December Update
Dear TEAM Members;
Well, spring time has faded away this week and the cold air from mainland China is upon us. I enjoy this time of year. The change in weather is a great relief from the humidity and heat. Jami has returned. It has been a long two months without her, but the Lord has used this time to teach me a lot about myself and how he sees us as His children. Lately, I have been greatly dependent upon Him and perhaps it is why we are seeing many opportunities open up to us.
Chinese classes have finished for two weeks and I have been promoted to the second level of the language courses at Feng Chai University. I am excited about the next three months. My proficiency in the written language has increased tremendously over the last three months. I am excited to see how the Lord can use this in my life in His ministry. Pray for my continued goal – able to read the entire Chinese Bible in Mandarin. Continue to pray for my ability to retain the ever increasing number of Chinese characters.
On the ministry side of things, we have started the English Bible Study (EBS) time at NTIT College. Our first Sunday night 11/13 included 6+ leaders and almost 20 participants. Last week we had some of the college non-believing teachers come and check us out. Glennda (Southern Baptist Missionary with a heart for college kids and discipleship) and I are working out the structure of this Sunday night group.
As I told you before, the time of the ESL Bible Corner is Sunday night from 6:30 to 9:00 P.M. We have committed teachers who will be participating in positions where they feel lead. We have allocated these teachers into three areas of mentoring. The first level is the use of different Bible Study methods for those who are non-believers or just want to attend a Bible study. The second level is for those who want to make a stronger commitment to their walk with Christ. They consist of two six-week series. The third level is personal discipleship where we will encourage those who have been trained through our material to turn around and train another. 2 Timothy 2:2.
In the first level, Glennda has supplied Bible study material that is easily adaptable depending on the English ability of those who want to attend. They are a collection of basic Christian topics that the leader can adapt for his/her own personal situation. We have obtained a small library space in the classroom provided by Lisa and will store our material at the school. We had four new visitors last week and I am excited to see how the Lord will use this ministry.
The second level which is currently being administered by Glennda has a consistent group of about five participants. She uses this time to bring those who are searching for more truth through two detailed series on Christianity and Discipleship. She will finish the second series by the end of December and will encourage those to take the next step, personal discipleship.
At the third level, I continue to mentor two young men. One young man is Fisher. He is from another area college. I met him last June while I was helping at the church with no pastor. He now attends David Loveland’s church and has been faithfully meeting 3-4 times a month. Another young man, Stan, was an individual Clayton Rookstool spent time with over the summer. I had the privilege to lead him to Christ this September and continue to work with him. The three of us meet as a group. Pray for our time together, that it will be pleasing to the Lord. Another young man has shown up for the past two weeks. His name is Paul. He has also started the mentoring process. Kyle, another believer who part-times as an English teacher, continues to work with an exchange student from Macao. Candy, from the summer camps also is working with a new person.
It doesn’t stop there. The teachers who are helping have now started to meet every two weeks for fellowship, prayer and to discuss different ways of using the material we have. We also discuss issues we are having in our lives as well as with those we are working with.
As always there is never enough room to write about everything the Lord is doing. You can catch me on SKYPE whenever you want (TEAM4TWN). Remember the time difference and be praying for us
Posted: December 2nd, 2011 under Uncategorized.