Advent Greetings from
Beijing!
Our ‘Made in China’ evergreen sparkles with ornaments we’ve
collected and lugged round the world. We play joyous songs Christmas songs from
Hawaii as we gaze at the slate grey skies of Beijing – well below freezing these
days! We rejoice that we can declare His Advent in the capital city of the most
populous nation in the world. Jesus Christ reigns even here in China. Shopping
malls, and many homes, shine with festive holiday lights. Carols declare His
Good News for huge crowds of shoppers. Churches will be filled with people
searching to know the ‘reason for the Season.’ And millions of believers are
eager to share Him. Like the Apostle Paul experienced, we see these twin
truths, “a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many
adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16.9)
Tonight our church will put on an International Christmas
Concert in a large church near BICF ZGC. As their church is for locals, we can
invite all our friends for this outreach. So we anticipate their 1000+ seats
will be filled to standing room only, as it was last year, with colleagues,
classmates, and students of our BICF members. We anticipate a great program
with music from our various BICF congregations; English, Russian, African,
Pacific Islands, Maoris, Koreans, and the Chinese choir from our host church.
Please join us in prayer that many people will be reached and Jesus will be
praised!
Thanksgiving…Twice!
We have much to be thankful for! A few days before
Thanksgiving Mark got another ‘all clear’ from a CT scan. Now three years have
passed since Mark finished chemo. The Lord is gracious in giving us health and
strength for this ministry.
On Thanksgiving night over 150 of our Beijing International
Christian Fellowship Zhong Guan Cun family gathered in Café Heaven. Members of
our Korean congregation own and operate this spacious restaurant which has been
a great venue for our small groups and outreaches. Mrs. Park and the crew
cooked up a tasty meal for us all. In our 20 Thanksgivings abroad we’ve seen
how this National Holiday – with all its scrumptious grazing! – is a world
favorite! 75% of our crowd were non-Americans, but all quite Thankful! Best of
all, many were friends, colleagues, and classmates who came along to hear about
our gracious, giving, God. Here are just
a few of our happy diners…
Outreach to Japanese
Our long-time friend, Noboru Morishige, a
singer/songwriter/evangelist shared the Good News in song here in October. He
sang in six BICF congregations, our conference of International churches, and
in two outreaches in café’s filled with young adults. He gave free CD’s of his
gospel songs in Japanese that he has written to all who asked. Their eager
response was most encouraging. Hear him at www.thedaywill.com
Teaching Skills
In early November Mark and Dayna were able to team-teach a
“Teaching Skills” class for the BICF Seminary program. We had ten students from
six different nations. It was a privilege to share with them from our years of
ministry experience, success and failures! Each of them did some teaching
before their peers and it was great to see their gifts and talents – and their
willingness to learn and grow in effectiveness.
Weekend in Wuhan
We spent last weekend about 1000 miles south of Beijing in
the ‘small’ city of Wuhan (just 8 million people J) with young adults in their International Fellowship
there (WICF). Saturday we had a day-long Marriage Conference for about 20
couples.
Sunday we had a Relationships seminar with about 250
singles. Most of the congregation are students. Our Beijing congregation is
surrounded by more than 80 Universities, but there are over 150 Uni’s in Wuhan!
Most of the WICF members are Africans, along with many from India, Brazil, and
other Asian nations. Being with these folks from such wide and diverse corners
of our globe reminded us how Jesus truly is the Savior of the world. Got a nice
thank you a couple days ago…
Dear BICF
Pastors,
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you. We are
deeply grateful for the time spent with Pastor Mark and Dayna here in Wuhan.
Their teachings and resources for the married couples and the singles, and the
sharing with the leaders of WICF have been enriching beyond our initial
expectations. Words can only imperfectly convey our appreciation to the Lord,
to BICF and to you. May God's work continue to prosper into your hands and His
joy fully dwell in you.
As we pray and hope for a continued and blessed connection with
BICF, may you receive cordial greetings from the WICF family.
Blessings,
Abel Muyisa, Wuhan International Christian Fellowship
Christmas Anticipation
We are very glad that our son Josiah will travel from
Kazakhstan to be with us. That means two of our three sons will be with us as
Nathan and his wife Heather live and work here in Beijing. God is very kind to
us! We pray that your Christmas will also be one of great joy and that you will
seize every opportunity to make Him – the reason for our joy – known far and
wide.
As some of us may soon be going over a ‘Fiscal Cliff’ we are
very grateful that you continue to support us with finances and prayers. We had
hoped to get this letter out after Thanksgiving, but there are so many great
things happening here we can hardly pause to shout out the news! Truly, the
Lord is working wonders here.
Yours in Him who Came and will Come Again! Mark and Dayna Blair
Our Mission
Pioneers -
10123 William Carey Drive - Orlando, FL 32832 – USA www.pioneers.org
(Support
checks should be made out to ‘Pioneers’ – with a separate note on the check
saying: ‘Mark and Dayna Blair, Beijing.’ Some have asked, and you can send funds through electronic
transfers too: http://www.pioneers.org/Give/AutomatedGiving.aspx )
Skype: blairstan
Our Mailing Address
Beijing International
Christian Fellowship / Zhong Guan Cun
Raycom Infotech Park,
Tower C, Room B115,
2 Kexueyuan Nanlu, Haidian
District, Beijing, China 100190
Our Ministry
Beijing
International Christian Fellowship - www.bicf.org
Hear Mark’s
sermons at: http://bicf.org/english-service
