April 2003

Dear Friends,

Shengri Fu Huo Jie! The Chinese language is very clear to say that what we celebrate is Resurrection Day—the day when Jesus came back to life. Easter is not that well known in China, and we have had several opportunities to share with people why this day is so important. This year when we are surrounded with upsetting news in this country as well as situations of concern in other areas of the world, we can rejoice in the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. It is Easter Sunday. I would love to tell you that the sun is shining gloriously but that would not be the truth. It’s been a remarkably cold and damp winter and spring, and today the sky is cloudy and gray. The speaker this morning said, “Christ in us, the hope of glory.” To that we add our amen!

I’m sure that all of you are thinking and praying for us and any others you know in the region. We are in Chengdu, which seems to be not greatly affected (as of this writing) by the SARS epidemic. We are following ordinary precautions and are trying to be wise about where we go. One of God’s gifts to us is Internet access, which allows us to be more fully informed than we would otherwise be.

We are both well and appreciate your prayers more than we can ever say.

A couple of things have happened recently that are of concern to us, though. First, we can’t go to the Chinese church any more for the time being because we, all other foreigners, and Chinese who are not church members, have been asked to stay away for the present because of the SARS problem. Second, the national government effectively cancelled the planned seven-day holiday that was to begin on May 1, and we were advised that we should not leave the city, because if we did we would be required to be quarantined in the hospital after we returned. So the vacation trip to Thailand that we had arranged for that time is off.

In addition to the concern that everybody here has about health, this has been a very busy semester. Susan has remained with her English major undergraduates and is getting to know them very well. She has continued to have students over to our home on Tuesday and Saturday, which is a treat for them and a chance for her to get to know each one on a more personal level. One of the second year students has been to church with us and has expressed interest in joining. Another group of young women is planning to attend a service with us. While many of them have wanted to talk about the war with Susan, she generally tries to turn the conversation to her prayers for the soldiers and their families and all those affected by the war. Since we have seen several pictures on the Internet of soldiers praying, even the war has provided opportunities for witness, as she has shared the fact that the soldiers are praying also. Jay has been teaching MBA students and has made friends with several men who enjoy listening to him. One is going to be working for the Bank of China in New York for a few years, and we have had a lovely evening with him and his wife, who will also go to New York in time.

We still attend the Chinese Church when we can and have made friends among the congregation. We also have a group of people who meet us most weeks and have noodles after the service and ask questions. One recent question was, “Why didn’t Jesus save himself if he was God?” You can imagine how much we loved answering that question. The woman who asked the question is a mother of twins, which is a very “lucky” thing to be in China. Her mother-in-law became a Christian in the United States, and now she is very interested. We are reading the Gospels of Mark and Luke with her and she asks excellent questions.

Our big news is that we will be moving to another city next semester. The city, Wuhan, is back in the eastern part of China and is another large city located west of Shanghai and Nanjing on the Yangtze River. It is a large city, about 6.5 million population. We will be teaching at one of the national teacher’s universities. We did the same type of teaching in Changchun and thoroughly enjoyed teaching people who may be teachers. Both teaching departments are anxious to have us and we feel very welcome. Jay will be teaching for the Economics Department and Susan will be teaching a group of teachers from the university in a program that will lead to teaching, in English, subjects other than English. This is a goal of the Ministry of Education and will be quite a challenge. The Ministry plans to have 20 percent of all university courses taught in English within the next five years! The teaching sounds ideal. The living conditions are not, but the school has promised that together we can make improvements. Jay did see the apartment and says that there will need to be quite a bit of work. However, the improvements seem to be things that can be added, such as furniture, curtains, shower curtain and so forth.

We continue to ask your prayers for health and now for the upcoming new situation in Wuhan. Also, we will have to move, which is not our favorite thing to do, so we ask for prayer for a smooth move. We will be leaving students and friends here that we pray will continue to inquire about the Lord, and we pray that others will come to share His love. We pray for each of you that the risen Lord will be ever present each moment of your life and that you will cling to Him more earnestly every day. We join with the ever-increasing chorus that prays, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

Blessings,

Susan and Jay Boone

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 172