Though I'm extremely happy to finally leave China, there is a very small part of me that is a little sad to leave. There is a sense that the work here is paused until God changes the situations here that inhibit the spread of the Gospel, and sends someone more suited to this particular place.
We do have a few more weeks to go, so we'll continue pushing ahead as usual until we get on the bus to leave this place.
Last Week's Meeting
We had a good number of people joining us last week. Our meeting numbers have consistently been in the double digits. We had 12 people (including my family) in attendance last week. As usual, the conversations have been pretty good. We're still studying about prayer. It's led us down several different paths of understanding. It doesn't seem that any of the students are any closer to believing what they read, but they are at least still listening.
We are expecting the attendance to peter off starting next week. Once exams start, the students get pretty serious about studying and it's difficult to get them to do anything else. I'm still hopeful that at least one or two students will continue to meet with us.
Old Friends
I got an email a few days ago from my friend Lin Shalin. We often talked about her during our first two years in China when we were working in Jingzhou. Lin was a student that both Colonel and I taught. She eventually became a believer and joined the family. She sent me an email after a year or two of me not hearing anything from her. I was glad to know that she's still studying the Bible and working hard to be a good Christian. She told me not to worry about her because her "faith is stronger than it used to be and she doesn't depend on anyone else for her faith." That made me very happy to hear. She has struggled with that in the past. It is always quite wonderful to hear people thanking you for teaching them the gospel. Though, as teachers of the word, we don't deserve or require any thanks, it's always affirming to hear it.
Colonel was contacted a few weeks ago by his university buddy, Darren. Darren was working in China a few years ago just like us. He became so good with the Chinese language that he decided to attend a Chinese university to continue his language studies. I commend him on that. It's something I wanted to do when we first came to Shangqiu, but I lacked the funding to do it. Foreign students aren't legally allowed to work, so it's difficult to pay your way through school in China.
Anyway, Darren wants to come visit us again. He visited us once in Shangqiu during our first year here. Now he's going to see us again right before we leave. Unfortunately, he's going to be coming at a time when we'll be packing, cleaning out the apartment, and basically making a mess of the house. We decided to put him up in a hotel near the school so that he can have the comforts of home without all of our suitcases and things in the way.
We're also trying to plan some events here so that Darren can have a little fun when he visits us. Hopefully everything will work out well for us.
Jobs
Since we're going to return to America soon, we're looking for work. Colonel has been applying to various types of jobs on all the Bible university websites. He's not looking for pulpit work so much as he's look for outreach and evangelism work. That's still our family's niche even though we're returning to the States. He's been blessed to find several church planting opportunities, church revival opportunities, and a few associate preacher opportunities.
God has blessed Colonel to have a couple of job interviews through Skype. We're very thankful that the congregations involved we're aware of modern technology and how to use it. You'd be surprised at the number of churches that still expect people to use snail mail to apply to jobs. If Colonel did that, it would take at least one month for the application to get to them.
Anyway, there was one position in Sitka, Alaska that is extremely appealing to us. Unfortunately, they don't pay and don't offer any other kind of resources to help our family get there or stay there. They said it would cost about $50,000 a year for us to stay there and they just can't help out because the congregation there is only about 6 members. It's unfortunate because we could help them and we want to help them, but the money is a huge barrier.
The other job is planting a church in Ohio. The mother church is in Indiana. They have researched the area, worked with the local churches, planned out how to best reach the local folks, and even have a building location ready to go. They've done their homework. Besides that, they have about 80 or so people already signed up to come out and help with door knocking, or whatever other outreach things are required there. I'm really excited about that opportunity because it's the level of involvement that we wanted the churches in America to have with the work we were doing in China. They setup they have in mind is exactly what we wanted.
Colonel is still applying and we're still considering other "missionary" options for work inside the United States. I'm also keeping my eyes open for positions that are in neighboring areas around the U.S. There's a lot of prayer going into this decision. I hope God will answer soon.
Condolences
I recently learned that an old friend and brother in Christ died this week. My condolences and prayers go out to the Kane and Bell families. I hope that God will bring you all comfort and peace during this time. It's always sad when parents must mourn the death of their children. I hope that God will give you the strength and faith needed to make it through this difficult time. Know that your family in China is thinking of you and talking to God on your behalf.