As the Mills family heads into our 3rd weekend in Beijing, the phrase "God will make a way" describes our experience well. Two reasons I picked this phrase …
First, some of you may remember an old worship song from the 1980's with this title. My kids had never even heard of the song - we haven't sung it at our church in at least 15 years! But ... we will sing it Sunday at Haidian Church. Their worship mixes in a lot of older songs, and I was reminded of my childhood as I practiced it and listened to the classic Integrity worship recording. I get to serve with the worship team for the first time this Sunday, and I enjoyed starting some friendships with the band and singers. The team is made up of young people who love to worship Jesus, and they are eager to grow in their faith and musical skills. They are grateful our family has moved to Beijing, and we’re having a big lunch with most of the team after the service this Sunday.
The second reason for choosing this phrase .... God has provided some pretty unexpected stuff this week. We are trying to be conservative in anything we request from the church or our friends here. We don't want to be a burden to them in anyway, but God opened some doors this week that were pretty cool:
Tuesday afternoon, I got a call from Pastor Rachel at Haidian Church, telling me the church would like to purchase a new scooter and bicycle for our family. When she picked me up to go shopping for them, I tried to politely decline. Rachel told me a sister in the church had called that morning, letting her know God had spoken to her in a dream the night before. In the dream, the lady heard the Lord tell her give money to church to purchase a scooter! This was definitely not a time to decline their generosity … We will use these to get around town and then will give them to the church for them to use for other ministry when our mission is finished. Now the only question is whether I can survive Beijing traffic on the scooter! (Note to my mother ... it's electric, not gas, only goes 25mph, and I am getting a helmet this week. I love you mom)
Ali had her first lesson with Gao Can, her violin teacher at the Central Conservatory of music. He was wonderful to work with - positive, encouraging, and an amazing musician. We had not had a chance to tell him what Ali has been working on recently in her studies. She played a portion of current piece (Symphonie Espagnole by Lalo), and he responded with some nice things to say and a couple suggestions. Then, he opened his violin case and started to demonstrate for her. As it turns out, he knew the entire piece by memory and played it brilliantly! Needless to say, she is inspired to learn from a teacher who seems excited to teach her and definitely has a huge passion for playing the violin.
One of our goals during our time here is to learn some of the Chinese language. We had the name of a sister from the church who is a language tutor, and we got to meet her Thursday. She met us at a subway station and offered to take us to her classroom. As it turns out, we were escorted into a state of the art classroom at Renmin University, where she is a professor of Chinese Language and History. She offered to teach our family twice a week, providing her time and all materials at no charge. Renmin University is among the most prestigious colleges in all of China, and we are being treated far better than we deserve, considering how meager our Chinese are skills at this point! Liu Aiju (our teacher) also invited Kim and me to join her for a weekly lunchtime bible study with Christian professors at her campus - we are honored to spend time with them and have conversations about life and faith.
Friday, a printer arrived for our family to use. This was one of the few things we really needed to make school happen at the apartment.
Ephesians 3:20 comes to mind here … this was definitely a week where God did immeasurably more than we could have asked or imagined.
Beaverton Foursquare people may remember Pastor Rachel - she was one of the 3 pastors from Haidian Church who lived on our campus and interned with us 2 years ago. Rachel is doing great - she has grown immensely in her leadership skills, (and her English skills), and she recently completed a seminary degree in Washington, DC. Pastor Wu has asked her to work closely with our family, and she is a JOY to serve with. I snapped a photo of her, along with Esther, the Sunday School director (she visited our soccer camp in Beaverton this past summer - this lady ALWAYS has a smile on her face). I love the staff who serves at Haidian Church. They are hard-working, humble people who care deeply for their congregation and their city. This Sunday, Kim, Ali, and Livy will get to serve with Esther in the Children’s Ministry.
From a practical standpoint, there is a lot of work ahead, and we are forming good partnerships. The technical team is anxious to install the Aviom stage monitoring system we brought for their sanctuary. Translators are stepping up to help. To start with, they are working to translate over 30 pages of instruction manuals on how to use the new equipment! Their joyful dedication to hard work is humbling to watch. As I rehearsed with the worship team this past Wednesday, each musician (myself included) played an instrument or amplifier we purchased here in Beijing nearly 5 years ago when the Beaverton Foursquare worship team visited. I loved seeing those gifts still making an impact, and we hope we can leave the church with more tools and the know-how to use them during the next few months.
OF THE WEEK:
Best value: 12 handmade dumplings for ¥12RMB (less then $2USD) at Qing Feng Dumpling Restaurant. You can watch them being made fresh and they taste incredible!
Worst value: a ¥68 (over $10USD) cup of coffee at the Westin hotel while waiting for Ali’s violin lesson. The coffee was OK, but American hotels are overpriced in Beijing!
Best internet discovery - JD.com. Think online shopping like Amazon, except better. You order a product before 11:00pm, and between 9am-12pm the next day, a delivery guy shows up in a little red cart and brings the item right to your door. Definitely the best way to order heavy groceries and avoid carrying them back from the market!
Best animal pic: there are a number of small pet dogs in our neighborhood that are dressed in sweaters and even boots to fight the cold weather. This one definitely took the prize for best costume!
Most unexpectedly helpful thing we packed - a roll of gaffer's (duct) tape. China's residential construction standards are not exactly like home. The tape has already been used to repair two door jambs, an HVAC line, a violin case, and (my favorite), create sections on a clothes drying line to keep the clothes from touching so they dry faster! Gotta love duct tape!
Best recreation: BOWLING! We found a bowling alley nearby. There were 2 workers and no customers, but they turned the lights on just for us. Oddly enough, the machine that resets the pins had some quirks - it sometimes only dropped nine pins, lost its grip and sent pins flying down the lane, all kinds of fun. Jake was thankful when he got two gutter balls in one frame and the machine's error still gave him some points!
The New Year's Holiday is definitely over and traffic has returned to normal… a few shots as we moved around the city:
FIREWORKS - FINALLY DONE! (but not cleaned up ...)
Bikes are everywhere (this is outside our subway stop)
A TYPICAL SUBWAY RIDE ...
On the way to church ... taxis are warmer than subways!
Not thinking this sign made much difference...
Chopsticks skills are improving!
Always room for one more ...
For those who might be considering mailing something, we heard from my mom that the US Postal Service requires both English and Chinese addresses on any mail you send. See below for address info.
To sum up the week, we are doing well. There are certainly some days where home feels even more than 6,000 miles away though. We appreciate your prayers as we navigate the daily decisions to choose joy when life is inconvenient. God is at work in our family, and each day, He is opening new doors for ministry. In addition, we are seeing good things from all the time the 5 of us are spending together in a small space. (Mostly good things ... If you wanted to pray a few verses over us about not grumbling and complaining, that would be great too!)
We love you all ...
Brent, Kim, Ali, Livy, and Jake
ENGLISH:
MR. BRENT MILLS
ROOM 907
NO. 2 BUILDING WUDAOKOUJIAYUAN
NO. 3 COURTYARD ZHANCHUNYUAN WEST ROAD
HAIDIAN DISTRICT, BEIJING
100083
CHINA
politely decline. Rachel told me a sister in the church had called that morning, letting her know God had spoken to her in a dream the night before. In the dream, the lady heard the Lord tell her give money to church to purchase a scooter! This was definitely not a time to decline their generosity … We will use these to get around town and then will give them to the church for them to use for other ministry when our mission is finished. Now the only question is whether I can survive Beijing traffic on the scooter!
Rachel is doing great - she has grown immensely in her leadership skills, (and her English skills), and she recently completed a seminary degree in Washington, DC. Pastor Wu has asked her to work closely with our family, and she is a JOY to serve with. I snapped a photo of her, along with Esther, the Sunday School director (she visited our soccer camp in Beaverton this past summer - this lady ALWAYS has a smile on her face). I love the staff who serves at Haidian Church. They are hard-working, humble people who care deeply for their congregation and their city. This Sunday, Kim, Ali, and Livy will get to serve with Esther in the Children’s Ministry.
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