EASTER 2013

CHRIST IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

So sound the voices around the world in more languages than I could ever speak, expressing the joy of the news that today is remembered just one more time:  Jesus is no longer in the tomb. He has burst forth and is once again alive. See how he shows Himself to the women, the Emmaus disciples and the other disciples. The fear that He would stay dead is unfounded.

That same Jesus is FOR YOU! You are loved personally and forgiven through that death and resurrection. Live in His joy!

HOLY SATURDAY

Today was an interesting mix of rain, drizzle, snow, warm, and cool. Hardly seemed like Spring, but it really is. Started out just a bit below freezing and went up to a high in the upper thirties.

Rachel painted snow yesterday. See the video.

Click here to watch the PAINTING RAINBOWS video.

Megan is really engrossed in her "food" play.

 

 

Luke tries his hand at dying eggs for the hunt later on.

Karol assists two year old Megan in dying her eggs.

 

 

Karol and I wish you all the blessings of Easter. We'll be heading out to a 6:30 am service and then back home to prepare for our 20 some guests for Easter dinner.

IT'S STILL WINTER

BLESSINGS ON THIS GOOD FRIDAY AS WE REMEMBER ONCE AGAIN THE DEATH OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Grandchildren are again a part of our weekend. Joshua first stayed overnight, then Kaitlyn and Rachel. Then Luke and Megan came with their parents, Nathan and Holly. So it's been fun.

Joshua and Rachel play in Karol's HUGE dollhouse.

Karol got right up close to take this picture. She's been working on this for weeks. Yes, she knows it is blurry, so she will keep on trying to get a GREAT picture.

You guessed it; the snow still hasn't gone, but it is beginning to melt!!

Rachel and Joshua help me load smaller pieces of wood into my cart.

You can just see that Rachel would love to operate this ATV.

Taking the wood back to the shop where I will use it in my wood stove, heating the area where I do my bowl turning.

Rachel and Kaitlyn busily paint snow with watercolors.

This is your invitation to come for a visit.

While Luke visited our home, I presented him with the "Numbers Award." Luke is excellent with numbers and now as a kindergartner, it is not a problem to count by 7's to 100. Or, for that matter, 11's to 100.

Karol loves to create "memory time" with grandchildren. Here they are decorating styrofoam eggs.

IT'S A JOKE?

I just heard that Spring was right around the corner....in fact, in the next day or two. But this is the scene when I look out of our south facing windows......you can imagine what it is like looking north!

It looks like snow to me!!! We were blessed with 5 inches on Monday. Tomorrow night, the temperature will almost reach 0 degrees. (And last year, 2/3 of my garden was already planted)

 AND NOW I NEED YOUR HELP. CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS BIRD FOR ME - I ONLY SAW HIM THE ONE TIME AT MY FEEDER................................................

I can only believe that it is a red crossbill. What do you think?

It's good to be home with Karol to enjoy her company and her cooking; to be back at turning bowls; to be catching up with ISM; and to enjoy grandchildren now and again!

HOME SAFE!

I arrived home safely about 9:30 pm yesterday. What a blessing the trip was for me and for those I served. Thank you for your prayers and your following. A big THANK YOU to Matthew Selle for blogging on my behalf while I was on the Mainland!

I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY COMMENTS THAT YOU CAN GIVE ME.

1) Were the posts helpful in understanding China?
2) Would you tell your friends about the blog (next trip will be Georgia in Eastern Europe)?
3) Do you have any suggestions for me to improve the blog?
4) Comments in general....

Sharing the message at the Christian church in Guangdong Province.

Along with cherry blossoms and a whole variety of spring flowers, this one stood out for me. The temperature when I left Hong Kong was in the mid 70's. Who knows, Wisconsin may soon experience those temps!

SATURDAY MARCH 9TH

This post comes to you from James Vandercook's' desk in their 32 floor apartment in Shenzhen, my last post before returning home on Monday night. It wraps up a splendid trip to Asia. As God wills, another trip will take place in October/November of this year. So.....stay tuned. In the meantime, I am looking forward to a trip to Georgia (eastern Europe) with Karol and my brother, John, and Cheryl. Upcoming will be garden time, the In-Depth Bible Seminar, and lots of summer activities. Thanks for following!

Now that I look back, I find it hard to believe I’m nearing the end of my China visit since the time has passed quickly. My last responsibility is the sermon in the English service at Shenzhen Christian Church. I’ll be working on that between now and then, preaching on the Gospel lesson, “The Waiting Father.” It will be my last time preaching there since they are calling a pastor for this responsibility.

The butcher has his shop set up. He drove up in a cycle attached to a cart, his cart filled with slabs of meat from a couple of hogs slaughtered earlier today. He put up his 4X8 sheet of plywood and then began to toss the big chunks on to the plywood. A scale, a rag that unwrapped to get at the knives, and he was all ready to begin trimming the fat and selling his product. A neighbor walked out of the house and the butcher offered a cigarette and the two briefly chatted. Now it’s time for customers.

 

Two women came by to make the first sale of the day. The one must have been a restaurant owner because she bought about three slabs (looked like she gave him 300 RMB). After visiting, he went back to trimming his meat.

 

Looking down from our 7th floor room, the butcher serves his first customers.

you cannot forget the worlds largest. This store is located right down the street from my apartment. Last night, I bought dumplings for my supper - you guessed it, FROM WALMART!

In the U.S., we don't often have the 13th. floor. Here in China, the bad luck number is 4. Note that there is a 3A, etc. so that no 4 or 8 is used.

On the way to work (planting bamboo, building fences, who knows?).

 

Would you have expected that breakfast was going to be BIG? Not only did we have the buffet at the hotel, the folks from Gospel brought additional food: steamed buns, “donuts,” bean soup, tofu soup, large deep fried “wontons” with vegetables, and more. Unbelievable! 

At the airport, they insisted that we take cans of tea even though we insisted they would take them as we went through security (a true sign of Chinese hospitality). They did take them from M, but M was able to get the TSA people to return them to the Gospel folks. Uneventful plane ride, but we were served a rice and vegetable lunch.

At the Guanzhou airport, M bought me a bus ticket for the three + hour ride to Shenzhen ($15 American) while he took a different bus so that he could go back to Macau. The bus was simple since I just had to get off at the last stop and then find the subway to get to the Vandercook’s apartment.

 A COUPLE OF REFLECTIONS WHILE ALL IS FRESH IN MY MIND:

The church here is in desperate need of training for all levels of leadership. At the Gospel church, they almost begged that someone come for a weeklong training. They are served by 9 evangelists, but have no pastor, only an elderly woman who is the church leader. There are challenging hurdles for a church to receive a pastor:  certification by the gov’t and the three-self-church, seminary training, and approval from the district board where the church is located. Gospel longs for a pastor, but will continue to wait. In the meantime, the best they can do is to better equip themselves for sharing.

I’ve discovered more and more openness among believers. They are eager as exemplified by the students at the school. They seem to be convinced that growth will take place as women and men are equipped for service.

 

Food (as you may have noticed on the blog) is a key ingredient to life in China. Each area has a specialty depending on the products from that region. Noodles and bread topped the list in the NON wheat growing area. Each table is spread with more than adequate supplies of food with meat determining the class of those who served or purchased. And, more often than not, people at the table will serve additional food to the guests by simply picking it up and putting it in the guest’s bowl.

I am always amazed at the cleanly look of the people. Considering that clothes are washed by hand, and maybe not in the cleanest of water, there is a neat, chic look about the younger women and stylish attire by the guys. Whether in city or country, people over 50 tend to wear black, dark blue, and dark gray.

 Wherever one travels, villages are laid out in tight quarters leaving the surrounding areas for farms and vegetable plots. Whereas in the States, one farmhouse is located on 80 or more acres, in China, all the living quarters are close together, thereby not wasting land for yards and other such nice amenities.

The expressway system is not just a system of drab, boring roadways like the U.S., but roads lined with planted trees of various kinds. The center boulevard is planted with non-flowering evergreen shrubs and with all sorts of shrubs that bloom profusely. The traffic may move just a tad more slowly, but it still moves along. Driving in the car on Friday, I believe the speed limit was 120 km per hour – although the driver did reach speeds of 140- - 150 km per hour. The problems come when the traffic is heavy, and, like in America, everyone switches lanes to try to get the best advantage.

The support personnel that I have worked with are tremendous. They’re willing to go out of their way to offer assistance. They certainly need our continued “knee” time and our financial gifts. M is able to serve simply because of people like you. And they are grateful for that care.

 

STAY TUNED; I WILL UPDATE YOU ON MY RETURN TO THE STATES ON MONDAY NIGHT!

A visit to the "palace" of Gang Yu, rich businessman over 150 years ago. He became like a "god" because of his wealth, and people then, and still today, give him "knee" time.

Ancient artwork

Men used traditional tools for making beams to replace the old rotted ones. Here clamps are used to keep the log from moving.

Most of the wood on doors and ceilings is very ornately carved.

This mosaic is made up of individually fired pieces of ceramic. Well done although I didn't understand all the figures: dragons and other mythological animals.

In contrast to the figures at the entrance of Buddhist temples who are fierce to scare away the evil spirits, these figures are friendly and welcoming.

LAST FRIDAY POST

Old government buildings

"Da Toe Luo" game played in NON

Meat on a stick

A great game of checkers (I think).

Embroidery on the street.

students at the school

Making dumplings

Eating the dumplings (really good)

We were in some pretty rural areas.

It's hard to know what this gentleman might be collecting.

Cool corner

Sweet and sour fish (thankfully it had big bones).

Pork and peppers.

Part of the restaurant kitchen.

Cool chairs

One of the teachers at the school.

Wheat field with men working

Cool pump

FIRST FRIDAY POST

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

The start of the day began with some intestinal discomfort (already more than you wanted to know!), but life was great from that point on. We had a new “brother” driver with a new car, and he has a ‘perfume’ bottle on his dashboard along with a little can of lemon scent. The smell permeates the front seat where I was located. So much so that my allergies almost kicked in. It was sooo strong!

Our driver made “harsh” stops at lights, drove in all lanes (sometimes two lanes at once), frequently used his horn; and kept his flasher running. Interesting ride – especially with the smell!

 

Great bamboo ladders (scaffolding is also made from this size bamboo)

 As we drove to our next city (my hearing pronunciation of the city is “Schurchi”), we took the same route as yesterday until we got to the expressway. Instead of going north on the expressway, we headed east (on a non-expressway). Our arrival city is about 50,000, considered a small city (there’s a new city and an old city) by China standards. The church is located in the old central part of town.

One hundred years ago, the church owned the land which was later taken over by the government. In recent years, much of the church land that was taken is little by little being returned. So Gospel, name of the congregation, is now the recipient of a pretty big chunk of land. The missionary house was not returned to them as well as the school building land across the street. The school building land may eventually be exchanged for a new piece of land in the “new” city where there is lots of building, but, at this time, little occupation.

We were met by two evangelists, Ms. Chieu and Ms. Gun, both gracious women to the enth degree. They introduced others at the site, took us on a tour of the church grounds (including the present sanctuary with a VERY old roof that leaks), explained their vision for the congregation (new sanctuary and a Bible school), and shared with us their desire to have a pastor serving in this congregation.

 

The worship area for Gospel Church - where the roof leaks during a rainstorm

After we had toured the church (much of it in disrepair), we circled and joined hands for prayer. Emotional hugs were shared following; one woman simply had tears in her eyes as she was so happy that someone had come to their church, even if only for a visit and a look.

 

This woman was overcome with tears of joy following 

a time of "kneeling."

 

Part of the property owned by the church.

 We then went to our chauffeur’s home for lunch. It was explained that since we were “family,” it would be appropriate to have the meal with “family.” Agreed. One of the brothers had come to cook the meal. Nine dishes (pork, beef, ham, sausage, veggies, bok choy) and two kinds of soup (black chicken and mutton). It was unbelievably tasty. The meal included a semi-sweet great tasting wine (used to toast many, many times), and the soup was served with bread (made from tall wheat – the expensive kind). Following the meal that had been set out for us, we were again served a bowl of noodles (not nearly as big as the lunchtime yesterday) that, this time, I was able to finish. They were concerned because it was little spicy (but fine for me).

 

After we enjoyed these great soups and dishes, we were treated to a hearty bowl of noodle soup (fat ones).

Numerous toasts were made with the red wine:  some of the toasts were thanksgiving for the opportunity to share the Gospel. Others were in appreciation that two pastors had come to visit (I was the first foreign pastor to ever visit here). Others were for growth of the outreach of the congregation and for funds to do the work. By two o’clock, we were on our way to our new hotel in this city for a rest (M is napping). We will meet sisters and brothers again at 4:30 to catch a few of the sights in this town. As the two evangelists left our hotel, they offered BIG hugs. They left gum, apples and canned sweetened tea….so very generous.

There’s an interesting church hierarchy here in China in the 3-Self church:  bishop (only one, I think); pastor; deacon (various kinds: some to lead worship – ordained), evangelists and teachers (both not ordained), and then the laity. There are also church leaders who fit in-between (maybe like congregational presidents).

 

Sign in the hotel room. When turning on lights in the room, you insert your room card in a slot by the door and the electricity will be on. If you don't use that slot, there is no electricity. When there is a power failure, obviously nothing will work.

 

After our afternoon rest (two hours) we were treated to see the focal point of Gung Yu's "place." He was a rich man and in this center of communication, he came to be venerated as one who imparted wealth.