November 2004

Dear Friends,

This, our second year in Wuhan, has brought some wonderful changes. We returned from summer vacation to our apartment to find that the university had done some work on the flats for foreign teachers, and so we now have new floors as well as new paint. That has improved our living conditions enormously. Susan is actually able to clean the apartment now and it seems as if the other inhabitants of our flat (rats) have disappeared. Also, we welcomed some old friends to Wuhan with whom we are now having a study group on the book of Job.

Jay continues to teach international economic law for the economics college and has been teaching a new course (in property law of all things!) for a special group of students. Susan teaches English to the same special group. They are preparing to go to England to get masters’ degrees. She continues to teach English courses for teachers at our university. One of the teachers is an older lady who speaks very little English. She came to Susan during the first class and excitedly asked if Susan was a believer. When Susan said that she is, the teacher was delighted because she is also a follower. As we began to talk with each other, we found that we attend the same church. She is a sister who is never without a smile and greets us enthusiastically on Sunday mornings. She has lived through a time of great suffering, but she is now so grateful for the life she has. She has jokingly said that she thinks that she will write her autobiography and Susan tells her that we want to be the first to read it.

The universities are also putting pressure on the teachers to get advanced degrees, which is wonderful, but it means that the teachers have to teach more as well as try to get further education. One of the young teachers that we know has had to put her 2-year-old son in a weekly boarding “kindergarten” because she has so many hours of class. This is a system that had stopped several years ago, but it now seems to be coming back. When Susan said that she was not sure she could have done it, the teacher shook her head and said, “There’s no choice.”

One exciting event this fall was the National Day banquet hosted by the city government for the foreign experts in Wuhan. We were invited, and Jay was honored, along with several other experts. They were given the “Friendship Award” as “outstanding foreign experts.” Every province in China has this award, which is given to several foreigners each year as recognition for a few foreign experts who are helpful to the development of the city. Jay got this same award once before, in another province.

We ask you prayers for our direction for the next few years. We are praying that the Lord will clearly guide us to where we can best complete our time in China. We want to be His servants and not just follow our own hearts and minds.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. We have so much to be thankful for, as always, and we pray that the Christmas season will be filled with the presence of Jesus the Christ for all of you.

Blessings,

Susan and Jay Boone

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 86