Please pray for the local Chinese in these areas
1. God to raise up seminary trained people to go and teach the Chinese pastors so they will be able to teach sound doctrine.
2. Protect the church there from false teachers and false doctrine
3. Comfort those imprisoned for their faith and provide for their families
4. Strengthen Chinese believers to study and start Bible studies of their own
5. Bless those who stand for Jesus to see much fruit that lasts for eternity
In 2002, I went to Nanjing,China as a member of a 5 person team assigned to a college campus. I taught English and the others enrolled as students of Chinese. I taught about 500 students and gave lectures to about 2500 students in the course of the 3 years I was on that campus. I set up meetings between the Campus crusade kids and the Chinese students for lunch or outings. We did relationship evangelism with parties through out the seasons and playing the Jesus Film . The lectures I gave were on “American” culture and through those opportunities I shared the gospel using Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter. The Lord give me many ideas for evangelism such as teaching Psalms as part of the most widely sold book in the world…the Bible. We held “english corners” or study groups in apartments or our dorm rooms where we helped the students practice their English and expand their vocabularies by reading the Bible. Those students whom Jesus called became part of Bible studies to learn and grow in their faith. We gave them Bibles written in Chinese and English. These students were fervent and faithful in study and prayer. It was not easy for them because there could be serious consequences for professing their faith to family and friends. I am not sure how many accepted Jesus call to come to him in the three years but there are many I know and still have contact with and at least 3500 who heard the gospel. What an amazing God we serve!
In 2005, God moved me to Shanghai where I was no longer affiliated with CCC but just on my own with Jesus. I was the head of an ESL department at a private company school founded by a Taiwanese-American Christian man. God had given him a vision to start a computer company in China; staffing it as much as possible with Taiwanese Christian supervisors to evangelize employees. The school was founded to educate the children of the english speaking staff and curriculum was available in Chinese and English. Most of the teachers for grades K-12 were Christians in the beginning. As it grew, more local Chinese sent their children and we hired unbelievers when there were no applicants that could fill the job for teaching. So, my mission field grew from the employees at the company to students and then teachers and teaching assistants. These were in addition to neighbors, shop owners and local restaurant employees.
China was wide open and hungry for the Good News. Many had never even heard the name of Jesus. There were always safety and security concerns for the Chinese when we met or handed out bibles. Police did show up from time to time saying they were checking on “our safety”. Once they made us disband our 40 member “English corner” meeting because there is a law that states no more than 15 people may congregate in any place at a time. Yet, God has enabled churches to be open for foreigners and there are huge crowds in the state sponsored Three Self Churches. They frequently have 5 to 10 meetings in a weekend because of all the locals wanting to attend.
Now I am back in Texas and missing my friends and life in China. It was an amazing time of growth and joy and love. I did not even know any Chinese people before I went. Now my heart is full of God’s love for these people . One thing that became very clear to me . One thing of which I am absolutely certain… God is in control…He is in control of everything or nothing. Since it is everything; we never need to fear or doubt His love. No matter who you are, how insignificant and unequipped you feel….God can use you and give you true purpose for your life.
I am nobody special. I was raised in a Presbyterian church family and when I went to college … I rebelled. I became anti God and mocked believers on campus and embraced the ways of the world. At the age of 26, I simply had the feeling I needed to find a church to take my children to. A friend shared the gospel with me and Jesus opened my eyes that day to His saving grace. I found a good Bible teaching church and began to grow in knowledge of Him and not just about Him.
I knew that Jesus gave me the gifts of teaching and evangelism. I boldly shared the gospel freely and frequently with any one He brought in my path. I taught Sunday school for children. I had Good News Clubs in my home. I lead Bible studies and VBS. Over a 2 year period, our family was a foster home for 27 new born babies from a private adoption agency.
I felt we had a blessed life until my husband left and I was suddenly a single mom to my son. The only reason I include this is for encouragement to others. This was a dark time and I could see no joy or good that could come from this.
About 10 years later, God called me to China. What an audacious and ridiculous idea that my God would choose me! By this time I was a 55 yr old, divorced grandmother. I was raising three of my granddaughters . I had never been out of the country. I did not have a passport and had never thought about myself in the context of overseas missions.
My decision to go was based completely on my faith in my God to use me, one of the foolish things of this world, and to equip me to be useful to Him. That step took me to the other side of the world for the most blessed and exciting decade of my adult life.
This is a truly wonderful passage. I encourage you to go read the full chapter.
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
I attended parochial school K-8 and grownup in a Christian household. I started serving at church as an acolyte in grade school. After that I sang in choir, ushered, taught Sunday School, was Sunday School Superintendent, served as an elder, was elected congregation president, and have taught adult bible class.
I found myself in theater and acting in high school. Acting as a career appealed to me – at least my perception of an acting career. I went through a BA and MFA and had two apprenticeships at Equity houses. Along the way I’ve worked with Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, and Jody Catlin as well as character actors that show up in TV and movies but aren’t very famous. After deciding that acting and being a good husband and father weren’t a good mix – for me at least, I switched to being a college instructor. Since then, I’ve been a corporate trainer and worked in sales as a factory rep.
Still wanting a creative outlet, I’ve written two screenplays, one of which was read by Dolly Parton’s Sandollar Productions. I self-published my first novel, The Substance Hoped For with Author House. I have a second that I’m not sure I’ll publish. I started a blog in 2014, and am enjoying meeting people this way.
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13 “Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.”
Deuteronomy 16:13-15“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,…”
Galatians 5:22
I once asked my daughters what their favorite childhood memories are. Julie and I always tried to remember that a lot of parenting is giving your kids good memories. I was curious now as to what had stuck. The answers were a bit surprising, but not much. Both girls had the same answers. First was when they were both still young and “kid-sized.” They still had the small bicycles and were yearning for the big kids’ bikes. They were just about big enough that Julie and I figured they could handle full sized bicycles, so we did the following. Julie had to get a gift for a friend’s youngster’s birthday. We planned a trip to the toy store, making it a family outing instead of just “Mom’s Errand.” Julie went off to do her shopping, and I walked the girls past the huge array of bicycles.
I told them I wanted to just look around at some stuff, but what if they stayed right here and see what sort of bike they might like to have…some day? Go ahead. A little day-dreaming can be fun. Oh, yeah! A chance to dream big! I came back a short while later and asked them if they had found something they could see themselves riding when they were big enough. Each stood proudly next to the bicycle of their choice, ownership oozing from every pore. I asked if this was indeed it, the perfect bicycle for you. Absolutely! I tried picking out anything that might make it a bad choice; Color? Tires too big and knobby? Nope. Both were their perfect, ideal choices.
After enough assurances that these were indeed their dream machines, I told them to grab the ticket for each one. No sense in waiting. Let’s just get them today before someone else does. I think I got more of a kick out of that little surprise than they did!
Years later, in their high school days, I had a job that required a TON of travel. I racked up hotel points and frequent flyer miles that were ridiculous. I had taken a business trip to England, toured London, and had the actual business meetings in another small town. It was a great time, but something was missing: my wife and daughters. Everything I saw I wished I could have seen with them. Well, I have all these points here, so… It took some doing, but I managed to get seats all together out and back for the four of us. Once I had the tickets in hand and everything was set, Julie and I were just waiting for the right time to tell them. The plan was to go over the week before Christmas so they would only miss a few days of school. I figured international travel was going to be educational in itself (all of the teachers agreed!).
One night, we were driving home from the shopping mall, and something in the conversation led Julie and I to drop the news on them. “Whaddya say? Shall we tell them?” “Tell us what?” “Well, we’re going to go to England the week before Christmas. Dad already got the tickets, and we’re good to go. We just have to get your passports.” Unfortunately, we were met by laughter and complete disbelief. “Good one, Dad! A little over the top for one of your pranks, but nice try anyway.”
Julie and I ended up laughing at how ridiculous this was; we could NOT convince them they were going to England the entire 20 minute ride home. Of course, once we got home, I took the tickets out of the safe and showed them to the girls. One each. With their names printed RIGHT THERE and everything. Game, set, and match.
The second time over for me was as good as the first time. I was seeing it all through their eyes, their wonder. I was enjoying it with my girls, my loved ones, the way life’s joys are supposed to be shared. There were other such moments, of course. But those were the top two.
There is a message there also. Bicycles ranked just ahead of England. Why? They were younger, dreams were – how shall I say it? Smaller and bigger at the same time. The real lesson is that you never know what action of yours is really going to move another’s world. Taking the time to chase softballs at the YMCA field after pitching to them. Their first time staying in a hotel room as toddlers and the sheer rapture of doing such a grownup thing! Rome for two weeks. Of course, that didn’t score quite as highly to those two seasoned travelers! The first time I let each drive the family car; under aged, in an empty parking lot, spur of the moment.
The list goes on. And why is there a list? Because I loved them. Still do. I did all of those things, because I wanted to give them joy. I wanted to find ways to show them they are loved. Because I put them first as much as I could. Because I enjoyed their joy.
Interesting fact: Philemon is one of the shortest books of the Bible with only 335 words. It’s a rather interesting read. Go check it out. It’ll only take a few minutes.
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecyand can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
During the week of my anniversary and my daughter’s birthday, the Perseid meteor shower decorates the night sky. It’s absolutely beautiful. We went for the first time when I was pregnant with Amelia 2 years ago. Last year the full moon happened to fall on the same week, though, so we were unable to see it well. This year, we drove far out from the city. We could see no light from anywhere around aside from the occasional car that drove by. We sat out there for over an hour watching the stars shoot across the sky. It was magnificent.
For me, an hour or two watching the night sky will hold me over for quite some time. I enjoy it thoroughly but it’s not something I long to see. Sunsets are what take my breath away. You could watch the sunset every night and never see the same thing twice. It’s always something new. My husband, however, loves to watch the stars. He likes to find constellations and look at star charts and dream about those other places. I asked him one time why he liked the stars so much and his answer kind of surprised me. I was expecting “They’re pretty to look at.” or “There’s lots of other galaxies and worlds out there.” Instead, he said “They don’t change. What else in this world can we watch night after night over a millennium and track so exactly? What else is so constant other than who God is than the heavens? There are few other things so certain as where the stars are.” I had no response. The heavens are constant. They remain the same through the ages. God hung them there for the purpose of marking off time. For us to watch and know. That is magnificent.
These three remain: faith, hope, and love. These things remain the same through the ages. Faith, hope, and love are apart of the human experience. No matter the decade, no matter the era. Faith, hope, and love remain. Amen.
Mom's Going to Madagascar 