Early Thanksgiving!

It has been a couple of weeks since our last update, so we thought we would take a moment to catch you up with has been going on with us.

Nash Walking
First of all, Nash is now 15 months and he is up and running! Sometimes he forgets that he is still new to walking and takes a tumble. We went to the hospital twice last week because he fell on his face on two different occasions, busting his lip and chipping his two upper-front teeth. Both times we were sent away as overreacting, first-time parents, but a baby with a mouth full of blood is a scary thing! This week has been much better and Nash has avoided additional face-plants.

Not only is Nash walking, he is learning to say a few new words in Chinese and in English, which is a great deal of fun for us. We just wish he would use his words more often than the mini-fits that he has started to throw when he doesn’t get his way or when he is not receiving as much attention as he would like (which is almost never in China). Also, Nash’s first animal sound that he likes to repeat is the elephant. Susan taught him well and he will repeat it almost anytime we make the noise. If you ever wondered what an Elephant sounds like, just ask Susan or Nash!

English Corners
Our English Corners have had mixed results. Two times in the past month they have gone well. One of those times only a few people talked with us, but we had really good conversations and invited some people to join us for a movie in English… Faith Like Potatoes. (By the way we had a small crowd at the movie, but the ones who came seemed to enjoy it and it provoked further discussion about the nature of God.

Two other occasions, English Corner was not as successful. Once we had to cancel because the winds from West Texas arrived in Beijing and almost blew us away. Another time, last Friday night, was the second time Nash fell and hit his face. He was bleeding so bad that we decided to take him to a local Western hospital. As you can imagine that cut our night short. Thankfully, Nash is ok. He just has a few broken teeth to show off!

Monday Nights
Our Monday night group has been going really well and our apartment has been full the last couple of weeks. Each week it seems like someone new comes to practice his or her English with us and to learn more about Jesus. We are studying the Gospel of John and have great discussion each week. Last Monday, Iris stayed and asked some great questions about how one could tell if they were following God’s will or just their own standards. We were able to pray with her before she left and thank God for her seeking spirit! Please join us in praying for her.

Lavender
Ayi (Eye-ee) is a term that literally means Aunt, but is also used to describe someone who we would call a Nanny. She comes Monday through Friday for three hours a day to watch Nash and do some light housecleaning while we are in class (we are getting really spoiled and are humbled by her service). Anyway, we have been praying that we would have an opportunity to minister to our Ayi. About two weeks ago, Susan received a text from her daughter, Lavender, asking if we would be willing to practice English with her. Susan has now met with her twice and is using Let’s Start Talking’s Luke workbook. Please pray that seeds will be planted and that we can continue to look for was to minister to Ayi and her family.

Language School
Language school has proved to be one of our biggest challenges since we arrived. Once we even tried to get the school to put the Americans (Katherine Gould, Susan and I) in a separate class that would take a slower approach. The school said they could not accommodate us, so we have just had to buckle down to try to keep up with the Korean students, who have a much better grasp of reading and writing characters. God has really given us a sense of peace about the language, though. We are doing our best and are not going to keep stressing about how we compare to other students.

Early Thanksgiving
This Monday we went at Gary and Danita Jackson’s house for our Team Meeting. Since they are going to be in the U.S. during Thanksgiving, Danita prepared a full Thanksgiving dinner including pumpkin pie! The food was so wonderful and we got to experience a bit of home as we ate traditional American dishes together. We are so thankful for the Jacksons’ gift of hospitality and getting to share this meal with our team here!

Well that is about all for now. Watch for our Newsletter in the coming weeks. We are working on getting it put together. We send you our love.

In Him,
John, Susan, and Nash Cooper