Greetings…from
California…still!
Last Sunday was our last
church appointment for our home leave in California. In fact, we had two
appointments – Dayna in Fresno, me in Los Angeles. I shared in three services
and then enjoyed one last Tommy’s hamburger! Driving from the burger shack I
was suddenly sweating and writhing in pain I was stoned – kidney stoned! Sunday
evening I was in the E.R. and sent home with pain pills and told to wait. The
stone painfully traveled through my kidney but got stuck in the lower pipes.
But by Wednesday infection unexpectedly set in. It seems, like as some people
have speculated, “I REALLY WAS full of pee!” My blocked kidney was not
functioning properly. So early Thursday morning a stint was surgically
implanted between my bladder and kidney and it successfully drained the blocked
fluids. I just got released from the hospital and cleared to fly NEXT
Wednesday, August 29, Lord willing….a great 57th birthday present.
Amazing how your plans - and your health – can dramatically turn in a blink.
Sunday morning I was preaching from Genesis 15 about the certainty of God’s
wonderful covenant promises. Sunday night I was like Abraham in that chapter,
venting his doubts whether the promises were really true?! Thanks for your
prayers as we cross the big pond back to Beijing in a couple days. The kidney
stone is still not found, and for the next few weeks I have a new hose pipe inside.
Still a healing work in process…. More chances to grow in faith like Abraham!
We praise the Lord for His
care and blessing as we have trekked in cars and planes up and down the West
coast these last two months. We have been very encouraged to renew friendships
with loved ones here. We have been humbled by your faithful prayers and
generous support. We have had 12 meetings with churches, shared in home
meetings, and enjoyed great food --- need to get back to the gym in Beijing! We
arrived with a deficit of about $1000 in our monthly support need. Thanks to
your generous sacrifice, the gap is closing. We will have more precise figures
in the coming months.
We had a great visit with our
youngest son Aaron in Oregon. It was fun to celebrate his 25th
birthday:
And we were very happily
surprised to meet our second son Josiah who came to Southern California on a
business trip from Kazakhstan in July:
Nathan (first son) and his
wife Heather have had a good summer in Beijing, even finding a nice apartment
for themselves. We look forward to seeing them soon.
We are eager to resume our
service for Him through the Beijing International Christian Fellowship. The
Fall season is a critical time for meeting and inviting the thousands of
International students who come to our city to Zhong Guan Cun. Our morning
sermons will be from the Gospel of John and the evening sermons from 1 Samuel.
Many different ministries will be re-starting: Small groups, “Welcome to
Beijing,” student outreaches, Leaders retreats and training, membership
classes, and Seminary classes. We covet your prayers to be faithful and
fruitful in the midst of all these opportunities. A new challenge we have just
learned of is that we are moving our worship venue from Raycom building A to
building C. (We were in C for three years, almost three years ago!) Long story,
but change is always challenging…even in constantly changing BICF ZGC.
Mark was recently quoted in
an article about International churches in Christianity Today:
Our short and busy time at
home has reminded us how much we need and appreciate your prayers and
partnership in our ministry. Thank you! Mahalo nui loa! Xie Xie!
Yours in His
Great Faithfulness! 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
