COACHES TRAINING - 6 TERRIFIC LADIES!

 Here are our coaches, along with our (staff) & (team): Helena, Emma, Mawei, (Mary), Jili, (Kathy), (Fangfang), (Hope), Jufang, (Liz), (Harriet). Wow, what a blessing to work with these women of vision and heart - willing to give time and energy to build into others for the Kingdom!! The training with Liz went very well - the women were bonding for sure and working on their vision statements when we wrapped up for today.  Part II with this group on Thursday!

Meet "Helena" - a new lady to our group and so sharp with a degree in counseling and a heart to serve.  She is special to me because she has my grandma's name!

Yum!  Hope made lunch for us - "peasant food" she called it and well, it's my favorite! Wonderful veggie dishes, cabbage dish, breads & rice!  We love the food here...it's tough to be loved and pampered this way! :)

This is the most giving woman, Hope had been given a circular scarf she loved on the last trip...gave it away to Jasmine who'd been praying she would win something so the ladies would pray for her too.  The KnitWits heard about this and made Hope a new one (she's wearing that too); they were so touched by the story that they made a special "shawl of many colors", each knitting a part of it and adding a small bead with her name.
THE  REST of the story - One of Hope's roommates told me just before giving these things to her that Hope had just given her shawl away too! God has blessed Hope for her sweet generosity today and she was deeply touched and so thankful!

Here is our 6th coach who had to be late today and missed the group shot: this is Kanghua - lovely leader of a large Mary Kay unit and now a coach to lead women's ministry leaders! She has held many events before and this is the first time she won a shawl!

WORSHIP, SHARING & SHOPPING...GREAT DAY!

 Sabina & Promise - We had a blessed time to worship with these dear brothers and sisters again. Liz & Harriet's first meeting with them and loved them of course!  Promise was tired here but getting so big!  Josh wasn't feeling well but as ever preached a great message!

Liz and Harriet spoke about parenting to a group who have or will have little ones.  Many questions about discipline, love, education and balancing it all.

Harriet shared about her husband's family's legacy of faith and family devotions. We all shared ideas and the importance of the family's role with church supporting that.
We finished at 3pm and went for the first shopping experience at the Silk Market - all 3 of us are quick shoppers so much was done in little time!

NEW TEAM - FIRST WONDERFUL DAYS!

Here we are - in Beijing, March 1, 2012!  Our team of Liz Selzer, Harriet Congdon and I arrived at the airport safely and after a few hours Mary's team (her hubby John along with Greg and wife Kathy) from California also arrived (we decided they were worth waiting for!!). At the hotel by 8:30pm we crashed! It's actually a benefit to be so tired that you sleep a full night even though at home it's the middle of the day.  Beijing time is 15 hours ahead of Colorado time.  

At breakfast the next morning, it took only a few minutes to realize that God had put together a cohesive and wonderful team.  It is pure joy to serve with these terrific people!! We were able to take time during the day (Friday the 2nd) to prepare, rest and make our trips to the grocery for water and a field trip to Walmart...uniquely Chinese.

 Here we are at our first day's training - at the Christian Bookstore in the meeting rooms.  The teachers in the photo are Harriet (in the middle wearing teal & black), Liz right behind Harriet, me and Kathy to the far right along with our beautiful Chinese sisters! Wonderful training today by Kathy - "Building Bridges", Harriet- "Psalm 139" and Liz "Having Community" & "Mentoring". More than 50 women were present and loved the teaching so much!
Meanwhile in another room at the bookstore, John & Greg taught 30+ men about healing broken relationships and being a follower of Jesus at work.  Great Day!

Here is Liz!  Hamming it up while modeling the scarves, hat & shawls made by our beloved "KnitWits" (Knitting a witness for Christ).  What fun it is to see their faces when the win the pretty things and how over-joyed they are to know they will be prayed for as well.

Harriet spoke first while the ladies quietly kept filling the room.  Her story of not feeling loved during part of her life brought tears to many eyes, but hope in knowing they were lovingly made by God and are completely adored by Him.

The sisters loved Kathy and her sweet spirit.  Again they were touched by her story and moved to share their own stories while building bridges to share the story of Jesus!

Here is Liz speaking with Rebecca translating.  Rebecca is Australian by birth and fluent in Mandarin.  What a team these two - getting the mentoring idea across while doing their own brand of stand up comedy...might have a knew act here in China!!

Just had to include this lady - she loved her new hat and loved posing for the photos too!

Stay tuned!  Much more to come and we can't wait to share it with you.  Thank you for the part you have played in making this possible!  Much love from the March teams!

IT'S TIME TO LEAVE FOR BEIJING!

Dear Praying Friends,
  Well, here we go!  Leaving for Beijing this Wednesday February 29 and in the throes of last minute preparation. It seemed like the perfect time to focus on God's provision in wonderful and unusual ways and as is usual, He does this in His timing to teach us faith.
  Until last week, the funds for the trip were not there and yet we were confident of His leading. Through a speaking engagement at Fellowship of the Rockies Church, some wonderful provision came!
  More of the needed funding came this way:   Chaplains Stacey Smith (ex-felon) & Bob Fielding, 50 Story Bracelets will go to Haiti to be used by the team who will be using them to share the Gospel with  the ladies in prisons in Haiti.  Don’t you love the way God works? Bracelets made by dear Stephanie in China (who has now accepted Christ because of them) are purchased through ministry to a prison in Arkansas, to be used in sharing the Gospel to inmates in Haiti and the funds (priced lower for mission use) go back to China for continuing ministry!  Only God could accomplish this!  Amen? AMEN!

LAST DAY: MELS PREACHES/ COLD STONE AT THE MALL/ TEACHING CHURCH LEADERS

 Dr. Mels holding up the Forbidden City...just in the nick of time!  Mels preached a wonderful sermon, "What to do when life stinks" (John 11).  We toured a bit and then Mels taught the leaders in Josh and Sabina's church on DISC & spiritual gifts.  The class was to end at 7pm and these people who had been to church since 9am wanted more...we finished at 8:30pm!  Wish we could bottle the hunger for God in this place! 

In honor of the president of my college and Mels good friend, Ralph (Yankee) Arnold - at a mall in Beijing where we stopped to satisfy ice cream cravings!

Here is Rebecca - some of our teams met her nearly 2 years ago - now she is turning 3!  Here she is wearing a hat from the KnitWits... she loved it so much and speaks perfect English, telling me "thank you" and giving me a sweet little kiss!

Mels got a kiss too!!  He loved the Chinese children and they loved him too!

Pray for this dear couple (Benny & Ann) - wearing a hat and shawl from KnitWits.  They want a child so much and have lost 2 in the last year.  Both are leaders in the church.

This is Leo & Vivian - please also pray for them, leaders in the church too and also have lost 2 babies.  Children are precious everywhere but in China with the one-child policy, they are dearly beloved.

JUFANG'S GROUP/ NEW SISTERS/ HOME RUN DR. MELS!

Here is Mels teaching the ladies!  They loved his training and then treated us to a worship dance + delicious lunch!

These ladies are new believers, trying to encourage each other with marriage, family and their growing faith.  They are floundering without a leader but determined to meet and grow.  Pray for them please...

 It was difficult to capture the whole room but over 100 today - WOW what a training on the DISC and Spiritual Gifts!  The students were captivated and very engaged in the training!  Dr. Mels says he's coming back in March - he can't believe the energy of this Acts Church - so hard to explain but unmistakable when you are here!!!

Dr. Mels was amazed at the openness here - a Christian Bookstore - on a public street openly advertising.  Several meeting rooms are here and we have certainly enjoyed the use of this building before but never so packed as today!
BEST PART: 35 Decisions for Jesus - 12 new believers and 23 dedicating their lives!

This is Jasmine - lovely translator for us and I was so happy to see her again!  She so badly wanted to win one of the scarves from the "KnitWits" - mostly because she wanted them to have her picture to pray for her!!  She did not win but Hope gave her scarf away - these women do not cease to amaze!

85 IN A STUDY GROUP! 58 MOMS, TEACHERS & PARENTS!!"!!

This sister received a shawl on Tuesday night - she was overjoyed! This group of believers is just 1 of 5 church plants from the same original group!

On Wednesday, I taught on "Living by Grace" to one of the branches of this church - wow, this is certainly the church in Acts!  Yours truly forgot her camera so will be receiving photos of the Wednesday group of over 85 ( more came in after the original count so not sure but they give "packed like sardines" new meaning! All with such joy and so many questions after.  One sister said, "When something bad happened to me, another sister said it was because I sinned.  Now, she had something bad happen, should I remind her of what she said to me?" Ah, living by grace - she received well the instruction to love this sister instead!

This group is new to us and so eager to be part of what we do in China!  There were several interested in our Family Life events and others in the Crown Program! They also loved the bracelets as you can see!  Praising God that the Good News is shared with these and that the ministry here is funded too!

This is James Tao, friend and part time neighbor of Lynne Worcester (May team).  What an interesting man; we learned much from him!  He is seeking and asking many questions - it was wonderful for him to hear Mels' story of having been raised by atheist, communist dad from Cuba. Mels name stands for M-Marx, E - Engels, L - Lenin, S - Stalin!

 These ladies received the beautiful circular scarves from our KnitWits!  Lixia, the lovely sister on the left is sharing Jesus with her friend in the middle.  Hope of course in on the right!  They drove all the way to where the hotel is (over an hour) to pick us up!  

Mels taught a 'lunch and learn" at Anadarko Petroleum while I taught the moms group in a "villa" north east of town on Thursday morning.

Hebin is a sweet sister I've come to know since last spring. Can you see her sweet spirit?  She said, "I cried and prayed last night and this morning because now that I am home with my child, I am happy but also feel useless and no purpose - now you have shown me there is purpose in what I am doing and God will use this time in my life."

 Our hostess, Xiaoli!  Her heart is so big and she spoke of her fear in sharing Jesus with her friend but how the teaching helped her to over-come that fear.

 Our hostess, Xiaoli on the right!  Her heart is so big and she spoke of her fear in sharing Jesus with her friend but how the teaching helped her to over-come that fear.

These ladies are teachers in the private kindergarten - Mels told them all they looked like teenagers - so young, happy and lovely!  Here they are with their shawl, hat and bracelets - they love to receive gifts!

Here is Mels, Hope and the teachers in the teachers' lounge.  Mels had just spoken for Anadarko and then made the trek to the northwest of town to kindergarten.
All present loved the training!  Over and over I heard - "this is too short - we need more!"

 Later, after the school "chef", only 20 years old, fed us well - the parents and some teachers from another school came for the training.  Once again we heard, "not enough, we need more of this!!  

Simon, a young man attending with his wife was so excited he bought every book available from Dr. Mels!  He has been teaching servant leadership for 10 years and was so thrilled to have this training!  Simon was also very happy to hear about the Crown Leadership and I have no doubt he will attend!

This is Anne & Samuel, her son.  Anne is the principal of the school and had also attended Mels' training last Saturday.  After a few questions from Mels, we learned Anne works for free because there is not enough income from the school to afford a salary for her.  She had given up a good banking job to do this!  Talk about a heart for the Kingdom!!

50 IN A TINY ROOM

 Here is our youngest winner of one of the hats from the KnitWits (Knitting a Witness for Christ!)!  So adorable!  Mels spoke to an audience of 50+ packed into a tiny narrow room - there was no way to get a photo of all with the narrow room with even closet space opened up for seats!

  I'm standing in the back, literally in a hallway where people pack in - practically blocking the bathroom.  They listened intently and loved learning about their personalities and gifts and how that impacted life and ministry!

The pastor's wife here with Mels, Fangfang and I.

I tried to find a way to show the size of these chairs :)... The "larger" chairs are no more than 8" or 9" in diameter but standard height - the smaller ones are the same in diameter but at most 12" off the floor!  They are "make a way, find a way" people, not out for comfort but hungry for truth!!