Home for the Holidays

Thanksgiving Greetings from Beijing,

Last Tuesday we said good-bye to our eldest son Nathan and his wife Heather who moved back to Portland, Oregon. In their two and a half years here Heather taught Biology and English in a large Chinese high school. Here she shares with a blind Chinese boy who is a part of the Bethel Home that is often served by the members of our church.

Nathan began his career as a product designer working in two companies here. You can see some of his accomplishments, and some his great photos of life in Beijing, on this web site: http://nathanklblair.com

We, and their many friends from our church and work, miss them already! But we will see them soon as all three of our sons will gather with family for a Christmas reunion in Hilo. It will be the first time we have been all together with Nathan and Heather, Josiah, and Aaron - in six years. We are excited and grateful.

The Beijing International Christian Fellowship continues to thrive. We are seeing the Lord work throughout our 21 congregations, including the five that we serve in Zhong Guan Cun. Last night we had a full and dynamic “Unity” service with our English, Korean, Indonesian, and African congregations! This fall we have seen Small Groups really grow. Young people far from home are finding Christian community and solid Christian friendships. Of the 82 Universities that surround our church venue, we have groups on about 20. Pray with us as we try to reach even more. We are planning an all church Thanksgiving Dinner, which has been much appreciated by students, both Christians and not yet, who are far from home.

Dayna enjoys teaching baking, and we all enjoy eating the fruits of their labors! Here are students from China, Tanzania, Madagascar, and Ghana getting some tips from the Chef. We are thankful we can open our apartment for fellowship and ministry.

We our planning our third annual “Christmas around the World” program held at a large Chinese church again this year. We again have a great team of performers, stage crew, and coordinators who are already working hard. The pastor of the church, which now has 10,000 members, has asked us to do the performance for two nights (December 13 & 14) to allow more people to attend. Their venue seats over 2000 people and we expect to fill the house twice. Many of those who come will not know the Christ of Christmas. May He who became man long ago give them a new birth this year!

During our time away from BICF ZGC these five young preachers will serve our church here in Beijing. It has been a joy to spend time studying with them as they prepare to preach, “King Jesus: Adored and Obeyed” from Matthew 1 & 2, and 5-7. It has been one of our goals to encourage and equip expository preachers. And these guys come with knowledge and skills from Hong Kong, Tanzania, USA, and UK. Please remember Hin Tai, Mbazingwa, Adam, Peter, and Josh in your prayers.

We leave for Hawaii tomorrow and are eager to be with our ohana, churches, and friends. Here is our Sunday schedule:

December 1 Kalihi Union Church, Honolulu

December 8 Living Waters Assembly of God, Hilo

December 15 Hilo Missionary Church

December 22 Puna Covenant Church, Keaau, Hawaii

December 29 Mokuaikaua Congregational Church, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

January 5    Kalahikiola Congregational Church, Hawi, Hawaii

January 12  City Church of Honolulu (PCA)

January 19 First Chinese Church of Christ, Honolulu

January 24 Kauai Island Missions Banquet

January 26 North Shore Christian Church, Kilauea, Kauai

February 2 

February 9 Kawaiaha’o Congregational Church, Honolulu

February 16         Hawaii Kai UCC, Hawaii Kai, Oahu

February 23 AM - Waipuna Chapel, Kula, Maui

                    PM – Wailuku Door of Faith, Maui

February 26 – Fly back to Beijing….

If you are in Hawaii, we really hope to see you!

Yours in Him who came to Save Us, Mark and Dayna Blair 

Our Mission

Pioneers - 10123 William Carey Drive - Orlando, FL 32832 – USA www.pioneers.org

(Checks should be made out to ‘Pioneers’ – with a separate note attached saying: ‘Mark and Dayna Blair, Beijing.’ Electronic transfers can be sent to: http://www.pioneers.org/Give/AutomatedGiving.aspx )

Our Email     blairstan2@gmail.com or  blairstan@psmail.net (secure)

Our Blog         www.blairstan.blogspot.com

Skype  blairstan

Our Ministry

Beijing International Christian Fellowship - www.bicf.org

Hear Mark’s sermons at: http://bicf.org/english-service

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Aloha from chilly Beijing!

We left summer behind, packed up the Hawaiian shirt and flip flops, busting out the scarves and hats! Tomorrow Nathan and Heather will run in the Beijing Marathon. And we’re going full speed with lots of exciting ministry here.

Never Poorer, Never Richer!       

The message of a fellow pastor recently brought us strange consolation. He, like us here in Beijing, made great efforts for their church to reach University students near their venue. It worked! Hundreds came, and stayed, and enjoyed, but their fancy church building got tattered and shabby. Yet many lives were touched and transformed by the Lord Jesus Christ. And, their weekly collection increased by an average of $13 a week. One Sunday an Egg McMuffin was placed in the offering plate with a note, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give…”!  We at BICF ZGC have been in our pricey hotel venue, next to the University with the largest number of International students in China (10,000 from 120 nations), for four months. Our collections just about cover the rent, but God is bringing and blessing many….!

And Now Spanish…

For some time it has concerned us that the most widely spoken language in Christendom is not among the ten languages used by congregations within our Beijing International Christian Fellowship – Spanish. So it was a great joy to announce to our congregation that a Spanish service began at one of our locations on the other side of city. But then a number of Spanish speaking students who worship with us asked why we could not get something started. (The other site is an hour away.) So we hosted a dinner (picture above) for Spanish speakers at our apartment and 23 people from 13 different nations came! Pray for them as they plan how to launch a Spanish ministry connected to our church.

Studying Old Testament

For three weekends in October Mark is teaching an “Old Testament Survey” class for our BICF seminary program. Students who have another “job” squeeze out enough time for lectures, reading, and writing papers. We had our first graduation this year; four students earned an accredited Master’s degree. Here are some of those in this month’s class; they’re from Singapore, Venezuela, Hong Kong, Germany, Cuba, Tanzania, England, Kenya, and USA.

Happy Harvesters

Even though our church budget is tight, we are not trying to save money by not helping the poor. 20% of our total income goes to “Impact” – BICF’s Outreach, which has a big focus on mercy ministry. Our primary focus is on the preaching of the Word, but we think it is vital the world can “see” the living Good News of Jesus. It is a joy to serve a congregation with such a biblical balance of word and deed ministry. Here are our “barley harvesters” as we recently spent a day serving a local orphanage for blind children.

China International Fellowships

          This weekend we host the China International Fellowship with leaders from I.F.’s from throughout this nation. (www.cifconference.org) Mark will lead a workshop on “Preaching in the International Church.” We hope this will be a refreshing time as we seek to encourage the work of the Gospel in churches throughout this most populous nation of the world. 

          We are so thankful for your prayers and support which allow us to serve the Lord here in China. Our hearts leap thinking about the wide open door God has placed before BICF ZGC! This is our 30^th year of missionary service and we stand before the widest door of opportunity in our lives. For those who have asked, our support seems to be slightly below our requirements.

          We are looking forward to coming to share with our ohana, churches, and friends in just over a month. We have fixed dates with some churches and look forward to hearing from more. Here is what we know so far:

December 1 Kalihi Union Church, Honolulu

December 8 Living Waters Assembly of God, Hilo

December 15 Hilo Missionary Church

December 22 Puna Covenant Church, Keaau, Hawaii

December 29 Mokuaikaua Congregational Church, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

January 5    Kalahikiola Congregational Church, Hawi, Hawaii

January 12

January 19 First Chinese Church of Christ, Honolulu

January 24 Kauai Island Missions Banquet

January 26           North Shore Christian Church, Kauai

February 2           Kauai

February 9           Kawaiaha’o Congregational Church

February 16                   Hawaii Kai UCC, Hawaii Kai, Oahu

February 23 AM - Waipuna Chapel, Kula, Maui

                    PM – Door of Faith, Kahului, Maui

February 26 – Fly Honolulu to Beijing….

If you are in Hawaii, we really hope to see you!

Yours in Him who rules the Nations, Mark and Dayna Blair  

Our Mission

Pioneers - 10123 William Carey Drive - Orlando, FL 32832 – USA www.pioneers.org

(Checks should be made out to ‘Pioneers’ – with a separate note attached saying: ‘Mark and Dayna Blair, Beijing.’ Electronic transfers can be sent to: http://www.pioneers.org/Give/AutomatedGiving.aspx )

Our Email     blairstan2@gmail.com or  blairstan@psmail.net (secure)

Our Blog         www.blairstan.blogspot.com

Skype  blairstan

Our Ministry

Beijing International Christian Fellowship - www.bicf.org

Hear Mark’s sermons at: http://bicf.org/english-service