BBC

Recently a friend from the States wrote us asking what BBC is like.   

BBC is like any other ch that meets in a hotel conference room. We meet in a small to medium sized room where the  bigger area is in the front of the room so that latecomers end up walking in front of the lectern to go to the back of the room. Our worship service is simple, a blend of traditional and modern hymns, prayer & preaching.  Depending on the musicians, we use a combination of electric piano, guitar, and vocalists. Currently we are in the process of recommending and interviewing men for the offices of elder and deacon, a situation that BBC has not had to date. One of the reasons we fell in love with BBC last spring was the way the folks reminded us so much of GBC in their friendliness and fellowship.  People like to hang around before and after the worship service to fellowship and drink coffee together.

About 50-60 people from 12 different countries attend on any given Sunday. Many of our people traveled over the Spring Festival break of January and February so although we missed our regulars, we seemed to have lots of visitors. If all our regulars and our visitors came on the same day, we would have a packed room indeed. We meet once a week on Sunday morning. Because people live so far away, some come 1 ½- 2 hours, more than one worship service is impractical.  Even attending a mid-week study is difficult for most people. Company employees work long hours; school children have long days and lots of homework. Some English teachers teach afternoons, evenings, and weekends.

Our body consists of university students, English teachers, business people, and embassy workers. Some of these make use of opportunities to connect with their students.  Some of these include families. Most of them stay a year or two. We do have some young couples and singles who have committed to stay a few more years. Now that Mark & Diane moved to Europe, I think Mark & I are the longest-married couple here, with the oldest children.  The average (mean) age of the adults seems to be about 32, with a kids’ average of just under 7.

No matter where we are in the world, Christ unites His body.  We can grow together, learn together, worship together, and watch God work miracles in our lives. I am thankful for God’s goodness to BBC.

Back to Language School

This morning we started back to language school. Boy, did we feel like we were greeted by a brick wall. Last semester the first of our two classes was the introduction class that covered pronunciation, grammar, and conversation. The second class was the spoken, conversational class with little English. We found the spoken class harder due to the nature of the class. This semester the classes are switched and we have a different teacher for our conversational class. Then we learned that the school told our teachers to only speak Chinese with us, including in the introductory class. So, although Mark & I had a tutor for the past two months, we both had the 'deer in the headlights' feeling today. At some point, I just listened to absorb the content. I am sure we will adjust after a while. A couple of us students talked with our introductory teacher to see if we could ramp up to only Chinese instead of starting off totally in Chinese. We will see how that goes.

I have heard that one way to keep intellectually active is to learn another language. Ok, but Chinese? Maybe this will keep (or make) us mentally healthy. Actually I enjoy learning the characters. I have always liked puzzles, detective work, figuring things out. Mark likes to talk. Maybe I will let Mark do the talking, and I will do the reading. If we stick together, we make a good team.

Six Month Mark

Today is the six month mark since we arrived in Beijing, China: two thirds of the time required for a baby's entrance into the world from the moment of conception.  I haven't blogged at all in a long time, as the responsibilities of my work have precluded this luxury. I know if I could blog shorter posts I would blog more frequently. I'll try.

After six months here in BJ, I am thankful for God's redeeming grace, His Church, His Word, His people, my lovely wife, and our children who show marks of grace in spite of their father's failings. I ponder with thankfulness our supportive family back in the States, home church Grace Baptist Church, other supporting churches and families in the States, mentors in the faith, those who pray for us, God's provision in a variety of ways. I give thanks for those in our church that bear with a young (really?) pastor as he works at the sacred craft of bringing the Word weekly (but not weakly) with profit. 

In Beijing we are thankful for new friends, occasional blue skies, the Chinese people (Zhongguo ren), Chinese food, our neighbors in our apartment complex, taxi drivers and fellow subway passengers who will speak Chinese with us, our language school and tutoring company, and our microscopically small progress with one of the world's more difficult languages. 

I say what the priests sang in Ezra 3:11 at the completion of the foundation for the new temple in Jerusalem in the early 6th century BC:

"For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel." 

People Stories - Emmanuel

Emmanuel comes from Ghana. A few years ago, he came here to study petroleum engineering. However to do that, he first had to learn Chinese, so he studied Chinese for one year then pursued his undergraduate studies. One day Mark & I visited Emmanuel’s stomping grounds – his area, his university, his apartment. We went to lunch, walked around his university, and met his roommate and another friend at his apartment. He lives about two hours from us, so door-to-door, we had a seven-hour trip. Because he lives far away and schools and businesses do not regard the Lord’s Day, sometimes he cannot attend the BBC regular worship services. At times he must attend science labs on Sunday morning. Yet Emmanuel is committed to the L and participates in worship and our Guys’ Night whenever he can. Remember Emmanuel – for strength, perseverance, growth, and wisdom.

Olympics

Mark & I are enjoying a quiet Monday evening, watching the Olympics and doing HBI work. While our guest Bethany stayed with us last week, we caught part of the opening ceremony, some ice skating, skiing, half-pipe, biathlon, lots of curling, and lots of speed skating. We figure it's a great way to listen to the Chinese language. It has been a unique experience watching Chinese coverage of the Olympics. Due to the time difference, one night Bethany and I stayed up till 1:30am to watch the pairs ice skating. We have seen only a few American athletes, but many Chinese and Russian & former Soviet country athletes. A few commercials and a few interviewees are in English so this has been a great exposure to Mandarin.

People Stories - Mark & Diane

Well, we say good-bye to our good friends, Mark & Diane, this week. Mark's international oil company moves them to Europe on Friday, Valentine’s Day. What was supposed to be a four-year assignment on an already long-term project in China (with several national oil companies) screeched to a halt after a year and a half, ending many years of planning, strategizing, and relationship-building.  Mark & Diane became special friends to us in Beijing. They are in our same age range, similar stage in life with grown kids so we often have much to talk about. Diane is the outgoing one, Mark the quiet one. They are warm, hospitable, generous, wise, godly, and solid – all the characteristics anyone would want in a friendship. They have been a rock for us here. We thought they would be the long-termers here at BBC, giving direction and stability. But God knows best. Such a reminder that Life is a Journey. People move on. God uses people here for a time then moves them on. One of their major prayer requests is that they would find a solid, evangelical church to plug into. So far they haven’t found one, but maybe God has another plan for them. Maybe God can use them to provide solidity and truth to a needy church. We will miss them and pray for them.  Love you guys.

Fireworks Jan. 30 & Ditan Park Temple Festival Feb. 5

Chinese people know how to celebrate! After all they invented fireworks!

January 31 was Chinese New Year this year. The evening before, New Year's Eve, we went with a friend to Hou Hai Park to experience the fireworks. What a great show. Since much of Beijing shuts down for two weeks to celebrate Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, we have heard fireworks all week long.

Note: my autofocus on my camera lens stopped working just before I took these pictures so they are not focused well.

Lighting fireworks on the sidewalk  

Long strings of firecrackers

Bessie & Hector

Because most people had two weeks off work, like a vacation, the city really changed. Subways were virtually empty, streets deserted, but parks and festivals  crowded.  Mark & I decided to experience the culture of the temple festival at Ditan Park on Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 5. We were encouraged to go in the morning to avoid the crowds, but due to phone calls with our kids and other friends, we left later than hoped. Imagine "all" of Beijing in one place. Ok - maybe "half" of Beijing.