Greetings from Blue Sky Beijing, June
2016
If we grumble about the smog (and we do!) we oughta
give thanks for the beautiful days the Lord gives us in this massive, amazing,
city where Jesus rules. Here’s some of the ways we see Him working in the last
several weeks….
This
is Graduation season here in Beijing. And for Mama Dayna its lei making and
giving time. Here’s one of our church’s high school graduates. As more than 70%
of our congregation are University students, we are busy with good-byes! Our
church motto is “Gathering, Growing, Going” and about a third of our members
leave every year. As they go, we are impacting the more than 70 nations they
come from. With all the social media connections, we are able to help them
transition even better. Just sent some Small Group resources to Mexico City…!
In
April we attended the “Global Church, Global World” conference in Hong Kong.
About 300 leaders from International churches gathered for this unique event,
spanning denominational lines, united in Christ. It was so unique that Os Guinness
and Ravi Zacharias put us into their busy schedules to come and speak. It was
very encouraging. We co-led a workshop on “Integrating
International Students & Returnees with International Churches: A Highly
Strategic Interface” as you can see below.
It was a privilege to share this workshop with two
friends who have a lifetime of experience reaching International students. We
have hosted them here and they spoke very kindly and enthusiastically about
what the Lord is doing in our midst. We have an International church that would
fall apart if the International students were taken away! They do “Go!” – sadly
for us! – but we also get to see them “Grow!” We recently held a Ministry
Leaders retreat in the hills surrounding our city; calling on the Lord of the
Harvest to help us grow even more.
Shortly
after our retreat we added three more Deacons for our church. Two young
(compared to us they’re ALL young!) fathers who have been faithfully serving
our people for the last couple years one from China (now an American citizen)
the other from Holland. And our new Deaconess is a PhD. student from Uganda.
You can see all the Elders and Deacons as we prayed God’s blessings on the
newest members of our leadership team.
As I am preaching toward the end of
Matthew on Sunday mornings we recently considered King Jesus’ commendation to those
unsuspecting sheep who unexpectedly cared for Him in His hunger, and nakedness,
and imprisonment. These words prompted our African Connect Ministry to go out
and visit orphans instead of their normal gathering. They found “Sun Village –
Beijing” one of seven in this nation where children of prisoners are loved and
cared for. It was very encourage to learn how 20 years ago a woman who was a
prison worker was so burdened by the children “orphaned” (some sent to
relatives, others landing on the streets) when their parents were imprisoned.
She, a devout follower of Mao!, got funds and facilities and has now cared for
thousands of kids. Some of them – now University graduates – come back to help.
So we were welcomed to come play, sing, and share Jesus with these kids…
Thanks so much for your faithful
support and prayers that keep us going strong here. We will be here for most of
the summer, saying “Good-byes” and new “Hellos” in August.
Dayna will help guide our
Children’s Program’s (about 100 kids!) for several Sunday’s this summer.
They’ll keep cool as they consider the Life of David, with an “Island” theme!
Mark will co-teach
our June Tuesday Training course on “Guidance - How to
Follow God in the Choices of Life.”
Later in June we get to see Josiah and
Maylee in Almaty, Kazakhstan! Mark will teach “Biblical Interpretation” for a
week in the Reformed Evening Seminary there. We look forward to seeing some of
the brothers and sisters we grew to love during our 11 years of serving
there. May the Lord bless you as you
“Gather, Grow, and Go” wherever you are!
With love and prayers, Mark and Dayna Blair
Our
Mission Pioneers - 10123
William Carey Dr - Orlando, FL 32832 USA
(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 )
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