Update

Hello,

The weekend is coming to a close, and things around the EBCT apartment will be a bit calmer once again. Lots of people are around from Fri-Sun, and the weekends are usually packed with church events and fellowship time. Let us walk you through the past couple days:

Saturday

In the morning, we played badminton with some EBCT people and two gospel friends. I thought badminton was a pansy sport, but it was surprisingly fun! I definitely look forward to playing again!

Here is John busting a crazy on the court:



Afterwards, there was prayer meeting at 1:30 and Bible study at 2:30. We went over Genesis 45-47, answering questions in groups of three in the beginning, and MattH finishing the study with some teaching on the passage.

For dinner, John met up with his family, and MattL and I got to accompany Clara to meet with one of her gospel friend and the gospel friend's boyfriend. Have you ever tried sharing the gospel to two people at the same time? Very difficult right? But God worked it out so well! MattL and I were able to share with the guy while Clara was sharing with her friend at the same time! We were able to have two conversations about the gospel at the same table! We were praying for this to happen, and God answered it! Although they understood, they did not want to believe so pray for them to understand the treasure of Christ! Also, pray for us to be faithful always with being a witness to all people and to seize all the opportunities He gives us to proclaim His name!

Sunday

MattL and I have the privilege of being part of praise team while we are here. I will be playing the djembe drum, and MattL will either play bass (while Kevin is still here) or lead the team on acoustic/vocals. Pray for all of us to use any gift we have received to serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

MattH preached on Ephesians 5:28-33, and we learned about the importance of marriage, how a husband should love his wife, and the mystery that marriage is an illustration of Christ's relationship with His church.

Afterwards, we ate at a Taiwanese restaurant where Andy and Katherine generously taught me the Chinese characters for beef, chicken, pork, lamb, fish, meat, kimchi, vegetables, and seafood. I'm slowly learning how to order on my own!

In the evening, the three male tentmakers went out to explore, and we bought some handkerchiefs.




These are a serious necessity in the humidity and heat. In several pictures that we've taken so far, you can see our faces/necks/arms glazed in a layer of sweat. It's crazy here.

Miscellaneous

We have another addition to this blog: Clara will be joining! She will be posting her updates here also until she leaves for the States in November.

The three of us have been spending so much time together it's ridiculous (in a good way). It's at least 22 hours a day in each others's company. Forced fellowship (again in a good way) has been sweet and we've been able to meet for accountability frequently and pray for each other often. Look at how well John and MattL get along:



A big prayer request for John and MattL would be to diligently apply for jobs and to trust the Lord in the process. It is easy to get anxious because we don't know how things will work out, but God knows! He is sovereign so pray for them to commit this to the Lord.

As for me, the first day of school is tomorrow! Please continue to pray for me to learn Chinese for His glory and to be an excellent witness for Christ at ShiDa. There are LOTS of people in the language center who speak english, and there are many opportunities to share. It's so easy because everyone always ask what everyone else is doing here. I could say "I'm here to share the good news of Jesus. Say, have you heard of Him?" Pray for me to be faithful with all the open doors God gives me to share the gospel.

Finally, this is a good picture of my current haircut. I'm still learning how to style it correctly, but it's been fun messing with it:



But I'm not the only one who has been changing my image:




Thanks for praying for us!