Seasons Greetings from China

It has been a couple of weeks since our last update, so here's the latest...

Family
Susan has been struggling with Bronchitis on and off for about three weeks. She has been to a doctor, taken medicine, tried to get some rest, etc, but the healing has just been slow. I am sure that the pollution and cold weather are not helping. We ask for your prayers that Susan will soon experience a full recovery. Nash is doing well. He has grown so much and is slowly beginning to speak more and more words in Chinese and English. It is really fun to watch him grow and to see his personality develop. Please continue to pray for us as we pray about our lives beyond this year. We are pleading for God's wisdom and direction for our family following our one-year missions internship here in Beijing and are confident that He will reveal it to us in time. This Sunday, we were blessed with a suitcase full of gifts and much needed items from the U.S. We are so thankful for the love and generosity of our friends and family.

Monday Nights
Our Monday night group continues to go really well. Each week we have ten to twelve guests in our home. We have a few Christians who come because they want to help us lead the group and translate deeper discussion points in Chinese, but the majority of the participants come because they are interested in Christianity and enjoy the opportunity to practice their English. We love it when the group takes off on a question or thought in Chinese. Although we might not understand, we know that the message is more powerful for the listener when heard in a native tongue.

Two weeks ago we had some of the best discussion thus far. One of the ladies asked, "If Jesus lived so many years ago, how can we hear the message of God today?" It was a great opportunity to point back to the Word of God and to highlight the responsibility of every believer in Jesus to share the Gospel with his or her friends and neighbors! Also, we continue to explore the idea of grace and forgiveness verses revenge and punishment. These kinds of discussions are such a blessing and cause us to continually rely on the message of Scripture for truth and understanding. We are sharpened each week as we share with our friends.

Lets Start Talking
Paul Reding (from Tennessee) arrived along with some of our best friends in the world, John, Brandy, and Zane Sloan from Lewisville. They were our next door neighbors for a while and are members at our sending congregation, Garden Ridge Church of Christ. We are thrilled that they are here. They signed up to read with about 30 readers on Sunday and are hoping to add even more in the next two weeks. However many individuals they connect with, we know for certain that they will be sharing the love of Jesus and planting seeds! Please pray for this team. They will be here until January 3rd and are celebrating Christmas with us instead of their families this year. We are grateful for this sacrifice.

Christmas Time in the City
Last Sunday the Wangjing Church hosted its annual Christmas Service and Party. It was a wonderful day in which over 100 individuals heard the Gospel message that is often overlooked in China's minimal acknowledgement of Christmas. There was also great food, fellowship, and fun. There were many visitors (including our Chinese Teacher, Bai Laoshi) and it is our prayer that many of them will return and come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Beijing is busy and bustling with the commercialism of Christmas. While many of the stores decorate with Christmas trees, lights, etc and we hear holiday tunes in Chinese everywhere we go, we pray that Jesus will be revealed and glorified in the midst of a season that so often exploits Him.

This Monday night we hosted our group as usual, but took a break from the games to share pizza, cookies, and tea. We played Uno for two hours and had a great night enjoying the company of one another.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

With love from Beijing,
John, Susan, and Nash Cooper