January 1, 2004

Merry Christmas!

Christmas has come around again, and I can hardly believe I have been living here for so long! Last year, I eagerly anticipated Christmas and all that it would bring in a new community, church, and culture. Everything was so exciting and new. This year, as foreign as everything in China seems, Christmas is more familiar than foreign now. Even without all of the outward trappings of music in stores, decorations in windows, and lights on houses, I feel as though my life has settled into its routine here, and Christmas in China is just a part of that.

There are Christmas parties to plan and others to avoid (because they will want me to perform!). Presents for people back home are already bought and sent because one never knows how long it takes for something to get from Jiu Jiang to the people I love. But now there are also people in China who I have come to love just as much and need to be remembered at this special time of the year. Because they mean so much to me, I would like to share with you about some of these people, as it is a chance to share my joys that God has blessed me with being here in China.

First, there is Jo. She is my Amity teaching partner this year. Hailing from the metropolis of London she and I vary in so many ways, but are the same in all that really matters. She is my co-worker, my prayer partner, my confidant, my playmate, my friend. She has truly enriched my life in so many ways.

Church, of course, is a staple in my life here. Sundays we worship and the children flock around the foreigners, some even being daring enough to sit on my lap. The little old ladies smile and wave or shake my hand vigorously with a grip of steel, all the while saying, “Thank you Jesus.” Students from our Wednesday night English class make me want to tear up when they turn to me and say, “Jesus loves you!” And the pastors and elders are always making sure Jo and I have enough to eat. I think I eat enough at one meal for a whole week’s worth of sustenance.

My little friends at the orphanage defiantly give me my weekly work-out as I chase them around the yard. And I’m learning good parenting skills by trying to keep everything “fair” all of the time. But best of all they feed my need for smiles and unconditional love.

My comrades, as all good Chinese friends should be called, are too many to be numbered. But specifically I would like to mention Wang Li Juan and Shi Tou, two friends that have graduated and moved to distant places but continue to check in with me, my PE buddies who are always around when I need to be entertained, and my students who make me feel like a real teacher as well as a friend.

Yet all of these new friendships in China are only made possible because of the love and support I receive from home. This Christmas I will remember all of you who have kept in email contact, have collected stamps, books and magazines, posted packages, and kept me in your prayers. Without this, my walk in God’s will would be all the more daunting.

While these few words I have written don’t even begin to do justice to these friendships, old and new, I hope that you will know how much these people mean to me. They are what I have to be thankful for this holiday season. I hope that you will remember these people in your prayers so that we can bridge the gap between cultures through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

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