China-Summer2019
October 22nd Update
This trip to China began in Beijing; from there to Tianjin. Then it was onto Guangzhou and Yunan and back to Guangzho
An amazing thing happened at a meal recently.
I was having dinner with Tom (Guangzhou) and the subject of missions came up. I told him about Julie (Shanghai). The two of them do not know each other. The distance between them is about 800 miles.
Yet, as I told him the stories of her travels to India, he said he also had a friend in India caring for women in the red-light district. Mumbai is around 3,300 miles from Shanghai and there would be almost no chance that any of us would know the other.
Unbelievably, his American friend “King”. was actually the person leading the mission trip to India.
From what I can understand, King has such a heart for the people of India, that he sacrifices much of his time and money to help care for the most needy.
Remarkable
October 19th Update
About Julie
It was nice to have two separate times with her.
I had hoped to see her during my trip; however, I learned shortly after my arrival she was in India for a mission trip to serve several orphanages. Some of the children lost their parents to disease, never knew their fathers, or in many cases, were the result of prostitution. They are some of the poorest in Mumbai.
Julie began helping several years ago. During the day she teaches the children basic English skills and also bible stories. Sometimes she visits the red light districts. The women are destitute and often sit in rooms just waiting for men to come by and choose them. Sometimes their children sit with them.
Julie met a young boy last year whose behavior was erratic and uncontrolled. He was rescued from the streets, given a place to stay, and provided some education. She saw the child again this year and he is completely changed. Good works make a difference.
Here is a picture of Julie with the people and children at the Mumbai Orphanage.
October 18th update
I was contacted about 2 days ago with a request by Makiyo. She is wanting to promote her English class to mother’s in her neighborhood community in Shenzhen. She asked for some help with creating a video. She wanted to show she had an American advisor helping with curriculum. Actually, I have offered my assistance over the years; so it was easy say “yes”. Here is the video. By the way, all the people in the video gave permission to use. They are all students or someone I have been working with in some capacity.
This is the ppt created by the couple to demonstrate the new course they will teach
After this was posted online, a friend I had not seen in 9 years contacted me to set up an online discussion. She had seen the videos (the world is so small).
We reconnected and visited for an hour. She is now an English teacher and is doing well. She is involved with a church and is having nightly studies and is also involved in missionary type work. Amazing to see her and know she is doing so well.
October 16th Update
I met with Coco. She has a husband, David, and a 2 year old son Nubao.
David has been away from home for several months now. His father is in the last stages of esophageal cancer. He lives over a thousand miles away and has no one to care for him. David is with him during these times.
It turns out that Coco and David’s marriage has been going through difficult times before this. Coco’s health has become increasingly challenging because of an autoimmune disorder that began shortly after giving birth to Nubao. And David has not been able to keep steady employment. The economic times here are difficult. Unless God is able to penetrate their lives, divorce is likely within the next few years.
Coco attempts to keep the family afloat by selling expensive pure breed cats. She has a type of kennel in her home. It seems she has about 12 kittens almost ready to be put on the market. Keeping the cats fed, watered, cleaned and healthy is a full time job. And taking care of a two year old is demanding as well.
In typical Chinese fashion she requested that I go on an evening walk with her and Nubao. This occurred after we dropped off a sick kitty to the vet at about 6 pm. She had tried her best to restore the kitten’s health during the day. From my perspective the cat suffers from dehydration, and perhaps other things. The siblings are well.
So our walk occurred at about 8 pm, in a poorly lit park. This is just common. Exercising in the PM is part of the Chinese way of life. And danger from criminals is almost non-existent.
On a curious note, being physically assaulted by a thief, or other criminal, is unlikely. However, verbal assaults are very normal. Screaming at each other seems to be their way of communication. And pushing, slapping or hitting in some form is seen (or reported) frequently in the home. It is painful to watch.
There are millions and millions of people in Shanghai. It staggers the imagination to consider the pain in this town. They are a secretive people and maintaining an appearance of tranquility and cooperation is imperative. It is easy to observe how fragile this facade is. This is a hard country to live in; most accept it; but everyone I know here longs for Western shores.
Bringing love, kindness, emotional and spiritual support is the thing we bring to this country. Despite all outward appearances, the evil one will not win. Love continues to conquer all.
I had been with Coco for about one half day when she suddenly declared, “thank you for giving me spiritual life”. But I had not said one word about God; I had not given one piece of advice.
I even said to her, “we have not had a chance to speak about God”, and she responded, “you don’t have to”.
The days are like this.
October 15th Update
Two days ago I met with Sara. We met again today and will meet one more time Before I leave Shanghai. She is not a believer, and has not expressed any real interest for the last 3 years. But I have not given up hope! Today we talked about what her big dream would be. Currently she is a director over a number of people. Her company sells auto insurance.
She would like to be an interpreter. So today we dreamed together about some of the things she could do to make that happen. Practicing English is necessary; but difficult due to 70 hour work week.
However, we did talk about reading a novel together. It is my hope through this novel there will come times to talk more about him. We did have a little chat about how G speaks through dreams!
This evening I have had dinner with Pan and his wife. I met them two years ago. He had just returned from America and was now teaching at a college. Mutual friends introduced us and from this I learned that Pan became a Christian while in Dallas.
He continues in his belief. He was very saddened athat he lost contact with the person that led him to acceptance. There is a slight chance I may be able to follow a thread and reunite them. We shall see.
Oh, and as an added blessing I was given a performance by two people on piano and one on saxophone. Pan’s wife teaches piano. So I was able to go to her studio!
October 13th Bob Report
On the 13th I met with Phoebe and Brian. The plan was for me to spend the night and leave the next morning. However, the couple asked me to stay and then at noon a surprise conversation happened. Phoebe needed to talk about somebody that was impossible for her to forgive.
She talked for more than 2 hours about this very big offense. In fact it was her mother in law. The time we had gave her a chance to express her very deep emotions. At the end we were able to pray. It was at that point she said she had gotten so far from God that she did not know how to pray anymore.
This provided the opportunity for me to connect her with other people. And, one of those people lives in Australia and does not have faith. But what this person does have is access to quality baby formula.
So this other person can mail her formula to China. I spoke with Phoebe today and she was so very relieved and at peace following our conversation.
Two days ago I met with Sara. We met again today and will meet one more time Before I leave Shanghai. She is not a believer, and has not expressed any real interest for the last 3 years. But I have not given up hope! Today we talked about what her big dream would be. Currently she is a director over a number of people. Her company sells auto insurance.
She would like to be an interpreter. So today we dreamed together about some of the things she could do to make that happen. Practicing English is necessary; but difficult due to 70 hour work week.
However, we did talk about reading a novel together. It is my hope through this novel there will come times to talk more about him. We did have a little chat about how God speaks through dreams!
This evening I have had dinner with Pan and his wife. I met them two years ago. He had just returned from America and was now teaching at a college. Mutual friends introduced us and from this I learned that Pan became a Christian while in Dallas.
He continues in his belief. He was very saddened athat he lost contact with the person that led him to acceptance. There is a slight chance I may be able to follow a thread and reunite them. We shall see.
Oh, and as an added blessing I was given a performance by two people on piano and one on saxophone. Pan’s wife teaches piano. So I was able to go to her studio!
October 8th Update from Bob
Hello everyone,
Each day remains an exceptional adventure. There was some grand confusion regarding travel from one city to another. In the end it worked out marvelously. The key to moving around China is to remain VERY flexible. It is an imperative. Thank you Beckie Hinze.
Henry met me at the train station and smoothly directed me through a ”people clogged” serpentine path. Yea, I am somewhere!
The day’s plan of activities mutated and morphed. It was mind-boggling. I gave up trying to make sense of any schedule. Which turned out to be the best plan.
I was to meet about 3 people for lunch. That number became 10 as soon as I arrived to the restaurant. Cuisine is regional. In the north it is hot and Spicey. And in the south it is sweet and sour. However, the people remain the same.
Their lives are complicated.
At lunch I met a family with 4 sisters. One is a physician specializing in arthritic conditions. She has fairly wide fame in this city and is known as the baby giver. This is because many of the women seeing her are incapable of having children until their diseases are brought under control.
In this family there is also a sister who works in a mid-management level position with Nike. She is a strong independent woman. Strong independent women are seen as a threat to matrimony.
In this same family is a sister who has struggled with schizophrenia for years. Her table affect was muted. Lively conversation was all around her, yet the most she could do was smile and look away.
Another sister has been facing issues with a husband’s infidelity.
Finally, a different family member has a husband who has bipolar disease.
Lunch was two hours and then it was time to walk the streets of the oldest portions of Guangzhou. These streets were filled with merchants, hotels and museums. Each path taken was another opportunity to talk about the eternal.
The night ended with a soulful time in a “me 2” Starbucks. It was here that one sister poured her heart out about her husband’s illness. Everything she said was in Chinese; but her emotions were transparent in any culture. She was in deep pain. She had found her answers with the father; but solace is not easily maintained when erratic family behavior is a constant.
Before the night concluded she mentioned I was her angel. I quickly pointed out I only had one feather! Still, this is the mission: one person (or multiple???) at a time.
The night concluded with three prayers. The languages were different, but the messages were consistent. Our help really only comes from
One place.
As a final note, Henry waited patiently at home and then traveled some distance to retrieve me. The schedule had been to be with Henry and his family for the evening. He made many sacrifices yesterday. Today will be a shifting landscape.
October 1, 2019
Bob (our president) is in China teaching English to students and classes. Here is his update from today
Well each day is full. Most begin for me at about 5AM and last until 10pm.
Today was exceptionally busy. I accepted a new student last week. His name is Henry and he has had English lessons for theee years; but his mother complains that he does not retain much. She asked if I would try to help. His English language skills are less than a 5 year old, but he is about 11 years old.
He can read better than he can write; but his verbal skills are almost zero. There is no easy answer; but I chose to give him a few lessons over the Internet. It was so difficult. He seems to enjoy the classes. Today his mother brought him to Rose’s home for tutoring. It began at 9:00 AM. We had lessons throughout the day and then we tried to play some games that would encourage his skills
There is no easy answer; but I chose to give him a few lessons over the Internet. It was so difficult. He seems to enjoy the classes. Today his mother brought him to Rose’s home for tutoring. It began at 9:00 AM. We had lessons throughout the day and then we tried to play some games that would encourage his skills. This meant we went from routine reading classes to teaching chess and gardening. My moments pictures captures some of this.
Pictures from today include
Rose was one of the people that came to stay with us in July. She has been an ongoing student and friend for years.