The purpose of my trip to Ch.na was two-fold: to teach for a week in the D school and to visit and encourage our outreach team there. My original plan for the trip was to teach for a week and connect with the outreach leaders (they would leave the team for a week and meet up with me in D-lian) and then hang out with the team for a week. The Lord would have other plans however, and it seems that He thought it best to delay my departure so that I wold be speaking in the D school and visiting with the team all at once. Since this was the case, I didn’t get as much time as I had hoped to get to be with the team. Nonetheless, it was a great time to encourage them as well as be encouraged by them.

   

    Teaching in the school went well. The school ran in a 3 story house, which was quite nice. Everyone lived in the house and lecture took place on the second floor. It was a new experience to have dual translators, simultaneously translating. I spoke on Basic Christianity and we took a look at more of the foundational aspects of our faith, specifically in regards to doctrine. We discussed the importance of building solid foundations in our walk with God, the nature and character of God being both infinite and personal, Jesus being fully God, fully man, a king, a prophet and a priest and we also talked about sin and salvation a bit more in depth than we usually do. The week finished up with discussing the biblical basis for the Trinity and then we had a Q & A time together. The school consisted of 18 students and a handful of staff. Some of the students were 50 year old pastors from Korea, living as missionaries in Ch.na. Others were 18,19 and 20 year olds from Ch.na and Korea. There was also a young ch.nese couple, recently married, named Jack and Lydia. They are planning to attend Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary in Dallas later this year, which would be great! THere was even one student from n0rth Korea in the school.

    Admittedly, it was a bit intimidating to teach people who have gone to school longer than me, have much more life experience than me, and live in a country that experiences very real persecution for their faith. Who was I to go in there and pretend like I had something to teach them? I should be the one learning from them! However, I knew that the Lord opened the door for me to go and that it was on His heart for me to teach, so I trusted that He did have something for me to give to these students. It was such a privilege and honor to have the opportunity to meet so many new friends in Ch.na and get to pour into the church over there and to be a part of pouring into n0rth Korea as well. I truly am thankful for such an honor to be out there.

    One of the highlights from the week was right as I was about to begin teaching on Thursday morning. There was a knock on the door and it was a police officer. THis was the 2nd time a police officer showed up, so this was a very bad thing. The Koreans went upstairs to their rooms, the N. Korean hid under a bed (if she was caught she would be sent back to her country and spend the rest of her life in jail and/or be executed) and the rest of the Ch.nese students put away the extra chairs and the lecture turned into an english lesson. So Jack and I began teaching English for about 20 minutes, until the police officer left and the base director came upstairs to tell us what was going on.

   

    The conversation initially started off with the officer being upset that there were still so many foreigners there at the house (the security guard to the housing complex tipped him off) but in the end the Lord turned it all around and the officer wound up leaving much more pleased and excited that this “cultural exchange center” was here to help Ch.na and the base director even offered to teach the police english! God truly does work all things out for the good of those who love HIm and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).

    Along with teaching in the D school, I had the privilege of speaking at a mini-D school for University students (in English) for several hours on a sunday evening and I got to be the guest speaker on the commissioning night for the first D-school in D-lian. What an honor to help send these missionaries out into China, Vietnam, Cambodia and North Korea and focusing on reaching out to the Jews and the Muslims in those countries as well!

    The team got to plug in and do a few dramas and start to build relationships and teach while I was there as well. Along with our team, there was a team from Finland (representing Finland, Germany Holland, Australia, Canada, America and the Philippines) and a Korean D-school from Honolulu. We all had a great time building relationships and worshipping all together in so many different cultures and languages. In a day and age where so many people long for unity, peace and love, we see that it is only possible when Jesus is the center of everything.

    Our team had just come out of 5 1/2 weeks in the villages teaching English, building relationships and doing a lot of intercession. COming to D-lian was a bit of a shock as they saw so many people driving Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Ford and even Lexus and Hummer luxury cars around town at three times the cost in America! D-lian is one of the wealthiest cities in all of China and is only 3 hours away from the North Korean border and 15 hours from the Russian border. Many people speak English there, which presents a great opportunity for the team to build relationships and even teach in English.

   

    They have been doing so well on outreach and really pressing into all that the Lord has for them. It has been difficult for them and they’ve gone through many physical challenges and illnesses, but they are very excited to be in this town for a month and finally get to teach, preach and share the gospel even. PLease continue to pray for the gospel to be shared boldly in this country and that its doors and hearts would open up to Christianity and that as it emreges as the next world super power, it would be a nation passionately in love with Jesus and making HIm known to the rest of the world. Pray for these amazing D-school missionaries whoa re out on outreach making an impact int heir own nations. Pray for the finances to get them out to Cambodia and Vietnam as well. Pray for the base in D-lian, that the Lord would continue to bless them, increase their vision, favor and resources, while keeping them focused on Jesus and falling more in love with Him.