Happy
Thanksgiving from Beijing! November
2019
We
are looking forward to seeing many of you in Hawaii soon! It has been three
years since our last Home Assignment there. Our schedule of church visits is
starting to come together D.V.…
December 1
Kalihi Union Church, Honolulu
December 8 Northshore Christian Church, Kauai
December 15
First Chinese Church of Christ in Honolulu
December 22 Haili Church, Hilo
December 29
Kawaiahao Church
January 5 &
12 Puna Covenant Church, Keaau, Hawaii
January 19 Kalahikiola Church, Kohala
January 26 Hilo
Missionary Church
February 2 Wellspring Covenant Church, Honolulu
February 9 Hawaii
Kai United Church of Christ
February 16 Mokuaikaua Church, Kona
February 23 Waipuna Chapel, Maui
February 29
Return to Beijing
Please
let us know if it might be possible to visit your church on any open Sunday. We
would also be glad to visit home groups and other meetings during the week. We
are looking forward to talking story about all the Lord is doing here.
Good Numbers! Mark has resumed a busy schedule of
ministry here. It’s been over 2 months since his prostate removal. Last week he
had a PSA blood test. (They say if the cancer is gone, that number should be
low.) His current number is 0.007! Thanks so much for your prayers.
Not Again…?!
Thank
you for journeying in prayer with our church, Beijing International Christian
Fellowship, in our search for venues. As we shared in our last letter, after
more than six years of worship in a strategically located hotel, we in BICF
Zhongguancun were forced to move to another hotel just over a month ago.
Now
we must move again! Our new hotel claims since they are on University property,
we violate China law to worship there. Frankly,
the whole process raises lots of questions, but our hope and confidence is in
the King of Kings. Please join us as we trust Him to open a new door for our 5 BICF
ZGC churches (English, Mandarin, Korean, Indonesian, and Japanese) to worship
Him in spirit and truth. (As you are praying, please remember our ‘mother’
church’s location where 8 BICF churches and several thousand members have
gathered for over 25 years – they’ve been told to vacate their place in one
month!)
- If all this sounds like things are getting tighter for the Gospel here,
you’re reading right!
We
are very proud of our son, Josiah Keola, for Episode #1 of his "My
Kazakhstan" for Air Astana. Your YouTube "Like" would be a great
support and encouragement. Thanks! https://youtu.be/Jj7VGCJJxM4
Farewell Venkat!
This week we bid
farewell to Venkat from a fishing village in India. What joy to join his small
group to say good-bye. Who but Jesus could make so many colors and cultures
love one another? Venkat and Sojie had 2 daughters during their three years
with us. He did his Post-Doctoral research at one of the top Universities in
China and now goes to take a position in Italy. As a young man he put his faith
in Jesus and went home as the only believer in their fishing village. Today
most of his family and most of their village follow Him! As he was heading out
for 16 hours of travel, Dayna made him a ‘snack’ lei! We have a lot of
good-byes. Here we consider them ‘commission-ings’!
October Family Holiday
150 people from
our church went just outside the city – at the foot of the Great Wall – for 3
days of retreat! Our focus was the “Foundations” -teaching from Genesis chs 1-3
– Who is our Maker and how does he want us to live? It was a great blend of
families and singles, students and workers, kids and adults, from over 50
nations. As China celebrated the 70th anniversary of their People’s
Republic, we took advantage of those days off to strengthen our foundations and
call seeking friends to find the Lord and follow Him. Pray for those who are
now seriously considering coming.
Two Becoming One…
One of the joys of serving a church full of young adults is seeing Christian families form. Last weekend a brother from America wed a sister from Uruguay. We had a bilingual wedding (for the benefit of family and friends from South America) – Spanish and English! What a privilege to preach the Gospel to seeking friends – translated into Spanish….in China!
We are looking forward to sharing with those of you “lucky enough to live Hawaii” soon. If your fellowship wants to take a deep dive into studying books of the Bible or mission themes we’d love to do that – it’s what energizes us – even more than a sleep on the beach!
We
also are looking for places to stay and cars to use. We’d be very grateful for
your help.
Trusting
Him who opens doors that no man can close!
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)
