Quite Long: Part 1

What is it like over here? We're sure you've been wondering. We haven't really taken time to share with you. As you could tell, our church is not so different than most American ones, except that the congregation is literally, international.

You know, it's not impossible for one to go to another place and think that they're gonna be able to do all kinds of excitingly, wild, amazing things for God. And when you get there, it's not what you thought at all.

It’d be silly to say we didn’t think that. We did a little bit. But honestly, we mostly really didn't come here with specific expectations. Our intent was not even to be ‘missionaries' in the traditional sense. We came here to live and work in another country, and open ourselves to the way the Lord is moving. It's like eating rice all your life, without ever having noodles. Do you know how awesome noodles are? Don't cut yourself short and only eat rice. This metaphor is all about your understanding and perspective of the world. It’s about understanding the world outside of your neck of the woods. (We'll talk a little more about this later.)

As we might have said before, our decision was really between China and time at IHOP (in KC). It 's best said that when we brought IHOP before the big man, He was silent. Silencios to the max. What happened instead is that He gave us both things, bringing us to the house of prayer in China!

The prayer room is the life and fuel of the church, and it is what sustains her. Be encouraged because no church government & politics/legalism, no human flaws, no personal problems, no disharmony, no lies or malice, and no conniving person can destroy the body of Christ if there is a burning ember of prayer that resides within your church. Those who are called to be these embers are satisfied by the entering the presence of God and they are sustained by the love of Christ. All they are are just really, really normal people living by faith.

In a church of well over 1500 people, there may be 40ish people that go the house of prayer here. Who are these people? I think Josh and I are amongst the youngest ones. Some are old, some are missionaries, many are professionals, and many are students. There are 2 things most notable: 1) We are amazed because so many of them are new believers. These are, like, Paul converted people, having come to know the Lord recently in their lives. 2) There are almost no husband/wife pairs.

That was a long intro, and a little preachy, maybe sorry... but to begin summing up a little of what we have seen since we have been here:

The Spirit is alive and well. People are joining up with the Lord, and his most fearsome warriors are the ones who you walk past everyday and are oblivious to the message of the Gospel, not the ones you sit next to in church.

Because we don’t speak the language, we don’t understand the people or who to go to, the Chinese church is still a mystery to us as it is to you. If He allows it, we will get to see the way He is moving, in the way Brother Yun tells about it. But our hope is to make a friend, and see a glimpse of the Body in this aspect.

Where is the enemy working these days? In the relationships department. The media and culture has distorted our perception of marriage. What’s the problem? The church is the bride and He is the groom! Messed up marriages and unbiblical perceptions of marriage will trickle down in to our faith, our relationship with Christ, and our church. There’s a war on the marriage front, and we’ve got to fight. In the church and as believers who are maturing, where the husband is, the wife must also strive to be there, and vice versa. Satan can put a wedge between you (and your spouse, friends, family, or church) in the blink of an eye, and don’t think that you’re safe from this.

** To continue in the next post **