Sara & Leslie

Mark & Cheryl with Sara and Leslie

Why are we here?

So why are we here? One day in language class, we used a Chinese phrase “it is said.” I tried to think of ways to use the phrase. I thought of all kinds of references but finally settled on “it is said, Beijing has lots of foreigners.” I opened up myself to questions. The teacher has asked me “then why are you here?” My Chinese language doesn’t progress as quickly as some in the class because I go home and speak English to everyone. My Chinese only helps me stumble around. I can shop and travel but not hold a conversation. Our teacher thought I hung around Americans all the time therefore my Chinese didn’t progress. I tried to explain that actually we hang around Australians or South Africans, etc. However, now I do have a specific situation to explain why we are here.

About a month ago we met 22-year-old Mexican Leslie at Tiananmen. (See a previous post.) For a few weeks, we had been texting to find a time to reconnect. It turned out the the only time she had available was Sunday so we invited her to join us for worship then lunch afterwards. She expressed a great willingness to do so and came to BBC then lunch this past Sunday. Then Sunday night she called us in distress. 

She had come to Beijing as an au pair for a Chinese family. However, basically that Chinese family tossed her out of their home Sunday evening. According to Leslie, the host mom has been very difficult to work with lately, virtually treating her as a slave. Leslie has tried to accommodate the host mom’s wishes but finally that host mom just didn’t want to make the situation work. The host mom had the family driver take Leslie to a hotel, but apparently it wasn’t a very good situation and Leslie didn’t feel safe so she called us. She came to us to spend a few days until she can get another placement with her au pair agency. Here we have an opportunity to show Chr-like love and serve a needy person. Leslie is sweet, kind, gracious,helpful, etc. Yet when I asked what led her to come to China, she admitted she was looking to fill a void in her life. May G fill that void. 

I missed both language classes Monday while we hung out together, went grocery shopping, made lunch, took a walk when Mark came home, and had a friend Sara over for dinner. We had already scheduled Sara to come for dinner so I texted her to let her know we had an additional guest.

It was great catching up with Sara, whom we met last spring. Sara spent several years in the US and in April was having a difficult time adjusting back to China. She shared about her summer and the difficulties she went through yet testified of G’s faithfulness to her throughout the challenges. We talked about all kinds of subjects – relationships, work, family, church. Leslie listened intently as she shared her heart and her trust in the L.

In addition, Thursday night we join a Mexican family that we met at Temple of Heaven to eat Beijing Duck together at Hua's Restaurant. That family came to Beijing with the dad's work and since the work is finished, they are sightseeing together.

I believe the Lord has us here for such a time as this. (Esther 4:14) To reach out to ex-pats in this big city. They could be tourists passing through. They could be 22-year-old young ladies like our own daughters. Our times and our friendships are in G’s hands.

Remember times such as these.   

Guys' Night of Dinner & Discipleship

Once a month we have a group of single guys over for dinner and discipleship. I make Western food (I figure Chinese make better Chinese food than I do), and after dinner I disappear while the guys discuss a topic. Last night's topic was godly friendships - what are they, what do they look like, how can they develop? Remember these guys as they grow in Chr and develop godly friendships. 

Mark with Daniel (USA), Rudy (France & Cameroon), Simon (UK),
Harry (Philippines), Barnabas (Hungary)

Sunday afternoon group

Sunday afternoon community group -
Sasha, Harry, Josiah, Andre, Ricky with Zoe, Yem, Lyn, Chard, Lacey, Derek

Ghost Street evening with guests

Sunday evening on Ghost Street with "The Flying Dutchmen"
Hendrik & 'Wayne' and Steve & Dahlas

BBC Picnic

BBC Picnic

Several weeks ago we scheduled a BBC picnic at one of the local parks. Three days before our date, the air turned bad and stayed that way for the weekend so we decided to have an inside picnic. We still had a great time of fellowship with about 30 adults in one of our friends' apartment. Next time we may try for an earlier week as we had beautiful blue skies the week before.

Pictures of Friends

Julia & Nate with 3-week-old Isaac Paul

Veronica

Our Wednesday community group - Melissa, Molly, Jared, Hector with Daniel, Bessie, Cheryl

Dahlas & Steve from Massachusetts

Mark organizing our finances for the past 6 weeks.

Visitors

One of the fun things about living here is the privilege to entertain guests. 

Recently a man named Paul from Romania had contacted Mark about coming to see the city. So last week, for about a day and a half, we had the opportunity to show Paul around the city and hear his story. He grew up in a believing family during the years of communist Romania. If I remember correctly, his father spent several years imprisoned during that time. While here he wanted to learn about the Xn climate and meet with some Xn lawyers. We had a great time with him not only talking and fellowshiping but also realizing the connection we have with the body of Chr around the world.

This past Sunday we met two young fellows, Hendri & ‘Wayne’, from Holland who recently graduated with their MBAs from university in Wales. They have been good friends for about 10 years, growing up together, going to university together, and now traveling China together. Before they settle into ‘real world’ work, they wanted to travel and see China. They planned a six-week trip around the country with about 5 days in Beijing. We met them at BBC. They felt it important to take a day to worship and rest so in the midst of their 5 days, they joined our body and stayed for an inside picnic lunch. We even got together later in the evening to walk Ghost Street and have Beijing Roast Duck at Hua’s Restaurant. Fun to hear their stories too. How encouraging that they value a Sabbath Day and the importance of connecting to a local body during their year in Wales and even on a trip. They related how they became involved in a local church while in Wales and attended the three services during the week – two on Sunday and one on Wednesday evening. They encouraged our hearts.

Since Friday we have had Pastor Steve & 19-year-old Dahlas from Massachusetts with us for 5 days. Mark went to Vladivostok, Russia, with Steve two years ago. Steve and Dahlas are on their way to Vladivostok, spending time here first then about three weeks there. This is Dahlas’ first trip ever out of the country – and a big one at that. Once he got over jetlag, he has done pretty well. Funny how traveling and being in new situations help us depend on the L much more than we might otherwise. I think this trip has opened Dahlas’ eyes to another culture. Yesterday when they went to the Summer Palace, he saw idol worshipers for the very first time. It’s one thing to hear about people bowing down to idols; it’s quite another to actually see it. It’s one thing to study Chinese in an American high school; it’s quite another to hear it on the streets and in the shops. It’s one thing to use chopsticks at an American-Chinese restaurant once in a while; it’s quite another to use them at every meal. I’m afraid Steve and Dahlas may lose weight here.

One thing that has surprised Steve is the amount of capitalism and western influence in this city. So many times we have impressions of places based on TV documentaries, textbooks, media, etc. Yet when we enter the culture, things are not always as we thought. Beijing is a modern, thriving metropolis. I remind them that Beijing is not China. The countryside, however, doesn’t necessarily have the same modernization and economic growth.  Although communism is still here and a part of the political structure, so is capitalism and economic success. In addition, we do find a certain amount of Xn freedom, yet not like what we are used to for sure. The challenge is that, as we all discussed yesterday, communism and Xn-ity cannot co-exist because the worldviews are so opposite. There is only one G and He is not the State or its leaders. He requires full allegiance, as the Word says to worship Him only. We hope that someday even the country’s leaders would recognize that transformation by the Word would make the country not only economically better, but socially better.

Making a soup

What is it like to make a favorite US soup here?

Last night I went to bed thinking how I could write a blog post about a day in our life. Living here takes so much more time and energy than at home. What is it like to have friends over for dinner? Daniel and his parents came for dinner last night so I had in mind to make Chicken Tortilla Soup, a favorite recipe. I looked over the ingredients to decide what I needed to buy.

·         Chicken breasts √, easily available

·         tortillas √,

·         cumin √,

·         cilantro √ easily available,

·         chili powder – brought with me,

·         chicken broth – I can use chicken essence seasoning granules to make broth.

·         garlic √ easily available, 
·         frozen corn – sometimes available 
·         sour cream - not available; maybe I can use plain yogurt instead 
·         cheddar cheese - not easily available; I could order online

·         can of diced tomatoes – hmmm…  I can cut up tomatoes or see what the store has. I buy a can and discover that it contains whole cherry tomatoes. Easy enough – I can cut those up.

·         Enchilada sauce – hmmm… Stores don’t carry canned sauce. The foreign import store across town sells packaged enchilada powder mix. Do I want to travel on the subway one hour then walk 10 minutes (one way) to buy a package? Maybe not. So I research online for a homemade recipe. They require tomato sauce. Hmmm…. My experience has been that Chinese equate tomato sauce with ketchup so the Chinese characters for tomato sauce are often the same as for ketchup. I have done this before and bought ketchup in error. So we went to the store and looked in the section of ketchup. Nearby are two other packages. One labeled tomato sauce; the other labeled tomato paste. The characters on these packages are different from each other and from ketchup. Do I dare hope they really are what they say they are? I gamble and buy the tomato paste. When I get home, I make the enchilada sauce to go into the soup. Indeed, it is tomato paste!

So all in all, we had a great dinner and time of fellowship together. Daniel said after dinner that I could make it for the guys; they would like it. I guess that’s a vote of success. 

Cooking here is not a simple as opening a can of this and adding a can of that.  I have found canned vegetables, spaghetti sauces, pastas, and the like but in the foreign food section of the store and they cost more than Chinese foods. I have found very few frozen vegetables – only corn but lots of frozen jaozi. So we learn to get creative. 

Boldness or Openness?

Mark & I had an unusual experience yesterday on the way to the grocery store. Big grocery stores tend to be in shopping malls so we pass all kinds of interesting stores on the way, including a foreign language bookstore. Near the entrance we often see books authored by classic English-language authors. They also have Spanish and French books lying on the shelf. However, it was a front-facing book prominently displayed book that caught our attention yesterday. An ESV Word propped up for display! Mark & I were so surprised. It was not a bilingual version so I’m sure it was marketed toward foreigners, but the fact that it was so prominent intrigued us. I wanted to discretely take a picture with my phone, but I haven’t learned how to take good pictures yet. I didn’t want to draw attention to what I was doing so I ended not getting the picture.