She said -------

Friday, May 30

Engagement Party for Brent & Kristen

She said ------ YES!!

再见 Packing, Moving, & Flying - Zaijian

 Well, the time has come for us to return to the States for the summer. Today is packing day, after our Chinese classes of course. Tomorrow we move our things to our new home for the fall. And Wednesday we fly out. It's a strange feeling to 'go home' to a place we haven't seen for 9 months. Hmm.... I wonder if my houseplants will still be alive? I will try not to be disappointed if my 21 plants are 'on life support', as our daughter confessed a few months ago.

In the midst of packing suitcases and deciding what things stay and what things go, we still have opportunities to plant the seeds of Truth. Mark met a neighbor the other day and since then we have had her to our home three times and she joined the BBC lunch crowd yesterday. Amazing how hungry and thirsty some people are. We will connect her to others who will stay here during the summer for them to water and nurture growth.

We look forward to seeing our family soon. Time to be with our 'kids' who grow into adulthood. Who, we think, still need parents around to talk about life, about maturing, about the future. Yet at the same time we leave another family behind. A family that is also growing in maturity and the Xn life. We have 'children' here in all stages of life - some babies in the faith, some strong disciples and leaders, and some anywhere in-between.

So for the time being we say Zaijian to our family in Beijing. People use this to say good bye but it really means "See you again."

Another "China" Day

We had another one of those "China" days this week.

After coming home from Baoding, Mark & I looked forward to a good night’s sleep. It’s always better sleeping in your ‘own’ bed no matter where ‘home’ is. For the last week or so, we have not had cool air conditioning in the apartment. I never figured out why. We had blowing air, but it wasn’t cold air. So we ran our fan, moved it around day and night, and opened the windows, even on bad air days. This week the temps were supposed to climb toward 99 degrees F.  Tuesday night we went to bed lightly clothed, throwing off sheets due to heat and humidity with the fan turned up. About 4:30am Mark & I both noticed at the same time that the air no longer ran, the fan stopped, and it was dead quiet. Uh-oh. No electricity. Bummer. And we had not loaded the electricity card the last time we used it. Ok, so we went back to sleep for about an hour. I got up to take a shower. No hot water. Apparently the hot water heater, although it is gas, still uses electricity. Cold water. So no shower that day, just a cold water face and hair wash in the hall bathroom. 

At that point, we knew we had to go to the Postal Savings Bank to load up the card, come back home, swipe the card, and then be on our way to class. We assumed the Bank opened at 8am so Mark headed out about 7:45am. He got to the bank and saw a notice that said beginning that day, May 21, the bank will now open at 9:00am. Ugh. So when he called to tell me that, I suggested he go to NorthStar to purchase a few groceries we needed. He went, got to the mall, and saw a notice posted that said the mall now opened at 9:30am. A woman came up to him, saw him waiting, and said the mall opened at 8:30 like usual. He pointed at the sign and she said something like “oh” and agreed. So he went back to the bank. By this time there was a line. Ugh! Now it’s later and we will be later for class. Well, he did get the card loaded quickly and came back, we swiped the card, flipped the switch, and voila, power restored. Then off to class.

Mark had a meeting last night after our full day so while he was away, I fiddled with the temperature controls. I don’t know what I did, but I got the cool air back. I kept punching buttons back & forth, together, separately, this one, that one until I noticed cool air blowing from the vents. Success. I still don’t know what made it work, but we are very thankful as today has been very hot. Today, our ‘day off’ (sort of), we went to MingFuJu for lunch and felt the hot, dry air as we walked. It reminded me of SC but much drier. Like a dry sauna.

People Stories - Lindsay

One day in the Fall of 2013, we received the following email from a man named Lindsay.

Dear Pastor Mark

My apologies for this rather unusual email from stage left.  I came across your website whilst investigating the death of my great grandfather, Reverend William Cooper. William was deputy director of the China Inland Mission and lived in China from 1880 to 1900.  Tragically he was beheaded in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 at Pao-ting Fu (now called Baoding in Hebei province). He had been in China for 20 years and spoke fluent Mandarin. The China Inland Mission was a British Protestant organization established by Hudson Taylor and William had become something of a Chief Secretary who looked after the various missions whilst based in Shanghai.

It seems that he was traveling the country visiting various missions when he was caught up in the Boxer Rebellion. The CIM did not have a formal mission at Pao-ting Fu but did have a business office run by Mr & Mrs Bagnall.  The largest Christian missions in the city were the American Board and the American Missionary Mission. Accordingly, most of the missionaries martyred on that day (June 30, 1900 or July 1, 1900) were American. The events are quite well known as they were subsequently investigated by an American expedition. It seems that one set of missionaries were killed at the American mission compound whilst another group, including William, were rounded up, given a mock trial in a temple, marched out of the city gates and beheaded.

9 months later, the Europeans marched into the city and put to death a number of officials deemed responsible. They recovered what was left of the bodies (often just skulls) and gave them a Christian burial (with quite a bit of pomp and ceremony) in a cemetery next to the American Board compound. There is a photo of the 23 graves lined up with a small church in the background.

I am attempting to find this site to determine if the remains of William and his American counterparts have been preserved. As you can imagine, this is a difficult thing to do from a distance (I am based in [another city]) and so I thought I would reach out to you for any advice/contacts that could help in identifying the location of this cemetery. I’m wondering if someone at the US Embassy might be interested in locating this historical site or if there are records that could identify the location of the American Board compound and the cemetery. The burial seems to have been well documented at the time and is even recounted in a report held in the Library of Congress. If we can find the location, we may be able to find the mortal remains of the American missionaries and also William.

I’ve attached a chapter from a book I obtained which tells the story of that very fateful day.

One for Sherlock Holmes but you never know….it may be possible to find them.

With very best wishes

 Lindsay ---

And so began a contact and a friendship.

Mark and Lindsay arranged to meet for coffee last fall when Lindsay was in Beijing on a business trip. Lindsay brought a colleague of his and Mark brought a friend and they all gathered for a couple-hour chat.

As Lindsay continued to research his roots, he and Mark remained in touch. Fast forward to the week of May 19 when Lindsay was again in Beijing for business. He arranged a trip to Baoding with us to try to locate the gravesite of his great-grandfather. In the process, one of his Chinese co-workers made contact with a Chinese pastor who then helped by asking older people in the city what they knew about the Boxer Rebellion, the American missionary activity, and related locations. The pastor and one of his parishioners escorted us around Baoding on the hunt for Rev. William Cooper’s grave.

Based on information gathered from a 90-year-old local citizen, we found the location of the American Mission Board compound and walked around what is now rubble. We discovered broken down walls, foundation stones, walls that defined rooms, and an archway that may have been the entrance to the chapel. Many such sites were completely destroyed during China’s Cultural Revolution so there wasn’t much left of the compound. We imagined the direction of the gravesites running east to west of the compound based on a historical picture. We also noticed that out of the rubble grew a beautiful flowering tree. A bit ironic that beauty springs from death.

Then we drove along the walls of the city, imagining William and the others being marched outside the city to their death. We also drove to what was a Presbyterian cemetery until just five years ago when a hotel development was built on the site. A small overgrown area of the former cemetery remained across the hotel parking lot. But the graves had been dug up in the name of economic progress.  We walked along the stone-lined rock-laid paths wondering which of the martyred missionaries had been buried there. A large rock edifice surrounded by flowering plants marked the entrance to the cemetery. Not like in the States where statues of Jesus dot the burial grounds.

As Mark & I got caught up in this adventure, we grew to appreciate the legacy of William Cooper. In our discussions with Lindsay, we learned that the great Christian preacher Charles H. Spurgeon greatly influenced William to serve in China. We learned what kind of godly man William was and that he was slated to succeed Hudson Taylor at the China Inland Mission.  We learned that Lindsay truly admired his grandfather, the youngest of William’s four children who were left fatherless.

Knowing about Rev. William Cooper's life and death reminds us of Hebrews 12:1 that says we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who encourage us to run the race of life with endurance, focusing on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.  May we be imitators of Rev. William Cooper just as he was of Jesus Christ.

People Stories - MZ

MZ is a local brother who we met in August. Our friends who helped us get settled when we moved here called him to drive us from the airport. Since then, we have had a few times together.  

As MZ shared his story with us, he revealed that our Father used many situations in his life to weave together a fascinating testimony. And He used a woman named W to change his life.

At our retreat, M & W shared their story with us, with much laughter and seriousness.

M was born into a poor family who lived in a poor countryside village. Growing up, he dreamed of getting out of poverty by becoming a rich businessman. He planned to study hard, go into the city, and go to college. If he worked hard and trusted in himself, his dreams would come true. He always saw himself as the short guy from a poor village that no one would want to marry. But in college, he had a girlfriend for about 5 years.  

At one point in his life, M invested borrowed money into a restaurant that failed after three months.  That loss left him in great debt. There seemed no way to pay the debt back so he thought the only solution was to take his own life. Yet, in his mind that would be shameful towards his parents who had invested in his education. In addition, that would be shameful to the one to whom he owed the money. So he felt in total despair. One day, he and his girlfriend met a young lady, W, on the subway who invited them to a local Bible Study. He and his girlfriend went to the study. Although his girlfriend said she wasn’t interested, he continued going anyway. Now, not only had he lost the business, lost the money, he also lost his girlfriend. Through that Bible Study M came to believe in JC as his Savior and his life changed dramatically. Six months later M and W married.

W also has her own fascinating testimony of our Father working in her life. Our Father used people from the States to change her life.

From 2003-2005, W worked in a school in another city where SF is head principal. When SF interviewed W for the school position, he asked her if she was a Xn. She said no but wanted to know more. Our Father used the people in the school and the English language to change her life. During Sp. Emphasis Week, the elementary principal shared the Truth with her. W thought Xn-ity was equivalent to Americanism or American culture, but the principal explained that JC didn’t come from America but from Israel. He came for the whole world, not just one country. Our Father opened her heart then and W placed her trust in JC.  W eventually became a 5^th grade teaching assistant in that school.  Later, W came to Beijing to work in a new Xn school where she teaches English and science. W was the young lady on the subway that met M and his girlfriend.

When M & W talked with W’s mom about getting married, W’s mom said no. She didn’t think her educated, city girl should marry a poor, short guy from the countryside. Eventually her mother gave up and told them to go ahead.

M&W have two little boys. When his wife discovered that she was expecting their second child, many people told her to ‘get rid of the baby’ because of China’s one-child policy. However, M&W knew that our Father had created this child and would provide for them. Therefore, they would do whatever it takes to raise him for the Father.  This includes facing a fine for the second child -  200,000RMB ($32,000USD). They are working in such a way to save the money to pay the fine.

M&W see clearly how our Father showed them the true way of life. After putting their faith in JC, the whole direction of their lives has changed.  M’s dream now is to have meaningful work with souls. His goal is to be the most excellent husband and father in the world. He asked how could he do that. He has bought and read a lot of books but realized that he doesn’t have the power to be the best. That power comes only from G. Only with G’s power can he love his wife and children as he ought.

Remember this family as they serve.

First Ever BBC Retreat

May 9-11 – the first ever BBC-wide retreat

After months in the planning stages, BBC held its very first BBC-wide retreat this past weekend.  A local believing family has a retreat center so Mark contacted him about bringing our folks up to the retreat center for a weekend away. We heard the following comments this weekend: “Why hasn’t BBC done this before?” “This is so great.” “This needs to be the first ANNUAL retreat.” We saw people sitting together chatting, connecting and reconnecting. We did fun activities like hiking the Great Wall and just relaxing.

What a joy to our hearts to be in our room just outside the gathering place and hear laughter, chatting, fellowship, and children. We had a real sense of G’s unity and love. It’s great to see so many come together in a way that we cannot do in this big city of busyness, work, life, and distractions. Two of our men spoke from the Scriptures on biblical manhood and womanhood: how G’s design for men and women at creation sets the stage for singleness and marriage; how no matter what stage we are in, the sole purpose of our life in that stage is to glorify G and reflect His image.

Enjoy the pictures. There are lots of them.

Entrance to the retreat center

Getting our room assignments

One of the young couples' bedroom

On the way to the Great Wall

Making homemade jaozi

Sunday Breakfast. We even had scrambled eggs, the dish in the middle of the table. Try eating scrambled eggs with chopsticks. :)

Our gracious hosts

Our group minus one family that had already left.