December 30, 2017

Christmas in Beijing


Warm Greetings from Chilly Beijing,                                            December 2017

Like many of you, we have been on intensive holiday mode since before Thanksgiving. In a city of 23 million, nearly everything – including holidays - are on steroids! Actually our “days” of Thanksgiving and Christmas are normal work days here. Members of our church carry on their normal duties of work and study. Yet it seems the “forbidden fruit factor” makes people yearn even more for these holidays they cannot have – believers and not yet. So, holiday time is gospel harvest time!


Christmas Eve Sunday was a wonderful day at Beijing International Christian Fellowship ZhongGuanCun! Our Lord who came to save was praised all day long – in Mandarin, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese and twice in English. Each service was filled, some came for the first time, and many who had long ago memorized the carols.
Arriving Sunday morning we were greeted by a squad of policemen with scanner wands sent to “keep us safe” (thanks, guys!) and a Muslim couple from Bangladesh who said they always wanted to attend a Christmas service if that was alright with me? “Of course, welcome!” A highlight of our morning English service was Pacific Islanders (from Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Hawaii, and Haiti), including Mama Dayna, dancing to “The Christmas Star.”



Afterwards the entire church was invited to a University dining hall across the street for an 11-course Chinese lunch for  $ 6 usd (40 RMB)! About 200 happy eaters joined in. Then our “scouting carolers” set off!

We’ve heard a lot in the local news about how “western traditions” i.e. Christmas! must stop being imposed. So, we wondered whether caroling near the busy mall might end with new prison epistles? As we sang our carols a couple dozen people quickly gathered, nearly all of them taking pictures. The security guards concluded we were blocking foot traffic. But they just asked us to move slightly aside. Then the manager of the mall came and invited us to sing on their center stage that night! So after the evening service a big group (above) went to sing, and handed out lots of Christmas tracts and candy canes!   
More than 150 people scurried in from campus and workplace to enjoy Thanksgiving Dinner on November 23rd. We gathered in “Café Heaven” - operated by members of our Korean congregation. Since Turkeys are expensive here, and we do all we can to keep things cheap for our many students, we wonder if the pilgrims also enjoyed spaghetti and fish sticks? We did! Best of all we enjoyed the rich fellowship of brothers and sisters and seekers from 50 nations!


Thank you for praying for our trip to Kazakhstan in early November. We had the privilege of introducing John Ensor the President of Passion Life to friends and former colleagues in ministry there. His message of life in Jesus –  beginning at conception – was much appreciated in that land so badly scarred by abortion. John and Mark had a full day sharing with many of the pastors of Almaty, a number were our students back in the last century! It was also a joy to introduce John to the current staff and students of the Tien Shan International School where Dayna taught for a decade and our three sons graduated. See more at www.passionlife.org (Of course, we loved being with Josiah and Maylee for a week there!)


Thanks also for praying for the teaching Mark led in November. He modeled “Leadership” in getting other pastors to teach 2 of his 4 classes – a fellow BICF pastor and a seminary classmate we had not seen for many years Pastor Tom Kenney. Then, since nobody sent suggestions of how to re-brand his course, “Life and Work of the Pastor” we went with “Thriving in Ministry.”  Here are the people we tried to fool, but they soon discovered behind the new brand was the same old teacher with the same old notes!

In October Dayna and over 50 ladies had a great 3-day Retreat studying through the Book of Ruth.

Every year BICF is one of the host locations for the “Global Leadership Summit” from Willow Creek Church in Chicago. This conference seeks to encourage and instruct leaders in church and society. Each year we share this equipping opportunity with local leaders in churches, business, and government. Depending on the winds of change, sometimes it has been labelled too much “foreign religion” and numbers are limited. This year the wind was favorable and we were able to host the 2-day program in our largest auditorium, nearly filling its 2000 seats with many who said it was their first time to hear the Good News. It was great!

One of our members, a doctoral student from Tanzania, said he had a few of his classmates from South Asia – India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh – Christians and Muslims, coming over for an exploratory Bible study group and time of fellowship. Here is what those few friends – fields ready for harvest – looks like…
We were again welcomed by the Haidian Christian Church to hold our International Christmas program in their large auditorium. For 2 nights, December 8 and 9, we shared with almost 2000 people that “Jesus is our Peace” in songs, drama, dance, and preaching. Each night we invited people to join discussion groups to ask questions and think more, more than 300 lingered. Those who hurried off took Christmas tracts and the Gospel of John in Mandarin and an apple (the Mandarin word for “peace” is like “apple”!) This was the 7th year we have had this marvelous opportunity to share the Christmas Gospel in this large church open to all people. Our teachers were allowed to invite all their students and our students were able to invite all their classmates. Lots of them came. Pray for the Gospel seed to bear much fruit.

Preaching through the last chapters of Genesis have been a vivid reminder of the grace and mercy of God for us and our families. If it were me, I would try to find the most noble people possible to steward the blessed promise to Abraham for the blessing of the nations. Maybe God did. But it is painfully evident even the noble fall so short of his glory! Dads who play favorites. Sons who sleep with Dad’s woman, kill all the men in town, and sell their brother off as a slave! But God’s relentless grace does not quit before all those bad boys have bowed their knee to him and made their peace with each other. What man intends for evil, God can use for good, and the saving of many people! 4000 years later, He still holds the world in His grip.  

We pray that the year ahead will be one of great blessing for you and your family. The promise of Abraham is ours in Christ. As we now sojourn through earth, may your hope be fixed on that City where all of us in Jesus will gather with great joy!

In the joy of Him who has Come and will Come Again, Mark and Dayna Blair
Our Mission  Pioneers - 10123 William Carey Dr - Orlando, FL 32832 USA   

Checks to ‘Pioneers’ – with attached note: ‘Mark and Dayna Blair, Beijing.’                     
(Our Account # is 110565, Mark and Dayna Blair)


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