Great time last night sharing the story

Love sharing the greatest story of all time.

Last night I was blessed to share the Story with two who had never heard. I had no idea this opportunity would afford itself. I just showed up to teach my language class, and a relative of both individuals asked me if I would tell the story if she would translate. I was like, “You better believe it Sister!”

In case you have never shared the story with someone who has never heard, it is one of the most fulfilling things you will ever do in life. I put it up there right under my accepting of the story, my wedding day, and the birth of my boys.

So anyway, here I am sharing the greatest love and non-fiction story of all-time, and these two ladies hung on my every-translated word. It was awesome to watch and listen to this relative share the story from my language, translated into her language and carry the emotion that goes along with it, because she has heard the story and it has changed her life dramatically.

At the end of our hour-and-a-half long discussion both said this is all so new but they were deeply moved. They went onto to say it touched them deeply that the one who created them could love them individually so much. I was in awe of the Master’s timing that He gave such an opportunity to share. I told each of them I would continue to lift them up to that One, in hopes that one day we could be family. They both appreciated it and said they want to carry on our deep conversations.

All of this because of our awesome English language, our awesome Father, and His awesome story!!!

Five Loaves, Two Fish, Basketball, Breakdancing, 13-17 year olds, and English.

(Top:Part of the crowd who greeted us and later came to our English Corner. Great to see the beginning stages of Language sharing.) (Middle:Some of the students who we were honored to spend time with.) (Bottom: Our students in black uniforms. Their students sporting USA jerseys. Funny, I came to this land to play basketball against the USA?)

I spent the last weekend soaking up our Great Teacher’s provision and creative power, as we saw Him use a modern-day version of five loaves and two fishes to see that His language is shared with all the world.

The little story of the many thousands of people feasting on a meal that began with a little boy’s lunch, spoke volumes to me as I watched about 20 of our students breakdance, play basketball, and share their English language in hopes that our friend there would have a door opened to him there share the same language that we all hold dear and near to our hearts.

The local worker there from my homeland told us that he hasn’t had much success setting up opportunities on the three high school campuses in his town, but after our kids work during the last three days, he saw a huge window of opportunity open up. All of this, because of the awesome kids we took up there, and their genuine heart for our Best Friend’s language. Each campus had about 2,000 high schoolers, and all of them were impacted by the connection made. For all, but a handful of the 6,000, this was the their first encounter with adults and teenagers from the other side of the globe . So our presence alone on campus was huge.

Basically, we were there to play basketball, talk to their students, and put on an English corner. During the girl’s games our boys broke out singing, breakdancing, and language sharing. This was wonderful to watch. Mainly, because the local Chinese students loved it. They couldn’t get enough. A larger group formed a circle around our boys and  just watched, smiled, and applauded as our students did whatever they could to just make a connection. There was no technology or platforms, just the Best Seller and Friend of all time in flesh and blood working through the lives of the simple. Later in the evening we put on an English  corner. Once again the local students were in amazement at our kids. The great thing was the campus head officials opened up a door for the local man to have an ongoing relatioship. The leader of the school told our worker their that from now on he wants this relationship to continue. Later, our friend shared with me that if the door was just cracked open up a little bit before we came, now it was busted wide open for him, his small team, and the much needed Language, so desperately needed in this mostly isolated community.

I am just amazed at how the Master Language Teacher has used five loaves and two fish once again to begin the process of feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty. I am just amazed at His creativity.

Our students lost every game to the older and more experienced players. The breakdancing was pretty much amatuer. And the English corner was not one my best. However, the Father used the five loaves and two fish provided to further his work. I don’t know what the future holds for this Language work 13 hours away from our home, but whatever it is, I am sure it has the Master Teacher’s hand all over it.

The two things that matter the most besides the ONE

(top:Davis and Levi sporting new tattoos. They are so handsome.)(middle:Jessica and our two Chinese friends at a recent pregnancy check up)(bottom:My English class and myself after our first three-hour session together)

Of course He is number ONE…

However, the two things that matter the most to me besides the ONE are my family, and then, spending time with Chinese people. These are the two things which bring me the most joy and fulfillment.

Honestly, I love family time.

For example, tonight we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows on a 14-dollar grill, told silly stories, watched Peter Pan and  old Christian cartoons about David and Goliath and Joseph from the 80s, and finished the night off with a 50-cent ice cream cone.

What a blast!

My two little men and my number one lady hanging out and making memories. To me it doesn’t get any better than that!!! As I put Davis to bed he listed in order the favorites from night. The most awesome part was they involved the entire family and quality time. I fully believe my number one work here in this massive land is my family. My boys and the one coming in four months need a father focused on raising up men/kings to serve the King of kings. I take this calling with joy, humility, honor, and a massive learning curve, which I pray my Father will lead me in everyday of my life. My wife needs a husband who loves her as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it. My hopes are that I will learn from the greatest groom of all about the true definitions of sacrifice, compassion, patience, and listening.

Next on my radar after the Davis and Levi dynamic duo is quality with my Chinese friends.

Honestly, the handful of the 1.4 billion that I get to spend time with amaze me and leave me hoping for more every time. I just started teaching a class on Thursday nights with four adults who have very little English and no relationship with the number ONE. I spend three hours with them teaching them basic words that I hope will lead to deeper conversations about Him. I can’t tell you what it does for me when a person first becomes interested in knowing more about what we know and who we know. I am very excited about this opportunity that just begun at our new location. I am believing that just as we experienced up north, so we will see great fruit and much in the way of planting deep into the Harvest. We are already anticipating November and December when we invite our new friends over for Thanksgiving Day dinner and Christmas, where we will tell them one of many firsts for them as we continue to deepen our relationship bond. What a great opportunity to make His name famous with those whom have never heard!

Much of what I have been doing since my last post was setting up where we are now. Hopefully, with these new relationships, and another growing bond between us and two other couples, there will be much to blog about, as we are once again answering questions about our greatest love.

This email makes me smile!!!!

I recently received this email from one who calls me his Godfather.  I gave him the Word as I departed for our new destination, and he told me it was the best gift he had received. He said there are two presents that he will always remember, the electric shaver his father gave him that said he was finally a man and the Book that will lead him for the rest of his life.

So after all the talks, upward thoughts, and meetings, here is what he wrote me…

Hi @#$%%^

This is my first email to U but it’s a bit ironic since it is the last email i can send to you here. Time flies,man!!

After we had dinner yesterday, i memorized this whole year when i made acquintance with you. you know what? i feel a great pity that i could have only ONE year to make our memory, but i already made a sweet memory that i will cherish in my life-long journey.   Hey, i really found that we have a soul infection because we seem to know each other long time ago. [He] made you  play an important part in my life and help me when i was down, congratulate me when i made progress, confirm my opinion when i hesitate because of others’ gossip.  Maybe I was destined to be your godson and gain wisdom of life from you. Really THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart.

We had joy,we had fun ,we had seasons in the sun,but the wine and the sun like the seasons have all gone.  Tomorrow will be the departure and please keep faith in one thing,my friend:  We will reunite like long lost friends in the future!!

I will miss your wife and two sons and i will [petition] for them .

I have become wordless about your departure and i can only say:  Smile,my godfather,my friend as well as my mentor.No need to have sorrow bacause The Great Guy is watching us and we will get together with his blessing.

@#$%^

All of this from a guy who didn’t believe in Him before we met, and is now on his way to having a personal friendship with with Him.

Thank you Father for sending me here.

From a young lady who finally was able to go to His House

This an email I received recently from a girl we shared the story with over the course of a year. She has read the entire N.T. and is on her way to becoming a part of the family……

Dear @#$%^:

How’s everything ? It has been months since you left . During this time , I’ve met a lot of new friends and experienced several amusing moments.I got a part-time job two weeks ago , working in a logistics company. Since I am just a sophomore , there isn’t much to do .My job is to type letters ,collect documents and sometimes do some cleaning. But I enjoy it very much .I went to see my father in prison together with my cousin and my uncle on July 21st. He seemed happy and lead a peaceful life. As my father talked to his brother and nephew for a long time, we didn’t talk much. The day before yesterday , before celebrating my nineteenth bithday , I went to the @#$%^ Fellowship (this is the biggest church in @#$%^) , as I promised you . It’s really spacious and I guess it’s able to accommodate a many  thousand people . I stayed there for two hours , listening to the anthme and the preach. What a coincidence! They preached the Gospel Of John (this is book we studied and she had a lot of questions about) at that day. Anyway the [fellowship] is a greatest place to get peace and quietness I’ve ever been to . Thanks for telling me such fantastic

Xian beliefs.

Sincerely,

*&^%$

How awesome it is to see the process unfold before my eyes of the Father working to reveal himself to someone who has never heard. She is on her way!!!

From a student who told me he didn’t believe just two months ago

Prayer works and God answers!!!

Before I left  I had a conversation with a student who asked me “What I would  you do if your girlfriend was diagnosed with a disease that would claim her life in five years? I told him I would ask the Father for help, at which he said he didn’t believe in Him. I then told him that he had only asked me what I would do. I also said I would believe for him and his girlfriend. And that is how we left it…with me telling one of my students who didn’t believe in God that I would believe for him and his sick girlfriend. The following is an email I received today. and thus the reason why I am here in China….

Dear David:

How’s everything going? Are your family having a good time in your new town? I really miss you.

I’m writing  to express my gratitude to you! Thank you for your prayer for #$%^& , I guess  your piety and allegiance move [HIM], he sends my beloved back to me. Maybe I should call it a miracle. I never thought she could fully recover from that illness when the doctor told that she could only be in this world within 5 years. However, something called miracle happened,disease symptom gradually faded, even the doctor could not tell the reason, but I know, it is you who saved her!  [He is talking about my prayer to Him. May He receive the glory.] Now, she is preparing for her new college life in US, consequently, both her life and mine have developed along the right line once again. I become the #$%^& I used to be, vital,poised,and persevering. So you also help me regain my ego. Thank you! Do you have any plan to come back here? I want to treat you to a big meal and have some talk.

Your Friend ,

$%^&#

What he means by a talk is that he wants to talk about the One who saved his girlfriend’s life. The miracle Worker does it again.

Dinner Chinese Style and Our Whole Family

Tonight may have been a picture of what is to come for our family.

Our Whole Family!!!

We had dinner with a Chinese great aunt and her nephew. It was interesting to say the least! The nephew was a Chinese boy that has become friends with our oldest son. Neither speak each other’s language, but when you are playing in dirt with sticks, plastic dinosaurs, and hot wheels, who needs English or Chinese language.

Fun and a few basic words is all the talking you need.

Last week we invited Wei (the Chinese boy) over for some spaghetti and breadsticks, which he tried to eat with chopsticks. So tonight was our turn to be the guest. Wei’s great aunt, who we thought was his grandma, invited us over for a real Chinese dinner.

And when I mean real, I mean real!!!!!!!!!

Here was the menu:

• Cold Chicken, complete with chicken feet and every other imaginable body part
• Some kind of bean or beef paste sauce
• Jiaozi: Spelled in way the it sounds to this non-Chinese speaker
• Dried beef (which Levi so nicely put in his mouth and spit back out on the table in front of our hostess)
• Some  kind of prune – fig juice
• Cucumber slices (the only thing Davis ate)
• Blue Berry Yogurt Drink
• Cherries

What an honor to eat this wonderful dinner with this older Chinese lady and her nine-year old nephew! Did we nibble our way through the meal? You better believe your chicken feet. But it was such an honor to be in this country, in this city, and in this lady’s home eating her best she had to offer.

So here is the really cool part!

We were done eating and my wife, who speaks a pretty mean Chinese for having lived in this land for only 10 months, somehow says that she had prayed for something that had happened, and this great aunt lets my wife know that she is a believer.

What a blessing to find this believer through a relationship started by my son and his Chinese friend!  Isn’t that just how the King works? He small beginnings, plastic dinosaurs, and seven-year old boys from Texas to bring glory to his name. He used my little boy in China to encourage the faith of a older Chinese believer and her little boy, and let her know that His people are everywhere.

Long story short…

HE brought our whole family here to not just shine the light in the darkness, but magnify the light that is already present in different parts of the nation.

Thank you Father for once again blessing us!

Dinner with five

You know that gut-wrenching feeling you get when you are going to miss a time spent in your life?  Tonight at dinner the wrench was turning in all directions.

I had dinner with five students, who I will seriously miss because they represent the society as a whole here. We all met at the university cafeteria for some Chinese dishes and  conversation. Like always my beliefs came up, because of the girls at dinner was the one whom my wife and I have spent so much time with. This seeking girl asked me to tell her friends about my belief in the Son and how that impacts my daily life. So of course I told them the Story, prayed before we ate dinner, and sang “Jesus loves me”

Some would say this is all corny, but it is what they asked me to do. “Mr. *&$#@  will you sing us a song?” and  ”Mr. *&$@  will you tell us what your family is like and what you do together?” So I just did what I do at home.

As all of this was going on, I thought about all my conversations here, all my prayers here, and all the Spiritual moments we have experienced. I really have a heart for these people. Truly, as the Great Shepherd says, “They are like sheep without a shepherd.” It is amazing to hear people say, “What is the Bible?” and  ”Who is Jesus?” and “What is Christianity?” All questions I have heard recently, and many times over in the time spent here. It is sad that they all want to the same things, happiness, success, family, and long life. However, the Way, Truth, and Life road less travelled is only revealed to a handful of them because of the small numbers reaching out here. And of those hearing the story, it may take years for an even smaller number to reach rebirth.

Looking at these five 18-year old young ladies in a large crowd of other students eating dinner really broke my heart because the labor is so massive. I wish everyone back home could just get glimpse of what it is like to only have a few lit candlesticks in a land shrouded in only lantern lights. We are so blessed back home to have fellowships on just about every street, and here these girls have yet to even see one, except the one eating dinner with them this night.

One girl, she goes by Grace, told me she is from a village of about 300 people. I am the first foreigner she has have ever eaten with. And tonight was the first time she ever heard the song, “Jesus loves me”. I sang it, poorly I am sure, in both Chinese and English. I just pray that as I move on to a new city, that somewhere, someone will come along and water that little seed planted tonight planted tonight in Grace’s heart. It would be great if it is the other young lady that we have spent countless hours with sharing the Story with.

This may be seem like rambling to some, but it is just me processing.

Real questions from a seeker of the truth

This is what gets me going here.

The following are more questions from a young lady seeking to understand the truth because the Father is working on her heart. We have had a lot of conversation already, and she just keeps seeking more truth. One day I believe she will ask the one question that only the One can answer. I believe he will answer her like he has answered me, “I can, I will, I do, because I am”.

Dear Mr.@#$%!&,

I really appreciate it that you can make comments on my visit to

the nursing home and answer my questions. There is one thing I have to explain for last letter :what I wanted to conquer is the fear of death(like those olds) instead of death itself. Well , here comes my new questions , from PHILIPPIANS , THESSALONIANS , and TIMOTHY:

1. PHILIPPIANS 3:14

“I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of HIM. Let those of us who are mature think this way , and if anything you think otherwise , HE will reveal that also to you . Only let us hold true to what we have attained . ”

—-What confused me most is about the “goals” which Saint Paul mentioned . It’s it a goal that can never be reached so that we have to work hard to get closer to it ? Then why we should  “hold true to what we have attained” ?

2.  THESSALONIANS1 5:5

“For you are all children of light , children of the day . We are not of the night or of the darkness . So then let us not sleep , as others do , but let us keep awake and be sober .”

—-what are they cautious for ?  And what are they waiting for day and night ?

3.  TIMOTHY 2

“If we have died with him, we’ll also live with him ; if we endure, we’ll also reign with him ; if we deny him , he also will deny us ; if we are faithless , he remains faithful —- for he cannot deny himself ”

—- Does that mean that those who died for Him can be brought back to life ? And how can human share the domination with Him ?

Sometimes it is just the right timing

Today, I had my office hour and only one friend showed up.

Usually, I am blessed with about three to seven friends stop by to practice English, but today was much different. Why might you ask? Because the Author and Finisher has a scripted plan for humanity.

The one friend was the one young lady that we have invested so much of our time and lifting up in.

Today, the conversation started as any other in my office does, but soon shifted to some blessed sharing of His friendship, fathering, and forgiveness. Basically, she opened up to me today that her father was just sentenced to prison for 15 years and her mother has been in a coma for the last 14 years (She said I didn’t have to keep it quiet). Basically, she said her father has not been a good example for her. All of this allowed me to share my story and the blessing of my Heavenly Father and how he is a Father to the Fatherless. I told her I am a great example of the Father’s love and how over the last 39 years he has been Abba Father to me.

Later in the conversation she said that she found a fellowship in the capital city that she didn’t ever notice before. She went on to say that this fellowship is very close to her residence in the city. By the way, this is the one fellowship that we like to see all our new friends to go to. We have been very blessed by this fellowship’s presence and have seen several come to father after relationships with us and further relationship with this fellowship. She assured me that she plans on going there, both for the English service and the Chinese service. And when this young lady says she is going to do something she does it.

This is pretty much the process in leading our friends to the father. It is a long, difficult, and up and down journey that leaves you leaning totally on the Father. I will probably not see this young lady give her heart to him, but know that if He tarries her new name in Glory will soon be written.

Lift up before the Father!!!