Please rejoice with us this month:
Housing and Car—We are so grateful to the Father for His goodness in providing temporary housing and a car to use for the summer..…and sooner than we could have ever anticipated! What a blessing and relief this is, as we now have two things we can cross off our to do list for our transition back to America in June!
Baby McCurdy—Just over 18 weeks along now, Kristen, Baby McCurdy, and Dave continue to do well! Thank you for your continued pry’rs for us and our growing family! How amazing it is to know that the Father is carefully and wonderfully knitting Baby McCurdy together at this very moment! Kristen has a good level of energy and is enjoying staying active with marketing tasks, meeting with college students, attending Chinese class, etc. We are thankful for both her health and that of Baby McCurdy. Coming soon in the April edition of the McMemo….boy or girl?!! We’ll all find out soon enough!
Easter—Easter is upon us and we are excited to share the true significance of this holiday with those we meet! We rejoice this month as we anticipate and marvel at the sacrifice our Father made in giving His one and only Son so that we could have a relationship with Him and share in the gift of eternal life. We rejoice over J’s power in conquering death over 2000 years ago, and we continue to be amazed at the ways He shows Himself alive and active in our lives and around the world today!
Please remember us this coming month:
Kristen’s trip to America—Kristen (and Baby McCurdy) will be traveling to America March 21-April 5 (flying out Tuesday night your time) to be a bridesmaid in a good friend’s wedding. Please ask that Kristen (and the baby) would have a safe and comfortable journey, as a 13-hour plane ride and jet lag can be quite taxing on just about anyone, but especially someone “traveling for two.” Please also ask that Kristen would have the energy to enjoy and serve the friends and family she will see, but at the same time, wisdom to know when to rest and slow down. In addition to the joy of seeing familiar faces and places, this trip has recently taken on a new significance, as Kristen’s grandmother, Rose, has been very sick and weak over the past week. Only the Father could have known and planned for this special timing when Kristen was anticipating this trip almost a year ago. Please ask that Kristen would have both physical and emotional energy to serve especially her mom and grandmother as an instrument of His comfort and encouragement during this time. Lastly, please pr’y for Dave during Kristen’s two-week absence, asking that the Father would bless his time alone, our communication while Kristen is gone and our reunion when she returns.
Building Relationships—
Alfred: You may remember Alfred, a Chinese friend of Dave’s we have mentioned before who works at a local medical university. Alfred was recently engaged and will be married this Fall, so we were able to host him and his fiancée, Mary, for lunch this month. It was such a wonderful opportunity to encourage them in seeing the beauty of marriage, Who created it, and Who can speak to any and every aspect of it! Dave was able to give Alfred an English/Chinese copy of the “Good Book” and guide him through many important verses that speak to love and marriage. We also looked through our wedding photo album with them, as they were very excited and interested to know about Western wedding traditions. We were most happy to share some of the Important traditions we had as part of our wedding! J Please ask that Alfred and Mary would seek to know the One who knows and loves them even better than they know and love each other and that they would make a decision to serve Him individually and in their marriage.
Vegetable Girls: Kristen was able to reconnect with the Vegetable Girls after their Chinese New Year vacation. When she went to have lunch with them at their campus, one of them (Cherry--we like to think of her name as short for cherry tomato J) said that she was invited over the holiday to attend a government-registered Chinese chr’ch with a former business professor and his wife (both Americans). Cherry had never stepped foot in a chr’ch before, but she mentioned that she felt “very comfortable” and really enjoyed all the beautiful songs that people were singing. We have mentioned before how exciting and encouraging it has been to see the Father use other people like this professor in the lives of these girls to draw them to Himself. Please ask that the Father would use this experience in Cherry’s life to help her understand the true and abiding comfort that comes only from being known intimately and personally by her Maker.
Dave’s Kung Fu Teacher: Chad is new to the McMemo, but not new in our lives. He has been Dave’s Kung Fu teacher ever since we arrived and Dave started taking classes. Chad has just married and will be moving with his wife to Japan for her to teach at an international school there. Although Chad has taught classes to many like-minded people, he has not really ever expressed an interest in spt’l things….until just recently. We were able to have dinner with Chad several weeks ago, and during this time we talked about the grace and truth we have been given. His eyes watered as he spoke of the difference he has seen over the past few years in working with Family members, and how our lives are so distinct. He also spoke of his desire to live likewise, and mentioned going to chr’ch once in Japan. Thankfully, we were able to discuss the power of J as the source of the difference and distinction, as well as ensure that Chad received a copy of the “Good Book” before his departure. Please ask that Chad would seek the forgiveness, inner healing, and life change that only J can bring him.
JJust for Fun!J
One afternoon recently, Kristen rode her bike to Dave’s office to have lunch with him. This is not an unusual occurrence, but this particular day was quite memorable. One of Dave’s colleagues, who is the Director of Marketing with whom Kristen works, brought a small box of ‘traditional’ Chinese treats which were sent to him by a friend of his in America. The Americans around the table knew immediately what these special little treats were. After all, when Americans eat Chinese food in America, what do they always serve afterwards? Bingo! Fortune cookies! However, our Chinese friends around the table were a bit confused. Looking at the odd-shaped cookie wrapped in plastic, they were all asking, “zhe shi shen ma?” (Translation: “What is this?”). They had NEVER seen or heard of fortune cookies before. It was quite funny to see them introduced to this “traditional” Chinese cookie for the first time! So now you can all impress your friends and family with yet another interesting fact from the East: Fortune cookies (and eggrolls too!) are seldom, if ever, seen in China. They are simply foods adapted to fit American tastebuds, and our guess is the “traditional” Chinese classification just stuck! We confess….there are times that we really do wish fortune cookies and eggrolls existed as an option at a Chinese restaurant here!
As always, please let us know if there is anything we can be lifting up on your behalf, and we look forward to updating you again next month. **The attached pictures are of us at the annual Chinese Language Training Center Variety Show. This show is put on by the Chinese teachers and is an opportunity for us foreigners to show off our Chinese language talent! Our Chinese teacher asked us if we would perform a special song as part of the show, so….one picture is of us performing our duet of the famous Chinese love song called “Yue Liang Dai Biao Wode Xin.” Translation: The Moon Represents My Heart. The other picture is of us and our Chinese teacher, Belinda.**
In His Love,
Dave and Kristen
Ps. 63:1-5
Housing and Car—We are so grateful to the Father for His goodness in providing temporary housing and a car to use for the summer..…and sooner than we could have ever anticipated! What a blessing and relief this is, as we now have two things we can cross off our to do list for our transition back to America in June!
Baby McCurdy—Just over 18 weeks along now, Kristen, Baby McCurdy, and Dave continue to do well! Thank you for your continued pry’rs for us and our growing family! How amazing it is to know that the Father is carefully and wonderfully knitting Baby McCurdy together at this very moment! Kristen has a good level of energy and is enjoying staying active with marketing tasks, meeting with college students, attending Chinese class, etc. We are thankful for both her health and that of Baby McCurdy. Coming soon in the April edition of the McMemo….boy or girl?!! We’ll all find out soon enough!
Easter—Easter is upon us and we are excited to share the true significance of this holiday with those we meet! We rejoice this month as we anticipate and marvel at the sacrifice our Father made in giving His one and only Son so that we could have a relationship with Him and share in the gift of eternal life. We rejoice over J’s power in conquering death over 2000 years ago, and we continue to be amazed at the ways He shows Himself alive and active in our lives and around the world today!
Please remember us this coming month:
Kristen’s trip to America—Kristen (and Baby McCurdy) will be traveling to America March 21-April 5 (flying out Tuesday night your time) to be a bridesmaid in a good friend’s wedding. Please ask that Kristen (and the baby) would have a safe and comfortable journey, as a 13-hour plane ride and jet lag can be quite taxing on just about anyone, but especially someone “traveling for two.” Please also ask that Kristen would have the energy to enjoy and serve the friends and family she will see, but at the same time, wisdom to know when to rest and slow down. In addition to the joy of seeing familiar faces and places, this trip has recently taken on a new significance, as Kristen’s grandmother, Rose, has been very sick and weak over the past week. Only the Father could have known and planned for this special timing when Kristen was anticipating this trip almost a year ago. Please ask that Kristen would have both physical and emotional energy to serve especially her mom and grandmother as an instrument of His comfort and encouragement during this time. Lastly, please pr’y for Dave during Kristen’s two-week absence, asking that the Father would bless his time alone, our communication while Kristen is gone and our reunion when she returns.
Building Relationships—
Alfred: You may remember Alfred, a Chinese friend of Dave’s we have mentioned before who works at a local medical university. Alfred was recently engaged and will be married this Fall, so we were able to host him and his fiancée, Mary, for lunch this month. It was such a wonderful opportunity to encourage them in seeing the beauty of marriage, Who created it, and Who can speak to any and every aspect of it! Dave was able to give Alfred an English/Chinese copy of the “Good Book” and guide him through many important verses that speak to love and marriage. We also looked through our wedding photo album with them, as they were very excited and interested to know about Western wedding traditions. We were most happy to share some of the Important traditions we had as part of our wedding! J Please ask that Alfred and Mary would seek to know the One who knows and loves them even better than they know and love each other and that they would make a decision to serve Him individually and in their marriage.
Vegetable Girls: Kristen was able to reconnect with the Vegetable Girls after their Chinese New Year vacation. When she went to have lunch with them at their campus, one of them (Cherry--we like to think of her name as short for cherry tomato J) said that she was invited over the holiday to attend a government-registered Chinese chr’ch with a former business professor and his wife (both Americans). Cherry had never stepped foot in a chr’ch before, but she mentioned that she felt “very comfortable” and really enjoyed all the beautiful songs that people were singing. We have mentioned before how exciting and encouraging it has been to see the Father use other people like this professor in the lives of these girls to draw them to Himself. Please ask that the Father would use this experience in Cherry’s life to help her understand the true and abiding comfort that comes only from being known intimately and personally by her Maker.
Dave’s Kung Fu Teacher: Chad is new to the McMemo, but not new in our lives. He has been Dave’s Kung Fu teacher ever since we arrived and Dave started taking classes. Chad has just married and will be moving with his wife to Japan for her to teach at an international school there. Although Chad has taught classes to many like-minded people, he has not really ever expressed an interest in spt’l things….until just recently. We were able to have dinner with Chad several weeks ago, and during this time we talked about the grace and truth we have been given. His eyes watered as he spoke of the difference he has seen over the past few years in working with Family members, and how our lives are so distinct. He also spoke of his desire to live likewise, and mentioned going to chr’ch once in Japan. Thankfully, we were able to discuss the power of J as the source of the difference and distinction, as well as ensure that Chad received a copy of the “Good Book” before his departure. Please ask that Chad would seek the forgiveness, inner healing, and life change that only J can bring him.
JJust for Fun!J
One afternoon recently, Kristen rode her bike to Dave’s office to have lunch with him. This is not an unusual occurrence, but this particular day was quite memorable. One of Dave’s colleagues, who is the Director of Marketing with whom Kristen works, brought a small box of ‘traditional’ Chinese treats which were sent to him by a friend of his in America. The Americans around the table knew immediately what these special little treats were. After all, when Americans eat Chinese food in America, what do they always serve afterwards? Bingo! Fortune cookies! However, our Chinese friends around the table were a bit confused. Looking at the odd-shaped cookie wrapped in plastic, they were all asking, “zhe shi shen ma?” (Translation: “What is this?”). They had NEVER seen or heard of fortune cookies before. It was quite funny to see them introduced to this “traditional” Chinese cookie for the first time! So now you can all impress your friends and family with yet another interesting fact from the East: Fortune cookies (and eggrolls too!) are seldom, if ever, seen in China. They are simply foods adapted to fit American tastebuds, and our guess is the “traditional” Chinese classification just stuck! We confess….there are times that we really do wish fortune cookies and eggrolls existed as an option at a Chinese restaurant here!
As always, please let us know if there is anything we can be lifting up on your behalf, and we look forward to updating you again next month. **The attached pictures are of us at the annual Chinese Language Training Center Variety Show. This show is put on by the Chinese teachers and is an opportunity for us foreigners to show off our Chinese language talent! Our Chinese teacher asked us if we would perform a special song as part of the show, so….one picture is of us performing our duet of the famous Chinese love song called “Yue Liang Dai Biao Wode Xin.” Translation: The Moon Represents My Heart. The other picture is of us and our Chinese teacher, Belinda.**
In His Love,
Dave and Kristen
Ps. 63:1-5
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