The first week started off a little rough for Val and I as I think you all heard from him.  Our luggage didn't arrive and we're the 2 tallest people in China trying to shop for clothes- Quite challenging!!!  Thankfully, we got our luggage less than 24 hours later!

Before we left for China we were told to be very careful of our conversations.  We shouldn't "preach" at the people but if they ask us questions we can be as open as we like.  Right away, God provided opportunities for us to share Him and His truth with people. 

Sunday night we had dinner with our Host Cassie, her pastor Mikey (an English teacher) and a few of Mikey's students.  Some are believers, some aren't.  Mikey asked that we pray over our dinner.  I think this surprised all of us because we were told to be so careful.  Mikey's not like that; she's bold in her faith.  So we had great conversation with the students and on the walk home I could hear Val sharing his testimony behind me with a couple of the students.  It was so exciting to see God provide opportunities right away.  It was very Val- sharing his faith right there on the streets of China! 

Monday the conference started so Val & Christine were spending the majority of their day among General Practice Physicians and Health Professionals.  This was an opportunity for them to build relationships during the week with this particular group of people- and God did just that- built relationships.  All of us developed a bond with one of the community doctors, whose name happens to be Dr. Liu as well, and her husband right away.  They are sweet & kind servants to their community but they don't know the Lord- YET!!!  I know they will be covered in lots of prayer; they are very open to the truth.  God really provided us with opportunities to chat with them throughout the week and answer spiritual questions for Dr. Liu's husband.  There was one day he asked if he could just sit down and talk to Christine, Val and I- we were sooo excited about that.  We knew the Lord would direct our conversation and we could share Christ with him.  Turns out his mother was raised by missionaries.  He knows of Jesus but doesn't feel adequate enough to teach His truth's to others.  God gave Val a great word "Let Jesus be the teacher and let us be His disciples".  He gave the typical excuses for not placing His faith in Christ- He and his wife do good things and help the poor, he doesn't want to be associated with hypocrites, he knows a missionary that lives near him and he doesn't want to be associated with her in case something bad were to happen to her because she's a missionary, etc.

Monday & Wednesday evening I spent time to in Mikey's English class.  I was able to share about my life, what I do for a living, and what I do in my spare time.  I mentioned that I go to church- one of the students wanted to know what I did at church and what it was like.  Christine went with me on Wednesday evening and one of the students asked us to define love- HELLOOO!  Wide open door- Christine and I looked at each other and I went for it!  It was sooo fun to explain what my definition of love was and that Christ was the ultimate example of it.  Christine added as well.  As single women the question of what we looked for in a husband, of course, couldn't be passed up.  Again, this allowed us to explain that first and foremost he has to love the Lord more than he loves me...and the list goes on. 

Val & Christine spent time, in a couple of the Community Clinics on Tuesday & Wednesday afternoon, seeing patients and allowing the doctors observe them.  The doctors were so grateful for that opportunity. 

Tuesday & Thursday I had the opportunity to visit Mikey's fellowship group.  This was 2 different groups of college students that attend her church.  Val went with me on Tuesday after his clinic time.  I didn't know what to expect since it's illegal to gather for worship.  We met in one of the church member's homes.  They had worship time, and then pretty much the rest of the time was ours.  I shared my testimony with them and a quick word from Romans.  Val shared his testimony as well and shared about Paul & the persecution.  Even though Paul knew everywhere he went he would be persecuted he went anyway in obedience to Christ.  He did such a great job- Val was in his element.  Word got around that I sing so they asked me to sing a couple of songs- so I taught them a couple of songs in English and we sang them.  I was deeply blessed by them and humbled to be there with them.  They wanted to pray for me and I was sooo touched by that.  These are memories that will last forever. 

Friday we had lunch for several of the students that had helped us during the week or that just really touched our hearts.  There were 2 particular students from the English class that I felt, deeply, God say we needed to invite.  Their English names are Emma & Jack- neither are believers.  Emma had a tumor on her leg at the age of 12 and had to have her leg amputated from the knee down.  She has a prosthesis but it really slows her down.  She had such a sweet spirit about her and I was drawn to her from the time she introduced herself.  Jack is from Inner Mongolia, he comes from a Muslim background.  I don't think he's a practicing Muslim though.  He told us he reads the Bible because it's a good book- way to reel him in God!  During lunch, Emma mentioned that she understood my beliefs.  Just like I have God to worship, her parents are her God.  I was so saddened to hear that but thrilled at the same time because this was another opportunity to share God's truth!  Emma walked back to the hotel with me because I wanted to give her this bracelet that I bought specifically for a time like this.  It's the Life of Christ bracelet and it tells of how Christ came to earth as a baby, grew to spread the Word of Truth, made disciples fishers of men, shed his blood to pay for our sins and rose from the dead.  She was so thankful; I hope the message penetrated her heart.  Jack walked back with Christine and a couple of the other students.  I didn't ask Christine how the conversation went but knowing Christine an opportunity to share Jesus wasn't passed up! 

Saturday was a BIG day!!!  This was the optional lecture for the Doctors and their spouse to attend.  Around 50 people showed up.  I set the foundation with a lecture on the 5 Love Languages.  I'm a person that just lays out the facts....I'm not that great about giving examples, it's just not my forte.  Once that was done, Val asked if he could tag onto what I was saying and continue.  He wasn't scheduled to talk until after the break but I could tell the guy had somethin' so I said "Sure!!!"  He gave great examples to describe the love languages.  That lead right into the exercise he wanted to do.  I need to preface this- Val knew that he wanted to do this one exercise "Describe the Perfect Spouse" but he had nothing else planned, very Val like!  As we all know, Val doesn't like canned lectures or sermons.  He likes the Spirit to lead him and just go with the flow....and that's exactly what he did- all I could do was sit back and watch in awe of the Lord and Val's sensitivity to the Spirit.  He was a vessel allowing God to use him.  It was GREAT!!!    I won't even attempt to tell you the message that came out of his mouth because I would only butcher it but the Gospel was being poured out right there on stage.  Again, none of this was planned but God was giving everyone ideas and it became this awesome team effort.  God gave Dr. Jenkins ideas for skits to do as examples of what Val was teaching, gave Val words of truth to share and Christine wisdom to answer some of the questions that people had.  We were amazed when it was all over.  At the end there was a woman crying in the audience.  Cassie asked her what was wrong and she said she just realized that she wasn't loving correctly.  It was so sweet to know that God's message didn't fall on deaf ears. 

The week ended with a dinner with a few of the doctors and community health professionals.  There seemed to be an underlying theme every time we went to dinner with people from this group.  They were so thankful, but they kept telling us that they have never seen love like we had shown them this week.  Over and over we heard that.  All we can do it Praise the Lamb for the love he's filled us with that spills out to those we come in contact with, believers or not!  One of the doctors gave Val & Dr. Jenkins a scroll that says (in Chinese of course) "Love has no boarders". 

Thanks for all your prayers and support.  I'm home now but miss my team dearly- They called me Sunday morning and it was sooo good to hear from them.  Keep them in your prayers over the next 5 weeks- they're not finished yet!

Blessings to you All