Sunday, September 29, 2013

Just Three Weeks Before Departure!

Time is flying!  In just three short weeks we will be leaving for Beijing, China, on our great adventure!  God has been very gracious in assembling this extraordinary group of women who have grown in their love for each other as they prepared to serve our Lord in China.  Together we have laughed, prayed, encouraged, and learned many things about each other and China.

Our team consists not just of the five women who will travel to Beijing.  There are many other team members who served on this team through sharing their time and talents making beautiful gifts for us to take to China.  These gifts will be given to the sisters and brothers who come to listen to our talks.

Barbara and Marina making gifts

Loretta Miller one of wonderful EFCC knitters
Other non-traveling team members have generously donated to the expanses of the team traveling to China.
 
The detailed China visa applications have been submitted and airline tickets have been purchased.  There is still important training to accomplish and then … packing … which can be a challenge!
 
Practicing our talks will be an important priority in the coming weeks.  Some of our topics include:  Parenting with a Purpose, You are Not Alone, Finding Balance in Our Busy Lives, Submission, and God is With Us.
 
Please join us in praying:

·      Tune our hearts to hear God’s leading

·      May each of us fully depend on God

·      Focus to efficiently complete the many mission details

·      God to provide the remaining needed funds

·      May we adapt well to changes in schedules, foods, and time zones

Thank you for your interest and support of our mission.  May you be richly blessed!

Mary Waring for the Team

 

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Long Meetings filled with Fun!

Gorgeous gifts for our Chinese sisters made by EFCC women
 Each of us is getting so excited about serving the Lord and our wonderful Chinese friends that our meetings keep stretching into the dinner hour J … the time passes so quickly. There is so much to share/learn/pray in anticipation of our trip that we stopped for a devotion of thanksgiving for answered prayers…thus far. We mentioned each of our requests by way of a catalog of faithfulness of our Lord. In brief; physical healings, focus and patience, direction in preparing our talks, job seeking, safety in travel, helping others in need, hand-made gifts for us to share (see some of them in pictures below.) Our Lord is answering every prayer we place before Him…I prayed to The Lord, and He answered me, freeing me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4
More beautiful gifts from our hands to our Chinese sisters
 We continue to be thankful to our prayer partners and financial supporters. You are such an important component of our team. We are so encouraged to know that you are now and will be praying for us throughout this mission. May God richly bless you.
Barbara Pillsbury
Barbara Pillsbury for the team.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Training Update

Our team met today for our 5th training session and we had a BIG praise report!  Our support contributions are enough to go ahead and purchase our airline tickets and apply for our visas!  Both of these have been a concern as the airline tickets have been steadily gaining in cost and, we need to get our visas back before we leave.  Thank you dear friends and supporters for your contributions to make this mission possible!  You will be receiving thank you notes and prayer cards in the very near future.  We are overjoyed and so grateful for your faith in us and your support for this mission to our Chinese sisters and brothers.

In today’s training, we learned about the history preceding the Cultural Revolution and how certain events laid the groundwork for the Cultural Revolution to actually take place.  The cult of Mao and the extreme actions of the Red Guards were brought to life by reading portions from a book, Wild Swans by Jung Chang.  In chilling detail, she recorded her experiences as a young girl at the beginning of the Revolution1965 through 1976. Understanding this history will give us greater insight to the general cultural and a better understanding of the background the Chinese women come from.
Loraine and Leslie practicing talks
Leslie practiced her talk on Parenthood with Loraine acting as interpreter.  We all learned a lot about how we need to pace our talks so the Chinese interpreter will have time to interpret.  Also, we are getting more discernment about our choice of vocabulary and concepts so the interpreter will be able to accurately interpret the points we will be talking about.

Only eight weeks before we go!  We are so happy to be serving God on this mission and we are delighted to share our experiences with you.  Our prayers cover you with Thanksgiving and praise God for His goodness and bountiful blessings! 

In Jesus Love, Linda for the Team

Religion in China


There’s so much to learn and understand about the Chinese culture!  We’re learning about the religious aspects of China this week.  Did you know that approximately 80% of Chinese have no religion at all?!   Religion was banned completely as recently as 1976, and is still closely, and suspiciously, monitored by the government.  The remaining 20% are split between Buddhism, Muslim, Hinduism, and Christianity, with the vast majority of young believers in their 20s and 30s following Christianity. 

There are 3 major types of Christian churches in China.  First, the approved, government-registered church is the 3 Self church (which stands for self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation).  It started as a way for the government to control the protestant religions.  Second, is the unregistered, underground house churches.  They meet in secret and are in danger of harassment and imprisonment.  Third, is the Urban Professionals, who sometimes register with the government, but meet in smaller, house churches.   It is mostly made up of young, successful business professionals who have permission to work with foreign business partners.  This third group is largely who we will be working with.
Leslie Campos and Linda Martin
We are also learning about safety.  Most likely our rooms and cabs will be bugged and we may be monitored and followed.  We are not in a great amount of danger, but we could put those to whom we are ministering in danger.  We need to be on guard with what we do and say at all times.  Please pray that the Lord would set a guard on our tongues when we are there and that all we do would glorify Him!

We’re close to having enough support to secure our airline tickets, and, hopefully soon, our visas.  We leave in 8 weeks!  Yikes!! 

By His Grace, Leslie for the Team

Monday, September 2, 2013

Team Talks are Finished!

How time is quickly passing! All of the team’s talks are finished and this week our team will be meeting for the fifth time. We will begin practicing our talks by giving them in front of the team. This will help us sharpen our skills and refine our talks as we practice giving them to the group.
 
Last Friday the team meet at Mary's for a time of yummy food and fellowship followed by watching and discussing a traveling security video.  
Loraine Doud making gifts for China
Please keep the team in your prayers as we prepare for our time of departure in October.  Specifically please pray:

·       God will be pleased with our efforts

·       The hard working China team who guide us

·       All our preparation details be completed efficiently

·       Team unity will continue as beautifully as it started

Loraine for the team