Please rejoice with us this month:
His Faithfulness—We can’t believe it has been two years already!! We rejoice over the Father’s faithfulness in taking care of us, teaching us, and growing us in such wonderful ways during our season in China. We thank Him for the people with whom we have built relationships and for the many precious things we have learned from this amazing culture.
“Good Book” Study—This is the group of four Chinese girls that Kristen meets with each Monday afternoon to study the Good Book. Kristen and the girls have learned so much from each other during these special times together. A recent highlight was a few weeks ago when Jean (the newest member of the group and the Family) pry’ed aloud for the first time. Although Kristen didn’t understand all of what Jean was saying (she was speaking in Chinese), her precious voice was no doubt a sweet sound to our Father’s ears! During their last meeting this Monday (5/28), Kristen will give each of the girls a Good Book and ask them to pr’y about who they might share the Message with and pass the Book along to. This is a bold challenge in this particular culture, but we trust that it is one that the Father will bless and use to multiply His flock! Also, Kristen is thankful to have found another team member to take over and facilitate this group in the Fall!
The McCurdy Three—Kristen and Little Miss McCurdy are in the beginning of their third trimester and both continue to progress very well (see attached picture of all “three” of us)! We are thankful to have all been healthy (especially Dave…so that he can help Kristen climb the five flights of stairs up to our apartment each day!) Additionally, we recently celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary (5/17) and are immeasurably grateful for the gift of marriage and each other. One of our dear friends recently pointed out, “You have spent half of your marriage in China!” What an amazing adventure it has been to share together.
Please remember us this coming month:
Goodbyes and Packing—On Monday, June 4 (7:30 a.m. your time), we will board a plane back to America, leaving behind a country and people that are very dear to our hearts. Please ask that we would have healthy “last time” visits with our teammates (who have grown to be like family to us) and our Chinese friends—specifically Lulita and Atom, Alfred and Mary, Luke, Wendy, the Vegetable Girls, Anna (our helper), and Belinda (our Chinese teacher). We are also in the throws of packing, selling, sorting, etc. Please ask that we would not be stressed out, but enjoy each moment and memory we have.
Transition Back to America—Along with leaving China comes transitioning back into our “home” culture which will most likely feel much different (and even strange at times!) than what we have come to know living here these past two years. Please ask that we would work together to support each other during this transition, that our family and friends would have patience and understanding as we adjust, and that we would show the same toward them and others we come in contact with.
Heightened Security—In the last couple of months there has been a dramatically escalated number of reports of foreigners being instructed to leave China. The government is beginning to take severe action against Chrstnty here, especially where foreigners are concerned. There are various reasons for these actions, but overall, we would ask you to pr’y that the plans of the evil one would be thwarted and that the Father’s love would penetrate deep into the hearts of government officials—that they might turn to Him and be a part of His plan for this nation’s sprt’l healing and restoration.
University English Corner: Each Sunday evening we attend what is called an English Corner at a local university. This particular one (there are many throughout the city!) is a student-led club offered on campus to those who are interested in improving their English by conversing with native English speakers (that’s us!). The past two weeks, the club chose the topics of “Wedding Traditions” and “Mothers” to discuss. On the surface, these topics don’t seem to lend themselves to much “deep” discussion, but you would be surprised by all the things we have been able to share! For the wedding topic we brought a few wedding pictures and our wedding program as “props.” One girl asked Kristen “What is the symbolism of wearing a white dress?” Another girl asked “Why did you get married in a ch’rch?” On the topic of mothers, we talked at one point about things we have learned from our moms and what we would want to teach our own children. One girl said, “I want to teach my children to be optimistic and live a good life.” The girl sitting next to her began sharing about her struggle with not being able to “will” herself to have a good life. She felt like there had come a point where “a good life” was more than she could create or “work up.” Dave was able to share with her about the One from whom abundant life is given. At another point, students began sharing stories about the sacrifices their moms had made for them…some shared of memories they had of when they were young, and others shared of the huge financial sacrifice their parents were making just so their son/daughter could go to college. One girl shared an interesting story she had heard of a mother who gave her life in order to save her daughter. From that, we took the opportunity to talk about the greatest example of such love through our Elder Brother! It seemed like the more we listened, the more each story became part of a much bigger One. Please ask that these students would know and respond to the Father’s passionate pursuit of them and that our team would continue to have an open door from university officials to go and help each week. Click on the link below or copy and paste into your web browser to see a few pictures of a typical English Corner.
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2BZNmLds1YsKgJust for Fun!
At the same English Corner mentioned above, one particular day we had a special time of just meeting with the club’s student leaders. We didn’t really know what the full agenda would look like, but we did know that, at some point, they wanted us to teach them a well-known American song and also a fun dance. Our team prepared “Lean on Me” as the song and “The Chicken Dance” as the fun dance. Immediately after we sang “Lean on Me,” the leaders made the executive decision right then and there to make this their club’s theme song! As if that wasn’t enough, once we taught them the Chicken Dance, they couldn’t get enough of it! Note: If you’ve never seen the Chicken Dance, you can basically just picture everyone acting like a chicken to the sound of music. We actually had to ask them to move on in the program because we were so physically tired of dancing! Did I mention that these are college students?! Then the students wanted to teach us “The Rabbit Dance” (which we quickly figured out is known in America as “The Bunny Hop”). Our team felt pretty confident at first, but once the music started, it sounded totally different than what we were used to! We had a bit of a time keeping up, but we had a blast! Feel free to click on the link below or copy and paste into your web browser to view a few pictures that a teammate took of our exciting evening!
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=43291177857259379/l=261275716/g=58345669/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALBAs 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. Please see the above invitation for details about our open house events this summer in Waco, Austin, and Dallas! We would love to connect with you, personally thank you, and share about our experiences over the last two years!
In His Love,
Dave and Kristen
Ps. 63:1-5
