THANKSGIVING

What a wonderful, relaxing day at home. Both Andrew and Nathan and their families were with us for the day. Karol, as per usual, outdid herself with a fabulous meal. We're thankful for a warm home, family, friends, church homes, and our foundation on/in Jesus Christ.

Andrew and Suzanne sit in semi-darkness trying to bring light to their Christmas gifts. I think that they got it because Suzanne brought back gifts.

Karol and Holly discuss upcoming "Black Friday" purchases

You'd think that the dogs would know where the sound was coming from.........

Megan loved playing in the snow.

l-r:  Joshua, Kaitlyn and Luke

The snow was so sparse that Megan had to pull herself down the slope.

Luke is the "terror of the slopes."

Rachel has a great smile!

Joshua with rosy cheeks.

It all goes together to make a great party.

And the best I can do is sleep through it all (along with faithful companion, Sarge).

HOME AGAIN!

I left Joel Scheiwe's home in Hong Kong this morning at 5:15; taxi to Airport Express stop; train to the airport; left the airport at 8:05 for the 4 hour trip to Japan. Then a 10.5 hour flight to Minneapolis and after a 5 hour layover, a one hour flight to Central Wisconsin, getting home about 6 pm. Loooong day, but now good to be home.

James Vandercook shares a prayer before the Sunday afternoon fellowship in Shenzhen.

Following the large group (40-45), four groups form for further discussion and prayer.

At my return, give thanks with me for a family foundation that provided all of the funding for this trip. All of my expenses, including printing in Hong Kong, totaled about $2,500.

[NOTE:  Sometime this week, I will upload and post additional videos. It took too long in China to upload]. The older I get, the more wisely I want to use my time.

CHINA (Sunday and Monday)

And I did sleep wonderfully well last night. I hope that it knocked back my sore throat and stuffy nose a bit. I’m thankful that it didn’t come at a time when I was out with Michael.

Pray for God's people in China and for the growth of the church here.

This will be my last post until I return home again. We’ll travel to the Meilin church this afternoon for Bible study and the English worship service at 7 pm tonight. I’ll then travel with Joel to the Fujien checkpoint where we will go through customs and immigration entering Hong Kong once again. 

Ask God to give zeal as the Word of Life is shared.

My night at Joel’s will be short: arrival perhaps at eleven tonight and I’ll have to leave by 5:00 tomorrow morning to get to the airport for my 8:05 flight to the U.S. I arrive home at 5:15 in the afternoon on Monday (the same day that I leave).

Petition the Lord to provide workers in this ripe field.

Thanks for your prayers and your encouragement along the way. Please hold up the Chinese Christian church as they "Matthew 28:18-20.". As of the present, my plan is to return to China at the beginning of March 2014.

Give thanks for safety during travels and service.

CHINA (Saturday)

Persimmons cling tightly to the courtyard tree.

Planting lettuce for a very late fall harvest. Usually this is a two crop area.

Breakfast at the same noodle shop – what a crowded place. Pastor Tao joined the two women, Michael and myself – ordering the same dish as yesterday.

We headed to the church to drop off Michael. The people who were there sang a blessing, then Pastor Tao had a prayer to send me off. With lots of “amens” I was ready to go. Pastor Tao said that the people should line the driveway and the road to wish me off. And that they did (made me feel like a rock star), grabbing my hand, wishing me God speed, and saying, “Jesus loves you.” It was a tender moment indeed. And I felt that I had done so little to touch their lives. Some of the people even had tears in their eyes.

I am convinced again that sharing Jesus here in this land far away is important for the Chinese church. It encourages and buoys them up knowing that others stand with them in their sometimes difficult challenges.

Pastor Tao and his two female assistants traveled with me, Tao driving, to the airport. He drove fast, and sometimes I was nervous because other cars were so close. I left people-pedaled taxicab bicycles and merchants, off to Guangzhou.

Drying white radish on the front cement slab.

Otherwise, a pretty boring traveling day. Plane at Hefei at 11. Arrived in Guanzhou at 12:30. Got a bus at 1:40. Missed the right stop and so I had to add two hours to my travel plans.

The lettuce is harvested, bundled, dipped into the water and taken off to market.

Washing has been done this way for hundreds of years.

Safely arrived at the Vandercooks about 6 pm. They’re downtown at a German restaurant.

Will sleep good tonight.

CHINA (Friday)

 You can't help but love our sisters and brothers in China. I'm always impressed with the smiles.

 

 

 The stem on my alarm clock broke last night so I thought that it would not go off this morning. But it did and I couldn’t figure out how to shut it off. Finally it dawned on me that I could take out the battery and that would end everything. I guess it’s only worth tossing out.

Two of the workers at the church, women in their thirties, met us with the pastor’s car and took us to breakfast at a local noodle shop. A tall, thin man in his 60’s was rolling out dough which a women later cut into noodles; rectangular in shape and long. Much different from the Muslim round noodles. My soup included a slice of beef (the pork had bones with the meat) and was quite spicy – made my lips burn. I assume that the broth was the same for both. Probably cost 75 cents.

I shared my presentation with Michael translating. One older lady volunteer to share and then Michael asked the two “breakfast women” to pair up and share (which they did). Good thing I brought some cranberries along to share as little gifts when people presented. I commented to Michael that the people in local parishes have much less passion than the people at the Bible training center in Nanyang.

It’s hard to believe that this is my last day with Michael. The days have been a whirlwind of activity – a whole lot of listening to a language that I do not speak, but a privileged view of God’s people in China. As Michael leads me to various places and situations, I become more aware of the wonders that God is performing here in China.

The whole 150 people ate lunch here at the church – I was impressed with the variety of food; maybe seven different kinds: pork, chicken, fish, greens, two soups, etc. A rest until 1:15, singing, opening prayer, and then I shared two stories: the Emmaus disciples and Zacchaeus and their similarities of how all “discovered” Jesus and rejoiced as they shared – testimony and goods. Michael wanted me to sing the song “Zacchaeus” once again, and then had the group cheer so that I would sing it again.

I began taking pictures early this morning, and found that people wanted me to take their pictures. I am sharing some of those pictures on this blog.

Pastor Tao and his family took us out to dinner along with an elderly couple (never did catch who they were or how they were “related”). Then we returned to the church for the “youth meeting.” That meant ages 11 to about 60. About 40 were present. We sang “Jesus Loves Me” together in Mandarin and English and then I explained the colored bead bracelet and shared one with each person. I also gave out all of my left over Peace pens with the youngest of the crowd.

 

Michael shared and then they each spoke a blessing for me – Michael translated – and then when they were going on to the stage for a picture, they stopped to hug me and many said Jesus loves you.

I had previously told you that I had an adopted daughter, Sarah, but tonight I also adopted the pastor’s daughter, a 23 year old seminary student, and named her Miriam. That was special. I also met a high school 2 student who spoke English really well. She confided in me that I was the first foreigner she had ever spoken to. Her dream is to travel to the U.S.

What a wonderful send-off. Waves, wishes, and hugs. Baiju from the pastor and some candy from one of the people. Off to the hotel to pack and to have a beer with Michael. Either the pollution is bad or my throat is sore from all the speaking (probably both).

CHINA (Thursday)

Up again at 6; prepared to leave the hotel to meet Pastor and Mrs. Huang. They have a 14 year old son in school in Moscow, currently staying with a sister (who is now getting divorced). So they are looking for a new opportunity for him for school. Probably high school. I told them I would check Christian schools in Wisconsin. Elijah, the son, was baptized in 2010 and apparently is a sincere Christian. If you read this and know of some possibilities, please be in touch (I’m thinking of the Green Bay or Milwaukee area.

But not before we had spicy noodles and a pork based soup.

We said our goodbyes and left by car with Evangelist Hu heading for the Yueyang train station for a three hour train trip (one transfer - Wuhan) on high speed rail.

All along the way, the sights were interesting. All manner of plants drying on front cement slabs or wooden poles, people carrying buckets, branches for cook stoves or veggie baskets on a pole over one shoulder (two like containers, one on each end); cars driving on the wrong side of the road – almost hit by one coming down a ramp the wrong way (common?); little motorcycle cabs with room for two; farmers in fields picking vegetable leaves or pulling onions; masons mixing cement and laying brick; shop owners opening up their metal doors for morning business; street vendors selling breakfast; pedestrians crossing the street at ANY old spot; and grandparents coddling babies on their front stoops.

Michael standing before the HUGE railway station in Yueying.

I had a hard time believing the air pollution last night. At dusk, the skies became hazy and soon one could smell the coal smoke. They must have stoked up all of their manufacturing plants. The pollution increased so much that I was happy to get to our hotel room with closed windows. This morning the air was still heavy with pollution. I was taken back in spirit to Gary, Indiana, with the frequent pollution from the steel mills.

On the train (Lu An is the transfer station) there is ample opportunity to share with Michael (I won’t use aka Jason anymore) about his work in China. We’re planning our next trip now. I will spend a week with Michael and a week with Steve (more about that at a different time). Since they cover different areas, we will have to coordinate flights and times – it may be a bit more challenging. But I will plan to return to China at the beginning of March 2014. 

Michael is passionate about sharing the Lord. He travels regularly offering leadership training courses both for church leaders and also for the laity. And he’s good with both groups. If you’ve looked at any of the videos, you notice that he involves people in his presentations; and they DO get involved. He’s willing to live simply as he travels, and everyone he meets is always his friend.

Arrived in Sucheng (Anhui Province) about 3:00 and another 1.5 hours to the church. We are only about 100 km from Anqing where Matthew once taught at the university. We arrived, sat around, met people, and used the bathroom (is that too much information?). No flush toilet just a cement casing (and that certainly is enough information!). [postscript: the next morning I asked about a restroom and they led me to the place where they did have a Western flush toilet]

The entryway to the church grounds (looking from an exit perspective).

One pastor serves this congregation. Three worship services on a Sunday with a total attendance of 1000. Three hundred to 350 would pack the sanctuary, so I’m assuming that they use their canopied overflow area. Two Sundays ago (Oct. 27), 41 people were baptized (near as I can figure out from the pictures was that it was a “blow up” plastic pool. The pastor was visibly excited to share those figures.

Pictures of the baptisms inside an outdoor bulletin board.

The only other time Michael was here, he got laryngitis because of the many presentations he shared. A younger women listened to his whispers and spoke for him. She has an 11 year old daughter. Michael asked me to give her an English name.  Sarah. I told her that she was now my adopted granddaughter, and I gave her the bracelet that Taylor had made for me (Thanks, Taylor – it was really a special gift for Sarah). Sarah speaks a few words of English, but not much. She has a catchy smile and delightful laugh.

Out to dinner about 6:00 – a dozen people including the local department head of “homeland security.” The gentleman is interested in Christianity, but is also a member of the communist party – prohibiting him from becoming a Christian. Michael commented later that there seem to be many who are members of the party and also Christians. Wonderful meal with about 20 dishes including cold gizzard, an eel dish, stomach, a tasty fish with big bones, chicken parts, pork dishes, egg and tomato soup and vegetables – it really was a wonderful, tasty meal (although the stomach was really chewy). In addition, they brought in two red bottles of Emperor “Baiju” rice wine. The stuff must be close to pure alcohol and is strong (but not too bad on the palate). An unbelievable number of toasts – sad to say I was in the seat of importance, so I had lots of toasts, but kept a clear head. [The table place directly opposite of the entry door is the place of honor. Michael said that I had to be the first one to take some food – then everyone would follow]

Deacon Wu and Pastor Tao (right)

Now we’re at our hotel. Hundreds of people dancing in the plaza below; toilet doesn’t flush well; 17^th floor with view of huge plaza; room is VERY nice, but there is no internet password. Go figure!!

Will sleep well – perhaps presenting to 200 people tomorrow morning.

[There was some issue today about my presenting on the morrow, but I’m not sure I understood it well. Some Bureau person in the city concerned with foreigners sharing. Technically it is illegal, but often there is special permission to share. Michael assured me that he would take care of it.]