Happy Halloween!

Green Vine

We do a lot of ministry with students. It is what we are suited to, and also, students in China are comparatively receptive. But...we still like to branch out in our ministry and keep planting seeds and considering possibilities among other age groups. for example, in a previous post, we mentioned going with Maggie's family to pick grapes. We just added a couple photos to that September post, titled "Vineyard Talk". A while back, we also decided to spend a bit of time talking with a local poet who has taken the initiative to be friendly and get to know us. We asked him if he would like to go with us to a local very minor tourist attraction called Green Vine Study. This place is famous because it was the studio of a very legendary painter in the 1600's in China, a man named Xu Wei. Xu Wei was great because he had some ideas about how to do things in a radically different way from others. He was willing to present his ideas on the canvas and in writing, even if it was in contrast to what society appreciated or wanted to hear. This gave us some food for discussion with the poet An Rong that day as we hung out together. Our approach to life as Chrisitans is also radically different and fresh in comparison with society's typical standard for how to do things, so this concept is something we often think about. It was also refreshing to get a more mature, thoughtful perspective about some of the trends we see in this society, and how one mustn't yield to societal pressure, even if there is personal cost involved. It was a meaningful day at Green Vine Study.

Tired and Hungry

I have been overwhelmed indeed by how the past couple of weeks have been incredibly busy and thoroughly out of the ordinary. But as Dale notes in the next post, sometimes that is also ordinary life. It was amazingly packed, with such blessings and surprises from Clear Creek family visitors, but then also some extra efforts required of us with a sick friend in town. But I notice a softening occurring in the midst of it, and I realize that God is doing something here in Shaoxing with us His workers. It seems our hearts are being tilled. We are lovingly prepared by these busy weeks and the stresses that have come our way. We are made tired, and we sink into prayer more naturally. We are made hungry, and then the Word, and just a few moments in which to savor it, becomes more precious. We are humbled sometimes by the tasks that lay before us, but that is good for us. Coming through the hardships and helping each other out have their own reward, and perhaps the reward can't be gotten at any other way. If that is the case, then we are thankful for the lessons these days have brought. Father, we thank you for gently opening our hearts to give and receive.

Helped and Helping

Phew! We've had an incredibly busy couple of weeks here. First, we had a wonderful time with the Clear Creek group that came to Shaoxing from Saturday through Wednesday, but I'm sure there will be a lot more to hear about that later.

After the Clear Creek group left Shaoxing Wednesday morning, one of our good American friends had to go to the hospital Wednesday afternoon and later had her appendix removed. In the week since she first went to the hospital we've been busy taking care of her 2 kids, cooking food for the family, getting their laundry done, cleaning their house, and visiting her in the hospital. But the point of this post isn't to share how busy we've been (did I mention that we've been busy?). Instead, this time has been a good reminder that this is life. It's easy for our family to long for routine and regular rhythms of life that feel like "normal" life. But we realize that the interruptions and unexpected surprises are just as much "normal" life as anything else. How we respond to emergencies and people in need reveals a lot about who we really are and what our priorities are.

And that's why it's been great to see some of our friends and the people from our weekly study volunteering to help us so much. One girl and her boyfriend brought us all dinner one night and then helped Dale take care of the 4 kids while Lisa taught class. The next day another girl brought over more food. And people from the Salt and Light Christian group have been regularly asking us what kind of help we need. Meetings and studies together are super important, but there's something really real and concrete about learning to live together and learning to live like Jesus did that goes beyond meetings.

So it's been a busy week, but it's been a great week. We've been blessed to be able to help our friends and we've been blessed by the help of many of our other friends.

Searching and calling

A couple of weeks ago we had a visitor at church.  His name was Danny and he looked Chinese, but he was from Malaysia.  Danny is backpacking across China and Asia.  He is a member of Couchsurfing.com.  This is organization where you sign up and can stay with people for free (often sleeping on the couch).   Danny was here in Hangzhou on a short stay and was staying with James and his family.  James works for the government.  While spending time with his host, Danny asked James if he thought there was more to life...and they started talking.  James is searching.  In the past James had met Shelly (Xiao Li) on the train  and they had also talked about God.  James told Danny that he knew a Christian and Shelly got him hooked up with our group.
Danny mentioned James, his host, during the pray request that Sunday.  Then just as service was over, James showed up.  We all went to eat lunch together.  James has a son about Liam's age.

We invited James and his family to movie night that week, and they came! Liam and Kevin had a good time together.  Then the family also came to church the next Sunday.

James story is not finished.  I believe that God is calling him.  I think it is amazing to see how He is using others to get James to where he can learn more about Him.  Please pray for James and all of those who are in his story.

New Permanent Members

We have started to pray for more permanent members for our Sunday church family. I have a lot of student friends and they sometimes come to our Sunday worship. The students offer a great energy but most of them are only here for a year or two then move away. We have friends in our neighborhood, but they are busy with family on Sundays. Just when I was beginning to doubt where permanent members would come from…
Filly has been coming back to our Sunday worship. Two years ago when our student study was investigated, she was probably the first and most questioned student. Now Filly has graduated and works for a bank in Hangzhou. Filly still lives close by, but thankfully the university is no longer in charge of her spiritual protection.
Sam lives on the second floor in our building and a teacher at one of the nearby universities. He studied in Wisconsin for two years. Sam told me he attended a church every Sunday for a year and a half while in America. Sam and his wife are expecting a baby in a few months.
David came to us as a friend of a friend of the Hardin family. David’s family lives in America and he is away on business a lot. In September David’s wife was visiting Hangzhou. Our group was praying about a new meeting place and David’s wife spoke up, “You can use my husband’s office space.” On another week David led the singing and made some good short comments in between songs.
I could choose to doubtfully think, “They will move away soon or be too busy to come to church.” Instead, I will choose to focus on God showing again how He will always provide. Our church family is one way God is providing His love to these new permanent members.

New Meeting Places

God was faithful to answer our prayer for a Sunday meeting place. We were eating dinner with ChongChong’s family. GaoYan mentioned that our Sunday group is looking for a new place to worship. Jane spoke up, “You can use my husband’s office space.” And her husband thought, “That would probably be ok.” Jane was baptized about a year ago in Elaine’s home. Jane’s husband, in the past, donated a lot for building a new church in his mom’s hometown, which happens to be Tongling, GaoYan’s hometown.
We met in the new office space for the first time Sunday. There is a carpet and lots of soft couches where we circle up for worship. Extra rooms are available if we are able to get a children’s Bible class started. The office is not too far from the Hardin’s apartment complex. Some people were out of town for the October holiday, but the new place feels exciting filled with possibility. Our church family volunteered many different ways to serve in our new meeting place. We are really amazed to see how God answers our prayers.

Also for our neighborhood ladies and children study we were praying for a more suitable place to meet. We had been meeting in Grace’s home. Every time Grace went out of town or her little boy got sick we had to cancel or reschedule.
Caleb has taken some art classes at the Happy Fish after school center. GaoYan talked with the Happy Fish owner about renting her space for 600 yuan/month to month basis on Saturday nights. It is really great. There is a room for the ladies to study. There is a big room for the children to have a Bible story and play. The Happy Fish owner is a friend and neighbor to most of the group, so we were grateful to encourage her business.
The first meeting Grace led a Bible study with Linda, XiLe MaMa, XiaoChuan MaMa, and CoCo MaMa. GaoYan and I taught XiLe, XiaoChuan, Caleb, and Joy the days of creation.