Lucy's Home!

A week late but we are so thankful! More to come on this and video clips from China. This blog is about to become much more active! Stay tuned!

One More Week!

Lucy will arrive home a week from Wednesday. I miss her. So does Moe. She told me they made a video over in China of everyone saying that they miss me.
I'll be posting that soon!

Weather Here and There

I spoke to Lucy this morning. It is snowing in China where she is. It is 65 right now here on the Island at 4:30 in the afternoon. A 12 hour difference and a season away!

Noon in Beijing to Noon in New York

I was in China three years ago this month.

We left Beijing at noon on Sunday for New York. It was 12 hour flight. We arrived in New York 12 hours later at noon on Sunday. I still can't figure out how.

Leaving for China

Well the three on the left, Leo, Helen and Lucy- Me and Steve were just carrying luggage. It is a tough job but somebody has to do it! They are there with family having a good time.

I have enjoyed calling from stateside and hearing the in-laws laugh and speak English to me. Here's to China with love!

Bibles In Bejing

China to provide free Bibles during Olympic Games

The cover of the Gospels will sport an Olympics logo.

Sarah Pulliam | July 7, 2008 9:06AM

China will provide free copies of the Bible to athletes, spectators and anyone else who wants one at the Olympic Games, the Associated Press reports.

About 10,000 bilingual copies of the Bible will be distributed and another 30,000 copies of the New Testament will also be available during the games, but none will be provided in public hotels, according to the AP. The cover of the Gospels will sport an Olympics logo. Places of worship for other religions will also be available.

The country has had to combat reports that said there would be restrictions on Bibles being brought into Beijing. See CT's other coverage of China.

Our Prayers With China in This Difficult Time

Nearly 70 dams scarred by the force of China's most powerful earthquake in three decades were in danger of bursting, the government said Sunday, while looming rains added to worries about relief efforts for millions of homeless survivors.

The confirmed death toll from the May 12 quake rose to 62,664, with another 23,775 people missing, Cabinet spokesman Guo Weimin said. Premier Wen Jiabao has said the number of dead could surpass 80,000.

The Earthquake and How To Help

Massive earthquake shakes China

Chengdu, China

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

More than 22,000 people have died in a massive earthquake that rocked southwestern China on May 12. The 7.9 magnitude quake hit shortly before 2:30 P.M. (local time) on Monday. The epicenter was 93 kilometers (50 miles) from Chengdu (population: 2 million) and 260 kilometers (162 miles) from Chongqing (30 million). The quake was felt in cities across Southeast Asia including Bangkok, Thailand, which is more than 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) from the epicenter.

The death toll is expected to rise dramatically with at least 10,000 people buried in Mianzhu City in the Sichuan province alone. Up to 5,000 people died in Beichuan, where 80 percent of the area’s buildings collapsed. In just one school, Juyuan Middle School, up to 900 students were buried alive. Currently, 50,000 of the nation’s military have been mobilized to assist in relief and rescue efforts.

The quake damaged the area’s major infrastructure components, including telecommunications, roads, and transportation, thus making communication to the area difficult. However, a distressed China Daily blogger expressed the fear and desperation of many: “I saw so many people staying overnight in the park ... I went to sleep last night at 12 P.M. and cannot fell (sic) asleep and then suddenly at 4 A.M., the house was shaking again—everybody was screming (sic). When this gonna be an end (sic) ... My heart broken ... I want to cry for those people who died in this earthquake ... This is horrible.”

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries will take action through their partner relationships as they seek the generous support of local congregations around the world.

Please pray for those affected by this disaster, including the families of children still buried in collapsed school buildings and those who lost loved ones in the aftermath of the quake. Pray also for NCM as they seek opportunities to offer support to those who are suffering.

Persons wishing to contribute to the relief efforts can mark their checks “China Earthquake Relief ACM1451” and send them to Global Treasury Services, 6401 The Paseo, Kansas City, MO 64131. In Canada, checks should be made payable and sent to the Church of the Nazarene Canada, 20 Regan Road, Unit 9, Brampton, Ontario L7A 1C3. Online donations may be made at ncm.org

China's People Are Wonderful

I found the Chinese people to be very courteous and kind. Here we are just arriving in Chang Chun, Lucy's city. I had never seen this part of her family up until about 4 minutes before this picture was taken. Later that night I was told by her brother and brother-in-law that I am their brother. They proved their words the whole time we were there.

Let's Dig To China!

When we were kids growing up in Bellmore, here on Long Island, we used to dig holes. My dad put up a row of currant bushes and said, "The area behind the bushes is for you guys. Dig all you want there." It was an area of about 10' by 40' of that 40' by 100' piece of property in the suburbs but it was ours! We went to town digging. We dreamed of digging all the way to China. We thought we'd pop out of a hole we had dug and find ourselves right in the middle of that land!

I remember when my feet actually did touch that land 2 1/2 years ago. Wow! It was thrilling. For all the years I had read about China, prayed for the church there, and loved its people, now I was there. When I came back I left part of my heart there.

I am connected to China and am so privileged to be.
Now grab and shovel and dig with me!
You are going to love it there!

Dr. Nelson Bell, Billy Graham's Father-In-Law

Dr. Nelson Bell, Ruth Graham's father, was a medical missionary to China. He, like many others, could have been a world famous surgeon here in the United States, but he chose God's will and God's work. Better to be well known in heaven- better by far!

He had an enormous influence on Billy Graham. 50 years before Nelson Bell went to China, another doctor, James Hudson Taylor was there serving. What a legacy he left! It is still apparent in China today

I thank God for the influence of all three of these men in my life.

They are part of my China Connection.

Beijing

Tiennamen Square,
the center of Beijing,
China's Capital

The Flu and My Blogs

I got hit pretty hard with the flu a few weeks ago and am still recovering. Therefore I haven't kept up with my blogging. Hopefully I'll be back to normal before too long.

China Journey and Journal

I have definitely become somewhat of a journal freak, although this was always in my blood. I kept journals in my teens. Around 20 years ago I began to write things down. Now I have a journal for everything from my garden to prayer and lots in between. I have 7 active blogs, this being one of them.

My good friend John Foster, before I went to China, bought me a journal. I began it the day before I left. Last night I literally dug it out. It became buried under a stack of stuff. I began to read it.

China is a wonderful land, full of wonderful people. I read about meeting Lucy's family for the first time. What a meeting it was. They were so happy to see her and I was part of the package! I felt like I had come back home after a long journey.

I hope to use the journal for this blog.

I am glad and in awe to be connected to CHINA!

The Heart of China- Its People!

I found the people of China to be among the warmest I have ever met. I felt very welcomed in the country and it was not hard to make friends there.

Over one billion people in China and yet with its great urban areas, family is still very important.

I loved the meal times, not just because of the good food but because of the rich conversation that took place around the table. They took time to talk and enjoy each other's company!

Way Back When I Was A Kid

I was born 6 years after all the round eyed missionaries were forced to leave China. There was still talk about the work that went on as I remember growing up but that talk was just history... or was it? A professor in Bible College (Dr. T. Crichton Mitchell) used to call history: His Story. He contended that God was sovereign and involved deeply in all the events of life on this planet.
Little did I know back then how much my heart would be tied in with this place where over one billion people live. This place where history is well preserved among the people... ancient history- very ancient history. This place and people that are now very much on my heart.

Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret

On May 26, 1866, the first party of the China Inland Mission set out on a four month journey from England to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to China's Interior.

On May 26, 1992 God drew my heart more deeply to that man's work and the land in which he is buried.

In September 2005, after years of the LORD drawing my heart to that land, I got to visit it, not as a normal tourist, but as a special visitor, staying not in hotels but in the homes of my wife's family there. This had great meaning for me. I took along the book that this post gets its name from and read it in its entirety while I was there.

I am so thankful for the China Connection in my life and hope to communicate some of it in this blog. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy the journey with me.