April 29, 2012
A Very Shaoxing Easter
Easter? Are we supposed to talk about Easter? OK, I'll talk about Easter! While the rest of the team was rockin' it in Hangzhou we had a much smaller event for Easter in Shaoxing. We did the usual with egg-dyeing, little triangle sandwiches, and a humongous rabbit shaped cake. I don't know about your family, but that's definitely a tradition in ours!
More importantly, we all sat together to experience the true feeling of Easter. We read the story of Jesus' crucifixion and then we listened to a dramatic reading of Jesus' resurrection. As we listened, we all sat with eyes closed, trying to picture the faces of Jesus, the people he met, and their various expressions. I tried to share that it was completely natural to feel shocked, doubtful, amazed, grateful, etc. Jesus' friends felt all of those things and it's OK for us to feel them today, too. (Quick side note - loved the Clear Creek Easter video on Facebook!) We then talked some about why it matters for us today that Jesus rose from the dead.
There were about 20 people who came for the Easter party, most of them people who have already been coming to our weekly Bible study. We pray that it was a good chance for them to learn what is at the very heart of our faith and why it's so important for our lives today!
Caleb with Zhang Wen Qiang - a student Lisa's been studying with for more than a semester
An Easter huddle
The famous Taylor/Bailey Easter Bunny Cake
April 25, 2012
Meet Shirley
Meet Shirley. Well, imagine at least. We don't have a picture of Shirley yet, so you'll just have to let your imagination run wild. Back to the point though. Shirley is one of Dale's students majoring in "Teaching Chinese to Foreigners". After getting a few really interesting, spiritual emails from some student named Shirley, Dale really looked into it and figured out exactly who she is.
Shirley sits in the front row of Dale's class because she has a disability that keeps her from using her legs well. She walks with a cane and needs a long time to get to and from the classrooms. Dale didn't realize all of this the first time he invited her to go eat lunch at the school cafeteria, but Shirley happily agreed. They talked about how all of her family is Buddhist, but she believes in God. Last semester she attended a local student Christian group on Sundays along with one of her good friends who rode Shirley on the back of her bike. Then this semester her friend got really busy and stopped going to the meetings. Shirley was too embarrassed to ask anyone else to take her to the meetings, so she stopped going. The Christians in the group had given her a Bible, which she took home during Chinese New Year. When Shirley's father found the Bible one day, he scolded her and threw the Bible in the trash.
Shirley is a special girl who has a heart already open to God. She's eager to know Him and she needs lots of love. Since that first lunch, Dale has packed a lunch every Tuesday before he goes to class so that he and Shirley can stay in the classroom (instead of walking across campus to the cafeteria). They talk together, study the Bible, and eat really poorly made sandwiches. Lots of things about Shirley's life seem sad, but she has lots of joy.
Please pray that Shirley will find everything she's looking for and needs - in Jesus - and that her heart will be fully opened to God's truth and goodness.
March 31, 2012
Peach Blossoms and Other Beautiful Things
I guess this is why we're good friends and teammates with the Clarks. They just posted about the beautiful weather, which is just what I was gonna do.
After two months of rain and cold, the sun has finally come out and God has given us a great spring! One of my unofficial rules for life is to have a half-day retreat by myself once a month. Usually I try to go to some natural place to walk around, be in nature, and get in touch with the Creator. I missed a few months because I was so busy and the weather was so "not-retreat-friendly", so I'm making up for it by going out every Thursday lately!
When we lived in Jingzhou I was usually limited to walking out among the farms and talking to old farmers (which was very cool!). In Shaoxing though, I'm finding lots of beautiful parks and mountains to visit. In Chinese parks, the key is to wade your way past the huge crowds in the front of the park to find the beautiful places in the back of the park that the mob never makes it to.
Two weeks ago I visited the Orchid Pavilion along with 1000 middle school students. It initially had TROUBLE written all over it as I had to bob and weave my way through 30 minutes of giggly, uniformed, young Chinese zombie crowds shouting "Hello!", "Welcome to CHEENA!", and "I love you, foreigner!". When I finally made it past the crowd I found a great mountain with a stream, caves for exploring (until my camera & flash battery died!), and a bamboo forest for a great nap.
Last week I went to Hou Shan for what was proudly called the 17th annual Peach Blossom Festival. This park was slightly less impressive with only 400 middle school students, but still amazing with lots of wildflowers, peach trees, a mountain, cool rock formations, and even a small waterfall.
Going to these places is lots of fun, but it also helps fill me up spiritually and make me feel alive. It's a lot easier to wrangle up conversations with random quiet students when I'm overflowing with energy and praise for my God. We're thankful to live in such a great place and thankful to be able to see His goodness in so many ways.
p.s. There are a lot more pictures of the Peach Blossom Extravaganza and Hou Shan at our Flickr page.
March 18, 2012
More about emails
Not to beat a dead horse, but there is still lots of great stuff going on via email with my students. So much so, in fact, that I've decided to write about it again. The last round of emails were focused on my story that I shared with my students. Then two weeks ago I gave them all the "Love your enemies..." quote from Jesus and asked them to email me their ideas, which has led to even more good conversations.
I found one girl who has been reading the Bible by herself for the last several months after a foreigner she met in Macao gave it to her. She had already read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and part of John. She was happy to find somebody else who reads it, she came to a meeting already, and has questions that she hopes somebody can help her with. I might try to hang out with her sometime :-) It can be tough to get people in the habit of reading their Bible, so to find a student who's already read through all 4 gospels on her own is pretty amazing.
Another student talked a lot about love, the problems of the world, and even included a prayer to Jesus in his email.
One girl told me that her best friend from high school was a Christian, she believed in God, and thought that she would become a "religious" Christian in the near future. She's also eager to read and study with somebody.
There was one other girl who told me about a dream that she had after she heard the quote. In the dream, all of her family rejected her, but Jesus came to her and told her these words about loving her enemies. Turns out her aunt is a Christian.
There are several other people who have said interesting things about the quote and talked back and forth with me about spiritual things. I think 2 or 3 of them came to the meeting in our house this last week. But these 4 were the ones that really stuck out. It's simply amazing that in a classroom of random faces, there are people like this sitting silently. Without the right opportunity or probing question, one might never find these people. It's great to know that God is working is so many ways!
