November 13, 2009
October Update
Hello again to our friends and family!
Busy, busy, busy. That's how we've been. All four members of the Taylor family have been battling colds for a couple of weeks, but we're almost better now. And with Seth mostly well, we decided it was time for him to start going to the local pre-school. This morning he went to a nearby "kindergarten" for the first time. He stayed for three hours and then came home before lunch. We're not sure how he felt about it, but he wants to go back. Seth's English is much better than his Chinese, but his Chinese is pretty good, too. All of the teachers and kids in the pre-school speak Chinese, so it could be a little bit challenging! We're pretty sure Seth's going to love it though, and we expect his Chinese to surpass ours any day now. The plan is for Seth to go to school just one or two mornings each week, but we're waiting to see how it goes.
Caleb is now 8 months old and is already busting out of his 18 month old clothes. He's always been chubby, but now he's tall, too! He's looking more and more like Seth - in fact, Seth can't tell the difference between Caleb's pictures and his own baby pictures. Except for when he has a cold, he remains an easy-going, happy guy.
This Halloween was our least busy, but most fun in many years. We didn't have a big party. Instead, Caleb dressed as a pumpkin, Seth dressed as a cowboy, and we went around to neighboring houses and stores to collect some candy. Seth was a big hit at the girls' dormitory and is still eager to put on his boots and gun holster every morning when he wakes up. Thanks to Lisa's family for the costumes!
We're going on two months of our Tuesday lunch meeting with some of our campus' more serious Christians. Each week, we've talked and prayed together about our faith connecting with our daily lives. It's been a great time for the Christians to get to know each other better, pray together, and start thinking of their faith outside of meeting times.
Jingzhou and our university were recently in the national news lately, which is unfortunate. Three freshmen students drowned in the Yangtze River while trying to save some children. It was a tragic event and now the school is very worried and careful about the students. This incident combined with growing panic over the swine flu have led to some recent changes in our family's meetings. The school informed all of the foreigners that no more than 10 people can meet together in the future. This seemed bad at first, but we're really optimistic about it. Instead of trying to have big meetings for everybody to attend, the other foreigners here have agreed to arrange small groups. With our encouragement, several of our Chinese sisters have already started meeting on Sundays in their dormitory and we're hoping that some of our brothers will soon follow. Instead of being pessimistic, we're hopeful that this will turn out to be a lot like the first century disciples who spread out from Jerusalem after they were persecuted. They probably didn't want to relocate either, but in the end the Kingdom grew! Please pray that more local people will step up to lead and that the family here will be willing and able to meet on their own. As this happens, we plan to continue mentoring some individuals and challenging them to grow outside of the meetings, without getting in their way or trying to take charge of their meetings.
September 20, 2009
Saturday Night's Alright, Alright, Alright
It's Saturday night, which means the week is officially over; at least for us Americans. The Chinese count Monday as the first day of the week, but that's beside the point. We've had a busy, great week here in Jingzhou.
On Sunday morning we enjoyed some great time worshipping with several of our Chinese brothers and sisters and then in the afternoon we met with some foreigners. Every Sunday afternoon we get together to worship in English, talk "shop", and eat Western food. It's a good, relaxing time to unwind from our otherwise all Chinese week.
Monday evening Lisa and Caleb attended a ladies' meeting. It's a cool time for the gals to meet together, learn more about the Father, and get more experience serving in the meetings. Seth, Lisa's dad, and I went walking to a public square just outside of our school. Even though it was Monday night, there were several hundred people out dancing and taking in the night life. Lisa's dad commented that every night in Jingzhou is like a carnival - people dancing, music playing, and Seth eating popcorn.
On Tuesday we invited 12 of our campus' more mature brothers and sisters to come to our house for lunch. We expected 6 or 7 to come, but 11 of them said they were coming. Then Tuesday at lunchtime, the 12th person who never replied was the first to walk in the door! Lisa and several people cooked lunch for all of us. During lunch we all shared some personal stories and then after lunch we spent a few minutes reading some of the Good Book. After that we broke up into small groups and talked to the Father for a while. We hope to do this every Tuesday lunch. Our goal is to challenge the more mature folks during this time and help them to grow closer together - but in a casual, lunch-ish kind of way. We think challenging people to reach high standards (like the Son's) and having strong relationships with other Chinese believers are two of the best things we can do to ensure their continued faithfulness. That night I attended English Corner where we talked mostly about our school's insane reaction to swine flu. In the middle though, I did have a conversation with one student about the Good Book and the Father. We love stumbling across these kind of opportunities!
Tuesday night we planned to clean the house before the arrival of 3 American friends who used to live in Changsha. The cleaning got put on hold though, when they showed up in the afternoon! For 1 1/2 days the 7 of us stayed in our 2 bedroom apartment, but we had lots of fun. Two bedrooms really doesn't stretch as far as it could when Seth is hogging one bedroom for himself! It was encouraging to see some of our friends who have been back in America for awhile. My personal highlight was riding bikes across a rickety, iron bridge and then wandering around Jingzhou farmland until we stumbled into the next small town. I was fairly lost, but as usual, Kyle Carter's sense of direction saved the day. We saw the gang off Thursday morning at the bus stop and then that night I attended a Spread the Good News meeting here on campus.
Friday morning I finished teaching my English classes for the week. Each week I have a famous quote for everybody to talk about and this week it was the Good Book's "Love your enemies..." I got to hear lots of students' opinions about the quote and I also got to give 10 minute mini-sermons to every class. After I got out of class, our foreign co-workers from this campus came to our house for lunch. I think Lisa, Seth, Caleb, and I rode bikes & scooters that evening, but to be honest, it's kind of a blur.
On Saturday we rested. Actually, we rode a boat in the park, cleaned our house, went to the supermarket, talked to our neighbors, and hung out with our sister Ya Li. But it felt a lot like rest.
Thanks for your continued prayers! Have a blessed week!