Glimpses (Mark)

A quick sketch of the week:

I was so glad to have Rodney Andersen preach in my place this past Sunday. I have been struggling with a sore throat since last Tuesday. It is helpful to hear the Word preached, and not always be the one preaching. Sunday night we shared the Gospel over the course of four hours with a NC in our apartment. It wasn’t our intent, but the conversation turned so natural to it over time.

On Monday we had a tremendous lunch with church members in their apartment.  Our friends J & M and their three beautiful children provided such encouragemen to us in our time together. J & M live on the high school campus where J teaches math. M’s mom is in town for some time from Sichuan province; she is so young-looking I thought she was M’s jiejie (older sister).  JThe children made cupcakes for us, which made us feel like royalty, even if we were on a high school campus.

Also on Monday night we had dinner with “A” at Pizza Hut. “A” is a 4^th generation ABC (American born Chinese) who grew up in Hawaii, attended a major mid-west American university on an instrumental scholarship, and was converted in his freshman year at college. His first time at a college Christian event he heard a message on John 3:16. He had heard it before, but something changed that night. He wrote on a response card, “I will live for God.” He came to Beijing in the fall of 2010 with the intent of one semester of Chinese study. After a month he connected with the CC, and has been discipling CB ever since. Currently he lives with 5-6 other CB. He supports himself by teaching English to other Chinese nationals. “A” has plans to live and minister in China indefinitely. We talked about Jim Elliott’s quote: “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” His life verses are Romans 5:7-8. Please pray for him.

On Tuesday (yesterday) we met with one of our faithful servants in the church. He treated us to lunch at a beautiful restaurant near Ritan Park in Beijing’s embassy district, but only after a discouraging “taxi” experience. Our taxi took 20 minutes to take us on what should have been a 5-minute trip. Whether intentional or unintentional I have forgiven him, but it took a healthy dose of 1 John for me to pour out the bitterness I felt toward him over the course of 6-7 hours. Boy, does this cross-cultural experience reveal how much I need the Gospel!

Today has several great surprises. First, on the way to school this morning we found ourselves riding with “Jennifer.” She is a first year student whom we have met on the subway previously. She is living with her older boyfriend, who she describes as an ISO software engineer. We began to talk about language learning (she is learning Japanese so she can relate to a client) over the course of our talk.  She even mentioned she had used Google Translate for Spanish. Of course, then I began to talk about Spanish (Yo soy el pan de vida or “I am the Bread of Life”) and how Jesus had seven “yo soys” (I Am’s) in the Bible – specifically in John’s Gospel. We remembered six on the subway L. She, plus 3 or 4 around her, were listening intently. Jennifer is willing to have a meal together, but she said several times, “Wo hen mang! Wo hen, hen mang!” I am busy! I am very, very busy!

Later today we got on the subway for our trip home. I found four women staring at me and whispering under their breath. They were smiling and appeared friendly, so I asked – Nimen shi pengyou (“Are you all friends?”). We talked for ten minutes or so, laughing the whole time. They were from Inner Mongolia (part of China) and were on day 2 of a 10-trip to the capital. They could not have been more thoughtful or interested in my life. They were overjoyed at the news we had four children. I should have given them a business card. In the midst of the conversation, a lady sitting with her 3-year old daughter helped me speak Chinese with my four new Mongolian friends. As we were about to get off in the course of 30 seconds this is the conversation which transpired: “Me: You speak great English. Her: I lived in the US for thirteen years. Me: Where? Her: Near Atlanta. Me: That’s funny. My wife and I live 2 ½ hours from Atlanta in Greenville, SC – right up I-85. Her: My husband and I went to Clemson University. We met there. He is from Beijing; I am from Chengdu. Me: No way! My wife and I also went to Clemson, and we have two sons there currently. Me: What was your major? Her: I got a master’s in Applied Economics in 2001. Talk about small worlds! Ray and Brandi are now in Shanghai after thirteen years in the U.S.  I gave Brandi my business card with the hope that we can meet up again.