Dana Hawkes Teaches Crown College Course

After a restful and peaceful sleep I awakened filled with an incredible sense of joy!  I must confess, I was not prepared for what a wonderful, inspiring, uplifting and satisfying experience it was to meet the delightful young people of the class and have the honor of leading them.  I am sure that I was the one most blessed.  I sensed the power of the Spirit of God in their lifes, in the room and in the deliberations of the evening.  The spirit of the room and the discussions were powerful and electric.

The words that came to my mind as I awakened were those of Isaiah 40 "They who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles, they will run and not be weary and they will walk and not faint."  I feel like I am flying with the eagles this morning.  (That is pretty good coming from a Hawk!)

Jerry and Hope and your team, thanks so much for the capable way you made the preparations, did the translations, printed the beautiful handouts and made me feel welcome, supported and cared for.  It is a delight to know you and to be working with you.  I await with eager anticipation the delights of the coming days here.

Ian thanks for your confidence in inviting me to come.  I am powerfully aware that God is at work here.  I understand more fully His calling to you and GPiH.  I understand more why I feel God led me to come.  I know that it is His power that is at work far in excess of our feeble efforts.  I trust I will be able to step aside enough to let HIM do His work.  I am honored and grateful to be a part of your team.

Looking forward to seeing the Great Wall with you Ian, but I know that my impressions there will be dwarfed by my experience in the class last night.

Dana

We have had our second team training. We are all very excited about going to China. We do have a few prayer request:
1. The Lord will give unity, openness, and like mindedness to each member of
our women's team.
2. God would provide for the financial needs of each member going to Beijing.
3. The Lord will help us remember additional names to add to our prayer
support list.
4. The Lord will multiple our time and energy as we write our first outline & talk.
5. We would rely on the guidance & power of the Holy Spirit as we write our
talks.

Fall 2011 Women's Team Formed

Back: Loraine Doud, Carol Uhler, Mary Waring

Front: Diane Hamlett, Gayle Sharp, Angela Smith

A women's team of six will be going to Beijing October 19 to November 1st.  Leaders Gayle Sharp and Mary Waring are excited about returning to China and seeing the dear friends we have made there.


Team training will begin on June 16th and continue until we depart.  It will be a joy getting to know the extraordinary women God has called to serve Him in October.

Planning Teams for 2011

The new ministry at EFCC, Connecting With China, decided this week that it would send a women’s team to Beijing in Fall 2011. It is hoped that the Lord will provide 4-6 women to participate in this team.

The focus of the women’s team will be to teach Christian leadership principles to women leaders in Beijing churches. That sounds simple but will entail so much more. There will be opportunities to counsel and mentor one-on-one with these dear women and develop relationships with them. Many Chinese Christians are new believers, even the pastors. We will concentrate on women leaders because then our teaching has the potential to reach hundreds more when they take back what they learn to their churches.

Other Connecting With China team trips planned for 2011 will be a mixed or couples team also in the Fall and a pastor’s team in October.

It is an exciting privilege to be a small part of what God is doing in China. Let me know if you are interested in joining a future trip to China.

To Him be the glory!
Mary

EFCC – GPiH Partnership Signed!

On January 19, 2011 an agreement was signed between Emmanuel Faith Community Church - EFCC and Global Partners in Escondido, California. GPiH is the organization that hosted the EFCC September 2010 team in Beijing. This agreement is great cause for celebration and praise to our Lord. Through the influence of highly placed government officials, GPiH has a unique ‘front door’ opportunity to reach metropolitan Chinese people using the aspects of harmony and unity prevalent in the Christian faith. We are very excited about how God is working through Global Partners in Hope to reach and teach the Chinese people.

This new ministry at EFCC will be called “Connecting With China.”

The purpose of the EFCC September team was to teach, encourage, and counsel mostly new Christians living in an atheistic society. These baby believers do not have parents or grandparents to mentor them and show them how to live like Jesus. The people we worked with had hungry hearts to learn what we had to teach them about our loving God and how He wants us to live. It was stunning to watch how God used us. Our small team of just six had access to over 600 Chinese Christians in 15 separate sessions. This was way beyond our expectations!

GPiH has just opened another avenue to support the Chinese Christian movement. Countless new house churches are being formed in the 20 to 40 age groups, the fastest growing Christian segment in urban China. Many pastors of these churches have little or no seminary training. GPiH is starting new college-level training courses conducted by Crown College for house church pastors.

It will be very exciting to watch how our Lord uses this new agreement between Emmanuel Faith Community Church and Global Partners in Hope. Visit this blog again for the continuing story.

Blessings,

Mary

Final Reflections of September 2010 Team

We're back having returned home one week ago today.  We saw all the tourist attractions: the Wall, Olympic stadium, the Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, the Summer Palace (home of 5 emperors).  Something that stands out is the number of people.  Beijing is a huge city with a population of over 22 million.  People live in huge tall apartment buildings. Most do not have cars and use public transportation or walk everywhere. Cars, trucks, bikes, motorbikes and taxis give you a challenge when crossing at intersections.  Vehicles have the right of way.

The Chinese people are very endearing. They work 60-80 hours a week. Many have two jobs.

I was surprised that the underground churches are in the apartment buildings.

We met one incredible young woman who did most of our translating. She learned English in school and is the youngest of 6 children. Hope lives in an apartment with 7 other people. Her face lights up with her love for the Lord when you see her.

Nate the Great, as we fondly called him, was originally from Omaha, Nebraska. He is assisting groups as they arrive in Beijing. He speaks French and Mandarin. He hasn't started college yet. He may come to the US to do his undergrad work. He is also the one who ordered most of our food for us. After dinner, he would get this little smile on his face and we would say, "Okay, let's hear what you ordered." The food in China is delicious.  Lots of new vegetables graced our plates including eggplant. We agreed to eat some new foods we had not tried before. Something that was actually good was donkey. 

We were privileged to visit four underground churches where the people were so hungry to hear what we had to teach. The fact we had all been married for 40 years plus and been Christians for 30 years were all the credentials we needed to have their attention. Most team members spoke about 4 or 5 different times; spent time praying with and for people; shared ideas about ministry for women and singles, and developed friendships with many who are in ministry there.

John Waring was our main speaker. A very talented guy who spoke on Conflict Resolution and Spiritual Listening. We opened the floor with Q and A after the speakers and we would sit for hours answering questions.

God is doing amazing things in China. He is claiming China for Himself. They are saying that China will be the largest Christian nation in the world. We are thankful to have been a part of something so pivotal. We were a pioneer group sent to see if we could make a difference. We hope to be sending a group as often as possible. I want to be part of the training process for others to go.  Thank you for your many prayers. They had a significant impact on make this mission a huge succes!.

Blessings with Love,

China September Team
Larry and Gayle Sharp,
Barbara Pillsbury,
Nancy Sloan,
John and Mary Waring

Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

As we pack our clothes and other belongings to leave this beautiful country, you can be assured that part of our hearts will stay here among the wonderful people we have come to know and love in the Lord.

Our memories will include the heartfelt questions of situations they face daily; coming together in prayer; singing Alleluia in one united voice; healthy delicious food; our Chinese friends not knowing about Chinese fortune cookies : ) as it is an American tradition; climbing the Great Wall on a most beautiful day...and many more. Our memories will be specifically individual and collective in nature. We will have stories to tell and prayers to pray.

What each of us take away from China will make an impact on us and we will never be the same. We have grown spiritually and been stretched physically and emotionally...but we give all the glory to God. May He be honored in our lives. We will endeavor to share the spiritual passion that is present here.

We say to our friends here, Mizpah...may the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from another.

With Love and Gratitude for your faithful prayers,

Your Chinese Team