Update 6 🎧 | Gaining

update 6  |  02.27.16 早上好 (Zǎoshang hǎo / good morning)- We hope you're doing well ... our family's pace is picking up speed, and the rest of life here in Beijing is too, as people have returned full-time to work and school following the holidays. Our apartment (and Haidian Church) are surrounded by large universities, and we are seeing lots of students both foreign and Chinese coming and going. The congregation at the church is filled with college-age and young adults, and we see energetic, vibrant people who love Jesus and are working hard to get an education and move forward with their lives. There is hunger for personal & spiritual growth, but we are finding time to be a precious commodity, as most of our Chinese brothers and sisters work or go to school long hours, often with a 60-90 minute subway commute one way. China's culture moves at a fast pace, but there is a lot of fatigue from such demanding schedules. On the days our family of 5 is serving at the church together, we have felt it as well. As we drag our tired bodies back to the apartment after a long day, we certainly have not had any trouble sleeping, even with noisy trains and city sounds all around us! A few points of celebration from the past 7 days: 1. This past Sunday included a great lunch and a chance to meet new friends in the English Speaking worship ministry. We had nearly 40 people at lunch (some had left when this photo was taken), and they have a strong sense of community already. Some of you who have visited Beijing might remember John and Lesley Davy. This dear couple from the UK have served at Haidian Church for nearly 10 years, and they are finishing their term as English professors this summer. They have invested much in the church worship team and have welcomed our family to serve side-by-side with them. We are thankful to build on what they have done and have them as partners in ministry. 2. We unboxed and starting setting up the Aviom in-ear monitor system that I brought with me as a gift from our church to Haidian Church. The technical team at the church is sharp - they learned quickly as I plugged in the gear and explained how to use it. Everything works as expected, and the tech team will be running wires and installing the components over the next couple weeks. We should have new monitors for all the choirs and worship teams (12 groups in total) soon. Lulu, the young lady in this photo, is a worship leader for one of the Chinese services (she also has a recording contract with a music production company here in Beijing and is a great English translator). Meng, the audio director (pictured right), asked me if the Aviom system could be used with wireless technology. I said yes, and he ran to get a wireless system. When they turned up some music playing through in-ear monitors, Lulu shouted "I have to have one of these!" It is an honor to be the one bringing some tools here that will hopefully bless the church for years to come. 3. The kids are digging into their studies ... they have realized that they are not limited by a time schedule, so they can use any down time they have to work ahead with their schoolwork. Both Ali and Olivia  have hopes to finish their schoolwork early so they can enjoy the latter part of our time here without the burden of it. Ali also had her first violin lesson at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music this week. Kim and I accompanied her to the lesson, and all three of us felt a sense of amazement as we walked on to the campus. It is massive (the music library alone is an 8 story building), and we saw names and photos of nearly every famous classical performer and conductor in the world on the walls, documenting their visits to this storied institution. Ali was ushered into a state-of-the-art rehearsal studio for her lesson, and Kim and I found ourselves in awe that God has opened a door for our daughter has been given an opportunity to study the violin in this place while we are living here. She will make many trips to the Conservatory for lessons and orchestra rehearsals, and we ask that you join us in praying for God to use our family's presence there to draw people to Him. Although the musical training is important, there is a far greater reason Ali has been given this opportunity to study in this place, and we want to be part of whatever God wants to do through her life and music. 4. We got to take a day to do a little sightseeing this past week. We moved quickly through Tiananmen Square and the Wangfujing shopping area since the temperature was in the 20's. This central part of the city is China's equivalent of our "National Mall" in Washington, DC, and each time I visit it, I feel small. This nation is so vast, and although there are many differences between East and West in philosophies of how to run a country, it is humbling to walk through places where decisions are made that affect the lives of over a billion people. We decided this "field trip" was probably better than anything we can provide educationally from a book! (and it's weird to visit Tiananmen Square, only to go "home" after we saw it. Seems like something you do on a tourist trip, but it's part of our "normal" lives???) Ali managed a clandestine "solider selfie" near the entrance to the square ... The kids are fitting in well riding the subways, don't you think? 5. Some of my long time music friends will recognize the instrument in this photo. I walked into a classroom at Haidian Church, and I saw this Yamaha Electone sitting against a wall. I haven't seen one of these instruments in years, but most of my formative musical experiences took place on an Electone. (we also saw one being moved across the campus at the conservatory) Electones have pretty much disappeared from music stores in America, but they are still alive and well in China! 6. Despite the cold weather and concrete jungle of our neighborhood, Olivia and Jake have found ways to keep their soccer skills sharp. We are hoping the soccer ball we brought with us will provide opportunities to meet some of the kids in our apartment building and develop some friendships when the weather warms up. (Livy was playing as well, but she was the photographer in this photo) THIS WEEK, WE PROUDLY PRESENT:    OF THE WEEK: 1. Mom's breakfast triumph 5 different grocery stores provided the ingredients for a pan of homemade cinnamon rolls, and Kim found a way to make them from scratch and bake them in our small countertop oven. When combined with a cup of Starbucks coffee from a french press, we had a lot of smiles around the breakfast table. (and we are thankful for the care package from home that arrived today with a pound of ground coffee in it, since Starbucks Pike Place blend is $35/lb here!) 2. Dad's dinner disaster We had a free evening this week and decided to venture out to try a local restaurant on our own. We found a Korean BBQ place near our apartment that looked good. From the pictures in the menu, we were able to order some chicken tenders, some fried shrimp (both of which we liked), and what looked like a fried egg-based pancake with some veggies in it. It was inexpensive and I thought everyone would like it, so I ordered two. When the first one arrived, we found it was not veggies in the pancake, but OCTOPUS! We tried to nibble some corners and couldn't get it down. Our joy was made complete when the second one arrived. I don't think the kids will let me live this one down for a long time, and we learned a good lesson to always order ONE of something first to see if we like it. (and Jacob may or may not have actually eaten the purple octopus tentacle in this photo) 3. Wangfujing Street Treats This famous open-air shopping market is a frequent stop on the Beijing tourist circuit. The kids had never visited it, so we decided to stop by. Scorpions, starfish, squid, even snakes and bugs on a stick! Somehow, we didn't have any takers for this once-in-a-lifetime chance to try these rare delicacies. The kids decided the sights and sounds (and SMELLS!) were a sufficient cultural experience. (Kim and I didn't want to make them feel bad, so we abstained as well) PRAYER REQUESTS: Overall, we are doing well. We know many of you are praying regularly for us, and we are thankful for every minute that someone is praying for our family and the work God has for us here in China. This week, we have become acutely aware of one of the most unexpected, but significant areas of ministry that we get to participate in. Our family makes an impact everywhere we go, whether we want to or not. We are being watched - by people on the street, in a restaurant, at the church, etc. We have the opportunity to be an example of what it looks like when a family centers its life in Jesus, but this only happens when we treat one another with grace and love. Some days this is fairly easy, and others days it's difficult to remember when we're feeling a bit squeezed by the differences of life in China. We want to live each day for the glory of God and point others to Him - we'd love you to pray that God will expand our wells of grace and love for each other and the people around us. Have a great weekend- B, K, A, O, & J   We successfully received a package from home this week (thanks Mom and Dad!) so we know the address below works. Several people asked about how to send mail to us, so here's the info one more time. You will need BOTH the English and Chinese addresses on a package, and we recommend the US Postal Service for letters or packages. ENGLISH: MR. BRENT MILLS ROOM 907 NO. 2 BUILDING WUDAOKOUJIAYUAN NO. 3 COURTYARD ZHANCHUNYUAN WEST ROAD HAIDIAN DISTRICT, BEIJING  100083 CHINA CHINESE: Click here to download a printable PDF

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