Mid-Western China Trip |
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Another group recently arrived from Georgia and North Carolina to assist us in Border Crossings and Materials delivery in Western Province of Sichuan, China. After doing some border crossings, English Corners, and ministry in Hong Kong, we packed up and headed out for a city called Chengdu.
It was raining and cloudy on the train ride to Chengdu, but the country-side is quite beautiful.
In the pictures below, several of us are testing the “train food”; and the Chinese police, seemingly always waiting to greet us at the next station. The Sichuan Province is home to the rare Giant Panda Bears. The world’s largest Panda Bear research center is located right in Chengdu and a visit to this city would not be complete without a stop here. Pastor Gary Blazer (in our group from NC) had quite an honor being allowed to pet one of the Giant Pandas. He is also quite an accomplished bear hunter from the back woods of North Carolina (but we didn’t tell the Chinese that). Naiah is holding a “Red Panda”, a smaller Panda that looks like a cross between a raccoon and a fox. The group went to a unique outside “English Corner” where they were swarmed by Chinese eager to practice their English. Here in Chengdu there are not as many Westerners as some Coastal cities so here they are much more of a novelty. We always try to steer the conversations to God and often are able to lead someone to salvation. We then went to another city just to the North, which was only recently opened to Westerners. It’s a city of 2 million Chinese but less than a hundred Westerners and less than 20 of those are “Missionaries”. We’ve made several deliveries to a Brother there and his beautiful young family (one of his co-workers is on the right). They are here to “study Chinese” in the University and they work with the Chinese believers in their “spare time”. As a large group of Westerners (rare for this city) we drew quite the crowd of ‘’watchers” wherever we went. On our last day in Chengdu, we met on a Sunday morning with a number of the other Missionaries in the city in one of their homes. We gave Pastor Gary the honor of preaching to them all and he did a fantastic job of encouraging them with a strong “Faith” message of hope and Victory. They all were commenting afterwards of how blessed they were after his message. Our group laid hands on and prayed for all the other Missionaries there. Upon returning to Hong Kong we did some more border crossings and some English Corners, sharing the Gospel with the Chinese. In the picture below, Steve is standing to the left of the renowned Dennis Balcombe himself. As busy as he is, he always has time to stop and talk for a few minutes and pose for a group photo. (In the picture on the right, our whole group visits Hong Kong on a free day) God has used few people in China as he has used Dennis Balcombe. A native of California, he now reads, writes, and speaks fluently both Mandarin and Cantonese. He was one of the first Westerners to go into China back in the late 70’s when China opened its doors to outsiders. He’s led countless Chinese to the Lord and started as many house churches. And in Hong Kong, the Fischer Family (a famous, Swedish ship in the background). Thank you partners for all you do! We love and appreciate you for enabling us to serve the Chinese!!! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are here as an extension of you!!!
And all from Fischer Family Ministries |
