2010!

真冷 zhēn lěng
It has been really cold the past few weeks in Beijing. Many days the highs have been in the mid- to upper-teens and the lows have dipped into negative temps. We would say that the winds reminiscent of the West Texas variety only make it feel colder, but at a certain point it is difficult to discriminate between really cold and really really cold! To further the point, though, snow that fell over a week ago remains on the ground. However, it is certainly not as pretty after a week of dirt and foot and other traffic. Growing up in Texas, the few times we were fortunate enough to see the white stuff, it didn't stick around long. How could it with temperatures that often rose from the upper 20's on the day of a snowfall to the mid fifties the following day? At any rate, we are thankful for our warm apartment and thermal underwear!

Lets Start Talking Team
Just over a week ago the most recent Let's Start Talking Team returned from their two-week mission trip to Beijing. John, Brandy, and Zane Sloan and Paul Reding were such a blessing to work with. They read the Gospel with over 35 individuals and made several new contacts for us to follow up with. The Sloans are some of our best friends and came from our sending congregation, Garden RIdge Church of Christ, so were especially thrilled to see them. Getting to know Paul was also a tremendous blessing. This team came during the Christmas and New Year holidays and we are thankful for their service. if you are interested in coming to Beijing for two weeks or longer to share the Gospel by helping the Chinese to practice English, then check out www.lst.org.

Susan's Studies
Susan has stayed busy recently with several individual studies and one group study with women she has met. For the past few weeks on Sunday afternoons, Susan has been meeting with Jessie, who Rebecca Thompson (a Garden RIdge member) has been studying online with though the World English Institute. Small world, huh. She also started meting with Zhang Xui Jie, who is one of the young ladies who works in our building as an elevator attendant. We found out that she was practicing English on her own, so God opened a door. Last week Susan also started studying with our Chinese teacher, Bai Laoshi. She has been to two Christmas parties with the church, has met other Christians, and even owns five Bibles that she might read on a rainy day, but this is the first time she has ever studied the Bible with anyone!

Lastly, Susan has been continuing the Wednesday morning study with a group of women that her and Katherine have been involved in for several months. Last week the ladies studied Luke 5:27-32 and 6:46-49 and they were very interested in the stories of Jesus associating with sinners and of the wise and foolish builders. The women seem to really enjoy the studies and spending time with Susan and Kat.

Monday Nights
Our Monday night studies continue to go really well. We average 10-12 in attendance and we have a lot of in depth conversations about the Gospel of John. In addition to reading the text in English, we have believers from the Church who read it and discuss it in Chinese, so that the points aren't lost in translation. We also pray with our group each week and are excited to see how God is revealing Himself to our seeking friends. This week our text was the death and resurrection of Lazarus. It was one of the best groups we have had in some time, though the text was one of the most challenging to date.

Fresh Start
Beginning January 4th, Susan and I started over in our language studies. We decided that it was important to repeat the first class because we realize we missed a bunch and we want to grasp the basics more fully. Already, we are feeling more confident and are picking up things that will really help us!

2010
We rang in the New Year by watching a celebration on Chinese television. A countdown is a countdown, right. The cool things is we understood it... yes, I know numbers are some of the easiest and most basic things we learned, but it was still cool to us. We asked you a few weeks ago to be praying for us as we prepared to make a decision about what we will do at the end of our one-year missions internship. Thanks so much for praying! We want to let you know that after much prayer and waiting, we have decided to return to the U.S. sometime in July. We have rediscovered our passion for working with teens and their families in the past few months and plan to pursue an opportunity to serve together again in youth ministry. We ask for you to continue praying as we seek to discover the when's and where's of God's leading.

in His love,
John, Susan, and Nash Cooper