Shanghai: Pre-Flight Boarding

Hi All,

I hope this letter finds you in a time of joy and peace, whether you are with family or among friends. If I timed this right, you should be reading this near Christmas day and by then I’ll be on a plane to Shanghai to join up with David P and Virginia P.
I am amazed that already we can celebrate in the great work that God is allowing us all to partake in! Just this week, our teammates were greeted by a member of the house fellowship. Earlier this year, David and the pastor of the house church had visited her husband in the hospital. The following is an excerpt from an email received Sunday morning (12/20/09):

The man who beats his wife is now saved, bought by the blood of a merciful savior.
Today the woman came to thank me because her husband had just accepted J3sus to be his Lord and Sav1or. I’m not naive to think that all the problems are now gone, but I think this finally begins the healing process for their family. What’s going to happen to their family? I don’t know. But, for the first time, the Lord is the head of their house and he is faithful to finish the good work that he started (Phil. 1:6).

Know with certainty that your partnership is furthering God’s kingdom and continuing to bear fruit. Let us push harder in our work together to make the true meaning of Christmas a reality for many in China.Below is an excerpt from a special project of the team’s as a gift to you. Detailed in my earlier emails to you, I shared our intention to reach out to the lost and the marginalized in China society. The two images are pages out of a children’s book produced by David’s team that depicts the gospel of Mark. The book contains no words and all images, allowing the book to be spread across cultures and generations regardless of education level.
Shanghai: Pre-Flight Boarding

I find both images entirely fitting in this season. The first depicts the love of our Savior for children (Mark 10:13-16). For Christ said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Recently the team’s relationship with the orphanage has changed a little bit because the original orphanage is now receiving funding from the government. I’m not entirely sure about the details but I’ll be sure to update you as I find out. For children who may never experience the love of an earthly mother or father, we have an opportunity to introduce them to a Father who loves them more than they will ever come to know.

Shanghai: Pre-Flight Boarding

The second image depicts the necessity for Christ’s birth as well as the triumphant King over death in the empty tomb. It is this image of the empty tomb that gives us hope towards the coming day and spurs us to reach out all the more. It is also the message of suffering and the second coming that is perhaps most controversial and regulated in China’s registered churches. Without these two messages, the masses in China are taught the gospel but perhaps not in its entirety.

This is the reason that today I ask you to direct your prayers to beseech our Lord on behalf of China. To ask Him to raise an army who will join in the effort to declare His glory the ends of the earth until He returns.

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