September 26, 2014

Singing in a Beijing Bar

Autumn Greetings from Beijing, China!                                       September 2014

We are busy with the beginning of our new year. Thousands of students from around the world have moved to our neighborhood and we have the privilege of sharing the Lord Jesus Christ with them – in English, Korean, Indonesian, Mandarin, Spanish, Japanese, and French…so far – in Beijing International Christian Fellowship ZhongGuanCun.


Last Sunday afternoon more than 70 “newbies” from around the world came to hear our panel of experts (church members who are thriving here) share on key aspects of life in Beijing – shopping, riding buses and bikes, fun places, internet sites, health care, visa and registration issues, etc. We sent them out with a little gift bag with a map, Beijing apps, and Mandarin / English key phrases, and info on house plants that help filter your air!



Sunday night, after a full day of worship services, we headed out to the bar, with about 20 people from our Evening Service! It wasn’t just any bar – and with all the students here there are far too many of them! We went to one where one of our members heads up Quality Control on their food menu, and another leads the “Open Mic” on Sunday nights. Mr. Inouye (a former Yakuza mobster, now Evangelist) barred his tattooed guns and belted out gospel songs in Japanese. He had shared his testimony in our Evening Service earlier. Our Japanese Pastor Kosei (white shirt) translated. Kid’s heads turned from their smokes and drinks and gave him a respectful listen. A group of Japanese Christians heard about it and showed up with great enthusiasm and support. The young man who is kneeling to hold the song lyric sheet started break-dancing on the small stage, including spinning on his head!! Yes, it was memorable.


 This month we have hosted several ministry events on our rooftop balcony. The first Sunday of the month we had a Ministry Leaders lunch to get ready for the wave of new opportunities the Lord was bringing. It was a time to encourage one another and lift up our ministry to Him in prayer. Last Saturday we gathered our Small Group leaders for a time of teaching and encouragement in their vital ministries. We believe they are the front line of our pastoral ministry. Pray with us as we hope to see the Lord birth small groups on dozens of the 82 Uni campuses around us.


 In August we had the joyous opportunity of seeing our son Josiah and granddaughter Maylee in Almaty, Kazakhstan. They greeted us on arrival with leis they made. Aloha
lives in Kazakhstan! We also enjoyed time with churches and friends we served with during the eleven years we lived there before moving here to Beijing five years ago.  Maylee is now ten years old. She is doing very well in school, fluent in Russian and English. She is developing into a good skier too. Her other grandpa has kindly introduced her to that sport which he loves and she won two medals in competition last season and looks forward to trying again when the snow begins to pack into the Tien Shan Mountains there.

We are proud of the great job Josiah is doing as a good father and with his work. He will be a speaker in the “Service Quality Institute Worldwide Customer Service Conference” in Minneapolis, MN in October.

He will share about his efforts to implement a customer service plan in Technodom. A few months ago Josiah was interviewed on a Kazakhstan TV show about foreigners who live there.


And, just recently, he was asked to be the host/producer of the show. So he has taken on that task for a while. Soon the programs he hosts will be on this web site.

And, since we are bragging on our boys…

The sports sensor product Nathan designed while working here in Beijing was featured in an article in the Wall Street Journal “Off Duty” section on August 11; “Get Back in the Swing.”
Aaron is part of a team that has launched a new Russian fine-dining restaurant in Portland, Oregon that has become quite popular: http://kachkapdx.com/

And, the BIG news is that Nathan and Heather are expecting a baby early in 2015! We are so grateful for your prayers and support for our family these many years.

In October we will spend a few days in south China where Mark will lead a workshop for the China International Fellowship, http://cifconference.org/

In November we will team-teach a class on “Basic Teaching Skills” for the BICF Seminary program.
Mark and our preaching team plan to go through 1 Corinthians on Sunday nights and Genesis 25-36 in the mornings for the next few months.

So many opportunities the Lord has opened up. Please stand with us in prayer! We are very grateful for your faithful support. Thank you so much!

Yours in our Faithful God, Mark and Dayna Blair

Our Mission
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