May Newsletter

Yearly May Wrap-up

May already? Wow. It is hard to believe that I am already 33 years old. This past year may have been my most busy year in China.  May 2012 I spent my birthday in Cambodia and shortly afterward traveled to Vietnam to be trained in the Shine program. After returning to China, we almost immediately began to implement the Shine program within the young women’s shelter. 

June

We held the Third Annual Wai Guo Ren State Fair during the first week of June. By the middle of June I had visitors. Two of my favorite people (my parents) traveled to visit me. I relished showing them my world. Letting them feel all the variety of feelings that I have felt while living here. The highs of learning survival Chinese and being with the girls in the shelter as well as the lows of cultural overload and claustrophobia.

July & Aug

 In July, I returned to Colorado-where my company’s headquarters is for my first term debrief. It was a good time to hash out some of the difficult things that have occurred those first two point five years. I also got trained to administer Lifeworkx and WAIT Training. I spent a week in El Paso with a supporter and visited some women of faith in Juarez. It was humbling and encouraging, to be prayed for and pray for such lovely ladies. The larger church community is such a blessing to me as well as an inspiration. This includes YOU!! Once I returned to China I began to sift through the WAIT Training material to put together the School Program. 

Sept

In September we implemented the Shine program in the single mother’s shelter. 

Oct

In October I had friends visit from other cities in China and it was a good time to talk about what Father is doing in other areas. It was very encouraging. The Youth Group held a Masquerade Dinner Fundraiser that I helped supervise the students make the dinner aspect of it. We began to plan Permeate and I spoke at Youth Group about counting the Cost to following JC. 

Nov

In November, I finally got the WAIT Training and Shine Curriculum ready as one program that we are calling the Shine School Program. We submitted the Shine School Program to Mr. Li our government contact. 

Dec

We launched the Shine School program on December 7, 2012.  Eden was told that we needed to partner with an organization called The Bridge in order to continue taking the Shine School program into schools. The Bridge is licensed in China to train, teach and counsel people on different subjects. Eden is only licensed as a jewelry shop. So we began that process. Then we were asked to take the program into a set of three villages on December 12-14.  

Jan

Between Christmas and the end of Chinese New Year, I had a nice time of intense Permeate planning, being an employee of The Bridge, and being with Teammates at a Team Retreat. 

Feb

February 28th came and Permeate became a Reality. 

March

As I entered March I continued to march onward with the Shine school program.  This time inviting several of Eden’s Chinese staff to join us so that they could learn how to implement the School program into the prison system. 

April

April brought on another travel opportunity to Laos with the Youth Group Staff.  

Throughout all of this I have been in class learning Chinese. So all in all I have been immensely blessed but also immensely busy. The Permeate theme verse was Hebrews 12:1-3 and the theme was Never Give Up. With all the busyness--I am tired. But I am also clinging to all the promises I have been given and I trust that as I lean on His strength I will be made strong. Galatians 6:9 “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” I have been learning a lot about relying on His Spirit and although I am not always successful I am trying to live out what I am learning. I praise my Heavenly Father for you and your petitions for me for I know it is through you that I am able to do any of this at all!!

Back in the Saddle Again!!

This week I jumped back into the saddle of teaching. We went to the number 17 and number 9 middle schools in Kunming. The first school we taught at gave us 300 hundred students to teach.  It was kinda crazy. The school didn't have an auditorium so we spoke to them in the cafeteria. It was hilarious.  Because the cafeteria only had round tables the students were forced to look at each other while I taught. When you are teaching students about how priceless they are and are aksing them to tell one another that they are valuable or strong or have limitless potiential it is funny to watch them uncomfortably tell one another these things.  I am so struck by how beautiful these students are. Everytime I stand before them I am so overwhelmed by their innocence. Even if they are not so innocent in some areas of life these kids are thirsty for love, truth, attention, boundaries, and knowledge.  When I start to talk to them about sex their incredible uncomfort is priceless. But the great mystery of it all is that they desire to know what I have to say.  

I think we have all been there before. We want to know something that we feel everyone else knows about. We feel that we are in the dark.  But because we are in the dark we feel uncomfortable asking questions.

 I hope that we ALL get the opportunity to give someone hope as well as give them much needed information so that they can make better choices in their life.

Permeate 2013

So, Permeate has been over for 2 weeks now but I have been struggling to figure out how to tell you about it. In one word you could say that Permeate went WELL. But that word doesn't really express the whole feeling of how Permeate went. So I am going to try and talk about how it all ended up. 

Permeate: means to spread throughout. 

In the language of junior high and high schoolers in the Kunming Expat community it has a deeper meaning?  It is the name for a Christian Youth Conference. This conference was started in 2008.  The vision was started about 6 years ago when a student said "wouldn't it be so cool if we had a giant conference for MKs* all over this provence?"  From that the dream was born, and about a year later we had our first ever Permeate.  Our initial vision remains the same - to provide a place where students from all over the world can get together and worship the Father with their peers.  Our heart is especially for students who don't often get that due to their remote living locations.  We desire to help them build a solid foundation of faith so that as they go into all corners of the world they will make a lasting impact for HIM.

We desire for the love and knowledge of Jesus would spread throughout this community, these students, and this generation. 

This year we have been praying that this conference would not just change the lives of the students who attend the conference but also change many generations as the students affect and change those around them. 

I was part of the planning team this year for the first time and seeing the amount of work that goes into a program like this was phenomenal. And I only did a fraction of what some of the others took upon themselves. 

This year’s theme for Permeate was Never Give Up and we were using Hebrews 12:1-3 to illustrate this theme.  The reason we wanted to discuss this theme at Permeate is because of the great fear among this population of Christian kids that once they leave “home” they will fall away from their faith.  We, the planning committee, wanted to give them the tools to hold on and to persevere in times of trouble. 

This theme was really embraced by the students and the student leaders organized all the games that were played during the weekend and the theme wove its way into the games in the form of olympic type games. We had gymnastics as one game which was a network of ropes that each team had to shimmy through with out touching any rope. We had shot put as one which was trowing water balloons at leaders. All the games were very sophisticated and needed much skills to participate. 

Mike Gordan was our speaker this year. We discovered him because one member of the Planning team had heard him speak previously. He is an enthusiastic and genuine speaker, bringing aspects of his own life into sharp contrast or to illustrate Father's word. Mike was the perfect speaker for this "Never Give Up" topic. Many of these kids come from families that are pursuing Father. Only a handful are from families that do not believe. But Mike comes from a family that is actively against his Faith. So his testimony of following hard after Him and carrying the cross given to him was very powerful. 

I had eleven students in my small group and every night we had time to just process things they had learned. It is so beautiful to hear young hearts turn back or turn to God for the first time.  In a normal week here I have a group of tenish girls at Youth Group in my small group-and many of the same girls were in my small group at Permeate. But there were three of my regular small group girls who were in a different Permeate Small group. 

One of those girls is a very awkward socially inept young women. and Whether she recognizes it or not she struggles to connect with others. Most often she puts people at unease. Through out the year she has shared with us at Youth Group that she doesn't really "get" most of the messages shared at Youth Group and that on a scale of one to ten, one being that you only believe because your parents believe, and ten being you counted the cost and choose to follow Him. that she was still at a one level. She is in the place that many before her have been but Permeate was a time that I saw her really consider her choices. She didn't just blindly stand up at alter calls or rush forward with everyone else when asked to.....instead she sat quietly and often weeping in her chair while everyone around her stood, knelt, or came forward,. 

I am still unsure if she was made new during Permeate but whether she was or not she heard truth and she was challenged to make a choice. 

Last Thursday she wasn't at Youth Group but I hope to talk to her personally this week. 

As the Weekend Nurse I must give great praise and thanksgiving to our Father for protecting the students and staff. We had several people who had sever allergies and so we were stocked with epi-pens. I got to give the staff training on how to administer them and in the end never needed to use those skills. PTL!!! We played one game during the week that would have been vetoed by me if I had known about it-because I broke my collar bone playing the same game when I was a kid. But again no disasters occurred. Everyone had a good time and the most sever injuries we had were a toothpick was stepped on (not too deep) and sunburns. PTL!!!

Welcome to Permeate!!

Hooray!! Permeate has Begun!!

The Registration Crew!!

Let the games begin!!

 

 

Free time:

 

My girls!!

swimming

Kisses

Hugs

Chillin' with Mike

One of my girls swinging.

 Drama team:

Girl's Session:

Our Girl's Session Speaker.

She Challenged us to give our all to Him.

One of mine!!

Beading!!

Salt scrubs!!

One of my girls getting her makeup done!!

Soooo Pretty!!

One of my girls getting her hair done!! 

Food coloring does dye your hands. 

Salt scrub disaster

My girls making jewelry!!

Liz taking all the pictures. 

   

 Worship:

 

 

 The Planning Committee: 

Nate and Amber

Neil and Mikayla

 

From our end of Permeate survey here are four of my favorite quotes from kids:"Permeate 2013 was a wonderful experiene for me. The people there were really nice to me. Always saying things like you have a great accent, or wow you look really good in blue. it made me feel loved and an accepted part of the Family of Gd."   "I  learned more about Gd than I have in my whole life" and "His faithfulness never ceases to amaze me. He doesn't simpy ask us to stand up for our faith but stands up right next to us day to day moment to moment without ever letting go of our hand." "The thing I like most about Mike is that he looks all scary on the outside but then when he talks you can tell he is really great!"