Hello Berean. Our stay here is pretty much at the halfway mark. Sometimes it feels like it’s been a long time, other times it feels like it was just yesterday that we just got off the plane.
Overall, things are going pretty well and have been picking up in terms of busyness. I think before I had the feeling of doing things for the sake of not wasting my time, but my heart and desire wasn’t really there. But I think God really did change my heart and I slowly starting growing a heart for the things that I was doing here as I started to get to know the people that I was helping out and witnessing to.
I haven’t really sat down with Cool or Peter for quite some time. It sometimes feels like our schedules never really match up and that they’re really busy with high school 7 days a week. I think we played ball with Cool about a week or two ago but I haven’t seen Peter for quite some time. It’s a little discouraging sometimes because they aren’t as available as they were during spring break.
I’ve been meeting up from time to time with some other NK missionaries here and had dinner with them. I got to know them a bit better and was able to share with them my testimony. They also shared their reason for coming out to China and how God called them. I was really encouraged and started to grow a heart to help them. One of them is starting a church here and I’ve been trying to lend a hand to help him set up his office. He’s using this company as an opportunity to reach out to NK by hiring NK people and witnessing to them. Please pray for them as they are soon going to start up the church and hire people from NK soon. They are hoping to choose the right workers to witness to since they can only hire about 4 to 5 NK workers.
I’ve also been meeting up with another student that I met at language corner. His name is Jason and I’ve kind of been using him as a language partner to practice Chinese. I’m starting to get to know him a bit better and have been asking him questions about the Chinese culture and his beliefs. He was telling me that most of the Chinese aren’t really superstitious and that most of them just do it out of culture rather than belief. He himself isn’t religious. He felt that choosing religion meant losing control of his life. He feels that through hard work, he can become successful whereas religion caused us to ask God for success and to be dependent on him. He knows that I am a Christian but I haven’t been able to share my faith with him. Please pray that I would be a good witness to him. It seems that all that he is thinking about is making money and being successful.
I think the past few weeks, God has really showed me that it’s hard to have a heart for someone/something if you aren’t really invested in them. After learning about all the other missionary work that is going on here and getting to know the people that are being used, I couldn’t help but have a desire to take part in their work. After building relationships and getting to know some of the Chinese here and seeing how they study so hard to get into a good university in order to be happy with a good job, you can’t help but have a strong desire to share the good news with them. I think before, I didn’t have a heart for them because I didn’t get to know them personally.
Please continue to pray for my parents, that they would not get too caught up in the lifestyles of this world. My mom is planning on retiring soon and I think they plan on enjoying life. Please ask God that they would turn their focus on Him rather than the things of this world, which are passing away. For me, please pray that I would remain focused on God and not become prideful in the work that I am doing.
As we started approaching the halfway mark of our stay here, I think I started to feel the onset of being homesick little by little. It might have also been due to the weather change, and that for some odd reason, they turn off all the heaters in mid-March although it’s still stinking cold. But March brought another wave of eye-opening experiences and a greater understanding for me the importance of really praying to HIM for ALL things, not just the things I felt like were out of my control. Becky and I began volunteering at a migrant school teaching piano to a class of 11 girls and 1 boy. Although waking up early in the morning wasn’t inviting, the chance to go twice a week, and fellowship with other Christians, from a different background, was enough to force me to wake myself up, and sacrifice sleep. But looking back now at the end of the month, I feel humbled having even thought of it as a sacrifice, because what I feel that I am getting out of it is far more than I have been putting in. Although there is a language barrier, we are able to communicate to the sisters, and brother, through smiles and gestures, and that has really taught me that HIS love truly transcends all cultures and languages. We were also able to visit the orphanage again with our “tentmaker” and it was a nostalgic experience because of our visit this past summer. We were also able to learn about their financial situation, and have really begun to feel burdened for the children there. March also brought a month of consistent meetings with two girls that I mentioned last month, and several conversations about HIM, and my faith. As we go into April, I see that we’re just going to get busier from here on out. I am truly thankful though that it is now that we’re getting busy and not before because I feel like I really would have been burnt out. So as things ramp up through April please pray for:
1) My heart and attitude: that I would truly be humble and give HIM my firstfruits above everything else. That in all things I would truly do it for HIS glory and that I would not desire to take any of it for my own. That I would really place myself at the foot of the cross daily, and know who I am in respect to HIM.
2) Summer, and Kina – that the eyes of their heart would be opened to their need for HIM for their sins, and their need for HIM in their life. They are both wrapped up in furthering their future, whether it be through work, or through school, pray that HE would allow them to see that all of those things are in vain, and are perishable treasures.
3) That Becky and I would continue to be faithful at the migrant school, and be an encouragement to the fellow Christians there.
4) That HE would provide a facility for the orphans and the missionaries taking care of them, that he would continue to have faith that HE will provide.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR “PRAYERS,” we are definitely ENCOURAGED 
Hello again everyone back at home. It’s funny looking at the Olympic count down, I remember when I first saw it, it said “345 days till Olympics” now its some where down at 100. My meetings with Dan and Trog have continued, we finally finished FOF, and it seems like the end chapters were a lot more applicable and I can see a lot of grow in them as well. So we will be starting a Bible study next week. Please pray for them they are still very young and pray that they would just love God with everything.
I also had a chance to meet with Tony and Ryan reached out to by brothers last year. (Tony-Henry and Ryan- Richard) both are really busy one with work the other with graduate school. I’ve just been trying to meet with them. Tony I have encouraged to go to a church because he hasn’t been in a long time, so I think he will be going to the local church that Rita goes to. Ryan I have been getting to know and trying to find a time we can meet more consistently. Pray for their hearts to be soften and eager to receive salvation. They have been exposed and I just hope that the Holy Spirit would just work in their hearts.
Mario and Stan, both have agreed to study. Stan and I are going through John but like I mentioned before he is willing to study but has no desire to believe. Please pray that through reading and hearing the word he may humbled and come to faith. Mario has agreed, but has been canceling due to things that come up. So please pray for his heart as well. He seemed so interested before but I think he might have lost interest. Pray also that I may be a good witness around them.
Also I ran into Nathan from the English camp at the corner, and he asked if I could help him with his English because he is trying to get into a Canadian grad school. So please pray for our times together that I would continue to shine the light and have opportunities to share. As well as for his heart to be soften. And also for safety, just sometimes I get a not so safe vibe from him.
Lastly, this past month, Derrick, Artemas, and I have been going with a missionary to a Bible study on Saturday mornings. These students a group of about 7 are interested to learn and believe. We are currently going through 1 John. One of them is a completely new member, and the others are interested. We sing songs in Chinese and share and get to see where they are personally. Please pray for us that as brothers we would be good examples, but especially pray for their hearts to experience God through the word and come to believe.
We have reached our half way point. I know that I sound like a broken record, but it’s amazing how the days are passing by. This month, I had the opportunity to meet with Catherine. She is from Urumqi and had attended our very first English camp. She became a Christian through our Berean sisters that stayed in Urumqi for a year. She just came back from Turkey, and will return to Turkey after a month or two to continue her work as a translator. She has expressed that it’s really good to come back to Beijing. She said that she has been struggling in Turkey because there is no accountability. She said that most of the people that she has been working with are devout Muslims. It has been hard for her because there is no one like-minded. On top of that, it’s harder because the people that she respects would try to convert her to be a Muslim. So, it was very refreshing for her to come back to Beijing and to attend her old local church. She said that it’s been good to be around Christians (and to be encouraged by people like Rita), and she said that He has been reminding her of what He has done and who she is in Him during Easter. Please pray that he will continue to grow her, that she will meet fellow Christians in Turkey, and that she will somehow find a local church there as well. Lastly, that she will truly be refreshed and fed before she leaves Beijing.
Also, he has blessed me with a language partner named Stellah who is helping me with my Chinese. She was previously Eslo’s language partner. I heard that she was very receptive about him, and was very interested in coming out to a local church. But because of classes on Sunday, she wasn’t able to attend. So far, I wasn’t able to talk to her about the things of him, but it’s been good to slowly get to know her. Please pray that we will become better friends, and that he will give me an opportunity to share his love and his word to her. Please pray that she will have an open heart for him.
Lastly, he gave Hannah and me the opportunity to work at the migrant school twice a week. The students that we teach are all Christians. We basically help students learn basic piano. It’s so interesting how he equips us in areas that do not seem to be out of the ordinary. It’s like a known fact that most Asians know basic piano, but coming out here, I realized how we are blessed with privileges that we take for granted. Although it’s been a challenge to teach due to the language barrier, it’s been good interacting with the students. It’s been good because we know that although we can’t speak each other’s languages, we’re all part of his family.
Overall, thank you, family, for keeping us in your prayers. It’s really encouraging to know that we have Christians laboring with us. Please continue to pray that he will continue to use us and that we will faithfully follow him no matter how dry it is or how chaotic it is living out here.
Hello Family! How are things back in the states? I hope things are going very well. I have been able to Skype my mom a couple of times and she is getting better. God really listened to my prayers and answered them regarding my mom and her bout with cancer. Her hair is slowly growing back and she seems to have more energy throughout the day, so that is very nice to hear. My asthma is doing a lot better as well, Beijing days are clear and sunny for the most part, however, there are times the pollution gets really bad; I have been holding up though. My meetings with Carmelon (the first guy I met) are steadily becoming more and more productive, but even still my meetings with him are average at best. We meet up twice a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays and have agreed to study the Bible on Tuesdays. I was able to share with him a few times, but he doesn’t seem too interested, the truth has not penetrated his heart yet. In our Bible study sessions, he usually just reads the passage and then looks around or spaces out. He doesn’t ask too many questions if anything which leads me to the conclusion that he is indifferent towards the whole thing. I must admit that meeting up with him dismays me a lot. It is hard for me because I have invested the most time in him and he was the first one I reached out to here. His indifference towards what means so much to me really frustrates me and often times because my emotions get involved I question why God doesn’t change his heart immediately. Before I enter a meeting with Carmelon I am usually super pumped up, but after, I get really discouraged. Through this I have learned to repent for not trusting in God and learned that my job is simply to share, and that God, if he wants, will change him. The two of us are going through 1 John right now. I added a new person to my weekly 1-on-1 meetings; his name is Monkey. We are meeting consistently and just yesterday I was able to talk to him for a couple hours about things ranging from Communism, to child hood memories, to philosophy. I am glad that the two of us are getting to know each other on a more personal basis and although I haven’t shared with him yet, I know that he is searching for spritual truth; my talks with him about philosophy and the meaning of life lead me to say this. Please keep Monkey in your prayers as well. And honestly, his name is Monkey, don’t ask why. My meetings with Zheng Wen (Simon) have been really productive also. He has agreed to meet with me once a week to study the Bible, I had shared with him before and although he did not seem too interested in it, he did agree that it made the most sense. I will meet up with him again sometime this week. Besides this, I also mentor a 17 year old kid named Ki-Boem at the hagwan I work at. From what Mrs. Choi has told me about him, Ki-Boem tried to commit suicide twice, once he overdosed on some medicine, and the second time he did the same thing. She seems to think that he is doing it for attention and not really to commit suicide, so she just asked me to mentor him. I think he is your typical troubled youth, he likes this one girl but she doesn’t like him and thus he smokes in the alleyways between classes because of her. His divorced parents dumped him here in Beijing so that he could learn Chinese, and contact him maybe once a month. He has self-esteem problems as the other kids in the Hagwan make fun of him and draw funny pictures of him on the walls. I have been showing him love and grace in subtle ways. My deal with him was that I would buy him a Coke every time he did his homework, but even when he doesn’t do it, I still buy it for him because I am just a pushover sometimes. I think he has started to smile and laugh a lot more since the two of us have been hanging out. Mrs. Choi said I can take him out to play sometimes if he does well, we have gone to the PC Bang(??) a few times. Mrs. Choi recently enrolled him in some Tae Kwon Do class and I said that he could try out some moves on me if he did well on the tests. I blocked all the shots so far, haha. Please continue to be in prayer for Carmelon, Zheng Wen, and Monkey. Pray to God that He would change their hearts, and that he would make them turn from their old life, and find life anew in Jesus Christ. Pray to God for me that I would continue to be faithful to God, that I would not be driven by the outcome of things, but that I would be driven by God and that whatever happens I would still praise Him in and out of season. Pray to God for the missionaries out here, as they have been such a huge encouragement for me and the team, treating us like their own and showing us the joy of Christian fellowship. Pray to God for the migrant school that Hannah and Becky have been engaged in, pray for the kids, pray for their futures, pray for their families. Pray to God for the Saturday Bible studies with Mr. Lim, pray for the handful of college students that sacrifice sleeping in on Saturdays to study a book that they know nothing about. Pray also for Kiboem, that I may be an older brother to him (Oppa?) and that he would listen to what I have to say. Pray for his future, and that God would take care of him.
The time I have spent in Beijing has been really beneficial to me, I hope I continue to learn much more. My readings through John and 1 John has really been a huge blessing for me, as I have learned, at least in part, the true joy there is to be loved by Jesus Christ, and to show that love in return. It truly is rewarding when you serve such a magnificent God, I think I have learned to rely on him in all circumstances and I hope that I don’t forget this lesson. Do not worry about a thing here family, I am doing just fine. Keep up the good work back home! See you soon!
