100 Hats

Working with yarn is fun! This year, I have a goal of knitting 100 or more hats to give away by mid November. If someone asks for one in the meantime, they can have one.

So far, there are 40 finished hats to give away. I'm working with a chenille type yard for the 41st hat and it is difficult to work with. I might use the remaining chenille yarn to crochet scarves instead of for hats. There is plenty more yarn of other types in my stash.

Why am I doing this? 1. I enjoy knitting and making things. 2. I have lots of yarn available and it does no one any good just sitting there. 3. There are low income adults and children that will benefit. (Acts 9:36, Matt 25:36, 1 John 3:17-18 and many more)

It's good to think about how we can use the things we have and the things we enjoy doing to serve the Lord.

On Mission Wherever We Are

A while ago, a lady asked me if we had a newsletter about what we were doing. We did not and she was the first person I remember ever asking. We have been to many countries and taught English at an inland university in China for four years. We love to tell about our experiences.

Given that my husband and I are both ordained ministers who have served in churches, people who know this are curious about what we are doing now. Are we continuing to minister? If so, how and where? Do we intend to go back overseas again? We are not pastors of churches and, while we would love to go back overseas some day, today is not the day. In the meantime, we are living out our call at home. Much of what we do here, we might do on some mission fields. It has to do with the way you think, believe and live your life. Being a Christ follower is our identity. It is more than what we do, it is who we are.

This newsletter is a little bit about primarily my day to day life as a believer and follower of Christ. I love missions and I seek out both the people and the projects related to it. I'm not going to include everything in life so, if you have a question, you are welcome to ask. Many days aren't going to look a whole lot different than any other believer or caring individual.

Recently, I had fun buying several items on sale for something called Christmas in July at church. They are collecting toys, clothing and practical items for women and children at Harmony House, an abused women's shelter. The items collected will be given to them in December. It's not specifically a Christian group but many who help are Christians. So far, I've given them about 15 items. Pretty decent. Others have donated and the table of donations is filling up. Jesus said to remember the widows and the orphans in their distress. These are women and children on their own, poor and abused, needing someone to care. They are the kind of people who followed Jesus and the kind he had compassion on. Life's not fair.

There's another group called Well of Life that gives food and necessities to the poor that the church supports. They collect food and necessities, plus they need doubled plastic bags to give out the food in, especially to the homeless or those without cars who must walk or take the bus. I'm thrilled to be able to give them the plastic bags. It's a far better use than recycling them at Walmart. While I am happy to be a good steward, it isn't going to get me any stars in my crown. It's just a nice thing to do. Giving in all its forms, and helping the poor, is consistent with what Jesus taught.

There are so many good and worthwhile things to do. The question is, which ones do you choose? No one can even come close to doing everything. For the Christian, it is good to reflect on why we do what we do. Which scripture are we obeying when we make our choices?

Rest and Waiting On The Lord

Sometimes we need to rest and remember the Lord can handle things without us. He is God after all. It is wise to wait on the Lord and enjoy the blessings He has given us as we wait. It is after rest that we are not so easily wearied.

We are in a time of waiting on the Lord. It seems odd, given our culture, but not much will work out well if we rush forward before the right time.

Christ's Return Among The Post Christians and Vultures

Luke 17:37 The words of Jesus. "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."
Luke 17:20-37

This statement appears at the end of a section on the day(s) of the Son of Man. It will happen suddenly, without warning and all will see it. This is the answer to the question, "Where?"

It's a bit puzzling. What is meant by a dead body? Can a body be a group, or many groups (ocean size), of people? Can the dead be those who are not saved or who have rejected Christ? I think it could be.

Can the vultures be those who seek to destroy? Those false prophets who lie and deceive to keep people from seeing and seeking the truth? The devil is called a liar and the father of lies. Could it be?

We can certainly see that happening more and more over time, especially in those countries that have historically been predominantly Christian. Europe, right now, is predominantly post Christian. Look what is starting to happen. Groups who have openly stated their goal to destroy the countries of Europe have followers among those healthy young men massing to Europe. How many will it take to cause destruction? America is growing toward being post Christian and Canada is slightly ahead in it's quest to be post Christian. The issues about immigration being debated are the same. Will the vultures descend or have many already come in the form of leaders who deny the Lord and lack respect for, and question, the word of God, the Bible?

There are many countries in the world riddled by the vultures of war, poverty, disasters and oppression. So sad. Some are not post Christian, they simply do not believe much at all except superstitions and luck. They, too, are dead to the Christian faith.

What has been foretold by Jesus and in prophecy will come to pass, whether we think so or not. So what do believers need to do? The post Christians and those who have rejected Christ or do not believe the message, along with those who have no knowledge, will do nothing at all. A message like this is nonsense to them. "Just as it was in the days of Noah...." (They consider that story a fairy tale so why would the quote by Jesus mean anything to them?)

Believers and followers need to stand firm and not waver, as Noah stood firm and believed the Lord. He did what he was directed to do. So belief and action go together. Watch, pray, witness, serve, believe, study and follow the Lord faithfully no matter what others are choosing to do.

God bless you.

Foreigners Are Not Home Yet

We live in a foreign country, China, which has some distinctive cultural features and is in a period of rapid development. We say it is developing. There are many things about the lifestyle of the natives that are different than western and developed countries. They do things out of tradition that is normally born out of available resources and necessity in the past. One example would be that many people in China eat almost anything, things we do not eat like bugs and unusual animals (to us). It seems so disgusting and we wonder why they would eat that stuff and enjoy it. The logic behind it is simple. Some regions of China have known extreme poverty and starvation over the centuries so that survival meant eating whatever was around. If those times of hunger and poverty lasted a long time, over many years, a lot people would have developed a taste for the foods they had to eat. If donkey, dog and lizard are all you have to eat, you might conclude that you feel healthier when you eat them than when you have nothing to eat at all.

There are many things that are different here, things that we may think are not all that healthy or smart. But these are their ways and they are happy with them. They are not our ways and some of the things can be a bit jarring after a while even though we like the people and are comfortable here.

All of the foreigners among us understand that, while we are in China and love the country and the people here, we can, and will, never be Chinese. We are foreigners. We understand life differently, we have different habits and tastes and we behave differently.

As with all expats, foreigners in foreign lands, we band together with one another, having more in common with one another than with the Chinese people in our host country most of the time. Our home is not here and some day we will go back to our home. When we, as expats, get together, we talk about our common understandings and deal with the things that are different or jarring. We eat together, laugh together, share ideas, go places and encourage one another. We have holidays that our host country does not celebrate, so we celebrate the best we can together.

What we are experiencing is a model of what the church should be like. This world is not our home, we are just here for a while. We may be comfortable and like many things around us, but some will be uncomfortable or jarring. We are in no hurry to leave, but we know we will eventually go home, home where there are many others like us who understand and love us. We call that heaven. While we are here in this world, but not of this world, we should be supporting one another, encouraging one another and enjoying the company of one another. We do not have to be alike to do this. Our expat group has a 38 year age span and the 10 of us represent 8 different countries from 4 continents. Our common bond is our foreign status and the similarities of our homes.

Christians have much in common. First, this world is not our home, heaven is where we will go. Our common book is the Bible. Our common Lord and ruler is Jesus. We are Christians, foreigners in a foreign land.