When we woke in the morning, we were thinking it would be a day of rest and praise. The morning started like it would in my house on a Sunday--people racing around trying to get ready, people not able to find a sock, or a shirt, or some other crucial part of the ensemble. That's about where it stopped being normal. As we gathered for some morning prayer and worship in the inn, Grace came bouncing down the steps and grabbed Cindy, our nurse who masquerades as a homeschool mom and China-lover. Finding out that Melissa Seely had an allergic reaction brought us to our knees as she can have acute reactions. Dr. Moody, the Shepherd's Field doc, was immediately on the scene and Melissa went from urgent care to stablized in a few minutes. We still sent her to the Western hospital in Beijing just to be sure that all was well and so Melissa, Grace, Cindy, and Jewel got their indoctrination to western medicine. Pretty amazing that an emergency room visit can still cost less than $200.
For the rest of us, we headed to the Minority Park where the 56 officially recognized minority groups in China each have a home, clothing, and music displayed. We divided up our group into 5 and each took 11 of these people groups and prayed for them. It was a good time to gain a world perspective and to talk about unreached peoples and strategy. Too bad that it was like 239 degrees outside and our day of rest ended with people on their face in McDonalds trying to escape the heat. After that and lunch, we headed to the Bird's Nest (Olympic Stadium) which was incredible. I have been in a lot of stadiums (or is that stadia?) and this was the first time I ever got chills. On the jumbo screens were highlights from the 08 Olympics but with the noise and the crowds and the history, it really was overwhelming. The best part was watching opportunities to share the Gospel manifest themselves everywhere. It was awesome seeing our young people especially go from visitor to visitor telling them of the One who has won the victory.
Alas, another day gone. But the eternal will remain with us. All is good here and we are looking forward to a great day of work, presenting the nannies with scrapbooks, VBS, an opportunity to share with a mission specialist, and evangelizing on the college campus in Beijing.
Love to you all,
Steve
(FYI all blog enteries are first sent to Steve's wife, Carrie, to be "uncensored" before they are posted to the blog, since the internet and phone calls can be screened by the Chinese government)
For the rest of us, we headed to the Minority Park where the 56 officially recognized minority groups in China each have a home, clothing, and music displayed. We divided up our group into 5 and each took 11 of these people groups and prayed for them. It was a good time to gain a world perspective and to talk about unreached peoples and strategy. Too bad that it was like 239 degrees outside and our day of rest ended with people on their face in McDonalds trying to escape the heat. After that and lunch, we headed to the Bird's Nest (Olympic Stadium) which was incredible. I have been in a lot of stadiums (or is that stadia?) and this was the first time I ever got chills. On the jumbo screens were highlights from the 08 Olympics but with the noise and the crowds and the history, it really was overwhelming. The best part was watching opportunities to share the Gospel manifest themselves everywhere. It was awesome seeing our young people especially go from visitor to visitor telling them of the One who has won the victory.
Alas, another day gone. But the eternal will remain with us. All is good here and we are looking forward to a great day of work, presenting the nannies with scrapbooks, VBS, an opportunity to share with a mission specialist, and evangelizing on the college campus in Beijing.
Love to you all,
Steve
(FYI all blog enteries are first sent to Steve's wife, Carrie, to be "uncensored" before they are posted to the blog, since the internet and phone calls can be screened by the Chinese government)
Beijing Time
We have all been on our knees for Melissa here in California! We are so grateful for the loving people on the team who cared for Melissa when she had a severe asthma attack and for the nurses and doctors at the hospital who helped Melissa. Our thoughts are with you all and the work you are doing there in China is much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteJudy Simpson ( a.k.a Melissa Seely's Nana)