Just so you know...

...we're back. :-)
We had a close call with one of our connecting flights, but overall our traveling home was uneventful. Some of the team had their seats upgraded for the 13-hour leg of the journey, which made it much more comfortable!
Join us this Sunday at PBC during the 11:00 service to hear more about our trip as well as the youth trip to Kosovo.

Saturday - July 31

Today was the last day of our trek to the other side of the world, and although we’ve only been here a week, it will be difficult for Sarah and me to leave. For three years we called Chengdu home. Although the people, language, and culture may look, sound, and act differently than what is common in Dallas, this trip has reminded me that they too have the same need for a continuing Work of a gracious God in their lives. So as He continues to move in hearts throughout the nations, God has allowed us as a team, frail and fallen as we are, to participate in outworking of the Gospel: His overcoming of injustice in the world, as the sacrifice of God’s Son provides a way for us to be reconciled to Him, fully cleansed in His Eyes.

Our final full day was spent with China’s national treasure, the giant panda; eating Tex-Mex food (really!); exploring the city for gifts for loved ones back home; and participating in an English Corner at High Connections, a coffee shop in the city. The English Corners have been a great way to meet locals and talk about Deeper Things when opportunities arise. We had a great showing tonight, and the loud chatter from each group has left most of us hoarse from the experience.

As we conclude this trip tomorrow, we covet your prayers. Pray for strength for Rebecca, who was well enough to join us for our activity this evening. Pray for an encouraging service tomorrow morning, as we worship with people from many nations at Chengdu International Christian Fellowship. And pray for our travelling, that our luggage and sanity will stay with us through the 20 hours-worth of flights and two layovers in Guangzhou and Los Angeles. Thank you, and see you soon!

Proclaiming His Glory,

Dan

Friday, July 30

“Do not grow weary in doing good.” This was part of my prayer for our group as our day began. After four days of English teaching, our minds and bodies are a bit weary. As always the Lord faithfully answered this prayer. We had the opportunity to visit Chengdu International School, our hosts this week and the school where Dan and Sarah worked when they lived here. The new teachers arrived this week and as we walked through the school we prayed for their families as they adjust to a new culture and for unity between the new teachers and the present teachers. Please keep them in your prayers. We have heard of one family whose young children are really having a difficult time making the transition.

This evening we had our first English Corner. An English Corner is a place that is advertised as a location that people can come to meet with foreigners to speak English. The concept was begun by evangelicals to foster relationships with unbelievers. Tonight’s English Corner was held in a park in the center of a vast apartment complex. We arrived at 7:30pm and there were already people waiting there to speak with us. I spoke with two different families tonight. The first family was a mother and her 12 year old daughter. The daughter's English name is “Learn”. Their English was at a beginner’s level but they were very eager to practice. The second family I met was a newly married couple and his college-aged sister. They are very proficient in English, but want to stay in practice. This was the first time they had attended an English Corner. During the course of our conversation the man shared with me that he didn’t have an English name but that he desired to have an English name that sounded similar to his Chinese name. He shared with me his Chinese name; it was a name that was very difficult for me to pronounce. The meaning of his name is Fiery and Brave. I suggested to him the English name Stephen and I took the opportunity to tell him that Stephen is the name of a very famous and well respected Christian martyr. I told him he could read about Stephen in the Christian bible, in the book of Acts. He said that he would like to read the story. He liked the name Stephen and is going to take it as his own. It was a joy for me to meet this family and to have the gift of giving this man his English name. It will be much easier to pray for him as “Stephen” than it would have been to pray using his Chinese name.

While I was meeting these two families, each person on our team was meeting someone else. I know that Robert had a fruitful conversation and was able to speak some about the Bible. Susan enjoyed playing Bingo with the children and with a 28 year old man who wanted to play and said to her, “Me English not good, this good.” (Donna, Susan says thank you for the Bingo game!) Please remember Learn, her mother, Stephen, his wife Susie, and his sister Jessica and all the others we met tonight. They plan to attend more English Corners. Pray that they will build relationships with the Chinese believers who sponsor these Corners.

Tomorrow we are blessed to be able to go to a Panda Breeding and Research Base. Oh, the sacrifices we make to be here! In the evening we will have another English Corner. Please pray that the Lord will guide our conversations and that there will be good attendance. Rebecca is still feeling weak, but we were able to speak with an American nurse and get medicine for her. Please pray for her quick recovery.

Thank you for interceding for us! We know you are a very valuable part of this team through your prayers! – Jennifer

Rebecca's blog - Thursday, July 29, 2010

I'm here by myself in the hotel room because I've been sick almost all week -- not being able to entirely shake the stomach bug that hit me late Monday night. It's not fun being sick; but it's really not fun being sick in another country - especially one without "western toilets." If you like the "squatty potty," as Mary calls it, more power to ya. I like my toilets a couple of feet off the ground. Along with that, just in case you haven't heard, in China there are no traffic rules, nor is there any ice or Dr. Pepper. All the women are thin and absolutely beautiful. (I'd be rail thin, too, if I had to choose from duck neck or chicken feet.) And every Chinese man smokes. All of them.

I could talk for days about the food; but after being sick off something I ate earlier in the week, I found a glorious oasis tonight in the form of a KFC. I haven't darkened the door of a KFC in years, but I did just now. Yes, I ate the chicken. No regrets.

In spite of this week's challenges, I sit by my hotel window looking at the heavy traffic five floors down and just marvel at the differences between our world and this. So many differences, yet the world seems so much smaller now that I've been here. The women we've gotten to know this week in school are far more amazing than I figured. I'm starting to understand now why Dan & Sarah really love this city and the people of Chengdu. Our new Chinese teacher friends really look up to us, listen to us, and shared some pretty cool things with us. During today's "open forum," we gave them a chance to just talk about anything to practice their English, and a chance to ask any questions of us that they wanted. The first question in our small group (the small group I've been in all week is with most advanced English speakers, those that are already conversational) was that they wanted to know more about our God that we've talked about all week. We knew ahead of time that we couldn't make this our agenda, necessarily, but that if asked, we should share openly whatever we wanted. Robert told the whole story, from creation up until the Holy Spirit living in us today. They listened, asked some questions, seeds were planted. Nothing very dramatic there, but we had an opportunity and got to share about our faith. The consensus in our debriefing time is that they probably asked us only to be polite - as if they knew we wanted to share that. It's funny - before this trip, I didn't really believe there were many "unreached people" in the world. After all, everyone has access to a Bible. There are missionaries all over the place. There are churches in every town. How can one not know? What I now think is that, just like these women we met, there are many, many people in the world who see Christianity as just a great story or perhaps a religion for Americans. Just because one shares the gospel message with another, doesn't mean they will get it. They may never get it. Or it may take years, as we witnessed earlier in the week. One of the teachers I've grown to really like is Lily. Lily is in her 5th year of teaching, she's engaged to be married, she's a university graduate. And she knew a Christian once. He was a teacher of hers. She still keeps in touch with him by email. He, no doubt, plants seeds with her on a very regular basis. But isn't that funny that this very smart, big-city women knows "a Christian." Perhaps now she'll claim to know a few, after meeting us. I think that's the purpose for my trip here - to get that global perspective on things that I've been so far off base with. Seeds are being planted. We have far more freedom here with what we can do and say than you probably realize. His work will be done in His time. Thanks for praying. - Rebecca

Wednesday, July 28

The first morning in Beijing I woke up at 3:30 a.m. After lying in bed for an hour, I realized that God was telling me that I needed to prepare for this trip by reading my Bible. Two of the verses that spoke to me during that time were 1 John 4:11-12 and 2 Timothy 2:24-26. 1 John 4:11-12 says, “Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” In 2 Timothy 2:24, Paul says, “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel. Instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.” To me, those verses are the foundation to this trip.

During today’s seminar, we discussed holidays, relationships, and the differences between schools in America and schools in China. In the morning session, Robert facilitated a panel discussion on “Holidays in America” with Mary, Mike, Nguyen, and Jennifer on the panel. Our focus was on the Christian aspect of each holiday. We relayed how each holiday revolved around the eternal God. During the discussion of Christmas, Robert explained how God created all things, heaven and earth. He also explained how and why God sent Jesus to earth. Mary explained that giving presents reminds of us how God gave us Jesus. Nguyen shared about her journey from Buddhism to Christianity. After the panel discussion, we broke into small groups where the Chinese teachers got to tell us about their favorite holidays. The teachers informed us about Tomb Sweeping Day and Middle Autumn Day. During Tomb Sweeping Day, Chinese people burn fake money to their ancestors and also lay flowers in bowls of chicken and rice at their ancestors’ tombs. For Middle Autumn Day, the Chinese people burn incense at an altar and pray to the moon. This reminded me of what Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 18:5. Then came lunch, where some PBC members (not the Franks’) ate duck tongues and other assorted Chinese delicacies.

During the afternoon session, Rebecca and I kicked off the relationship topic by talking about our marriage relationship. Mary shared about the relationship she has with friends, and Jennifer wrapped up with talking about her family relationships. Later, I led a discussion with the Chinese teachers on the differences and similarities between our schools. The main difference is that there are 50 students in one classroom in China, vs 17 students (22 max) that I have here in the U.S.. Other than that, our classrooms are very much alike. Finally, after we adjourned for the day, most of the Chinese teachers left. During that time, Jennifer was able to share the gospel with Lili, one of the Chinese teachers. Lili had known a previous Christian in China and had even attended two church services. Please pray for Lili, continue to pray for our health, and also that we can be God’s light to these teachers and to others we meet.

- Edgar

Tuesday, July 27

Ruthie and Robert are having a great time! We started off in Manila with the Burkes, our PBC missionaries who are doing a great work there. Vince preached a great message last Sunday at Christ Commission Fellowship, their church which has over forty thousand believers! God is working mightily in the Philippines. Believers are telling everyone about Christ. We were privileged to accompany Vince and Lori on a two-day trip to Palawan, an island near Tara where Lori’s parents first brought the gospel to the people there. As a result, there are now many believers there.

Today in our classes we talked to our students about Texas. They didn’t understand armadillos or the Alamo very well but they were very interested. We find that they want mostly to practice their spoken English. Some of them are at an advanced level and others are beginners. We are adjusting daily to meet their needs. The Lord has given our team a great cohesion and joy in serving together. Tomorrow we will be discussing American holidays which should be a great opportunity. It might even be as exciting as eating the chicken feet at lunch today! We miss you all and appreciate your prayers for us.

Robert

Monday, July 26 - Continued

Today was our first day of teaching English at the school. We had about 35 teachers who registered to learn how to improve their English as well as how to teach it to their students. We had a very wide variety of English skill levels as well as a variety of different grade levels represented; this made our task very challenging! We needed to have something to offer them on a practical level and we also needed to begin building friendships. It was a challenging day mentally!

We started out with all of our “students” in a large group and began to evaluate their individual skill levels. After this, we broke up into small groups to practice some of the skills presented in large group. We broke for lunch and had a wonderful time visiting with some of the local teachers before beginning our afternoon session. Tomorrow, I think will offer some great opportunities for more personal interaction because we are planning to stay close to the school into the evening just to “hang out” with some of our students to allow us to get to know them better. What a blessing to get to know people on the other side of the globe, so different from us, yet all in God’s image. It’s a very humbling thought for me.

This evening, after dinner, we mapped out our game plan for tomorrow’s teaching lessons. I think we’re all looking forward to seeing what God has for us to learn as we go through this upcoming week. Please pray for endurance, wisdom and discernment as we interact with our “students”. Also please pray for Sarah, who is trying to fight off some sort of a cold.

Thank you so much PBC for allowing us this great opportunity to share God’s love with others.

Mary