Happy Holidays!

Grace and peace to you from G0d our Father and our L0rd and S@vi0r J*s-s Chr*s+!

I will once again begin this post with an apology as I have been very unfaithful in maintaining my blog. Let it suffice to say that I have had very little spare time that went unfilled over the past month or so; consequently, my blog has been seemingly neglected. As it is, I don't believe I've posted since before Thanksgiving, so I guess I have a lot to be thankful for.

I am thankful first and foremost for the true meaning of Chr*stm@s, and I would ask you to join with me and the Ch_rch in China in celebrating this wonderful festival. Marvel with me at the mir@culous mystery: that manger means matchless mercy for mankind, as by G0d's grace He has granted us the greatest gift of all. He sent His  Son to save s*nners, of whom I am the worst. Here in China, we celebrated the holiday with our Chinese friends at a special party on Saturday. It was lots of fun. I got to meet new people, see old friends, and sing some songs. More importantly, we shared the Reason for the season with almost 200 friends, all of whom are in some way or another connected with our work here.

Secondly, I also have been bl*ssed to share this story, the history of the first Xmas with many s0uls who have never heard of it before in China. I am continually in awe of the fact that I have been counted worthy of sharing this g0sp*l, even I, who have been nothing but evil since conception. Still, I know that it is not I who am worthy, but the Lamb who makes me worthy. This provides me great comfort, even while I am far away.

Third, I am thankful for my dear family, who have been supporting me from afar. Mom and Dad, thanks for raising me the way you did. I wouldn't be the man I am today, and I wouldn't be His man today, if you had not provided for me in all the wonderful ways that you did. Cindy, Chris, Carrie--you have all been wonderful older siblings for me (and here in China, I suppose I had better make a distinction between elder and younger siblings). Thanks for being role models throughout the years, for encouraging me when I needed it, and for providing your wisdom when I am not so wise. Ben, I am proud of the man you are becoming. It's been an honor to be your brother. Remember even when you struggle that He is with you. Corey, Cara, Dan--thanks for being such wonderful additions to our family. Aurora, Elijah, Gabriel--thanks for providing our family with so much joy. I suppose I could add Grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins, but then I would be writing a long time. I love you all very deeply, and I miss you here in China.

Fourth, I am thankful for my friends. Whether my friends at home in the States or here in China, I am thankful for all the people that He has placed in my life. I'm glad that we could meet each other and spur each other on as the Day approaches. I also appreciate the many friendships that I have. Thanks for the good times, and I look forward to more in the future.

Next, I am thankful for my students. I am thankful for both those who come to study the Word and those who study English at my schools. They provide my life with a purpose for the moment. I love them all, and I have been privileged to share with them the story of the first Chr*stm@s here over the last couple weeks. Even in the classroom, I have shared the Luke 2 account, sowing the seed and trusting that He will take care of the rest.

Finally, I am thankful for you, dear reader. I suppose you probably belong to one of the groups above, but those of you who know me understand that I am not simply flattering you; I simply wish to take this opportunity to thank you personally for all that you have done for me. You are a bl*ssing in my life, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

I suppose there are many other details that I could share with you about my life in China. My co-teacher, Ivy, has started an English corner at our college. Essentially, an English corner is an event where the students come together to practice their English a little more freely outside of a classroom setting. Our first night, Ivy and I were joined by my roommate David and Jess Gierach, another FoC teacher from the center of Wuhan.  It seems, however, that I was the star of the show. Many of my students joined us, and they were excited to meet my other American friends and ask me all sorts of questions about my life. I got to share a little bit about what I believe.

The first English corner was such a success (I think we had about 200 students talking to three foreigners and one Chinese teacher) that we decided to repeat it. This time, however, I was the only foreigner who was able to attend, and due to final exams there were far fewer students there. Ivy and I organized some activities, namely an icebreaker, speed-dating (which was an utter failure because after a couple minutes virtually all the girls tried to "speed date" me), and the game telephone. I hope we can organize more events like this in the future, because it gives me an opportunity to answer questions about what I believe and why I believe it.

That is, I suppose, a summary of my adventures thus far. I suppose I could write a post twice this long and tell you about my adventures car-shopping with my friend Liang Jun, or about our Thanksgiving parties,or about how I survived Doomsday, or about what I got for Christmas, or about my romantic interests in China (a hot topic, I know). Or I could leave that for those who are interested. If you wish to contact me, you know how to find me. If you're interested, I'll tell you. Here I have detailed the important things. I'm still enjoying my China life, and I am very bl*ssed to be here now.

I have had a wonderful day this Chr*stmas Day, and I wish all of you similarly a very bl*ssed Chr*stmas!

Halloween, Hong Kong, and Hangzhou

Grace and peace to all of you back home!

I should start this post with an apology. I have been rather busy, and as a result I have neglected my blog. This, of course, has a few direct consequences: 1) you have not heard about my exploits much over the last three weeks, and 2) this post will be rather lengthy as I try to pack in all the information from the last few weeks. My apologies, and with that, I hope to jump into this post.

The last week of October was a wonderful time for me. I got to teach my students all about Halloween, and as they had few previous conceptions of the day, their idea of Halloween in the United States is based almost entirely on what I said in class. I also bought candy for my lucky students at Luo Jia College (my students at Wuhan City Vocational College weren't so fortunate--their classes got cancelled that week, so I didn't give them any candy). After all, I figure, what college student wouldn't love to have a piece of candy during class? They were mostly hard candy's similar to Werther's (the caramels), except that they were a Chinese brand and came in various flavors--caramel, milk, coffee, strawberry, raspberry, and mixed berry. I also got a sort of fake Chinese Starbursts, but my students ate them all before I got a chance to try them. They must have been good.

In class, I got to explain the holiday, and I figured that it would be even better reinforced by "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown." We didn't get through the whole thing in my class because we simply had too many things to talk about, and I wanted to make sure they understood Halloween in American culture, and I wanted to answer the questions of any curious questions. Still, watching the video made planning my class a little easier.

That Friday, we had a party in Hankou (one of the districts in Wuhan) to celebrate Stephanie Humann's birthday. It was apparently a big day for birthdays, because it was my sister Cindy's birthday too--happy birthday again, Cindy! :) --as well as Brian Gephart's father's birthday. We threw a big party and invited all our Chinese friends to come join us for karaoke, but a costume was a requirement. I spent a while brainstorming for a great costume idea, and I must warn you that this costume may not be safe for small children. My roommate David gave me the suggestion that I should dress like a mental patient, and I manipulated it a bit, but I still looked like someone/something that came out of a psych ward. In fact, it was so scary that between Stephanie's apartment and KTV (where we sing karaoke), I scared a few people to the point that one lady actually jumped when she saw me. Of course, this was probably compounded by the fact that I remained committed to my character during our one-block walk to KTV.

The following week was a short week at school because I had to cancel my classes for my students at Luo Jia College because I needed to change my visa over to a business visa so that I can stay for the remainder of the year. At the time, my visa only allowed me to stay as a tourist for 90 days, and that time would nearly be up. To that end, I traveled to Hong Kong, although not before testing my less fortunate students at Wuhan City Vocational College. I now have the privilege of telling all of you that testing Chinese students is no pleasurable experience for me; it becomes quickly apparent which students take notes, which ones aren't listening in class, and which ones only occasionally attend my class. Many of their tests were less than desirable.

I went to Hong Kong with fellow FoCers Stephanie Humann and Lisa Nickle. My roommate David was also supposed to come along with us, but his school did not fill out his paperwork in time, so he had to cancel his train ticket. We took a soft sleeper (which is the most expensive kind of seat) train to Shenzhen on the border of Hong Kong. We found that what formerly had been David's bed was filled again with a young French woman named Faha (or something like that) who is studying Chinese here in Wuhan at one of the universities in the area. She got to be part of our group for the night and half the morning, and it was interesting to see another person from a Western culture.

We experienced a lot of Western culture in Hong Kong, however, as the city has a heavy British influence to this day and enjoys many freedoms that the rest of China does not have. We went to the U.S. Consulate, with a lot of help from the natives, who often spoke perfect English, and we discovered there that we actually needed to go to the Chinese Embassy, so we took a taxi there. We filled out our paperwork with some difficulty, and then we went for lunch.

That night we met with Katie Huebner, who graciously allowed us to stay at her apartment during the duration of our stay. She is a fellow Lakeside alumn; even though she is a few years older than I, it was still nice to have someone who can relate to those things. I met many wonderful people in Hong Kong, inluding, but not limited to: 1) Ruby, a young woman who apparently studied at MLC (although I never met her there) and has now moved to the United States where she will live with a young man who is a student at WLS and was an RA at MLC during the time that I was there. 2) Stanley Chan, a WLC grad who is also a student at ALS (and for those of you who don't know, this will be my standard abbreviation for Asia L-ther@n S*min@ry). He was just a joy to talk to, partly because his English, which is perfect, is filled with all sorts of Midwesternisms that just made me laugh. I had a wonderful time in Hong Kong, and I am glad that I will be returning there in the spring (late February) for the FoC retreat, because I was unable to see all the wonderful sites there. What I saw was still excellent. We climbed a peak and saw the city at night, we explored the history museum there, and we did some authentic Hong Kong shopping.

We returned home to Wuhan early Sunday morning. Karl Gurgel was a guest speaker at our Sunday gathering, and he also came to teach at the ALS satellite that was meeting in Wuhan last week. I was glad that I was able to attend one class; the Chinese shepherd candidates and I went through the background and first chapter of the g0sp-l according to Luke under the instruction of Professor Gurgel. It was a wonderfull experience to be able to study with future Chinese shepherds (two of whom are from Wuhan), not to mention that I love being a student.

Then this last weekend, I went with a few other FoC teachers to Hangzhou, China's paradise city. The weather there was a little warmer than Wuhan, but the city was so much cleaner. Both Hong Kong and Hangzhou gave me hope that I might be able to breathe unpolluted air again someday. About 10 of us from Wuhan went there for the marathon, a few to watch but most to run. We were signed up as a team. We ran about 7 kilometers at varying speeds. My roommate David was the only serious teacher among the group, so he came in with a good time (running about 6 minute miles). I ran with my co-teacher, a young Chinese woman named Ivy. We ran around some beautiful scenery, apparently including the most romantic lake in all of China. Hangzhou's West Lake is absolutely gorgeous, although not as big as Wuhan's East Lake. I wasn't able to take any pictures, though, because I was seriously running (unlike some of the Chinese people who stopped, walked, took pictures, and shouted out "foreigner!" in Chinese at whatever point they wanted). I believe among us Wuhaners, Ivy and I took second and third place, respectively. Jess Gierach and Nicole Lehman, my co-workers from central Wuchang (one of the districts of Wuhan) came in after us, rounded out by Kelsey Steffens and Sarah (Sternemann) Koerber. Other FoCers ran in different races, including Hannah Schmiege and Nathan King, both from Hangzhou, who ran the full marathon. I was rather impressed. We made quite a day out of it.

But the thing that gave me the most joy over the weekend was not the race, but the warship. We all got together Saturday night, and there were so many of us we could hardly fit into the apartment. In fact, I was practically sitting on Mike Luedtke's lap (he is a former FoC teacher-turned student who is studying in Beijing). We belted out the pr@ise of our King in a way I haven't heard in a long time. It was a beautiful thing. We talked a little about those who have entered the Kingdom before us and the second coming. It was very encouraging.

Dragonwell Tea

Of course, we also had our fair share of fun with our brothers and sisters in Hangzhou as well. The men went to the tea fields while the women went wedding dress shopping. We went to Decathlon, a store that sells all sorts of sports equipment. Among other things, I bought a 70-liter hiking backpack for around $75 U.S. dollars. It's great, and it will be incredibly useful to me when I travel again. We sang some karaoke. A number of them went out to the bar, but it was already late and I had a race the next day, so I opted not to go. Some got to go repelling from the roof of an apartment, but the cops showed up and stopped us just before my turn came. (We'll have to do it again in some other place where people aren't so concerned about it.) I got to attend a Chinese club where it became obvious that my Chinese is very minimal, but I hope that I can continue to learn more. I am taking classes once a week, and maybe we can start up a similar Chinese club in Wuhan.

All too soon, the weekend drew to a close, and it was time for us to leave. And these are, of course just the highlights. I'm sure I can share more pictures with anyone interested once I get back to the states, and maybe I can post more on facebook. Overall, though, I think it was a wonderful experience, and I've come back to Wuhan refreshed for my work here.

Once again, I apologize for my long posts. I suppose that is just the way I write: when I have time, including whatever seems important to me at the time, and rather wordy. Please accept my sincere apologies--unless you prefer to reject them!

China is a wonderful place, and if you're still reading this, I would encourage you to come visit some time. (We have a spare bedroom!)

Love and pr@yers to all who are far away. I miss you all more than you know. May He keep you in His tender care now and always.

Turning over a New Wheel

Grace and peace to you all from China!

Another week has gone by with its own unique events and situations. I now have had by far my most Chinese experience here in China. David and I met with a friend named Liang Jun last weekend. (He does not have an English name.) He made acquaintance with David by simply insisting he speak English with him. As it turns out, Liang Jun really needs to practice English; its very hard for us to understand him because his English is very poor. Last Saturday, we were planning to go out for supper with him, and we had said we would go get some Kung Pao chicken. We know a place that sells it just down the street for cheap, so we thought we would be eating a cheap meal, and we would be home in an hour. Liang Jun, as it turns out, had other plans. We got in a taxi and went in the other direction. He took us to an upper class restaurant/hotel with a massive chandalier haning down in the entry hall. We had to change our shoes for flip-flops, which didn't seem all that unusual to me because we don't wear shoes indoors at people's homes, here; we do, however, still wear them at restaurants, but  I didn't think much of it. Next we went to a locker room, where I was given a locker, and I took off my jacket thinking that this must be an upscale restaurant, and maybe I would be required to wear their jacket. The next thing I remember is turning around and seeing Liang Jun completely unclothed. He told David and me that we would need to bathe, so I figured when in Rome...I took a shower, but when I got out, David and Liang Jun were nowhere to be seen, so I went back to my locker where I toweled off, but still could not find David or Liang Jun. Some of the attendants at this place, who, of course, were all men in the men's locker room, pointed me in the direction of a place where I could put some clothing on. They provided me with what seemed like underwear; it was paper thin. Then Liang Jun found me and brought me to the sauna, where I suppose he and David had been. We sat and sweated for a bit, and then we went to cool off in the pool It was very shallow and full of naked men, so David and I felt a little uncomfortable. After we had sit in there for as long as we could bear (maybe 15 minutes or so), David got out, and Liang Jun and I followed suit. We went back and put on the paper-thin underwear with a similar top; together they made what seemed like pajamas. We continued on upstairs to the dining hall in our pajamas, where we saw many other people (including women, now). Everyone seemed to be wearing similar pajamas, so that made it a little less awkward, although I'm still not sure that the ones I had were "tailored" to fit a man as large as myself. Either way, we ate well there. It was buffet style, and there were some very nice dishes. We had beef, shrimp (which I don't particularly care for), fried bananas, fried noodles, fried rice, and many other dishes. We even had ice cream, although it tasted different from the ice cream we were used to in the U.S. After supper, we went to the game room where David and Liang Jun played ping pong, and we all played pool afterwards. We then proceded to the resting area, where we each had a couch to recline. Liang Jun called for a massage for each of us, which was rather awkward for David and me because we were still in our paper-thin pajamas, and the masseuses here are not afraid to massage uncomfortable areas (such as the upper thighs, hands, hindquarters, etc.). But after we finished our massages David and I convinced Liang Jun that we had to go home, so we got away after that (maybe three and a half hours after we had left).

I also would like to talk about the work we are doing here in Wuhan. At school last week, I got to explain the story of John 4 to one of my students who was asking me about the Book. Another student told me that she is Chr*stian, but she doesn't believe in G0d. Our Tuesday and Wednesday studies are growing, though. We had a new friend join us at song study on Tuesday, and she returned for our Romans study on Wednesday. We had another new friend at Romans study, where many of our friends told us they had learned a lot during our study of Romans 6. Next week, we hope to go through Romans 8.

Other than that, I have a couple personal stories to share. Earlier today, David and I went with Liang Jun (who seems in the habit of inviting us to extravagant events) to a wedding. We didn't know the bride and groom, and Liang Jun's English is very poor. That made it somewhat uncomfortable, compounded by the fact that the people we sat with didn't speak English, so David and I could only really communicate with each other. We were treated as honored guests, however. We tried many traditional Chinese dishes, or so we were told, and the bride and groom came over to our table for a mini-toast. The groom even shook my hand (and he didn't shake those of other members of the table) to thank us for attending their wedding, I think. This all took place at some sort of fancy hotel/restaurant, where an emcee may have performed the marriage, but I'm just not really sure. It may just have been a wedding banquet.

Finally, I have been riding my bike to school this week. It's about 35 minutes or so by bike, so it's far away, but I would also say that the ride is very exhilarating. The problem was that, on my way the first day, I discovered that my tire was flat, and I was going extraordinarily slow. Fortunately, my co-teacher was riding to school with me, so we stopped at a bike repair shop and had it fixed up. The real problem came in that night, when I discovered that my tire was flat again and the inner tube tire was off the track. I was alone this time. I had to be back home by a certain time, and I was supposed to ride my bike again to school the next day with my co-teacher (and it wouldn't be safe to leave it there overnight), so I walked my bike for about half an hour or so until the tire was back on its track. Then I rode it home the rest of the way, probably to the detriment of my tire. Needless to say, the next day I had to buy a new tire for my bike, and I rode to school without problems. That night, however, my other tire was flat, so I had to get a new inner tire for that. Fortunately, this time my co-teacher had waited around to ride back with me, so she helped me find another repair shop and with the Chinese again. Hopefully, that will resolve my bike problems for a while.

That's the last two weeks in review! Hopefully next time I'll have some new stories to share. Until then, you are in my thoughts and pr@yers. Please pr@y also for us here, that He would prosper our work.

Peace be with you all.

Desert Storm

Grace and peace to you all from G0d our Father and our L0rd and S@vi0r J-s-s Chr*s+.

I know this is coming a bit late, but my internet was down during the free part of my week this week, and I am publishing this as soon as I can.

I promised that I would fill you all in on the details of my vacation, so here goes.

David, my roommate and I, left our apartment early Saturday afternoon to go to the train station. It was very busy, and all the buses were overly crowded. We had just decided that we should go in a taxi instead when we managed to squeeze on the bus, even with our huge bags. We met up with some other FOC teachers going on the trip with us, and we left on the train to Zhengzhou.

We only had standing tickets for our first train, so we spent six hours on our feet, trying to keep each other entertained into the early hours of the morning. The train was so crowded when new people came on. Sometimes we thought we would be squished to death. But we made it off at about 1 in the morning, and we stayed the night in the hotel, where we met up with some more of our friends from Wuhan.

We spent the following morning in Zhengzhou, ate lunch, and then got on the train for our destination: Yinchuan, a city in Northwestern China. Our train ride was about 19 hours this time, but this time we had hard sleeper tickets. A hard sleeper provides you with a bed. It's fairly firm, and I guess that's where they get the name "hard" sleeper, but it was actually very comfortable for me. They stack three hard sleepers like bunk beds, one above the other, but they provide even me with enough room to sit up, so they really aren't bad. I got to talk to some of the other teachers on the way, and we played some card games, too.

We arrived in Yinchuan on Monday morning, and we explored the city a little. It is a much smaller city than Wuhan, with only about 1 or 2 million people. The air seemed cleaner, which was nice, but there were two things that defined Yinchuan for me. First of all, perhaps because it was a national holiday, we were the only foreigners there. In Wuhan, I can see other Americans or people from other nations on a somewhat regular basis, but in Yinchuan, all eyes were on us. What's more, I learned that the city has a large Muslim presence. I saw that street signs had Arabic in addition to Chinese and English. We explored the city for two days, visiting sites that our friends from Yinchuan recommended, including the city square, which had what seemed like a temple to Mao Zedong, who is absolutely everywhere in China.

Tristan the camel

After our time in Yinchuan, we went with some other FoC teachers to the desert. We thought that we were going to the Gobi Desert, but as it turns out, we went in the opposite direction, so we have no idea which desert we actually visited. I got acquainted with some of the other teachers that I didn't know on the 3-hour bus ride there. Once we arrived in the desert, we met our camel friends, the main attraction of our desert trip. We got on our camels fairly quickly, and many of us starting giving names to our camels. I named mine Tristan, after the knight of the Round Table, because mine seemed to have a certain lordly gait about him. We quickly realized, however, that riding on a camel for an hour wasn't as pleasurable as we had hoped. I should rather say that it was fun, but at the end of an hour, I was ready to get off because my legs were sore. In fact, the saddle rubbed against the back of my legs in such a way that it ripped the hair off my skin, leaving a large red rash in its place. I am, however, recovered, but I still don't have the hair on the back of my legs.

The desert was very scenic, for the most part, and far more bearable than I ever imagined as a child. We had a supply of water, of course, and our guides made sure we never wandered too far from the city (where they got our food), but we enjoyed the real desert experience. We played ultimate frisbee the first night of our stay, and we gathered around a campfire for devotion and songs. We drank beer and Chinese liquor (which is basically everclear) to keep warm, and we settled down for the night. I planned for it to be very cold at night, but unfortunately, I was still not warm enough. I woke up at about three in the morning, and I didn't fall asleep again because I was simply too cold. I finally got up at six to watch the sunrise, but it didn't come up for another hour after that. I spent my time shivering until our guides made a fire for breakfast.

The second day went pretty easy. We had breakfast, set out late, took a nap in the afternoon after lunch time, and enjoyed some writing in the sand. We didn't spend any more time on the camels the second day than we did the first, but I think the group in general had had enough of the camel riding and just wanted to enjoy the desert scenery. We decided to take some group photos (which can be seen on Facebook, courtesy of my roommate David Blumer), and that was when we saw the storm coming up on the horizon. We could see rain and lightning in the distance, which never reached us of course, seeing as we were in the desert, but the storm did make its way into our path. We had to tie down our tents well into the side of a dune to provide protection from the wind, which blasted sand all over our faces.

That night, we split our devotions into the men and the women. I can't speak for the women, but the men had a blast. We had little success lighting a fire by digging a deeper hole and using matches, but we managed to get the fire going with a makeshift flamethrower made out of a can of spray-deodorant and a lighter. We talked openly as men of courage, and I say with some confidence that we were all strengthened by the experience.

That night I discovered that our tent (I shared a tent with Olli, a young Chinese man from Wuhan) did not have a working door, so I zipped it up as best I could. Fortunately, we had been given more blankets than the previous night, and the air temperature seemed to be a bit warmer, but at the same time sand kept blowing in because of the storm. I think we all were trying to get the sand out of our hair and ears and everywhere else the following morning.

The next day we needed to head out early. The FoC teachers were splitting up again later in the day. Those of us from Wuhan had to catch trains. I had the opportunity to lead the devotion on the way back to the city. I used the words of Psalm 121, but I also noticed that just about everyone seemed too tired to pay much attention. Back in Yinchuan, we had lunch, showered off, cleaned up, and left for the train station.

Of the 10 of us Wuhaners, 8 stopped in Xian on the way back. Five of us (Kelsey Steffens, Hannah Klusmeyer, Lisa Nickle, David Blumer, and yours truly) stayed there for two days. We made good use of our time. We explored the city a little, but on the first day we visited the Terracotta Warriors while the other three (Lyrica Zhang, Nathan and Sarah Koerber) were still with us. There was a lot of history to see in a little time. The five of us who were staying for two days bid the other three farewell and stayed the night at a hostel, where we had some nice beer with a couple of young German men who were traveling in China.

The following day we visited a shop we had heard about from one of our fellow teachers in Wuhan, Stephanie Humann. There we met a lady named Helen who sold scrolls. We heard her story, which I will not tell here for security reasons, but needless to say we were overjoyed to meet her. I bought a couple of scrolls. One was so beautiful that I had to get it. It has the words of Psalm 27:4 written in Chinese, with the illustration of a man rowing a boat into the fog on a large river surrounded by cliffs. (I recommend you look the passage up if you don't know it off hand--I'd rather not share it here). All in all, I think the five of us agreed that meeting Helen, not seeing the Terracotta Warriors, was the highlight of our stay in Xian. We also walked on top of the wall in Xian and saw some sights from there, but then we had to move on to the train.

The ride back presented me with an opportunity. Lisa Nickle and I sat next to a young man whose English name was Alan. He was eager to practice English with us, and over the course of our time on the train (we were on for about 14 hours overnight), we got to share the message with him. I have no idea whether he believed or not; in fact, I very much doubt it, but perhaps we planted a seed that He will use on His time.

When David and I returned to our apartment, we found that the internet was not working, which is the reason this post was so delayed. There are many more things I could add now, but I suppose this will have to add them in future posts due to the length of this one.

Pr@yers go out to all of you. Please ask our Father to give His aid to our work here, to prosper and grow the flock of believers, and to give His workers patience, wisdom, and the courage to get out there and speak His message. Greetings to all, especially to the brothers and sisters from L*rd of Love!

The grace of our L*rd J-s-s Chr*s+ be with your spir-t.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Grace and peace to you in abundance through J-s-s Chr*s+ our S@vi0r.

I will write in a rush this week because I have to leave for the train soon. This next week is Mid-Autumn Festival, combined with Chinese National Day. I was told the Mid-Autumn Festival is the 2nd biggest holiday in all of China, rivaled only by the Spring Festival (which I think may be Chinese New Year, but I'm not 100% sure at this point). It's a holiday about family. Most of my students are going back home, but we had to have class on Saturday to make up for the classes we will be missing next week. (I conveniently postponed some of my Saturday classes so I could make the train.) The festival, as it's been explained to me, is about family togetherness and unity. There are also some legends about the moon falling in love with a young man on earth, but their romance was forbidden by the moon's mother (and that's all the farther I got into the story before I had to start class again--sorry). Long story short, families here eat cake in the shape of a moon to celebrate their unity.

I mentioned the train. I will be traveling to Yinchuan this week for the vacation. I will go through the Gobi Desert on camel and get together with some of the other FoC teachers. I'm sorry, but due to time constraints, I will not be attaching any pictures to this post. Look for pictures next week; I should have lots of pictures of my travels to Yinchuan, which is in the northwestern part of China.

Pr@yers for all of you. May the All Mighty keep you all safe. I love and miss you all. Pr@y also for me, that my vacation may be restful and help me as I continue my service here when I return.

Peace to all.

Spectacular

Grace and peace are yours from G-d our Father and from our L0rd and S@vi0r J-s-s Chr+st.

Another week has gone by, and this one, too, has been quite eventful. We began our studies this week. Our first one was a song study; we went through "I am J-s-s' Little Lamb" and explored various passages that relate to the song. The following day, I had the privilege of leading our study on the book of Romans. Both times, I was astonished by the questions and comments that came up during our sessions. I got to introduce the ap*stle Paul to some people, going through the story of his conversion. One student astutely asked what G-d did to the evil things he had done beforehand, and I was bl-ssed to give the answer: He forgave him. Other such questions were asked, and although most of our students are not Chr+stians, they are still learning many new things.

Classes continued as normal this week. I dare say I'm even starting to like teaching. I was surprised when students came to sit in on my class. Apparently, I'm the only foreign teacher on the faculty at Luo Jia Technical College (one of my two universities), and that's something of a big deal. One of those who sat in, a young man named Jeremy, told me that I'm "the special one." The ones that came to visit also were the most eager, I believe, to make the most of their opportunities. They were quick to offer their opinions and have a native English speaker tell them how their English is coming along.

My diet here seems to be fairly healthy. I eat a lot of noodles or rice. Usually we get them fried, and most of the time they come with meat (beef or pork, generally) and a healthy portion of vegetables. I am amazed how the Chinese can make me appreciate veggies. I did learn this week, however that our food contains MSG, which is illegal in the U.S. I have no idea why that might be; if anyone knows why that's supposed to kill me, feel free to leave me a comment. Otherwise, when I'm not in the mood for those things, I generally go get some sort of bread from Lucky's Cake Shop, a bakery that is conveniently located right across the street from my 7th-floor apartment. They make all sorts of things that satisfy my craving for bread. I also generally have bread and yogurt for breakfast here; I have yet to find cereal, and the milk here just isn't worth drinking. I did find one kind of milk that I enjoy, however. Minute Maid produces flavored milks here. They mix fruits with milk. I've had strawberry, some sort of citrus, and peach; those of you who know can already figure out that the peach is my favorite.

One of our favorite places to eat is a particular noodle shop that the FOC team refers to as Muslim noodles. It has that name because the owners are Muslim; our particular branch is run by a man whose name I cannot pronounce, but David and I told him that we were giving him the English name Eddy. We feel the noodles there are healthier because they have a large portion of vegetables and a little meat. For about two U.S. dollars, I get two full meals from him (because I can't eat all the noodles they give me in one sitting, usually). But by far the most sensational part is watching him make the noodles. He makes them from a ball of dough and separates them with his hands. I am fascinated by his precision, and the meals are delicious.

I got an authentic Chinese massage today, and although nothing inappropriate happened, I will say that the masseuse was not hesitant to massage just about anything. She didn't get my feet, but she got just about everything else from my head down, including my hands, ears, calves--you name it. I think I can still feel my shoulders cracking as I type this.

But my greatest pleasure in China this week was undoubtedly the opportunity to lead the Sunday service. I pre@ched on Mark 8 today, telling my fellow FOC teachers that as Chr+stians, we must bear our crosses. I have prepared a list of the top 11 things (because a top 10 list is just too boring) I thought would be different about my first serm0n.

1. I always pictured that it would happen in the United States.
2. I always thought that I would be studying at the s*minary when it happened.
3. I always pictured that it would happen in an actual ch-rch building; here we just rent an apartment.
4. I thought I would be wearing dress shoes; here, we take our shoes off at the door and exchange them for flip-flops.
5. I always thought that I would have months to work on my script; here, I started writing it on Monday and finished on Wednesday.
6. I always thought I would have plenty of time to practice speaking it; here, I got the okay from our shepherd at about 8:30 pm on Saturday night.
7. I always pictured that there would be a larger congregation; here, we had about 15 FOC teachers from the city.
8. I always thought that I would be incredibly nervous before I started giving it; here, I knew I was just delivering the message to a small group of my friends.
9. I always pictured that I would be wearing a tie and maybe a suit; here, no one wears ties on Sunday.
10. I always pictured that I would give the message from a raised platform or a pu1pit; here, there are two teachers that I look up to when we are standing (one of whom was sitting in the front row).
11. I never pictured that I would be wearing glasses during my first serm0n. That's right, I bought glasses here this week. It was a wonderful deal. For under 20 U.S. dollars, I got a free eye exam, some cool frames and a pair of lenses that improve my vision. And that's the reason for the title this week: I am now "spectacle-ular" or something like that.

Thanks for reading my lengthy post again. Pr@yers go out to you all, especially for my newly washed nephew and godchild, Gabriel Ewings. The peace of the L0rd be with you all.

The Other Side of the Desk

Grace and peace to all in the name of our L*rd J-s-s Chr+st.

I have now been in China for two weeks and am adjusting to life here. This week was full of many events and surprises. My roommate David and I shared some adventures. Others were enjoyed by a larger group of us with Friends of China. I visited some new places, but perhaps foremost on my mind after this week is school.

I am now a veteran teacher of two weeks. I have met many students and found for every student I remember, there are ten students whose name I cannot even guess. Many of them are excited to know me. I learned this week that for some of them, I am something of a last hope for a successful life. I teach at two colleges: Wuhan City Vocational College, where I have taught both weeks that I've been here, and Luo Jia Technical College (or something like that), where I started classes this week. In the former, I teach juniors who care very little about schooling any more, and it is likely that their attitude will prevent most of them from ever succeeding. At the latter, I teach more impressionable sophomores. Ben, I don't know whether you read this blog or not, but I think all of my sophomore girls are in love with you. I showed them a picture of you in  class. To them, you are tall, handsome, strong, athletic, funny, rich, American...in short, everything they are looking for in a man. Someone even told me that I should try to convince you to come to China. Anyhow, my sophomores admitted to me that they attend the school because they failed the college entrance exam. That means that pretty much all the respectable schools in China won't accept them because they are poor students. Both schools that I teach at are fourth or fifth-rate schools, not top of the line (like our American schools are). For them, it is a bit unusual to have a foreign teacher. I represent opportunity in their eyes; if I can help them learn English well, they hope they can then get a better career because of their expert language skills.

The problem with this is that I only get to teach them for two hours once a week, so they won't really learn much from me beyond what they put in. I can correct their mistakes, but the most basic part of my job is to bring up things for them to discuss and practice their English. I do teach vocabulary, but the emphasis of my class is largely to make college students more confident in their existent English skills. In general, I am impressed with the English they know; in many ways, I wish I knew as much Chinese as they know English.

Teaching also comes with its own opportunities. In most of my classes this week, I was able to admit that I am a Chr+stian. A couple of my students were very excited when I said this because they also share that f@ith. Perhaps that can be an opening too. More opportunities also presented themselves. During my first class at Luo Jia, one of my students, a young man named Janet (so called because apparently it is very close to his Chinese name; I am not in any way responsible for giving him a woman's name) admitted that his greatest fear is an upcoming surgery on his mother. I pulled him aside after class, told him I am a Chr+stian, and asked him if I could pr@y for him and his mother. Of course, he had no objection to this.

Similarly, that same day I became utterly convinced that G_d has a sense of humor. At lunch time I was a little worried because I knew where to get food, but I had no idea how to get it. I don't speak much Chinese, and I don't read it at all, so I cannot get around a menu unless it has pictures. But as I walked down the hall from my classroom, I ran into a man named Wu Liming, whose English name is Jerry. He is an English teacher at the college, and he is 54 years old (and I remarked with him that he is remarkably close to your age, but not your stature, dad). It's almost as if I could hear a voice saying, "Here's a s0ul that needs to know me; Andrew, you should get to know him." Jerry showed me around the cafeteria, and we ate lunch together. When I pr@yed before my meal, he asked me if I had to do that, and I was able to respond quite honestly that I want to. We walked around the campus for the rest of our lunch break (we get two hours for lunch in China), and we talked the whole time. He offered to help me learn Chinese and be a tour guide around Wuhan, as he is a Wuhan native.

We also did our fair share of tourism this week. David and I toured a Buddhist temple, where we saw people burning incense to/for their ancestors. Some monks assisted in the ceremony. It is sad to see that S@tan hides so securely behind this mask. In many ways, it reminds me of the pre-Reformation Catholic church. They charge money for their services to ensure a better life. I even learned that, if you pay enough money, the monks guarantee that in the next life, you will be reborn in the United States. While we were at the temple, we also climbed up a pagoda from 1280 A.D. It was, in my opinion, like climbing up a hobbit tower. The stairway made me bend over and squeeze through the holes, and even then I got chalk and dust all over my backpack. At the top many people wrote their names or initials or whatever else they may have said in Chinese. I also chose to inscribe the reference John 14:6, and I added the sign of the cross.

We also toured the Yellow Crane Tower, Wuhan's legendary tower, earlier today. Jerry, my friend from school, was my tour guide, and he told me many interesting things as we walked. The tower has its name because, when it was first built, in around 220 A.D., yellow cranes came to roost there. The tower subsequently burned down, and the cranes naturally flew away. But when it was rebuilt, the cranes returned, giving rise to the legend or at least the name. The tower has been rebuilt many times throughout its nearly 2000 year history; the current rendition was erected in 1985.

But, perhaps most importantly, we had a party this week. I say this is most important because it was a party for our prospective B+ble study (which I will henceforth refer to simply as "study") students. Other FoC teachers came to the party, as did our shepherd, Adam Gawel, and his family. But about as many Chinese came as did Americans. I met many new people and got to know some other friends better. I was able to talk about Greek with one of Wuhan's shepherd candidates. One of our friends even talked American politics with us (although he doesn't know the topic as well as he thought). We played games, and we are hoping to start up our studies next week.

I thank you all for reading this far; this is getting rather lengthy, but a lot happened to us this week. Thanks also for the pr@yers. My pr@yers go out to you, especially for my new nephew, Gabriel Lucas Ewings, who is also my godson. May He be with you throughout your life, and may you always remember that He is your strength.

Greet the brothers and sisters for me. May the bl-ssing of the L*rd J-s-s Chr+st be with you all!

Arrival

Grace and peace to you, my brothers and sisters far away!

I arrived in China a week ago yesterday, early in the morning. Then I was still waiting for another plane ride with Hannah Klusmeyer, Lisa Nickle, and my roommate David Blumer. We were just itching to arrive at our new homes, to settle down and get to the Work. I am still adjusting, but I suppose that, to a greater or lesser extent, I will be doing that for most of my stay here.

It is hard to think that I have been here for a full week in China, and yet it's only been one week. So many things have happened since I arrived here. I have been bl-ssed to meet many friends, some of whom are returning teachers here in Wuhan; others are our Chinese friends, a few who are already followers of the Way. I had the privilege of attending ch-rch with the Chinese, and although I understood very little of what was said, my heart was refreshed to see the brothers and sisters here in this country. I proudly raised my voice in honor of our mutual King.

I live in Wuhan, a city of 10 million s0uls. The vast majority of them know nothing of the Good Book. This struck me particularly hard when one of my students told me that as her English name she chose "Monkey" in part because our ancestors were monkeys. Or when I visited a Buddhist temple in town only to find that it is still actively used, even by young people. Those are just two instances, and in a week at that. This place, too, needs to hear the Good News of G-d's Kingdom.

The fact that I have students also implies that I have a job. I've been through a few radical changes in that regard. At first I was promised that I would be teaching university level students. Then I was told that I would only be teaching one day a week at the university, and I would be teaching every other week in a primary school. I have since then been hired full-time by two universities in the area to teach Oral English; I taught my first class on Wednesday. Although my salary is desirable (as I will be making a fair sum of money more than I may need--which will be useful, because I intend to travel outside of my city while I'm here), I still do not have a "full" schedule. I teach six hours of class on Wednesday, eight on Friday (at a different university, where I will also be teaching on Fridays), and four hours on Friday. Considering that I am teaching college, that may seem like a lot, but I will be teaching the same lesson pretty much all three days, so that will require less prep time.

I bought a bike here in Wuhan. It seems a little small, but I'm told that it is a popular brand from Beijing. It's called a "Flying Pigeon." Aside from the fact that I'm adjusting to navigating in big city traffic, it has been very useful to me. Biking here is an excellent mode of transportation because you can literally drive wherever you want as long as you don't cause an accident. Cars have to obey the rules, but bikers can be seen on the sidewalks, riding in either direction on the street, walking up hills...And it's impossible to mention biking without bringing up dinking. Dinking is when a second (or third, in some cases!) passenger rides on the back of the bike sitting above the wheel with legs "perpendicular" to the actual length of the bike. My little experience dinking (I was, of course, the one doing the dinking, not being dinked), tells me that after you learn to adjust to the added weight, it is easier. I am still not very good, but I hope to be something of a pro by the time I leave. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that, but I hope to upload them at another time.

I should also mention something of my apartment. David and I share a nice, 3-bedroom apartment. We have air control in two of the bedrooms and the living room, which is quite spacious. David and I played rock-paper-scissors to determine who got the "master" bedroom (or the large bedroom), and I won, so I have a nice, big bed and a spacious room. The bathroom smells like sewage, so we keep the fan in there running constantly, but we're hoping to find some air freshener sometime soon. Our kitchen is not in the greatest repair, but we have all we need and more. G-d has richly provided for us in this country like He always does.

Pr@yers go out to all of you. Please continue to pr@y for me, that He may use me as His instrument here in China, and that all peoples everywhere may bend the knee and acknowledge Him as the L*RD. Until that Day, may He continue to be with us all.

Preliminary info

Gr-ce and peace to all in Chr-st J-sus!

As I, Andrew Ewings, begin this post, many things are running through my mind. I am about to leave my country for a year of teaching in China. I am not entirely sure what manner of things I will encounter there, but I decided I should start this blog so that I could keep friends, family, and anyone interested informed about what is happening to me far away. I suppose that at times, this will include more or less mundane information, and at other times it may be a lot at once. Either way, I will try to update with some regularity. Hopefully in a later post I can establish with what frequency I will update. Regardless, I don't expect that I will post again until I have established myself in my new home overseas.

If you care to leave feedback about this blog, or especially if you have any suggestions about teaching English as a foreign language, or even if you simply want to get in touch with me, you may email me at chinandrew89@gmail.com. I will do my best to give you a timely response, but PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THIS: there should be absolutely no use of the names of G-d unless they are edited. It is best if you simply find a replacement name, e.g., He, Him, His, etc. If you feel these are unclear, you may split words into two: Ch urch, etc. Finally, LEAVE OUT ANY AND ALL REFERENCES TO M-SSION WORK! In general, finding replacements for ch-rch vocabulary will be necessary to communicate with me over the next ten months. I do not want to cause any trouble with the gov't in China, nor do I want to bring any harm to the members of the flock there. Thank you for your compliance with these directives.

Additionally, I encourage you to contact me via google+ and/or skype. My skype name is ewingaj, and you can find me under Andrew Ewings in google+. I am also able to make phone calls (prepaid--there will be further charge to me beyond what I have already put in) over skype, but please keep in mind that we will be operating in completely different time zones; I will also need your phone number for that to work. Thanks!

I hope to post again once I reach the other side.

G-d bl-ss!

In nomine J-su