Sunday was one of those great opportunities that we did not know about until we got here! We got to teach for a group of preschool principals, which is a BIG thing here. A million thanks to my friends Carol VanHorn and Marguerite Katcho who sent FAST emails to help with this time of teaching - you got to minister in China from stateside! There were both believers and non-believers there but we shared freely about reaching your students, parents, and community for Christ. They loved the community outreach ideas I shared from Gateway! At the retreat we had done the day before, in my small group of 10 moms, three of them had come to Christ through the ministry of these schools! INSPIRING!!! Again, we came away feeling like we learned more than we taught!
Then my neighbors from Happy Valley (moved in a week before I got the China "assignment"), James and Hong Tao, who still live in Beijing most of the time, came and picked me and Peggy up for a DELIGHTFUL time! They showed us their apartment, then we walked to a hutong, an area of OLD TOWN China, very poor inner city area. Then they took us for a traditional Peking Duck dinner, and we shared the most amazing conversations about the Lord!
Monday we didn't teach until the evening, so we grabbed a driver and went to see the Great Wall. It really is quite incredible. The steps were huge, quite tall, you had to grab the handrail to pull yourself up. We ALMOST made it to the top, but our legs were jello and we were dripping so we headed back down! The next day, oh my, we discovered pains in muscles we didn't know we had!
That evening we shared with another group of young people hungry to know more about their Savior and committed to sharing their faith. Their support of each other is tremendous to observe - we could learn a lot!
Tuesday is another one of those days I'll never forget. 13 sisters gathered at a house out of town, under the leadership of Ma Wei, a sweet tender-hearted servant. I got to teach again on parenting, and again almost every woman wept as we spoke of healing and forgiveness and breaking the legacy of abuse that has gone on in so many of their families for generations. It was a POWERFUL, Spirit-led time, and they hugged us and wept as we left, asking us to please come back, and MY instructions were to bring my daughters with me! I loved what one of the women said - "The men who come to China teach us theology, but you teach us with your stories." Stories have been what God has been using to cause walls to crumble and to bring healing. Oh praise you, Father!
And everywhere you go, they feed you the most amazing food, and tons of it! They eat so much more than any of us - and they're skinny! Ma Wei's lunch was incredible - except I ate some pods that I wasn't supposed to (you should have seen their faces when they saw what I'd done, telling looks like "oh dear, gonna be trouble in River City), thus I am home tonight while the other 3 are out teaching, PRAYING I'll be better by the time I board the plane tomorrow!
Then today, my last full day here, an exciting opportunity opened up! We were picked up by a petroleum company van and driven 2 hours to Tianjin, where Peggy and I got to teach a group of mostly non-believer business men and women, 30 or so wonderful souls! The president of Anadarko is a committed believer and wanted us to share biblical principles with his staff. So we sat with our laptops bouncing around in the van, turning our talks (hers on balance and mine on parenting) into Power Point presentations that we prayed would be bold but not offensive. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" has been my song all 2 weeks! Our teaching seemed very well received, and one young man at the end said, "I think this all comes from God!" PRAY with us for the believers amongst then to have opportunity and boldness to follow up with their co-workers. They also asked us to please come back.
It will be hard to leave here in a few short hours. The people here have an openness and hunger that I PRAY our country recaptures. Their passion for sharing the Good News is inspiring and so refreshing. I asked my friend Steve, who has been serving with Muslims overseas for decades, "how do I go back home after this?" He answered, "You go back home and share the vision, then you come back and bring with you someone to train." Get ready, friends, here I come!
Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or think, to Him be the glory and honor both now and forever!
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