Advent Greetings from Beijing!
Bright sun shines into our festive apartment on this
cold winter day. Dayna has put up Christmas decorations we’ve collected over
the years and miles. A couple weeks ago the “Winter” switch was turned on HIGH
here. Thankfully, strong winds (which make the cold bite harder!) have kept our
air clean on many days.
We’ve had a very busy “Fall push.” We are now doing
life with dozens of new students, teachers, and families who have become part
of our congregation at Beijing International Christian Fellowship Zhongguancun
this autumn.
China International Fellowships
In October Mark was one of the speakers for the
China International Fellowships conference in Guangzhou, China. CIF is an
annual gathering of leaders of International Fellowships from around this
country. Each one has a similar understanding of our unique challenges and
opportunities in IF’s. Many of us came to China wondering if we’d even find a
church. Whodathunk we’d find vibrant churches that can freely share the Good
News of Jesus in the world’s most populous nation!
There were 3 tracks to CIF – pastoral, worship, and
youth and children. Mark led a workshop on “Developing and
Sending Out New Leaders” in the pastoral track.
Wedding Bells
Our whole church
rallied to make a beautiful wedding ceremony and celebration for our church
Administrator. He and his fiancée are locals and were struggling with both the
ethics and costs of the ‘traditional’ ceremony. When we asked our members to
help they stepped up in dozens to practical ways (Dayna did many things,
including the flowers!). Here is the “wedding crew” with the happy couple after
the ceremony.
Seminary Classes
Over 2 weekends in November we team-taught a BICF
Seminary class on “Basic Teaching
Skills.” We had the privilege of sharing with young leaders from eight nations.
They were both full-time and volunteer church workers. As we crunched the
numbers we realized we have 90 years of experience in teaching between us. That
does not mean we have done anything well, but at least it means we know a lot
of ways to fail!
Mark just
finished an 8 week class on “The Trinity” held in the Coffee Bean Tree
restaurant. Years ago when C.S. Lewis proposed giving a series of lectures on
The Trinity over the BBC many of his friends tried to discourage him, saying
that was too complicated for the average Christian! Lewis’ friends were partly right.
We’ll never fully understand our great Triune God, but as you can see here,
there are many faithful believers who yearn to know Him better!
Thanksgiving Feast
About 200 gathered for our church family
Thanksgiving meal. More than half the group were not Americans – so they had
little idea that spaghetti, Korean beef, and bratwurst are not our normal
holiday cuisine! (We celebrated in “Café Heaven” a restaurant owned by members
of our Korean congregation.) Dayna’s pumpkin pies – Made in China – were
thankfully enjoyed…with thick whipping cream! Best of all it was a time for
people far from home to gather with new friends. Many who do not know Jesus yet
joined in as we sang, “Give Thanks with a
grateful heart…!”
People you are Impacting
As we do each semester, we have membership /
discipleship classes after our morning worship services. It is a special joy to
lead these classes with my fellow Elders to hear wonderful testimonies.
These
are just a few of the people your prayers and support are helping us to serve.
True stories, with pseudonyms:
Brian is a young Englishman who was raised Baha’i
and sent on a spiritual pilgrimage to the Holy Land at 14! That trip convinced him
Baha’i was not the right way but not sure if there was any right way. The rest
of his teenage years he was addicted to pornography and rock music, composing
almost 10,000 of his own tunes! Just over a year ago Brian was challenged to
consider claims of Jesus and read the New Testament. At the same time his
brother went to study in USA and became a Christian. When the brothers
reunited, both believed in Jesus!
Jose is a Mexican whose father is a faithful
evangelical pastor. He grew up in a loving home where they loyally went to
church. But coming to Beijing 5 years ago was when Jose made his own decision
to follow Jesus. Now he leads our Spanish ministry.
Andrew’s parents immigrated to London from Ghana. His
Mom was Roman Catholic; Dad was Muslim who became a Methodist. Then Mom began
attending a Pentecostal church in London and brought the whole family who heard
and believed the Gospel.
Thomas was raised in China and had never heard the Gospel
or met a Christian. As a Uni student he went on a 2 week study trip to Hong
Kong and met a girl from his village who was a new follower of Jesus. She took
him to church, 4 times in 2 weeks. He returned home, a new believer with his
Bible, but never found any fellowship. When he got a scholarship to do a
Master’s degree in Amsterdam he knew he’d need Christian friends to keep him
from moral failure! He found a good church and has become a disciple of the
Master with a Master’s degree. Now, a husband and father of a baby girl, he
works in a tech company near where our church meets.
Robert is a Filipino in his 2nd year of
Uni, now doing a semester of Mandarin in Beijing. Four years ago he became the
first Christian in his Buddhist family. When he is in school he can attend
student fellowship groups, but his parents will not allow him to attend church
when he is home. His first Sunday in Beijing he found us, and has not missed
yet. Now we are praying with Robert for his family to meet Jesus! And we have
another two months to disciple him here.
Sally is a vibrant Christian from Brazil who is in
Beijing to learn Mandarin. She just “happens” to be sitting next to a North
Korean young man during her long days of classes. (China is one of NK’s few
allies and there are many of their students here.) Usually NK students are in
groups who “keep an eye” on each other. But this young man, without any of his
country mates watching, finds himself next to a young lady whose mission is to
tell him something new about Jesus every day! At first, he firmly but politely
gave her the “party line” atheist responses. But now he initiates the
conversations asking more and more questions!
It has been our observation, after living for 16
years in lands where atheist ideology has been imposed; this creates great
Gospel-curiosity. Just like railing against exciting-sounding-sins can arouse
sinful appetites, this “God who does not exist” just might be worth checking out!
“Joy to the World” Celebration
Last weekend was
our 4th annual International Christmas concert in the venue of the
Haidian Christian Church, a large Three Self church that seats over 1000
people. It was standing room only on both nights! Pacific Islanders, Koreans,
Africans, Mandarin, Americans, Indonesians, and the Haidian Church choir shared
songs and skits of the holiday. Mark was asked to present 2 short messages,
“Who is Jesus?” and “What did Jesus do?” – 2 exceedingly important questions.
Our people brought their classmates, students, neighbors, and friends. Many
heard the Good News for the first time! You can see pictures and read an
article (in Mandarin) on the church’s website: http://www.hdchurch.org/news/9990
We pray that you and your family will have a
wonderful Christmas. We are going to miss our families this year, but we are
thankful for the church family we have here in China.
In a recently
letter we bragged on our son, Josiah, who was interviewed on the TV show
“Connecting Cultures” in Kazakhstan, well now they’ve made him their host! http://kazakh-tv.kz/en/programms/program/program_597_connecting-cultures
Please pray for the newest Blair. Our eldest son,
Nathan, and his wife Heather, are expecting their first in late January!
We are very grateful for your faithful prayers for
our whole family, support, and friendship!
In the Name of the Savior of the World, Mark and
Dayna Blair
Our Mission
Pioneers - 10123 William Carey Drive -
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