Spring in Shaoxing

We have been thankful to see the arrival of weather that is a bit warmer, although occasionally it regresses a little for a few days. Blossoming plum trees make it official however: spring is here. We enjoy life here quite a bit, we belong here in so many ways, and it is quite wistful and bittersweet to contemplate returning to the States in a few short months. Spring in China can be incredibly beautiful. After the long cold winters, to have those gorgeous sunny days with the butterflies, bees and blossoms is just a glorious gift.

And it is also such a true blessing to continue to impact lives. We have spent time studying and or discussing the Bible this month with Wang Hao, Sunny and her sister Moon, a student named Candy, and an adult friend named Maggie, and we have also spent time with a student named Betty, and a family of one of Phoebe's little preschool classmates, a sweet boy whose name is Bin Bin.  With all of these people and some others, we have had many opportunities for witnessing to God's grace in our lives and ample chances to do discipleship of some sort. We also had time to talk to disciples from past years, such as Adam Yu who lives with his wife in Zhuhai in southern China. They are excitedly expecting the arrival of their first baby and contemplating a career shift into full time ministry. We also still keep in touch with Joanna Wang in Shanghai a lot, and we thank God for the recent blessings in her life and her spirit of faithfulness as she serves Him.

Another thing is, we have an unprecedented opportunity this month in the fact that Jason is beginning to teach a Bible course for the university. All told, he has 200 students that he is being invited to teach the Bible to, and as a result of a generous gift from Clear Creek, each student will also be presented with a very nice bilingual Bible of their own as a textbook for the course, and something they can keep for further personal study. We ask for your prayers. We know that lives will be forever impacted by this, and we just always pray for their hearts to be open to receive, and for us to have discernment, that we may recognize who might need further guidance or have more questions to ask.

The month ended with a lovely Easter egg hunt in the grass with two cute boys and one pretty little girl, as baby Joel looked on. We had a fabulous month overall and look forward to what April will bring. Happy Easter! He is risen indeed.