Stepping Up - Guys' Night

This semester our Guys' Night is going through Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood produced by FamilyLife. Cheryl makes dinner for the guys after which they watch the DVD and discuss the topics. We see a real need to encourage men to step up and be the men that God calls them to be. We will meet every other Monday night from the beginning of March till the end of June.

Before & After

The living room as we saw it before we signed the lease.

The living room fully furnished

The kitchen when we moved in. On the right side of the kitchen was a wooden ledge that had gotten wet over the years. Not visible in the picture is the cracked counter to the left of the stovetop.

After new countertops and more lighting.

Reflections on BBC Ladies' Night

On Friday, March 20, BBC hosted a Ladies’ Night, the first since Mark & I have been here. Because they were here in town, Mark lined up Val & Rosie from New Zealand to bring a word of encouragement to our ladies. We had a good evening, and I think everyone who came enjoyed the time. In fact, because the ladies had early morning engagements the next day, we left first. But all the other ladies chatted around our hostess' coffee table. They were a happy bunch of ladies. We had 14 ladies from all walks of life.

Val had prepared a talk entitled Grace for Parenting, but as we were on the bus to the subway station, she pondered whether to use that topic, as our women are in various seasons of life, and we didn’t know exactly who would come. On the bus she changed her topic; on the subway she furiously wrote new notes. Instead she developed her talk around the theme of “When God interrupts your life with His will”, taken from a Christmas message by Joe K.  She shared her testimony of how God worked in her heart as their family moved around a lot. At various times, their family lived in Canada, China, and New Zealand. Because of their moves, she bore six children on three different continents. Her husband has a bit of a restless spirit and, of course, she followed. But one day she told God she would go anywhere as long as 1) it wasn’t in a big city, 2) she didn’t have to learn a tonal language, and 3) she wouldn’t bear a child in a foreign country. That was before living five years in Beijing and having one of their children here. After several moves, Val just wanted to be rooted in the same place for a while. But then as she examined the Scriptures, she discovered that God calls us to be rooted in Him, to be rooted in His love. Scripture never calls us to be rooted in a place. In fact, we find the theme of moving throughout the Bible. God’s chosen people never had a rooted place. Not until Heaven in Revelation do we see a permanent home.  So Val shared very relevant Scriptural truths for all of us.

Rosie shared how God used some bitter circumstances in her life to teach her about His faithfulness. She recounted how as a teenager God gave her a message about her future that included marriage and ministry. As a 21-year-old, she developed a relationship with a young man whom she thought she would marry. However, God had other plans for her as that relationship ended. That breakup almost devastated her but in it, she found God faithful. In the following years, she served the Lord in various ways including as a "m" in Borneo. After several months, the Muslim government denied her visa renewal and she returned home to New Zealand. Again, she felt devastated, not understanding what God was doing in her life. Yet at that point God brought a godly man into her life, 10 years after the previous relationship. Rose always thought she would marry a pastor or a missionary, but again, God had other plans and proved His faithfulness. They soon married, when she was 31, and settled into farm life in New Zealand. They now have 6 children, 3 of whom were born after Rosie turned 40.

God tied both of these talks together beautifully. I think we see God’s faithfulness as we are rooted in Him. We see God’s faithfulness in the trials, in the uncertainties, in the devastations. When we have nothing left, we find Him to be all we need. At the end of the evening, we sang Great is Thy Faithfulness together and ended with a prayer time. Glorious fellowship in Jesus.

Mundane Faithfulness

Today I stumbled upon a blog entitled Mundane Faithfulness. Today’s entry describes the passing of a godly, young woman, wife & mother due to breast cancer. The title makes me think of our lives – mundane faithfulness. I am called to be faithful. Often people want to know God’s will for their lives. Yet it is so easy to find God’s will – be faithful in the place He has you. When I get to heaven, I want to hear the words “Well, done my good & faithful servant.” But what is faithfulness? How am I to be faithful? My life is mundane, everyday, nothing special. I think that may be the point of this woman’s blog. Mark’s dad used to say that life is lived in the everyday. Marriage is everyday, not the notion of crazy romance. Of course, crazy romance adds spark to the mundane, but it’s not where we live. We live in the details of life – making meals, doing laundry, cleaning house, finishing homework, washing dishes, hosting guests, disciplining children, cleaning up their messes. The point is that our lives are mundane, everyday. 

Here are Webster-Mirriam’s definitions of faithful:

1.     obsolete :  full of faith

2.     steadfast in affection or allegiance :  loyal

3.     firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty :  conscientious

4.     given with strong assurance :  binding <a faithful promise>

5.     true to the facts, to a standard, or to an original <a faithful copy>

  

Oxford Dictionary defines faithful as:

1.     Loyal, constant, and steadfast:

2.     (usually as plural noun the faithful) Having a strong belief in a particular religion

3.     True to the facts or the original:

What does the Bible say about faithfulness? What does it include? I did a search on FAITHFULNESS in the Scriptures. Many, many times faithfulness in Scripture is linked with steadfast love, especially when referring to God. The two go hand in hand together; they cannot be separated. I see this especially in the Psalms or any time Scripture describes God. I think, then, that we can say someone who is faithful displays these characteristics: full of faith, loyal, conscientious, binding, true, constant, and steadfast. More importantly, the one who is faithful is the one who trusts in the ONE WHO IS FAITHFUL, not ourselves but our GOD. My hope is found in nothing less than Jesus.

Lord, make me faithful in the mundane, the everyday.

Ahhh....Spring....

Spring has sprung in Beijing. We have beautiful clear blue skies, cool spring breezes, and warm temperatures in the mid-60s F today. My windows are open with the breeze blowing in. Nothing better than spring air. As the trees bud out with their light green leaves and pink flowers, God reminds us that He is Creator. He creates all things for His glory and our good. Sometimes our good is the pure enjoyment of the newness and freshness that spring brings. Like a new creation after the dead of winter. As I observe the blossoming trees and hear the chirping birds, they all remind me that they are doing exactly what God created them to do, to praise him.

Psalm 104:24 O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

When the student is ready.....

Awhile back we connected the BBC email to our personal email so we don't have to monitor separate accounts. Sometimes we receive the normal "I am out of money and owe this much...." Yet sometimes we connect with very interesting people. Recently a local gal contacted us with the plea "I have a foreign ID, can I please come?" She came last week and then came over this afternoon, stayed for dinner, and helped me set up our new TV. She came with many questions and a real hunger for the Truth. She notices a difference between many local fellowships and foreign fellowships, yet hasn't been able to put her finger on the difference yet. We straight up shared the Truth with her, talked about what are secondary issues and what is the primary issue, and encouraged her to read the first three chapters of the Book and ask questions such as "What does this say about G? What does this say about sin?" She lives about 1 1/2 hours away in the city but has some commitments on our side of town each weekend so we hope to see her more. She mentioned often in our conversations that in previous years others had shared the Truth with her, including her foreign English teacher, but she didn't want to hear it then. Now she wants to know so much. Please remember her.

Leslie's last night in Beijing

Our Mexican friend, Leslie, returned to her home after 6 months in China - four months in Beijing and two months in Jinan. On her last night we received a impromptu dinner invitation at our friends' Derek & Lacey's home. We shared dinner with our hosts, Leslie, and four Argentine Kingdom workers. We met the Argentines at BBC one Sunday as they spent their first few days in Beijing then moved on to another city.