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

Update from China Team

Today we spoke and visited with university students. The meeting room was located in a traditional syle Hutong.  It was very interesting to have the opportunity to see the traditional way of living.  The children are very beautiful. We began speaking at 3:00, there was Q and A. We left at at 7:00 p.m.. I left the room to go with Mary to take pictures.  The children were beautiful.  We can tell every moment that we are prayed for. People are so hungry for J. and it is a great privilege to be here sharing Him with these dear people.

Update From Beijing

Please pray for us. We are speaking at the university today and speaking at a church tomorrow

Blessings,
Nancy

Dear Family and Friends

Do you remember the song Who Could Ask For Anything More? That song and thought has resonated with us during our visit. So many requests have been answered that we find ourselves with that thought in our minds. Lamentations 3:22,23 says, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  And we say Amen!

The meetings, the weather, the venues, the sightseeing, (okay and shopping) excursions are only a prelude to saying...when can we come back to this beautiful country and it's dear people.

You may want to start asking God if He would like you to be the next visitors to come here. When our stories are told, it will ignite a flame of desire in you to be a part of the opportunities taking place here. If we could package the passion and the hunger along with their desire to live a life worthy of the One who died for them...the package would explode in praise!

Please continue in prayer for us as we have made many, many new friends who want to come into the family.

Blessings from the China team.

Ne how

Dearest friends and family we have been s o o o o o busy. We have not been neglectful to keep you informed, but we have not had any down time...except the time we use to sleep! Our "schedule" changes from day to day and we may prepare for one thing and then a message will come to change our clothes and go to a new agenda...but we are ever ready to do what we came to do. The team is meeting so many new friends and we welcome them into our family. Our new friends (and we meet many a day) are so hungry for the food we have and keep asking for more food after our meeting is over! So, "if a child asks for bread, would we give him a stone?" The harvest is so ripe here.

We have been to the Temple of Heaven, The Forbidden City, The Great Wall and today we are going to the Olympic Village and then a very big meeting tonight. The weather has been very cooperative...we are grateful. The traffic in Beijing is extremely, extremely chaotic and does take a great amount of patience and time to get from place to place, but we have a very capable driver.

It's time to rock and roll.

Blessings from China.

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

We left LA at 12:10AM on 1 September, eager for our amazing adventure to begin. Dinner was served at 4:30 AM San Diego time, then lights out.


Our flight accommodations were terrific and comfortable even in a full flight. At 4:30 AM Thursday we landed in a TYPHOON in Seoul. It was raining so hard with winds at hurricane force.  Surprisingly, our flight to Beijing was only delayed by one half hour!   After a beautiful landing in Beijing we were welcomed by a booming voice with arms outstretched saying "Welcome to Beijing!" It was dear Shaun Bao. He was as eager to welcome us as we were eager to see him and his team.

We know our Lord is with us and is watching over us, guiding and directing our ways in all we do. Your prayers are so important to us and every step in our journey, we can feel them.

Please continue in prayer for our health;

For our presentations to be fruitful;

For Shaun and his team to continue to make significant inroads to the unsaved.

More to come soon.


The China Team