Day 566 He is Risen!

I now have over 10 blogs in the can, and I hope to soon catch up.

Since I returned from Florida in February, I have had the China blues, serious laptop issues, internet issues, and the government held political meetings for two and a half weeks, which shut down VPNs entirely- the Great Firewall of China was higher and stricter than ever.  There is a whole blog dedicated to that topic alone, as it just about sent me over the edge of sanity.  

The good news is spring has finally sprung in the 'jing...this weekend was in the low 70's, with gorgeous blue skies.  That, in itself, improves my mood and disposition immensely.  I have midterms this week, then we are off for a three day weekend for "Tomb Sweeping Day" this coming Monday.  I booked a flight to Hong Kong, and am taking myself to the beach alone for a few days.  This old broad needs to put her face to the sun, and I hope to pour though my photos and do some blogging while I am there. I need to reflect over what all has been going on with me since I returned from my February holiday. Blogging is my therapy, and with computer crashes and internet/VPN issues, even that outlet was not available to me much in this last month.  While I do have friends here, for social support and entertainment, it is not the same as 'home' and those who know me best.  I tend to keep my private thoughts, my private life...well, private.  With only a few here have I shared bits and pieces.  It has been a rough ride as of late, and I need to make peace with myself. Slowly, I am beginning to get there.

Peace has come, in part, because I am working out at the gym faithfully again. I also am attending church faithfully once again.  I fall down, time and again, and He is always there- no matter where I am in the world- waiting with open arms to pick me up.  Oh, how my heavenly Father loves me. I need to take a lesson from Him and love myself as he does. I am masterful at guilt and shame, anxiety and angst, and in the last month I have teetered on the edge of depression, beyond the seasonal affective type of depression.  I cannot afford to sink so low....China can try you, chew you up, and spit you out, even on the best of days.  The struggle was real, y'all.  

But today?  

HE IS RISEN!!!! HE IS RISEN, INDEED!!! THANKS BE TO GOD!!!

My heart was filled with pure love and joy today, and it felt So. Very. Good.  

I spoke to our headmaster about taking a group of students to a Christian Church for Easter Sunday. At the beginning of the month, two other teachers and myself took the Beijing Explorer's Club to a Muslim Mosque and to a Korean neighborhood and restaurant for a day of cultural activities.  (Blog is coming on that one, too).  While China historically is a Buddhist country, it is predominately agnostic.  Religion has dropped off the radar with these kid's grandparent's generation, it seems. They were so curious and full of questions at the Mosque that we thought it would be a great experience for them to visit a Christian church, particularly on the holiest of Christian holidays.

...and then we were gently reminded that we live in a communist country. There are Christian churches here, a few, but most of them are state registered, with sermons which must be approved by the government.  In addition, most of the churches require that you show your passport as you enter. The church I attended does not, however, and I have never had an inkling that the government is in control there.  

Haidian Christian Church is huge....six services every Sunday, over 2000 in attendance at each service. It is on the NW side of Beijing, near Peking University.  It is still over an hour's train ride and two exchanges away.  However, walking in the sanctuary, even though I am surrounded by Chinese faces, it feel close to HOME.  The 11:30am service is in English, and they have a band and worship praise team and choir.  I can close my eyes, and imagine being back at Mt. Zion Wesleyan Church, in New Castle, Indiana.  It moves me to tears.

So, while our attempt to taking the Beijing Explorer's Club was quashed, the headmaster told me that if students wanted to meet me at church for a visit, they were free to do so if they chose.  It just could not be a school sanctioned or sponsored field trip- even if it was for educational purposes.  I then invited the headmaster to join me on Easter Sunday, and she respectfully declined ;)

I gave it a few days pondering and prayer, and felt moved to extend an invitation to my small group of seniors.  I have taught this one particular group of kids for two years now, and they know me quite well.  We have had many honest discussions about family, cultural differences, religion, traditions, parenting and such.  They are awesome kids. Three of the seven plan to major in psychology at US universities, the others are all attending US universities (and one is going to London) this fall to pursue other majors.  We are a close group, and I wanted to share the Easter story and tradition with them.  I sent out a we chat message that said, "If you are curious, meet me on the subway platform at 10am to visit my church- Easter eggs and lunch included."  We have midterm exams beginning tomorrow (in fact their psyc midterm is the first two periods tomorrow morning), so I was surprised that three of them showed up.  We gave hugs all around and hopped on the next train; it was going to be a good day!

They were in awe of the mere size of the building,
and the giant cross.  They couldn't believe people
were waiting IN LINE thirty minutes before the
service began.  It's like that every Sunday, people.
The Holy Spirit is alive and well in this church!

As we sipped our coffees in the glorious sunshine,
the Chinese babies passed out eggs to everyone.
Volunteers in the church hand painted thousands
of Easter eggs in the last few weeks.  

The girls were so excited to receive their first
Easter egg.  They were beautifully painted
with Chinese characters which said things like
"Love One Another" and "He is Risen" and "God is Love"

The children were adorable in their headbands which had a
pink feather halo and shiny pink puffy wings- so China :)

The eggs were beautiful, but there was no candy!
I then told the girls the stories of our hiding 450
Easter eggs in our woods for the five kids to all
find. They were filled with candy and money,
and it was a free for all!  Those were happy family
times.  The grandparents would come and watch,
and then Mamaw especially loved to help the kids open
their eggs and count the money to see who got the
most! Afterwards, we had a big family dinner together.
Easter holds special significance for me, for many
many reasons, but for today, I told these girls
that they were to be my 'stand in' family for me.

They liked that idea :)

It was a picture perfect blue sky, clean air,
sunshiney morning in Beijing. Thanks be to God!

Soon the doors opened, and the earlier service
spilled out onto the plaza and the next group
began making their way up the stairs.  You
could feel the love and excitement in the air.
The girls were all smiles, as was everyone around us.
They remarked several times how happy people appeared.

We took our seats near the front where they
could have a birds eye view of it all, and they
were filled with questions the whole time...
they wanted to know everything, the meaning
and significance of everything they heard
and saw....trying to explain 'baptism', 'communion',
the story of 'Holy Week' and 2000+ years of
the Christian faith kept me on my toes! 

They loved the music, and sang and clapped along :)

They were curious about the building, and why some of the
diamonds in the ceiling were skylights.

When they uncovered the alter to reveal the sacraments, true
to Chinese kids' form, they let out a collective "woah!!!"

I continued to answer their questions, and they became very
excited when the picture of the Last Supper appeared on the
screen- they are familiar with the painting, and you could
see 'the light bulb switch on."

They continued to take it all in, snapping many photos and
videos. (In fact, these photos are all theirs that they shared with me!)

They could not participate in Communion as they have not
been baptized, and they wanted to know what the significance
was.  While the leaders passed out communion, I did my best to
explain the meaning of baptism.  Just as I finished, and the congregants
 all took communion together, the pastor (who was a Chinese female)
announced that a special Baptismal Service was taking place later
this afternoon- the church was receiving 65 new members into
the family of God.  The congregation all clapped, as did the girls,
and they let our another collective "woah!!!"

 Every service closes with a welcome song, and all new visitors are asked

to stand up.  The girls stood, and members of the church came around to give

them all a gift- a welcome CD from the church.  They were so happy to 

get a gift, they were fits of giggles and more photos :)

After church I took them to my favorite Indian
restaurant, Ganges.  They have never had Indian food
before, so they were excited to try more new things.

They loved the samosas.  The vegetable ones are my favorite.

They had to take pictures of the food, of course :)
The chicken khorma and naan were a bit hit.

They loved the copper bowls the food was served in,
and they had never eaten basmati rice before, so
even it was picture worthy, along with another "woah!!!"

To be away from my own family on yet another holiday was difficult as

always, but to share my love of Jesus, and what I believe, and to spend it in 

the company of these lovely young girls was more than I could ever ask for.

Thanks be to God.

G'nite, y'all!