Hi guys. I don’t have too much to say so I guess I’ll keep this short. We’ve been spending a lot of time in learning the language and getting trained to teach at the academy. The guys and I have been playing basketball whenever we can in hopes of meeting some people here to meet up with since the English corner is on hold until their break is over. If you read from Art’s update, you’ll see that God has already provided us some opportunities. Art and I just started meeting up with two guys that we met at a pickup basketball game. Their names are Peter and Cool. Out of all the guys that we’ve met randomly on the courts, I’m really thankful to have been able to meet up with them because their English is quite good and they just want to practice using the language. It worked out for me because, as Jonny will testify, my Chinese “fails”. They are both 17 and are in high school. They really want to go and live in America, which is probably the reason why they want to learn to use English better. I plan on meeting up with them as language partners. Art and I have played ball with them a couple of times and just met up with them for dinner. They really are nice guys and they genuinely want to help us (mostly me) with our/my Chinese. So far, we haven’t been able to share with them yet, but we are praying that God will give us that opportunity. Please pray about them.Please also pray for more opportunities for us! So far, God really has been opening my eyes as well as encouraging me by being able to meet up with other missionaries and hearing their stories on what God is doing here. Please also continue to pray for my parents and their salvation. I talk to them about once a week. Miss you guys!
Hi everyone ☺ thanks so much for continuing to pray for us. I know understand how much of an encouragement it is to have a church back home and know that you are constantly praying of us. So here’s our first update : January has been the month of settling in and getting used to the idea of living out here for 7 months. Even during this short period of time I feel like He has really opened my eyes to the harvest out here, and the number of people that are out here fully committed to His ministry, and I am constantly encouraged and challenged. We weren’t really expecting to meet up with students for the first month because we knew that many of them would be leaving for their hometowns for the Spring Festival, but was pleasantly surprised to hear that people wanted to meet up with us in between their finals and their departures. I was able to meet up with several students from the summer camp, and our talks turned out to be good opportunities to share. Most of our conversations were left off, hoping to continue them later after the break. Becky and I were also able to meet up with Vickie and Susan, and after Pastor Peter and Lynna left, Susan actually ended up staying at our place for almost a week. We were so encouraged by her desire to grow and learn His Word, but saddened by the fact that there was really no one in Urumqi to teach and guide her. We have also been able to meet up with Rita on several occasions, and we can see that she is really desiring genuine fellowship, and to dig into the Word more. We are hoping that she will come and spend the break with us at our apartment so that we will be able to study with her and encourage her more.
Hi Berean! How is everyone doing back at home? I hope all of you are working diligently building up the body back home. As for me, I am settling in very well here. It is extremely easy to meet new people here especially if they know you speak English, so I thank God for that. I have been able to meet up consistently with two guys Zheng Wen (who I named Simon) and Carmelon for his favorite NBA star Carmelo Anthony (he feels adding the N makes it unique). Zheng Wen is a really nice and kind-hearted guy I met at a grocery store while walking around. He tried to sell me imitation Nikes and Adidas’ but after noticing that my Mandarin was not from Beijing, he asked if I spoke English, I took the opportunity and asked if he wanted to learn and now we are meeting up bi-weekly. Zheng Wen comes from a very poor family; his dad immigrated to BJ from some other city to find work as a migrant worker. His dad is basically a manual laborer that builds new buildings and stuff. Zheng Wen’s family couldn’t provide him an education while he was younger so now he helps his family with the finances by selling imitation goods here in Beijing. Please pray to God for him, he really encourages me by his sincerity and how he leads his life, Zheng Wen is so sacrificial not only to his family but to me as well. He doesn’t have the childhood a lot of other 19 year olds have in Beijing, he works from 7 in the morning to 8 at night and therefore can’t play basketball or do any of the after school activities other kids do; there is always so much compassion and humility in him I would really want him to know Jesus Christ. I haven’t been able to share with him yet, but I can see that the two of us are becoming better friends every single time we meet up, please pray to God and ask him for opportunities for me to share and possibly wisdom and the correct terms if I do have to share in Mandarin. The other guy Carmelon, I met at the basketball courts. Carmelon comes from a financially stronger family and therefore was afforded the privilege of learning English in Beijing though his English is still rather elementary. Please pray to God for him too as I can tell that all he cares about at the moment is making a lot of money and moving out of Beijing to eventually reside in Europe. To be truthful, with Carmelon, I often feel that he views me as more of a advantage and asset than a friend. Almost every single time I try to lead the conversation into more colloquial speech, examples being what he does for fun and how he spends his weekends, he always interrupts and asks me to just stick with the English. Please pray to God for him that the sprite would just soften his heart so that he may see me as a friend and not simply an American that enjoys giving free English lessons. For me, please pray to God that I may be patient and trustworthy with the small things that he has given me, like teaching phonics and pronouns, so that in the future he may find that I can be trustworthy for bigger things whatever they may be. I have already learned so many things in the 3 short weeks that I have been here.
It has been a little over 3 weeks, but it feels like I have been living out here for months. Initially it was hard adjusting and getting into the swing of things because it really was stepping out of my comfort zone. My homesickness and discomfort has challenged me to spend more time with him on my knees and in his word. It really has been a time of refreshing and a time of self-examination. Adjusting got a lot easier when we met up with fellow brothers and sisters. Susan (from Urumqi) was able to stay with me and Hannah for a week. She came out to Beijing seeking encouragement from fellow Christians, but I personally felt like she came to encourage us. She expressed how she was hungry to understand the word and to really know him more intimately. Although she had a difficult time reading and there were times of frustration, she wouldn’t give up. Just watching her was a great challenge for me personally…I desire to have that kind of hunger and perseverance that she has. We also had an opportunity to meet up with Rita. She has been a great encouragement. Not only does she have great hunger to know him more, but she truly lives the life of a genuine Christian. I can tell that she has been witnessing to her close friends. One of her friends (Moon) used to be hostile against Christians, but now she has softened up a lot because of Rita. I personally saw a change in Moon. She even went out to church with Rita…I think that she is slowly becoming interested. Please pray for her. Lastly, just meeting up with fellow missionaries out here was such an encouragement. They truly are living on the edge for him, persevering during times of trials, and laboring for the cause. What really stuck out to me is how much all those missionaries love him, and their love for him is causing them to move on even though things are not going well. I envy their love for him…I truly desire to love him more too…please pray that my love for him will deepen.
Hello everyone back home. Much to update but so little space to do it in ☺ Well it has definitely been encouraging to have people again. Seriously. I had the opportunity to spend the holidays with some families out here especially one who has been here for 6 + years recently planting a local church. God was really gracious to provide continually encouragement and company. I continued my study through FOF going through “praying” “local church” “work of Holy Spirit” “work of Jesus Christ”. I have continued to challenge them to really get involved in their local bodies and to really seek after him. I think slowly they are desiring to mature beyond where they are now. So continue to pray for their growth and love for God. Also after Alex left I continued to meet with Stanley. We had many good conversations that were leading him to really agree with the manual, but after a long conversation recently, he came to a conclusion that he thought it was a good thing, but he thinks there is no absolute truth, but he still wants to finish studying through John. Also I had some exciting meetings with Mario. He was at one point texting me what he needed to do, but when we met up we began to have a deeper conversation and I left him with a thought to think of, so if he was ready he could say it himself. We mainly talked about costs and benefits, that he needed to weigh out the commitment. We had one more meeting after that before he went home for vacation, and we had a good conversation where many of the questions he had were answered but still can’t really accept it as true. So pray for both Stanley and Mario that the Holy Spirit would just open the eyes of their heart to see the truth clearly and desire to deny themselves and pick up their cross. Also I have continued playing ball and meeting casually with the BIEM boys and they all just graduated this month, so most of them are finding jobs so have some free time. We will meet, and I want to see if they would like to just meet and study together. Please pray for them. They have become very good friends, but they don’t really have a strong desire for deep things. Please continue to pray for my family at home especially for my grandfather. He was in a car accident and is in bad shape. My mom has been really trying to spend all her free time at his side. He is not a believer and is at a point where he “wants” to but “can’t”. Thank you for your continued support, I really do feel the strength from it over here. Continue to labor hard as well.
