April 24, 2020

Making Christ Known amidst Crisis

Greetings Fellow Survivors!                                                            25 April 2020                        

What a time we all find ourselves in! Not since Noah’s flood has the entire human race been so impacted by one calamity. Even during previous ‘world wars’ and ‘global outbreaks’ large areas of the world were mercifully untouched then. But now people in every nation are wearing masks and social distancing. Not sure how many of our 23 million Beijing neighbors know the promise, but we gladly received this reminder of God’s mercy and protection that He hung over our city the other day! Amidst this global grief we thank God that He does not treat us as our sins deserve.



Our Beijing International Christian Fellowship Zhongguancun morning and evening English ‘zoom services’ are growing. China is opening up in many ways, but there seems to be no urgency to allow churches to gather (is anyone surprised?!). Serving a church of computer savvy, young adults has made it easier to connect in worship, host a couple dozen small groups, and offer ministry training courses ‘on line.’ We are finding Muslims and other not-yet-Christians join a Zoom meeting with anonymity, and they do…often their ‘attendee name’ is as non-descript as “Samsung Galaxy” or some other listening device!


We had a couple dozen seekers connect and consider Him as our members now scattered all around the world shared songs, drawings, dance, poems, and readings expressing their fears and hopes the night before Easter. Lots of great gospel discussions and heart-felt honest sharing! 

Before this pandemic our ZGC congregations were comprised of University students from about 100 nations. In mid-January many of them went to their homelands for the month long Chinese New Year. Then the troubles all started! Many of them are now unable to return to China. Those many students who stayed here are now on lock-down. Even though much of Beijing is ‘moving’ – international students cannot leave their campuses, some still cannot leave their dorms! So all 


f our 25 small groups – with members near and far – meet weekly on line. We also have prayer Monday thru Friday three times a day – 5 am, 12 noon, and 9 pm – that allows people all around the world to connect at opportune times.  We, like most of the global church, are trying to make the most of the virtual opportunities we now have.

Text Box: Dr. Julian Urban, who is working with coronavirus patients in Lombardy (the northern Italian virus hot spot), describes taking part in a group of atheist doctors who were in for an enormous spiritual shock. These doctors believed that science had eliminated God from intelligent human thought. Exhausted by their work, from which two had already died (indeed, 61 Italian doctors have died of coronavirus and thousands of medical workers have been infected) they all noticed the arrival of a patient, a 75-year-old pastor, who, though breathing with great difficulty, went around reading Scripture to the other suffering patients and holding their hands as they died. These atheistic doctors were so intrigued that they began listening to him reading the Scriptures. Finally, surrounded by the reality of death, including the death of the pastor they were watching, they began to pray that God would come to their aid and they discovered the peace that comes from knowing Jesus.       Dr. Peter Jones, Director of the Truth Xchange (https://truthxchange.com/)






During the roughest 60 days of the virus in China our BICF team wrote short articles to encourage our members. Now they have been translated and are being shared with the global church on the YouVersion app.           (You might even know the guy who wrote on Day 26!) They are freely delivered daily if you sign-up. Over 5000 people are getting them so far! 4 Languages are on the YouVersion, more are on www.bicf.org website!

Check it out and share it with friends, who needs an encouragement today!





Amidst the uncertainty in our congregation – lots of people ‘stuck’ in places they don’t want to be for ‘unknown’ lengths of time – we’ll offer this Zoom seminar next week. If this fits your situation now, feel free to join us!



Church life goes on in all the BICF. One congregation had a pastoral transition – perhaps the first ‘virtual, on-line’ installation service in church history!? Our Mandarin service which packed almost 2000 people in our mother church auditorium now has 10,000 ‘Zoom in’ for worship from around the world. Our small Russian language church has ‘alumni’ connecting from Japan, USA, Central Asia, Czech Republic, and Russia. Our Indonesian, Korean, Japanese, and Cantonese pastors are ‘stuck’ in their homelands but are still leading their congregations virtually from afar. Our Korean congregation has 8 members in Beijing, and 100 in South Korea. They gather nightly – Monday thru Friday – for prayer over Zoom!

We realize this letter goes out at a very difficult time. We pray that you are strong in body and spirit, trusting our God who is the same ‘yesterday, today, and forever.’ Everything around us and about us changes, but He does not! His character is steadfast, and his mercies are new every morning. Your continued prayers for us are much appreciated, as always. And if you are in a position to continue financial support, we are very grateful. Yet we realize many are going through economic challenges. Let us know better how to lift up your needs to our great and gracious God.

Trusting Him who does all things well,  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)




Our Ministry Beijing International Christian Fellowship www.bicf.org/zgc
                                                                                              
BICF Sermon App for Apple or Android: www.bicf.org/#app     (ZGC Sermon Tab)






























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