It’s bittersweet to be leaving this place and people that I love so much, to return to another place and people that I love.  I’m trusting God will bring my team and me comfort, peace, and rest as we transition back to life in the States. We’ve changed and learned much this year while being in China. It will not be an easy transition, but we know we can do it with God’s help!

Will you pray for us? We have so much happening in the next week! We will be moving from our apartments to some friends’ apartments on Tuesday, and then we leave on our long journey to America very early Thursday morning! When we land in the States, we’ll be whisked away to a camp where we’ll have 4 days of post-mission training, debrief, and decompression time. Please lift up all of our travels (36 hours of flights!), luggage, attitudes, and transitions. I have no doubt we’ll all experience culture shock after being away for so long — China is very different from America! Also, please pray for us relating to our families and close friendships. Sometimes the hardest transition is going back to those we’ve left in the States. We find that things have changed in the year we’ve been apart and it can be very difficult.

Thank you so much for standing with me this year! I hope we meet again very soon!!

Until the whole world hears,
Joy

P.S. If you want to see pictures from our goodbye parties, just check out my website. It was so sad to say goodbye!! Many tears were shed, QQ numbers and email addresses exchanged, and promises of being “forever friends” rang in our ears all night. I’ll never forget our time together this year!

Do you remember when the police showed up to our apartment during our Bible study, and we had pudding all over our hands? That night, Sylvia brought a friend to the study named Sarah. After the meeting, Sarah asked if I knew Target Ministries (our parent organization), named the leaders, and said that she had been involved in Bible studies with Campus Target (our organization) here in K-town a few years ago. I was floored! I knew I was supposed to protect my cover, for my sake and everyone else. I had to say that I didn’t know what she was talking about, but it was an extremely difficult situation. I talked with one of the long-term missionaries working with Target later that night, and he said that Sarah’s brother is one of the Chinese house church pastors working with Target. Sarah is one of the few Chinese that actually knows about what we do and who we are! Out of the millions of Chinese students in all of China, we “happen” to meet her, and she “happens” to be Sylvia’s roommate. I just shook my head and said, “What are the odds…”

Since then, Sylvia has been eager to learn more, comes regularly to our Bible studies, and has been the most interested out of all our friends. She studies the Bible in her dormitory with her roommates, and they talk about questions together. She essentially leads a Bible study in her room! I had been encouraging her to check out Sarah’s house church so she could have something more permanent to hook into when we leave, as well as answer her questions regarding culture and how it works to be Chinese and a Christian. She has gone for the last few weeks, and she loves it!

This morning, Sylvia and I met over rice noodles for breakfast. In that two-hour time period, we discussed again what it meant to be a Christian, and she decided that she wanted to become a Christian! There, in that noodle shop, I prayed with her to join the Family, and we talked about finding a pool to baptize her in before we leave in two weeks. We were both crying tears of joy, and I am incredibly excited for her new journey in Christ!!

Please be praying for her. Since she is connected to the Chinese house church, I am not worried about leaving her without any resources. However, she will be telling her friends and family, and I know she is worried if they will support her in her decision.

This year, we were faithful to sow seeds of truth and talk about the Gospel with our friends. We might see fruit like we did with Sylvia today. With other friends, we might never know what will happen. We are just to stay faithful to the task God has given us, and He does the rest. It has been an honor to be here, serving Him in this way!

That all might know,

Joy

P.S. Lots of new pictures are up on my Shutterfly site! We’ve had Easter parties, book studies, a makeup modeling gig, and lots of other strange happenings since I last wrote. Check it out! ]]> http://www.campustarget.org/blogs/joy/2011/05/what-are-the-odds/feed/ 0 http://www.campustarget.org/blogs/joy/2011/04/dreams/ http://www.campustarget.org/blogs/joy/2011/04/dreams/#comments Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:37:16 +0000 RA http://www.campustarget.org/?p=3412 Lately, I’ve found myself talking with my Chinese friends about what their hopes and dreams are for the future. Instead of just hearing the typical, “I want to make money, get married, and have a child,” my friends have been surprising me.

Sylvia says, “I want to go to remote villages and teach the children English so they have a chance to get a good education and have a good job someday. I want to help the poor and the people in need.”

Yolanda says “I want to travel to Columbia University to study for my graduate work, then go to Shanghai to be an editor so I can make a difference in China.”

Cassey and Emma both want to “shake China and wake the people up!” Cassey has traveled abroad and had the shocking realization that China is censoring much of what they see on the news and how they are educated. She’s a Christian and a fireball!

Asking my friends these questions has made me introspective, and I’ve started asking myself the same thing about my dreams. As I’ve been seeking God, looking to advisors, and thinking about giftings, a few things have stood out. I love China — I always will. I have a heart for discipleship, Chinese students, women’s ministry, and hospitality. As I was pr@ying about whether or not I should come back to China, I didn’t have peace or clear leading from God. When I started to think that perhaps I should turn towards ministry in the States, I had (and still have) peace.

A dream has begun to formulate in my heart for a girls’ discipleship house for Chinese students that are studying abroad in the US. It’s something I want to work towards, and I am praying it will come to pass in God’s timing!  If you want more details, let me know!

For the present, I have 6 more weeks here in China and then will move back to the US. My heart has been drawn towards the Ithaca/Cornell area, so I am planning to move there and work with the Chinese students. I am praying that a good job opens up in perfect timing for me!

Thank you for praying for me as I’ve been wrestling with this decision. These last 4 months haven’t been the easiest as I’ve been trying to figure this all out. I appreciate your constant prayer and financial support. Together, we will finish out this year strong!

So all might know,

Joy

P.S. Check out my new pictures!

Over lunch we discussed many things, ranging from her mother’s death to practicing the violin (she is a beginner!) to photography. Then she stopped and said, “Joy, will you explain what it means to be a Christian? I don’t know anything about the Bible. Please tell me everything!” Wow. I was floored!

In the next hour we journeyed through the Bible from creation to Christ. I laid the foundation for understanding sin, and that Jesus died so all might come to relationship with Him. After a slight pause, she said, “Well, I am a good person. I like to volunteer for those in need. I give money to people, and I do well in school. Don’t these things make up for the bad things I do?” My response was, “No. If we could make up for bad things by doing good things, then Jesus died for nothing.” She looked at me, a bit sad and convicted. Then, with great urgency in her voice, said “How, then, can I be saved?! If I can’t do it on my own, I need to know how!”

That afternoon, Yolanda did not come into the Family. We talked right up until her class began, and she had more questions than we had time. Her heart is being transformed though, and she is so hungry for more knowledge about God! We are going to study the Bible together, and I’m praying she will come to know God personally before the end of our time here. Will you pray too?

This Friday I will go on an overnight trip with Yolanda and some of her classmates to a beautiful place called Luoping that is 3 hours away by train. It will be a great opportunity to share more!

Thank you for standing with me as we work here! It’s hard to believe there are only 71 days left until we go home. Please pray that it will be fruitful ministry time ,and that we will finish our time here with excellence!

Love,

Joy

ps. Check out some new pictures on my shutterfly account!

As funny as it seems, that’s how I feel sometimes about the work here. Before we left for China, we didn’t get much training — we essentially were asked, “Can you swim?” and were pushed out of the boat. We get some training (two weeks in August and two weeks in Thailand), but it’s not enough. Other organizations usually take six months to train their people before they’re launched onto the field. CT leadership has recognized the need for more extensive training, and they’re making changes.

The plan is called the brown belt internship (BBI), and it incorporates many things vital to the long-term worker’s success here in China. It addresses foundations and strengthening for us personally, and enables us to go deeper into Chinese culture and become more effective in sharing the Gospel.

The internship consists of two parts: the first involves 6 months of training in America, and the second involves a year and a half of full-time language study here in China at a university. During the first 6 months in America, I would go through Bible classes, vision planting, leadership training, support raising, and personal growth classes. At the end of 6 months (January 2012) I would fly back to China and immerse myself into full-time language study.

You may be saying “But Sarah, you told me that they speak English over there! Why the need for language study?” That’s a great question! The answer is two-fold: first, not all people speak English, and we don’t want to limit who we can talk to. Second, we can make friends by speaking English, but to have our friends truly understand the Gospel, the language barrier gets in the way. In Thailand, our guest speaker put it this way: “He wanted to set the world on fire for Jesus but didn’t know the language so he couldn’t ask for a match.” We’ve come to realize more and more that it’s vital for us to be able to share the Gospel and follow-up with our friends in their own language.

Right now, my feeling is that I’d like to participate in this internship. My heart is here for these students and the work here, and I can see myself being with CT until God says otherwise. Before I make a commitment to this I wanted to consult with you- my family, supporters, friends, and advisors, and ask:

1. Will you pray for direction and wisdom for me?
2. Will you share with me what God puts on your heart?
3. Will you share with me what you think? I want your input! “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22

Thank you to everyone who is supporting me in prayer and who are giving financially!  Together, we are reaching the Chinese college students!

So all may know,
Joy

P.S. Today is the Chinese new year. So… happy new year! To celebrate we made dumplings with our friend Candy and then went to see/set off some fireworks!

A few months ago, some people decided they wanted to host a small event that featured a minority village choir singing Handel’s Messiah in their heart language. They sought me out to play in the orchestra, which I somewhat begrudgingly agreed to. Christmas is a busy time for us, and I didn’t want rehearsals to get in the way of our meetings and outreach. In the end, I decided the concert itself would be a great means of getting the Story out to our friends.

Over the months that followed, the idea for the concert morphed a lot. Since the organizers couldn’t find enough musicians, the Messiah was reduced to a 20-minute performance of selected movements with choir and piano. This was to be followed by an hour and a half of worship music played by a rock band with songs ranging from traditional songs to “Days of Elijah” to “Angels We Have Heard on High” (all in their language). Instead of playing with the choir, I was now to improvise on my violin with the band.

The night of the concert arrived, and the stadium was packed! It was amazing to be standing on stage, playing and worshiping with 3,000 Asian people. I’m not entirely sure how it was allowed to happen, but God protected the event and all of the people there!

The greatest thing was being able to have 18 of my Asian friends at the concert. They were jumping up and down, singing praises to God, waving their arms in the air… they were excited to praise God, and they aren’t even Christians yet! All of them were utterly moved by the whole night. They were exploding with questions after the concert, wondering about the number of Christians in Asia and commenting on seeing people in their own country worship freely for the first time. We have a lot of follow-up to do!

I didn’t come to Asia expecting to play — my violin is back in New York. To be honest, I wasn’t even really that excited about playing in the concert. God had other ideas though! When we submit our time and talents to Him, it turns out that He can do much more than we can ever hope or dream. It’s what Christmas is all about, right? The impossible becoming possible. Merry Christmas, my friends.

That all may hear,
Joy

P.S. The Christmas parties went really well! Pictures are up on my website.

That’s literally the way some of our friends feel about God and studying the Bible. They’ve never had a chance to hear anything about God, so when we ask if they want to study with us their soul groans out “Yes! I’m so hungry for God!” In the last week, two of our friends have said, “I’m not a Christian yet, but I think after I study with you I will be.” Another friend said, “I think I am the lost sheep” after reading the parable of the lost sheep in the book of Luke. Another said, “I think my eyes are blinded to the truth right now, and I want to see.” God is doing something in our friends’ hearts. We’ve been praying for them to be hungry, and they are!

As I said in my last update, this is a very busy season for us. Last Saturday we had a Bible study with the guys and girls combined where we shared the Christmas story and then had a great discussion afterward. This Friday and Saturday, we will have two parties where we will have our Chinese friends act out the Christmas story and discuss it. The following week we’ll have yet another party. This is the season for abundant sharing of the Story! We are believing for friends to come into the Family!

Prayer requests:

• Please pray for all of our friends, that they would be even more hungry for God than they are now! Sylvia, Zhao, Candy, Emma, Ting Ting, Enrisey, Kelly, Diana, Rachel, Cherry, Cassey, Yolanda, Tina, Tina2, Nancy, Xiao, Afra, Holly, Joy, Cindy, Linda, Lucy, Ludwig, Season, Sissi, and Susan. These girls are so precious to each of us and to God!
• Please pray for the Chr*stmas parties we will have. We want the story to be shared clearly and effectively!
• For our team of 6 — that we’d be unified, strengthened in God, and more hungry for God than ever before!

That all may know,
Joy

Looking out the bus window a few days before our Thanksgiving party, I saw a man driving his car with a passenger in the front seat. The passenger was leaning over and trying to help the driver steer! It was an instant reminder to me about our walk with God. He is the “driver” of our lives as we give Him control to direct and guide us. However, when we are fearful or concerned about the road ahead, we can grasp for the figurative wheel of our lives to try and steer and control. If you’ve ever tried to steer a car from the passenger seat, you probably know that it’s not the easiest thing to do. Veering all over the road, trying to keep in a straight line… It’s practically impossible, and usually makes the situation worse.  It’s the same with our lives, isn’t it? Giving God control of our lives and letting Him retain control can be a challenge at times, but He has the best plan!

The Thanksgiving party was a rousing success! Including our team, we had 47 people in attendance. We made a “thankful tree” on the wall, where they traced their hands on construction paper and wrote what they were thankful for on them. I printed photos from the fall photo contest, and everyone loved seeing them! The food turned out really well. After we ate, we had a skit telling about Thanksgiving, and then Ben shared about why he was thankful for Jesus. Afterwards, we played a few fun games and spent time chatting with our friends. All in all, it was great.

Please be thinking of us — this is our crunch time! Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we will be very busy. I am expectant and excited to see our friends come into the Family. They are so precious to us and to God! Please pray that we would continue to let God sit in the driver’s seat with all of our plans for the upcoming season. There are so many good things we could do, but we want to do what is best and what God would have us do. He knows what His kids need!

Prayer Corner:

• That our friends would make decisions to come into the Family!
• On a personal level, God has been teaching me and growing me in so many areas. Please pray that I would continue to be open and moldable!
• We are all missing our friends and families back home during this holiday season. Please pr&y for grace, comfort, and renewed vision as we walk through this time.

That all may hear,

Joy

We all looked at each other, wondering who it could be. Our Bible study had started an hour before, and we weren’t expecting anyone else to arrive. I looked through the peep hole, and to my surprise, a police officer stood outside. I breathed a quick prayer, and opened the door…

Rewind 5 minutes.

Glop.

Phoenix walked around our circle of 8 putting a big glop of chocolate pudding in each of our hands. She instructed us to completely cover our hands in the pudding. Once we were nice and messy, she told us to try and get the pudding off our hands, without using anything but our hands. No water, no towels, nothing. It’s impossible! None of us could get our hands completely clean. We needed an outside force! The pudding was a great demonstration of sin, and how we can’t get our “hands” clean ourselves. Only God can make us clean!

That poor police officer… He walked in on a room of 8 girls, hands completely covered in pudding! Our friends were laughing, and the poor guy even got some pudding on himself when we handed him our passports. He was so confused, he almost forgot his purpose in coming- to remind us we had to leave the country to renew our visa (which we had just done the day before by going to Hong Kong). It was more of a friendly visit, but it could have turned very bad if he had seen the not-so-legal Bibles we had out on the table just minutes before and discovered the purpose of our meeting. God’s timing is perfect. I’m sure that police officer will never forget that night!

Praises and prayer requests!

• Thank you so much to those of you that gave towards my bike and computer needs. It was perfect! My hard drive broke on my computer as well  last week, so the little extra that came in went towards buying a new one. I can now say that I have installed a hard drive by myself!
• On October 30th, we were invited to speak at a Halloween party at the satellite campus. The ratio of 120 students to 8 foreigners was a bit intense, but we made a lot of great contacts there.
• On November 20th, we will have a large combined Thanksgiving party with our close friends, expecting around 30-40 students. My role will be to prepare the Thanksgiving feast. If you have any recipes or ideas, please please let me know! There are many obstacles to overcome (cooking the full meal in a toaster oven is one of them), but I know that God will help us be creative!
• We want to see more of our friends come to know God. We’ve shared the Gospel with about 10 of our friends now, and we just want to see them make decisions and come into the Family! Please pray for them!
• The Bible study is going well! We meet Thursday nights, and have seen a lot of interest. Lots of great discussion and questions!

Thank you for standing with us! God is in control!

That all may know,
Joy

Later that same night, I came home and found a dead computer. The battery AND the power cord decided they had had enough. After some trial and error, I caved and admitted I was not the computer expert I had always thought. Heading to the nearest Apple store, I just prayed they’d have the right parts. Several hundred kuai later, my computer was back up and running with a new power cord and no battery.

The next day, we had a lunch meeting at our friend Candy’s apartment. It went so well! I was sad we couldn’t stay longer, but we had to leave for class around 1. Rounding the corner, I saw that Peyton and Phoenix’s bikes were there, but mine was missing! Even though it was locked up, it had been stolen.

Momma never said there’d be days like this, but I guess that’s life! Because of my bike being stolen and the computer repairs, I’m going to be a bit short in my finances. However, I know we serve a God that provides for our every need. I’m not worried!

On the flip side, our time with our friends is going so well! We have met many wonderful girls that are all hungry to read and study the Bible. We’re having our first study this Saturday, so please be thinking of us. We will have some games to introduce our friends to each other, ask some thought provoking questions, and then I will share the story behind John 3:16. I am excited to introduce them to my Savior!

Prayer corner:

• My finances! If you would, please take some time to pray and see if God would lead you to give towards a bike or replacing the funds that went towards my computer repairs. About $200 will do it! If you want to give, let me know and I’ll tell you how to send it in!
• My language study! It is challenging!
• Our Bible study this Saturday!
• Ben is getting better, but he’s not totally better. Please keep thinking of him! My sinus infection is mostly better. Thanks for thinking of me!

So that all may hear,
Joy

P.S. We took a trip to the zoo with some friends this past week; check out the pictures on my website.