April 24, 2015

Greetings from Thailand

Greetings from Bangkok,

We are glad to have this chance to share the good things the Lord is doing in China and beyond. In about one month we will fly to USA to visit family and our churches in California. If you are there, please contact us so we can plan a visit. We hope to hear from you soon. We so appreciate your support and are eager to share with you.

We are here in Thailand for a couple days attending the Missional International Church Network conference (www.micn.org). We are with colleagues from 25 International 

churches scattered around the world. Mark led a workshop on Developing Leaders. Sunday we will share in a church pastored by a brother who was an Elder in our church in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Monday we will be back home in Beijing for a busy month of ministry.

He is Risen, Indeed!

We had over 650 gather to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord on Easter morning worship at Beijing International Christian Fellowship Zhonggancun. (Our normal morning attendance is about 350.) Thankfully most of our visitors are friends, colleagues, neighbors, classmates, and even students of our members. Pray for these ongoing Gospel relationships. Four young ladies – from Kenya, Samoa, Panama, and China – professed their faith through Baptism on Easter Sunday. It was a great joy to hear their stories of coming to faith in Jesus.

Global Diaspora Forum

In April we joined with 300 Christian leaders from around the world in Manila. Our focus was on the 300 million people who live outside their homelands – the global diaspora. Many are forced from home by war or calamity, others choose to leave seeking fortune or advancement. Their conditions are vastly different, but their 

common denominator is that if they do not know Jesus Christ they will never find a home with God. So the Lausanne Movement called this Global Diaspora Forum to consider how to reach them with the love of God in word and deed. We spent long hours reviewing articles that we read in advance examining this complex issue from many perspectives. The plan is that this compendium will be published to provide a useful text for ministry leaders and students. Pray for the several dozen authors as they reflect on the critique they received at GDF and consider how to revise their work.

International Students

For two days before the opening of GDF we joined with leaders of International student ministries from Asia, Africa, and North America. We were hosted by leaders 

from the Philippines who provided a great venue for us to learn from one another. It was humbling and encouraging to hear some great affirmation from these key leaders about what the Lord is doing in our church in Beijing among International students.

Tacloban Pastor’s Conference

After the GDF we flew from Manila to Tacloban, Philippines. Here we witnessed the devastation that Super-Typhoon Yolanda brought to this area just over a year ago. The exact number of deaths from Yolanda is uncertain. People were buried faster than 

could be properly counted, but it was in the thousands. Some homes remained inundated with water for over a month! We saw several churches that special offerings taken last year in the BICF helped rebuild. We stood on the famed shoreline of Leyte where General Douglas MacArthur departed – and returned! – during WW2. We met 

with over 200 church leaders – and young people who were off school for Holy Week - who soldier faithfully for King Jesus there. These brothers in sisters in Christ who had lost much are not bitter. No, they are grateful for God’s gifts of life. It was our privilege to be encouraged by them! We had the joy of sharing from the Scriptures, urging them to press on in the work of the Gospel. 

The Next Generation of Preachers

For two long weekends in April Mark led a class on “Sermon Preparation” for the BICF Seminary. A dozen students from Malaysia, USA, Liberia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Nigeria, England, and Gabon - young and eager preachers, gathered to sharpen their skills. We had a lot of good sharing and discussion. Each of them presented Bible messages that they had crafted and openly received critique from their colleagues. Iron was sharpening iron, buffered by love and encouragement.

So, we give praise to God for all He’s doing by your prayers and faithful support. We do hope to see many of you soon.

For the Glory of King Jesus, 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 )



Skype  blairstan

Our Ministry
Beijing International Christian Fellowship www.bicf.org/zgc
Hear Mark’s sermons at: http://bicf.org/english-service
BICF Sermon App for Apple or Android: www.bicf.org/app (ZGC sermon tab)

Mark preached recently at Haidian Christian Church and his sermon is on video: http://english.hdchurch.org/html/news/2015/0301/516.html