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.

Answered prayers and transitions

I have been thinking about this post and trying to compose it in my head for more than a month now.  It is complicated and may end up being a two-part post.  I can sum it up as: God will provide.

When we went to the U.S. this summer, our future in China was a little uncertain. We knew we were headed into the last year of our initial commitment with Clear Creek, and we were not sure what would happen after the 5 years were up.  We knew we were willing and wanted to continue in China for a while longer.  We are not finished here yet.  We were not sure what Clear Creek would want. 

We came back to China, knowing that we would stay in China at least another 2 years but not in the same place.  We had several options and all had good points.  We really were not sure where to go.  So we started praying. 

We have been praying that God will lead us where he wants us to be and where we can do work for Him.  Every time we took prayer requests, Liam would ask that we pray for guidance.

One of our options was to move to and work in Binjiang.  This is a district in Hangzhou.  It is still in Hangzhou, but it is about an hour (40 minutes on a good day) from where we live now.  We started spending more time with the group in Bj.  There is a need for some workers there and plenty of “work” that we can do.  We felt that maybe this was the place for us, but we wanted to make sure it was not just what we want, but what God wants.

Then Jon was reunited with Chuck.  He is a brother that Jon has worked with in the past, but he hasn’t seen him in quite a while.  It turns out that he moved to Binjiang!

There were a few simple coincidences like this that made us feel good about moving to Bj.  But Jon would have to find a job.  We started praying specifically for a job and still for guidance.

There are a few universities in Bj, but not that many.  We looked around some and even looked on-line at a few.  I think Jon may have even sent an e-mail or two out.  We even looked at a new elementary school in that area.  Then Heather (from the US) introduced us to Roger. 

Roger is Chinese, but he lived in the US for about 15-20 years.  He is starting an education company based here in HZ.  Actually it is a branch of an American company, and HZ will be the hub for all of Asia.  Roger said he needed someone to help with curriculum development.  That is perfect for Jon! 

Long story, shorter, Jon now has a new job (in addition to teaching at the University). This semester he is only part-time but next year he will work more full-time.  He helps with developing the curriculum and he also is in charge of hiring other foreigners to come and teach.  This could be great because it could be a way to get more workers here!  We are very excited about this. 

So, now we know where we will be next year, and we have a job.  Next, we needed to find an apartment.  We started praying for an apartment.  We looked at several.  The first one we looked at, was really too small for our family.  The second one we looked at, was nearly perfect, but it was really too expensive.  We kept looking and saw some that might work.  Then we received word that the price on the one that was too expensive was reduced by 1500 Yuan!  We signed the lease about 2 weeks ago!

We will move into the new apartment at the end of April.  Our lease for this apartment expires at the beginning of May. 

This is a time of transition for our family.  It is not always going to be easy.  We have to move all of our stuff.  Pack it up and then unpack it and organize it.  Jon will continue to work at the University which means some long commutes for him 3 days a week during May and June.  Since we are moving about an hour away, our ayi (household helper) will not be able to continue to work for us. We will need to figure out how to get around and where markets and shops are.  We hope that the kids will be able to find some friends and playmates.

We feel that we were lead to this place and we know that God will do wonderful things in Binjing.

Please pray for us especially during this transition.  Pray for the group we know we will be working with and pray for God to lead us to more work and people to share with.  

Puttin' the "World" in World Bible School

This is keeping with our family's previous post "From Everywhere to Everywhere". Three or four weeks ago we received an email from a former worker in China who had received an email from somebody else, who had received an email from somebody else :-) A woman in the US had been working with the World Bible School program and studying with a young lady named Carol in Zhejiang. It turns out that Carol is from Jiaxing, a city only a couple of hours away from Shaoxing and Hangzhou. Carol had been studying for a while and had grown to the point that she wanted to find some local believers to meet and church meetings to join.

We work a lot with the Salt & Light student group here in Shaoxing, so we asked for their help finding people in Jiaxing. They called a few people and within a few hours, we had contact information for a Chinese Christian in Jiaxing. Carol and the Jiaxing Christian got in contact and they've been attending meetings together ever since. Carol's World Bible School contact has been in frequent contact with us - updating us on Carol's growth, asking questions, and seeking advice. Carol's apparently eager to be baptized and is looking to do that soon.

A lot like our previous post, it's amazing to see the doors that God opens and the way he works through relationships to draw people to him. We're happy that we've been able to send a few emails and phone messages. And we're happy that we've been able to connect with people from WBS, in the US, in China, in Salt & Light, and more. But of course we're happiest that God is bringing faith to yet another one of his children here in China, no matter what method he's using!

2 conversations, 2 people, 2 topics...

Today, a beautiful early spring day full of sunshine but with still something of a chill in the morning air, was both a blessing and a challenge. Today, we had two conversations, with two different people -- both of which mentioned the same two topics.
The first conversation came in the hours just before lunch, at a coffee house just outside the school campus. The second conversation occurred in the evening, at home, around the dinner table. The first involved Cecely and I and our Christian brother, Wang Hao. The second was with us and a young lady, Sunny, who is earnestly and carefully seeking to know God.
Two different times, two different places. Two different people in two different stages of spiritual development. But the same two topics: homosexuality and women's roles in the church.
Not just two plain vanilla topics, but two hot button, cutting edge, highly charged, culturally controversial topics. Both in America, and apparently, China, too.

Both of these young people are confounded and confused by the two conflicting messages they are receiving from two conflicted sources. God and culture. Maybe you, or someone you know, is caught between the horns of this dilemma, too.
On the one hand, there is the very clear cut condemnation of homosexuality spelled out in scripture; on the other hand, the message keeps coming, more loudly and more strongly all the time, from our cultures, our television programs, our films, maybe even from people we know and care for and love personally, saying that times have changed, we need to be tolerant, love is love, no matter who it is... 
For many of us, the decision is clear: we side with God. Culture changes, God's law does not. But for many others, the seemingly reasonable and rational call for "fairness" and equality seems overwhelming, and frankly, quite convincing.
And for them, it really becomes a test: Will I remain true to the scriptures and take a (perhaps awkward and uncomfortable) stand with God, or will I abandon God's word (maybe just this once) and go with what my heart and my neighbors tell me is true and right?

Two questions, two choices...
Two paths... and two potential outcomes.

[By the way, I've not said much about women's roles. It did come up, both times today, but it's much easier to handle, at least for these two people (and for both of us), perhaps because it's actually not THE hot issue in society right now. I mean, feminism is so 1970.]

The issue is bigger than just making a choice about "orientation" and behavior. It's about choosing a way to think, a way to live, a way to read the Bible (a hermeneutic, if you've been to Bible school). It's ultimately a decision about who gets to be God.
This is what we tried to explain to our two friends. That, in this and in all things, our decision says something very important about who or what has the ultimate authority in our lives.
In this case (in most, I suppose) the choice, the conflict, is between culture and scripture -- between changing beliefs and solid truths.
Which direction are you going to go? Which "truth" will you accept and adopt as your own? Is God God, or are you?

It's a tough choice -- tougher than we might think -- tougher than we might want to admit. In fact, it's got me thinking...
Is there anything in my life, right now, that I'm struggling with God for control of, rather than submitting to His authority and will?

And in fact, this is a season of submission and waiting and prayer for us, as we look for guidance toward our future. [You may have heard, we are planning to move back to America.]
It's a big decision, one we considered carefully, seriously, and slowly before making the announcement.
But once the decision was made... I rushed headlong into the search for employment, real estate, school zones, a new car... without much patience or prayer or humility before God.
Sure, I said a quick prayer now and again. Sure I mouthed a desire for "His will be done," but my actions betrayed me as I spent sometimes hours scouring the job listings and then googling every possible detail of my imagined new career and home and lifestyle. I lost track of time as I absorbed myself in finding and fulfilling what would potentially become my self-ordained destiny.

And then, I stopped.
And now, against my own natural and cultural tendencies, I am purposely and prayerfully waiting.
I am praying and waiting for God to make the next move -- watching, listening, hoping for a word, a sign, a motion from God.

Of course, even now, I could (and perhaps the world would say I should) make some phone calls, send some emails, re-repolish my resume...
But I choose to wait, to pray, to allow time and space for God to be God.

And now, in closing, two requests:
Pray for our future. And pray for our friends.
And I'll pray for you, too, because I know that at some level we are all struggling to trust and obey.

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.