After weeks months of preparation, the big day is finally here!
Many people (like us) have a chat with God at some point in their lives and tell Him we are willing to follow wherever He asks us to go. In our case, we certainly had no idea what was in store as we prepared to follow His leading to serve in China, but we are as ready as we can be, and we cannot wait to see what God has will do these next 6 months!
We have cleaned out every corner of our lives, both literally and figuratively. We have prepared to leave home, school, church, work, friends, and more, and now it's time to launch out on the adventure. We have surely forgotten some stuff, but there is
no going back now. We've tried to say goodbye in person to as many as possible, and if we didn't have that opportunity with you, please know that we deeply appreciate each of your prayers and support. We feel you and we need you, and you are a vital part of this mission. We do not put our confidence in our talents, our skills, or our preparation. This is a work God is doing - we are simply the conduit, and without Him responding to all of our prayers, we are toast. We have no doubt He is in this, and our confidence is 100% in His sustaining grace and mighty power. So, with that in mind ... Please keep on praying! (Colossians 1:9-12 is a good guide)
Our pastor, Randy Remington, (at Beaverton Foursquare Church) often reminds us that we always need to prioritize prayer equal to our planning when we are following God in His work. I don't know if our exact number of minutes praying directly equals our number of minutes packing, but in the past 2 weeks, our church family has commissioned us for this work, and we have been covered in blessing and prayer from more people than we can count. There are many Chinese Christians on the other side of the ocean who are praying as well. We have received photos of numerous gifts they have put in our new home, and we are anticipating a joyful celebration with our new friends on Wednesday evening in Beijing.
A few bits of info on where we are going and how you can pray for the first few days in China:
We are moving to a a neighborhood called "Wudaokou". It is a vibrant community with many college students, young adults, and 24/7 activity. Here's a Google Maps link to the area: https://goo.gl/KTrNx0
Wudaokou is part of fhe Haidian District, which is in the northwestern part of the city. Haidian District is home to approximately 3.2 million of Beijing's 22 million people.
Beijing's time zone is 16 hours ahead of Portland. If you lIve on the US west coast, the best hours to chat are from 4:00-10:00pm PST. (That's 8:00am-2:00pm for us) And ... This means the Super Bowl will air at 7:00am Monday morning in China. Instead of chips, salsa, and wings for the game, we'll have breakfast! (IF we can even a live stream of the game over the Internet)
We get to serve as part of the Haidian Christian Church. Here's a link to their website in English: http://english.hdchurch.org/html/aboutus/index.html
Senior Pastor Peter Wu invited us and will be giving us direction. Pastor Wu is a godly man and a creative leader. God has given him favor and influence in many parts of China, and we are honored to learn from him and serve with him.
Please pray for health and safety in travel. We are moving 5 people, 10 pieces of luggage (precisely packed to 49.999999 lbs. each), and some valuable pieces of music and sound equipment (gifts for Haidian Church worship ministry).
Please pray for a hassle-free entry. We will be required (as all foreigners are) to register with the local police. We are not anticipating any issues, but it will be the first time we've done this as a family.
Personally, please pray for relationships to form quickly for each of us with our Chinese counterparts. 6 months is not a long time when we consider our dreams of sharing real life with people and encouraging young men and women to become strong, godly worship leaders and musicians. We need God's help to open lines of communication, unimpeded by language and cultural barriers. We also are asking God for friends to emerge for Ali, Livy, and Jake.
We'll send an update with some photos of our new home soon after we arrive. We look forward to hearing from you via email or WeChat, and again, thank you for your partnership on this adventure.
We love you all-
Brent, Kim, Ali, Livy, and Jake
The best way to contact us in China is with the messaging app WeChat. The app has some great messaging, calling, and video features. http://www.wechat.com Send a friend request: @brentmills3 | @kmills503 | @AliMills @OliviaMills | @JacobMills
no going back now. We've tried to say goodbye in person to as many as possible, and if we didn't have that opportunity with you, please know that we deeply appreciate each of your prayers and support. We feel you and we need you, and you are a vital part of this mission. We do not put our confidence in our talents, our skills, or our preparation. This is a work God is doing - we are simply the conduit, and without Him responding to all of our prayers, we are toast. We have no doubt He is in this, and our confidence is 100% in His sustaining grace and mighty power. So, with that in mind ... Please keep on praying! (Colossians 1:9-12 is a good guide)
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