Two Goals

We recently heard some friends share about how their passion for church planting among Muslims in China had been greatly stoked, and we left feeling fortified by the simplicity and doability and WORTHINESS of this work and these two simple ways to bless the work here.

Please pray that the Lord would strengthen us after these two, simple, everyday needed things... 

(and strengthen you too!)

1.  Praying Much... strong, fervent, Word-saturated prayers.  

When we pray the Word, it will more easily be on the tips of our tongues...

2.  Speaking Much of Christ....  sharing God's grace and work in our lives and looking for ways, open doors to boldly, persuasively proclaim Christ to friends here.  

our battle

We’ve known for a while that our Uyghur student friends are all pretty devoted to an Imam (a Muslim pastor-type) here in town.  But just recently, we’ve learned more about this guy.  

He’s a younger guy from the Middle East who is teaching Arabic at the university where our friends are all studying English (and some of them, Arabic as well.)  His wife and new baby are here with him and are quite housebound as the wife speaks only Arabic, no Chinese or English.  This teacher is leading an underground mosque, discipling his young followers towards serious Islam, and some are even being seduced with ideas of Muslim supremacy, including violence.  

And... our battle is not against this guy.  It is against “the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  (Eph 6:12)  

Would you put on the armor of God and fight with us in prayer against these enemies of these Gospel-  Islam, Deceit, Pride, Fear of Man?  Pray that he and his wife and child would encounter Christ just like Saul of Tarsus did.  Pray that there would be a mass turning to Christ among the Muslim students in this mosque, so many of whom have also heard the Gospel and have close Christian friends in their lives now.  May the Lord bring his kingdom, open their eyes and ears and hearts to Him!

And... tomorrow my dear friend M is coming over and I have two big points I want to bring up with her...  would you please ask for boldness for me and an open, soft, hearing heart for her?  She’s returning to her hometown for the summer in just two more weeks and I really yearn that she have some “pebbles in her shoe” to have to grapple in this season home.  I want her to have to think critically about Islam, about the “answers” it offers her and the dead-end it brings her to.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would work in her and draw her and many with her to salvation in Christ!


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*Uyghurs are ripe and ready to hear teaching on why and how they can be more serious Muslims because their culture tells them that to be Uyghur is to be Muslim.  Their government tells them there is no god... (although supposedly they are allowed to be Muslim, though this is for sure not always the case.)  As a whole, the 11-12  million Uyghurs are thought to be at least 97% Muslim.

Studying the True and Living Word

While Uyghur study has slowed to a near stop for me in recent months, my husband has advanced well and is now studying the Word with his language tutors.  Obviously, this is good studying for him b/c it's exactly the information he so yearns to communicate with Uyghurs... and simply in the studying, his tutor is being exposed to the Word of God.

But Jesus said that the soil of hearts matters.  Please ask that N (the cool guy that lived with us for Feb., who is now my husband's tutor) would have a receptive heart to these Living Seeds of God's Word that he is carefully reading, discussing, teaching to my husband.  Ask that his heart would be teachable to the Word of God and that his eyes would be opened to the self-evident truth of the Bible...  that by reading it he would see that this book is Truly God's Word!

Busy Summer

In just a few days some summer travelers will arrive that we have invited from our company in the states.   Woudl you please pray that these guys would serve here humbly this summer and that Christ would shine radically, radiantly in their lives?

Most of their time, they will spend with just a few local Uyghur friends.  Ask for grace and peace and patience for them as they adjust to life and different ways of doing things here.  And ask for protection for them and for humility and appropriate boldness to proclaim Christ with the local friends we have chosen for them as guides.

He's Coming!

We got the call today... Max has decided to accept the job with this local, believer-run company that is just getting started.  He's moving from the capital in less than a month.... a few days after he graduates from university in Beijing.

This is really exciting news.  Max will be working with 2 expat Christians and a local majority brother (ethnic Han) so he'll be surrounded by and well supported by Christ-lovers in this new chapter of life for him.  Please continue to pray that the Lord would open Max's heart to him.

We can't help but rejoice to think that God has chosen Max for this job... and we are so eager to see him come to Christ in this season!  Oh that Max's work time here would include his salvation and a rich season of discipleship so that whenever he does move on to different work, he will go out as an ambassador of Christ!   As far as we know, Max's entire extended family is Muslim.  Would that they see Max come to salvation and all join him too in trusting and treasuring Christ!