Monday July 27, 2009
We introduced Valentine's day to our classes today. We went over Valentine's vocabulary and what love is (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). We are going to have a fast week this week. My class has open house on Wednesday as well as another government inspection in the morning so we will watch a movie, our class field trip on Thursday, and our Valentine's party on Friday. My teammate who had kidney stones had his procedure today, but everything went great. He came to school the second half of the day and said he felt great so praise God for that! We received word that we might be questioned for our reasons for coming to Beijing on our visas. The Shanghai team was questioned and they actually didn't teach one day. We haven't had any problems yet, but please be praying that they will not begin questioning us. It could not only jeopardize the rest of the school this summer, but the future of the school. We are not worried about it though because we know God has called us here and let His will be done. We know that Satan will continue to try to keep us from sharing Gods love and Word, but the Lord is with us wherever we go. We had a team night of prayer and worship tonight where we worshipped together and prayed specifically for our T.A.s, our kids, the city of Beijing, and China. It was a special time to meet with the Lord together in prayer. Our team has gotten so close. We truly are like family. It has been a privilege to get to know one another. We have gotten a chance to really humble ourselves, share our testimonies with one another, share what God is revealing/teaching us, pray for one another, and encourage one another. My team is amazing! It has been such a blessing to share these wonderful experiences with every single one of them! We are all so different, with different goals and callings, but we all have the same Holy Spirit inside of us and that is what has brought us so close! We have so much fun together, lots of laughter and special memories! It will be hard not seeing each other every day after we get back. We talked about still meeting together for morning devotionals like we have been doing here after we get back which would be neat. Every one of them has been so kind and encouraging. God has really blessed our team!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Its is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
1 Corinthians 13:4-8