Friday July 24, 2009
I can't believe we have been through 2 weeks of teaching already…it has gone by too fast! Today we reviewed Christmas, Caring for others, Telling the truth, recycling, and what the true meaning of Christmas is. It was so neat to see some of the kid's journals. I put up some pictures of the journals my kids did. Many of them can't write complete sentences so they just draw pictures, but they still blew me away with what they drew. One girl blew me away with what she wrote in her journal. She came up to my desk and what she wrote brought me such joy! The Lord has been speaking encouragement to me through my kids through their innocence and faith. We read the Christmas story again today and it is the sweetest thing to ask them what Christmas is and they yell out "JESUS!!" It has been so exciting to see how they have responded this week! I can't wait to teach them about Easter!!

Tonight we went to a bible study with some of the SMIC staff. It was awesome!! The people here are overwhelmingly hospitable and kind! They went out of their way to make us a huge meal, to make us feel at home, and just to serve us. The bible study is held at a man's apartment near our hotel. He is out of town until next week, but when he goes out of town he just leaves his key under the mat for young adults to come and fellowship. His whole upstairs is situated specifically for fellowship. He has a projector and all of the music equipment for worship and chairs aligned. It is really neat! Many of the people at the fellowship spoke English. Some were fluent, some spoke a little, and some knew none. The principal of our school's wife translated the songs, prayers, and message for us. What was so awesome to me was that when we were worshipping although we couldn't understand what they were saying (they were worshipping in Chinese) the presence of God was evident! Their worship was beautiful! There is no language barrier with God! Like it says in Psalm 46:10, "I will be exalted among the nations" and I got to witness that tonight...very special! They asked us to sing a few songs in English to them also. We sang "Open the eyes of my heart" and "God of this city." One of my teammates shared his testimony and then the principal of our school gave a message. We got to visit and meet new friends afterwards, which was awesome! Everyone seriously here is beyond nice. It has been a joy to get to know them! I better go because we are getting up early for the Great Wall, but I just wanted to share some of the wonderful things God is continuing to do here!

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy—and I will give thanks to Him in song."
Psalm 28:7