June 22, 2006

Dear Friends,

The semester is nearly over and we are grading papers, packing and making summer plans. It has been a good semester: Jay has taught his usual huge classes—one class of 125 students and another class of 75. Susan has had small classes of some younger professors — this means they receive individual attention that they seem to enjoy. We managed to fit in an English class or two at the seminary and that was a joy. In fact, one of the most memorable experiences of the year was a trip to a small town nearby Wuhan in Jiayu County.

We were invited by one of the seminary students to visit her home church along with several of her classmates. It turned out to be a time for the seminary students to lead the service. Even though these students are second- and third-year students, they have had more training than the laity in charge of the church. The church we visited does not have a pastor, but the student’s father is the “preacher.” Many of the countryside churches have this situation and the seminary in Wuhan is training the young people to go back to their home churches and serve the congregations. The students did a marvelous job. They were so excited about the Lord Jesus that their enthusiasm was contagious. They gave one of the sermons—Susan also gave a short message—and led the singing and the worship. It was exciting to see what the Lord will be doing in the countryside in the future.

This particular county has over 40 authorized churches now. The church we visited was using a building that had originally been a theater—stage, curtains, and rows of theater seats greeted us as we walked through one of the doors. These believers had purchased the old theater building and decorated it in the most glorious way they could imagine. There was tinsel everywhere—hanging down from the ceiling and sparkling on the stage. Bouquets of artificial flowers in bright colors covered the front of the stage. The smiles that greeted us as we walked in were blinding and the warmth of that greeting continued throughout our time there. We were reminded of the words, “There’s a sweet, sweet Spirit in this place, and I know that it’s the Spirit of the Lord.”

Most Sundays the service started at 2:00 p.m. but this visit on a Saturday was special and the members came early because they knew the visitors would need to take the bus back to the big city. The people in this small town of 30,000 are mostly farmers so in the morning they have farm chores to do before they can come to the service. In most churches in China, there are many more women than men, but in this church it seems that the whole family joins together so there were many men there. They participated in preparing the stage and praying before the service. They also were part of the orchestra or band that played the music. That’s right—a band—horns, drums and keyboard! Not unusual in the west but extremely different for China. There were plenty of young children running around and younger families who have become believers.

What were the moving moments? One would have to be the altar—a cement step underneath the stage where people came to kneel and to pray. These were peasants, not extremely poor, but certainly not wealthy. They knelt on the cold, hard cement and asked the Lord for help or thanked Him for help already given. Another moment came when the student’s father told us how he came to know the Lord; his story was very moving. He has changed from a man in the construction business, giving bribes in order to get jobs, to the preacher of a 200-member congregation. The day was full of glimpses of how the Lord is working in the Chinese countryside and it will be a day that remains in our memories forever.

These people do ask for your prayers. One need is for educational materials. They seem to be able to get all the Bibles they need but the extra books—Bible dictionaries, commentaries, devotionals, Bible studies and so forth are not readily available. Also, you can pray that the students who are being trained to work in the churches like this one will be willing to go back to the countryside rather than yearn to be in the big cities.

There have been many highlights this semester—a spaghetti supper for 140 students, meeting some of Jay’s students at the church, times of learning, and times of prayer. Through all of these, we appreciate your prayers for us.

We plan to return to Wuhan for the next academic year. We’re delighted to be in a place where we have been useful to the church. We continue to ask your prayers for our health and for the relationships we are building with our Chinese Friends.

Blessings,

Susan and Jay Boone

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 246