people and Shane is a good person for one reason. They believe in Jesus. You must also believe in Jesus.”

Shane’s parents and LinLi’s parents have a lot in common. They are almost the same age. They both have children that attend our church family. They were both probably wondering, “What do they do meeting together every Sunday?” Their parents talked about LinLi moving to America and Shane’s plans to move to America and study. We got Caleb and Joy up to bed. LinLi’s parents and Shane’s parents talked and talked until midnight mostly about Jesus living in people’s lives.



"By God’s grace I pray to encourage Shane to share Jesus with his large family.” "Little by little they will believe. We will pray.” Prayers and tunnel pictures from visiting Shane’s family two years ago February 2011.

Linli's parents

Last year our church group was greatly blessed with some great “workers” that were students.  They were students at MTSU in Tennessee that were here studying Chinese.  One of these students was Clint Boyd.  Clint was engaged, and then married to Linli (they met in the US when Linli was at MTSU).  Linli is from Hangzhou. 

Whenever possible, we included Linli’s parents in different activities.  They have been to worship, and Christmas parties, and Easter picnics. 

Clint and Linli have returned to the US to finish their studies.  It has been Linli’s and our prayer that her parents will know about Jesus and His love.

A few weeks ago, just days before CNY, Linli’s parents were BOTH in the hospital with pnenomia.  I know that Linli was very worried about them.  Jon, Hallie and I went to visit them.  They were very happy to see us.  They were in good spirits and were well taken care of.  They told us that Shelly and James from Jiulian (the downtown group) had been to see them as well.

Linli later told me that her mother played praise music in the hospital room, and her father told visitors about Jesus and that prayer works!

On New Years eve, they came to our house, but unfortunately we were not at home (more on that later).

Recently we heard (from Facebook) that Linli’s parents :

decided to drive all the way to Shane's house to visit with them (Shane’s parents) and start building a relationship with them so that they can also come to believe and see the joy that they have also experienced from just a taste of the Truth!

If you remember, Shane’s parents are not very supportive of him being a Christian.  I am not sure if they even know that he is a Christian.  A few years ago, they told him not to get baptized.

This picture is from the Easter picnic last year.

God is working in amazing ways with these families.  Please continue to keep them in your prayers!

Praise Him for His Work

Pray with us in thanksgiving that God is really working in Sunny's heart over the festival. She has been in regular contact with me through texts and emails about questions of faith and about what she is reading in the Bible. She read the first three chapters of Genesis, and had good questions about that, then as the actual Chinese New Year approached, she wanted advice because she said that this year, she could no longer take part in her family's Buddhist celebrations. We gave our opinion but very much encouraged her to follow her own conscience. The following day, she wrote to me with joy, stating that she did not take part, and her parents had been able to accept her decision! A few days later she wrote again, saying she had read the New Testament through Romans, and she had some questions about sin and the law. She isn't quite "there" yet, and I don't know how long her journey to fully formed faith will take, but it's different for all of us, isn't it? We feel overjoyed, though, about God's work in her life, and ask you to pray for her daily. It would be a big step for her to commit her life to Jesus completely, but that, of course, is our eventual hope for her. Pray that we can disciple her, and others, with love and diligence in the upcoming semester.