Spiritual Warfare

 Some people have asked when I would write another blog post. How do I describe the last 12 days? Do I say things like “Well, that worked yesterday. It might work tomorrow. But it doesn’t work right now.” Or “how many trips and how many hours does it take to set up a cell phone?” Or “This must be spiritual warfare.”

We had issues with WiFi, VPNs, internet, Google, cell phones, lights, printer, etc.

As I write, Mark is currently on his way to the cell phone store for the fourth time. We made the first trip last week to our old neighborhood where we knew where the store was and where we had other errands as well. The travel time alone was an hour. We arrived to meet our good friend Rodney who planned to help us. We had brought copies of our passports but not the actual passports. Therefore, the store couldn’t help us. Copies weren’t sufficient even though the store agent would make a copy and keep it. We made the second trip on our side of town with an American/Chinese couple in our building who walked with us and helped communicate our needs. We set up Cheryl’s phone but discovered that in order to keep Mark’s same number that he used last year, we needed the SIM card from the old phone, which we had left in the States because we planned to retire that phone. Thankfully, a United airlines pilot friend brought it over to us last week. That gave us an opportunity to spend some time with him. We met him at GBC this summer as he and his family started attending GBC while we were gone this past year. We made the third trip this morning and spent three hours trying to get the old number onto the new phone. One store location took the old SIM card, cut it to fit the new phone only to discover that it wouldn’t work in the new phone. However, since they really only deal with selling new phones, they sent us to another location in the same mall that sets up phone plans. It turns out that maybe the SIM will work but before they can assign us the number, we have to prove that we ‘own’ that number. Understandably, they don’t want to give us a number that may belong to someone else, even though we used that number all last year. They match the number to a name. That took a lot of communication back and forth. Our friend the American wife of a Chinese went with us but made multiple phone calls to her husband during his work day. Therefore, we all decided to wait until he came home from work to go to the store again. The fourth trip. UPDATE: It seems we will have Mark’s phone available in about 3 days.

Nothing here is ever easy or quick. Not only does it take a committed effort to travel to a destination, whether on foot, by bus, or by subway, it takes a lot of mental and emotional energy.

On the other hand, we now feel more settled in our apartment. We have spent quite a bit of time fixing things up, cleaning up, and making it home. Mostly little things like burned out light bulbs, non-functioning printers, spotty WiFi. 

We had a repairman scheduled to come yesterday about 1:30 to look at the cold water pressure and a light fixture. At the same time we had a couple over for lunch. We had such a great time the repair office finally called 3:00 to say he was on his way just as all four of us had our shoes on and door open ready to go for a walk in the park. Thirty minutes later the repairman shows up. He fixed the water pressure and tested the light fixture only to discover that the fixture itself is broken. Ok, we can live with that. Three hours later when I went to prepare dinner, I noticed we had no lights – not in the kitchen, not in the living room, not in the bedrooms. Apparently the repairman had shorted out the circuit when he tested the fixture. One of our summer couples warned us that could happen. However, although I knew where the circuit box was located, I didn’t know which switch to flip. Another walk to the repair office. On the way we met a lady on the hall and Mark tried to explain our situation in his limited Chinese. I understood enough of her communication that she thought we needed to swipe our electric card. No, that wasn’t the issue. Thankfully the repair office is nearby, and they had someone available immediately. He came up, flipped the switch, and we had light. I asked specifically which switch in case it happened again.

So it has been a trying 12 days.

On the other hand, we are delighted to return to BBC. We feel like God has blessed us with such a great body. It seems a good fit. The last two Sundays we have had a wonderful time of worship, Word, and fellowship. In addition, with the new school year, many new people came. We have also had time during the week with several families. Spending a solid five hours Sunday afternoon with one of the couples reminded us of our purpose here – to build up the saints, to encourage them, to teach them, to live life with them. Please remember us as we fulfill our calling to apply the Word to ours and others' lives.

Tomorrow Cheryl starts language school again. I look forward to studying Chinese again. I recognize the difficulty and fully expect to be bombarded with only Chinese beginning tomorrow. Last week we also met with one of our former teachers to see if she would tutor Mark for a few hours once a week. We thoroughly enjoy her friendship and hope to schedule time with her on an afternoon when we both have available time.

Well, for those who prefer short posts, sorry about this long post. How can I convey it all in a few short words? Maybe later I can try to post pictures.

In all this, God reminds me of his faithfulness and steadfast love. That never changes. Even though we experience change, He doesn’t change. We serve a steadfast God.