A new brother and sister

Happy Reformation to you all. He continues to show his undeserved love throughout the ages. His words have stood the test of time and defeated numerous attacks from the serpent. Thanks be to him for preserving his family on earth. He continues to add members to his family. Two more were made children this past Friday at our study. 2 of our friends who have been attending studies for the past few years decided, by the power of the h.s, to be washed. What a blessing! After the washing, they both gave a public confession and background about the dove's work and the outpouring of love the Father has shown them through His Son. It was a very encouraging evening and they were happy to say, "We are now brothers and sisters." There is a real sense of family and community here among our fellowsh!p. These blessings to our family are evidence of the father working out his will through other humans here. Here is a story that kept me saying, "Isn't He great!" This is one of the stories that Linda, just washed, shared with us on Friday.

When she was around the age of 1 she was sick. Her parents took her to the hospital to get the right help for her. They left the hospital thinking that everything was alright having just visited to get the proper treatment for her. When she got home Linda was crying, but there was no sound. Her great-grandmother insisted they go back to the hospital, even though they had just come from there. After some more urging they went back. The doctor treated her quickly and gave her the necessary medicine/treatment to save her life. If she had come 10 minutes later, Linda would not have made it. Her great-grandmother was a member of the Good Shepherd's flock. Linda's great-grandmother was the first member of His flock that she knew. The relationship between Linda and her great-grandmother was very special to her. The father knew that Linda would someday become part of His flock too. You may never know how He will use you for eternal purposes. Continue to be a light to those around you. Shine brightly in this world that needs to hear the good news.

Toy Story School

Hello friends, after a brief hiatis from the updates, I expect several in the next few days. This month has been out of the ordinary. I just finished my first full week of school this month and it is the last week in October. My schedule was definitely thrown off, but now I expect things to settle in a little more. I have also had my fair share of struggles with school-related matters. Teaching at a primary school here can be a bit difficult at times. I am not one to always have the most patience. But, asking for His help and guidance has improved things. He answers our requests when we ask according to his wisdom. Oh, how wise he is.

Today, like every other day at school, as I approached the classrooms for the next lesson, the children were running about in the hallways or on the playground before the bell rung to call them inside. Of course, they love their foreign teachers so as soon as they saw me coming they all came up and hugged me. Jockeying for the best position, a mob formed around me. Ten, no, twelve had now trapped me against the pillars outside the classroom saying all their english phrases; "Hello Darin. How are you today? How old are you? What's this?" It reminded me of Toy Story. Can you picture the little 3-eyed aliens from Pizza Planet, the ones that stared up at "The Claw?" If my kids knew the movie they could all chant, "You have saved our lives. We are eternally grateful." Somehow I want to get a picture of this, and when I do you will think - Toy Story.

These kids crowd around me for a moment of kindness and affection. The pressure has already started for these kids. The one child policy has robbed them of childhood in a way. They slave away over school work to be the best. If they are not the best, they are last. I pr-y that some might remember me and the necklace I wear daily that reminds me and them of the reason I am here. Two simple lines, one vertical and one horizontal. A simple symbol that means everything for this world. Perhaps the h.s. can work wonders in the lives of these s*uls. The kingdom belongs to such as these.

Beijing 4

This concludes my trip for National Holiday, similar to America's Fourth of July. I was gone from October 2 until the 7th. Since then, I have returned to the teaching happening here in Wuhan. I went to the Great Wall my last day in Beijing. It was quite the trip getting there. In order to catch my train that evening I needed to wake up a lot earlier than the other days. A jog down a couple subway stops, a little walk, a 90 minute bus ride, another brief hike, a trip up the mountain in a roller coaster cart, and then I was on top of the Great Wall. The scenery was gorgeous. The breeze felt good. My traveling group went to the closest part of the wall to Beijing, so it was also the busiest. Aside from the people, which were expected and unavoidable during the Holiday in Beijing, I enjoyed walking this man-made milestone.

I walked uphill, I walked downhill. I took lots of pictures. I can't wait to go back. The Wall is definitely on the list of places to see during our big break at the end of first semester. After taking the roller coaster car back down, we grabbed some more snacks and did some more walking. Then we boarded the bus for the trip back in to Beijing. I've never slept so well on a bus before. It could have been the 4 days of constant walking. I gathered my belongings and headed out for the train station. This train ride would be great. The ticket got us on a sleeper car. All I did was read a bit and then slept for the ride back to Wuhan. Good bye Beijing, I will be back again. Until the next update, may He continue to go with you at all times and through all situations. He is always there. We may not see or feel him near, but He is there. He promises. He always keeps his promises. Praise Him for that.

Beijing 3

Wednesday was wedding day in Beijing. I had the morning free. It was nice to relax and give the feet a rest from the Summer Palace. In order to give our feet rest and avoid walking, our Beijing FOC hosts took us on a short bike ride to breakfast. Not just any breakfast, a western breakfast at "The Bridge." The adventures began early on this day. We Wuhaners don't bike because the traffic is horrible and I would take my life into my own handlebars everytime I went out if I biked in Wuhan. Not the case in Beijing. The only problem, or should I say challenge, was that we didn't have a bike for every person going to breakfast. You see they had 4 bikes, but 8 people. "No problem," they said, "we will just dink." Dink? What is this dinking? Pretty soon they were throwing around phrases like, "I'll dink you," and "do you feel alright being dinked?" Dinking-the act of pedaling/riding a bike while someone else rides on the back tire. I was not going to sit on a bike while someone else pedaled so I dinked Megan. She caught a picture of my friend Andy who was being dinked on the bike ahead of us.

 The wedding was in the afternoon, in the Old Summer Palace. This is a different one than yesterday's excursion. It was a large park where ruins from the palace remain. The 40 or so attendees walked in together and found a nice hill, tucked up just enough so as not to create as much attention. 40 foreigners together is enough to create a stir, but add a bride in a white dress and a full blown wedding, now you have chaos. We anixously awaited the bride's arrival as we stood on our little hilltop under the pavilion which would serve just fine. Finally, the bride came and her father escorted her up the hill. There were invited guests and plenty of uninvited guests who took pictures and video while crowding around the little hilltop shelter. We sang Amazing Gr-c+ to end the w-rsh-p. Indeed, how amazing is his undeserved love for us. Love that brought these two people to the King of kings. Love that bound them as one with Him as their foundation. Love that brought all the guests there safely. I couldn't help but lift up my head to the skies and say, "Praise G-d from whom all blessings flow!" How wonderful and great He is.

The evening was capped off by a wonderful dinner and celebration for all the undeserved love shown us that day. After the festivites concluded, I saw the Olympic Park all lit up at night. Beautiful buildings and engineering feats. I experienced how beautiful this city is. Great things are being done through the h.s. there. Give thanks to the father today for all of the blessings he is showering upon China. It was a nice night and a wonderful day. Our G*d is an awesome G*d.

Beijing 2

How about those Wisconsin sports teams, huh? The Brewers, Badgers, and Packers are all having great seasons. It can be a nice distraction from things here. I like to stay updated on things I'm missing back home, but back to Beijing. I spent the entire second day at the Summer Palace. When they say palace they mean a small mountain next to a lake on which they built tons of buildings for emperors to meditate, lounge, and worship in. Needless to say at the end of this day, my feet were tired. My traveling group spent about 6 hours there and we saw a little more than half the area. It's huge. The main building to see is the large Buddhist Incense Temple on the middle of the mountain. I am standing at the bottom of it here. We arrived at the bottom of the temple after walking for a couple hours already. We all looked at each other, looked up at the temple, took a moment to motivate ourselves, and began our climb. Of course, they didn't have elevators when they built these things.

The view from the top was spectacular. Even though the air was a bit hazy, the surrounding hills, the lake, and herbiage made the many stairs worth it. Our descent took us down to the lake. We checked out an island which we saw from above at the temple. Then came time to try and find our way out. We had already been lost or misguided by the map. The scale of things was off so things that looked big on the map were small most of the time. The smaller things on the map took up lots of space, very confusing. On our way out we stopped at a few other places of importance. We made it just in time for a live music performance. It featured very large bells. I saw another set like this at a museum in Wuhan. Wuhan has the largest complete set in the world.

Our last stop before we left the park was Souzhou Street (sue-joe). Lots of little stores surround a small pond. We had to be careful not to lose balance. The "street" was not very wide and if just 2 or 3 clumped up, there was no room to squeeze around. I didn't buy anything, just looked around and took some pictures. Lots of things were tourist prices so I stayed away. Taking pictures are free, the best. All in all, painful feet and knees are worth the trip to this beautiful palace. If you ever have a day or two to walk around it, I highly recommend it.

THE MURSE

I have also included some pictures of the murse. I realize these are past due, but totally worth it. I hope you have also noticed the other blogs on the left. These are mostly from other Wuhan teachers, but Micah is in Beijing. If you ever want more info or a different perspective on things here in China feel free to check them out. I will try to keep adding more about my travels as the week goes on. Continue to share the good news with those around you. You may never know what an impact you have on those next to you. He is always working through you with the h.s. His undeserved love continues to blow my mind and teach me new wonders about Him. Thank you for your prayers and all of the support you give to those working in foreign fields.

Beijing 1

Thank you for your patience. After all my traveling and settling back into school here, time continues to fly by. I am going to recap the best I can from my 4 days in Beijing. I left Wuhan Sunday night on a train for Beijing. I sat in the "soft seat" section and attempted to sleep on the overnight ride. I didn't saw too many logs, unfortunately. The soft seats are nothing like a comfortable recliner of sofa. Think more like an uncomfortable chair with some padding. Maybe I am just not one to sleep on planes and trains either. I arrived safely in Beijing around 7 am on Monday. After dropping luggage off at the other FOC pads, my traveling partners and I headed to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace in the heart of the city.

 I thought there were a lot of people in Wuhan at times, but that is nothing compared to the masses in Beijing, especially during National holiday in the capital city. If you come here you have to leave your personal space on the plane. You won't get much of a comfort zone here. It was something to check off the list. I will never be around so many people ever again though. At least, I hope. In the afternoon we went to the Temple of Heaven. It was a warm day and after experiencing some exhaustion from the sun and lack of sleep the night before, the park and sights there were much more relaxed. The park in which the Temple of Heaven is found has lots of trees and green space. It had shade and a lot fewer people. Even though many were there, it seemed like a lot less than the Square that morning. The famous Temple of Heaven is the next picture.

After walking through the Temple area, the group (Andy Buschkopf, Peter, Ivy [a Chinese friend]) and I headed for the Pearl Market or Silk Street. It is a 5 or 6 story shopping mall where just about everything is sold. The market is fun because every vendor wants you to buy their stuff. You can challenge all the prices you want until you are blue in the face. You have to be careful not to pay too much and get trapped thinking you got a deal when you just got taken. I bought a sweater for the cold winters in Wuhan and had fun watching everyone else talk down prices. You first use the low ball, ridiculous price. Then you get real and say the price you really want which is still too high for them. They will start the price almost always at a ridiculously high price. Then you pull the teacher card or the "I don't really need this" card. And then if they still don't see your side you use the walk away. Then they see that you mean it. This usually drops the price drastically. After that you discuss some more and find some more ways of why it should be as low as you want it. Lots of fun and a good first day in Beijing.