Warm Greetings from Beijing! July
2019
It is a season of rejoicing in God’s blessings.
Thousands of graduates have now ‘walked’ in the 82 Universities that surround
our Beijing International Christian Fellowship. Dayna has been making lots of
leis! Here we are with 2 of our ‘beloved daughters’ – Keren from Ghana earned
her Master’s Degree and Ruth from Uganda her Ph.D. Both have been faithful
Deaconesses in our church. With our church motto of “Gathering, Growing, Going”
we now face the sad “G,” saying good-bye to may who are going. We prefer ‘a hui
hou!’ (See you again!). Below you can see over 50 key members of the congregation
who stood for a farewell prayer last Sunday. We are truly a ‘sending’ church!
This Spring we’ve had many opportunities to
reach the 80,000 International students around our church.
The night before our “mini-Olympics” we hosted “The
World’s Got Talent.” Students from our church and beyond were invited to share
their talent as we enjoyed a Chinese buffet dinner in a nice dining room of a
large University near our church location. The owner was happy to make money
but nervous about “church” so he urged us not to “preach.” That all went fine
for the first few minutes until a dance troupe from Kenya who had most of the
house jumping up and down singing wanted to declare Who they
danced for.
Soon most people were shouting and waving their hands for “Jesus…I praise you…I love you…I serve you!!” Well, no one did PREACH…technically. But the Lord did organize a winsome and natural way of letting a room full of students from many nations and faiths know that He is alive and well. Lots of talent! There was a 1st place tie between Samoan men dancers and a Zimbabwean opera singer!
That
same weekend we encouraged people to wear clothes from their homelands to
church on Sunday morning. What a radiant display of colors and cultures! Just a
foretaste of that Grand Day when the nations will present their offerings and
praise to the Lord God Almighty and to the Lamb.
We’re
especially thankful for the opportunities to equip our congregation this year.
Our “Joshua Training Centre” has offered a day-long course every month. Each
time more than 100 people have taken the courses on Bible Interpretation,
Ethics, Missions, and Apologetics. Next week Mark will teach the last course of
this academic year on “How to Teach the Book of Revelation.” Thanks for your
prayers that not only will people learn more about this great book of hope in
Jesus, but know how to share it with others.
More than ever we are hearing testimonies about the
‘readiness’ of our members to return home, or wherever the Lord is leading them
to serve – especially in helping people grow in their knowledge and handling of
Scripture. We also have had weekly training for the Bible teachers of our small
groups this year – now over 30 groups meet on different campuses weekly!
The
Lord continues to open doors of friendship with the Haidian Christian Church.
This ‘Three-Self’ church is our nearest neighbor. Here we are visiting with
Rachel who leads the English service on a recent Sunday when they invited Mark
to preach. They are preaching through the Book of Acts. One Chinese lady who said
she was a Communist Party member told me afterwards that my sermon had much to
say about ‘current affairs’ and I simply said, “oh, really, I was just trying
to faithfully interpret and apply the Scriptures.” That’s my job!
Health News – We both had physical exams
recently and checked out pretty good for 2 active people in their mid-sixties!
We feel good! We do ask for prayer as Mark was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
It is early stages, and still contained. We are exploring options, considering
surgery at the end of August. God has graciously seen us through cancer before,
we trust Him again for this next adventure.
Our last letter was sent just before “Celebration
Mama’s” in May– where we recognized 12 new moms in our church (10 births, 2
adoptions!). Well it was a great time. With food, fun, friends, and even crowns
and leis! Since then we have met four new babies, three boys and one girl…more
on the way!
It was a joy to see three men from BICF, including
the pastors of our Mandarin and Korean congregations, be ordained to the
ministry in June. We organized an Examining Council of pastors from BICF and
other churches in the city. We unanimously recommended they be ordained. It was
a great day!
This Spring we hosted two nights of the “Alpha”
Pre-Marriage course in our apartment again. Ten couples came for the five-week
session enjoying good teaching and Dayna’s good cooking!
Then, after Pre-Marriage class,
wedding bells are ringing….!
Briefly Noted: BICF Staff Retreat! And a “Leaving
China Well” seminar was much appreciated.
Hope you have enjoyed this long
slice of life from the last couple months here in Beijing. We are very
privileged to be able to serve the Lord in this dynamic city at this strategic
time.
Your faithful prayers and support and much appreciated and
needed. We praise the Lord for so many years of this Gospel partnership.
As you pray, please ask the Lord to
open a new door for our church. The hotel we have rented weekly for the last
six years is changing their business strategy, reverting to a state-owned training
center. We are encouraged by the support and encouragement of the government
officials who continue to sanction our church and have even assisted in our new
search. The door of opportunity seems to be open, we just need to find out
where!
We are looking forward to a couple
weeks with family in Oregon and California this summer. Josiah is now visiting
Kazakhstan and will bring Maylee and we plan to meet all together in Portland.
The first time With all our sons, daughter in law, and three grandkids! God is
so good.
Joyfully Serving the Lord of the Global Harvest
with you, 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)
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