Greetings from Beijing in the Name of our Crucified and Risen
Lord!
Happy was probably not the word in our Lord’s mind
during this most significant week in human history. As I now preach through
Matthew, I am grimly reminded it was a week of insults, tough questions posed
by religious leaders trying to trap Him, Satanic attack, betrayal, denial,
torture – and then crucifixion!
But during this Holy Week in Beijing we now rejoice
in Him who died and rose again to save us! I (Mark) first heard – and believed
– His Gospel at a YMCA Easter camp in 1972. I praise Him for so many years of
His faithfulness and mercy. It’s my birthday week – twice – redemption
accomplished and applied!
Dayna and I are very happy to share His Great News
in a church full of young people from around the world. Many already follow
Jesus, and a number are coming to investigate His claims. Good Friday night
members from USA, Uganda, Madagascar, Costa Rica, China, and Ivory Coast will
reflect on His seven words from the cross. Choirs, dancers, and preachers are
getting ready for our Resurrection celebration!
On Palm Sunday I had the joy of dedicating our
grandson, Kekoapomaika’i, as his parents Nathan and Heather are here on
vacation. In my other arm is Emmanuel whose parents from Nigeria are doctoral
students and members of our church.
And
since we’re bragging about grandkids, we’re proud of how well Maylee did this
winter in competitions tearing down the slopes of the Tien Shan Mountains in Kazakhstan!
Happy Year of the Monkey!
For 15 days in February we shouted at one another in
our small apartment as fireworks exploded outside our 29th floor
window. Concussions boomed through the passageways between the 17 30-storey
towers in our complex. The population of Beijing dropped by more than half
during this period – just 10 million or so of us left here – while hundreds of
millions clogged trains, planes, and highways around the nation to be “home”
for lunar New Year’s Day.
Explosions every night, lots of rubbish every
morning!! Yikes!
During the Lunar New Year break 27 of our young
adults from 15 countries spent five days considering their place in God’s
global mission by taking the Kairos Course (www.kairoscourse.org ) hosted by our
church. It was great to see them grapple with this well-packaged course’s
presentation of the Biblical, Cultural, Statistical, and Historical viewpoint
of world evangelization.
We
had a nice Chinese New Year’s dinner in our apartment with some of our students
from the Pacific islands. It is a joy to see them trusting God while so far
from home.
As our church is full of students, and focused on
students, we must “ramp up” our ministry at the beginning of every Spring and
Fall term. We usually begin with a Leader’s lunch, the rally and encourage the
Team.
About 30 of us recently gathered to share, plan, and
pray. As 82 Universities are in our immediate “Jerusalem,” we have a “front row
seat” to see the Lord of the Nations build His Church.
Christy, one of the leaders of our Indonesian
congregation, stands to introduce their new Pastor, Edy (with son Benjamin
sleeping on his lap) and his wife Katherine capturing the moment. The Holy Word
Church in Indonesia has graciously sent them to serve the nearly 100 Indonesian
students we have. We’re praying for another 100…at least!
Deacon Daniel from Ghana urges more of us to show up
on Sunday’s at 7:30 a.m. to help the Set-Up Team he leads. When he graduates in
June with his Engineering degree (B.Sc.) we will not only lose a team leader,
but a preacher, worship leader, and the guy who always can figure out what’s
wrong with the lap top computer! He’s praying about where to do his Masters and
Ph.D. – we’d be glad if it were right here in Beijing!
In April we will attend this gathering of
International church leaders in Hong Kong (http://globalchurch.info).
We will team with Leiton and Lisa Chinn to lead a workshop on
“Integrating International Student Ministry with International Churches.”
And so the cycle of our ministry goes on –
Gathering, Growing, and Going! Thanks to your prayers and generous support, we
see dozens transformed from “raw to ready” in the service of King Jesus every
year. And now in our 7th year of service here, we’re hearing from
those we have sent off. They’re now moms and dads, Ph.D. students in Western
nations, Professors, Government workers, pastors, even one woman is Vice
President of her African nation!
Who would ever imagine all that God can do in this
most unlikely place. Truly He is the Risen Lord, ruling at the right hand of
God.
Yours in His Sovereign Grip, Mark and Dayna
Blair
(Checks
should be made out to ‘Pioneers’ – with a separate note attached saying: ‘Mark
and Dayna Blair, Beijing.’ Electronic transfers can be sent to:
http://www.pioneers.org/Give/AutomatedGiving.aspx )
Skype blairstan
Hear
Mark’s current sermons: http://www.bicf.org/sermons/latest-sermons/messages/series/the-king-we-follow-matthew
