As you can see, blogging and I aren't very good friends. I will attempt to update this occasionally, but I have started a newsletter that should be more effective. If you would like to be added, write me @ pandapeople@gmail.com.

Thanks

Modern Toilet

We made a visit to a world famous restaurant while in Hong Kong - the Modern Toilet. Everything was served in urinals, sinks, squatties, toilets - well you get the picture - if not, they're right there.

Three months?

I could moan and gripe about how the great firewall blocks all these sights and makes it quite annoying to update blogs, get on Facebook or any number of sights. Or, I could just update this page and hope folks still check it.

This is my first update with my MacBook Pro. It was a family present - cause it also means Kenan gets the hand me down Dell. Our other big gift was getting Anna here for a few weeks. We had a great time with her and then a family trip down to Hong Kong and visited Disneyland there. Anna had as much fun as a kid - like the rest of us - and exhaustion hit us all at the end of the day. We then headed back home while she returned to school. Kenan started up his semester while Trish and I finished up ours, until March. There will be a big break for their national holiday, Spring Festival. We will be going to Thailand during Kenan's break and I will attend a meeting. There will be traveling out both before and after hitting Thailand - oh how we love long bus rides!

Our family Christmas shot. Trish and the "Happy Birthday, Jesus" cake

Even Chewie got a gift. Anna and Lydia Chewie - a true Dawg

Our Stockings - along with Kirk and Chewie's. Trish and Anna

September Status

It’s hard to believe September is over and October is upon us. While we weren’t nearly as busy traveling as we had been in the summer, we still were kept on our toes. We started our teaching schedule at the school. This has been a good start so far. We have reestablished relationships out there and are working on new ones. One young lady who became a believer in the Spring endured many hardships as she told her family, but is persevering and sharing with fellow classmates. One of the biggest struggles we have been having is adjusting to all the new regulations that have come about due to the restructuring. Nothing overwhelming, just having to learn, or relearn, logistical stuff. We do have an understanding of the economy, so we are lifting up all obstacles associated with that situation and want to thank all of you who continue to support the work over here. So here’s what our September has looked like.
Mike bought an electric bike, well not a bike actually as there are no pedals. He has enjoyed using it to go to school, take Chewie to the vet, and pick up groceries; but mostly to laugh at people sitting in the congestion known as Chengdu traffic. Chewie has surpassed 70 pounds, and we found out he has the same birthday as Anna. He enjoys being a puppy, a huge one compared to most dogs over here, and is trying hard to learn not to greet our guests with a holy jump. Our Sundays are still a blessing. We meet with other families and have a time of praise and worship. We recently added a kids’ Sunday school time due to our growing kid population. In addition, we are both going to group times every other week. The men meet on Mondays and the women on Wednesdays. This has been a great time of encouragement and growing.
Earlier this month, our Indian friends, all medical students studying here, invited us over for a ‘home-cooked’ meal. They did all the cooking, but they used multiple kitchen areas in their dorm. It was great, and the food was very good as well. Anna was quite jealous, but since she was in India this summer, we weren’t too worried about it. Hopefully she has given everyone an update on her summertime, if not I’ll give her a stern talking too. She does have a job possibility this summer, so those who have been helping her as she has severed in Greece and India will get a reprieve. She will be coming over to visit us this Christmas break. Her new role as RA has been challenging, but she is doing a great job herding all her girls. Kenan has improved at school and is whining much less than before. His school recently had a service project day and he came home completely exhausted. Mike has started helping out with the chess club at Kenan’s school. This has been fun for him as it has been several years since he played. Trish was able to go out of town for a women’s retreat. There were several women there and a great time of reconnection and bonding was had by all. She then went south with some of our partners for an agricultural training. Mike had gone last year with one partner, now six of them have had the training. This will give better access to our areas and allow them opportunities to work. Prior to this, we took some time with our friend Kirk and went bowling. While it was great fun, watching scramble to find shoes to fit three people who wear size 14 was amazing. (Mike actually ended up in a 12) As I write this, it is China’s national day, much like our July 4th. We have a few days off from school and will have a team retreat to an amusement park where we will play and make plans. Next week is busy as Trish will be leading a language training that our teammates will attend. Mike will help out with kids, homeschool and anything else that comes up. At the end of the month, some good friends from Tennessee will visit as they seek to take the truth out to our people.
We never what the future holds, but we can be at peace because of Him. We will continue to serve, teach, grow, work and walk alongside you as we glorify Him.

On a recent note, Mike's father passed away and is now home with his Father. Thanks for all who have been lifting up this situation. Mike will be in Georgia until October 22nd.

More Indian friends Some of our students The boy and his dog

Prepping for paper National Day Teaching baseball

delivery

Chewbacca

We have a new member of our family - a Golden Retriever named Chewbacca; Lazarus Chewbacca Rocko. We got him on Kenan's birthday - March 20th. He survived a serious illness, hence the Lazarus.

May Happenings

As May draws to a close, I thought I'd open this edition with a photo status of Chewbacca's progress. Right after we got him, for Kenan and Mike's birthdays, he was diagnosed with parvo. The outcome was grim and he was at the vet for almost 3 weeks and restricted to the indoors until his shots were complete because of a weakened immune system. As you can see, at 4 months he has made definite progress and gets smarter daily. For example, he knows if Mike is in the kitchen, food miraculously appears on the floor - if he behaves. His close call also earned him a first name - Lazarus. Although he still goes by Chewie, it does reflect the amazing recovery. One of the people that has fallen in love with him is Lydia Grace. She has been with us for a few weeks now and loves taking him for walks and 'blinging' him out. He will miss her as she returns to school next week.

Speaking of changes, you may have heard about some changes going on with our organization. While this will aid our work in the big scheme of things, it will not radically affect how we do things on our level - although our immediate supervisor has changed three times in as many months. We have big plans on the horizon. Right now, our new teammate is out with a US club. They are looking at adopting one of our groups. June holds the promise of lots of travel and July has teams coming in for an English camp.

But May, has anything happened in May? Oh yeah. Our time at the school has been very productive. With new additions to the family, those additions growing deeper and gathering together on their own to become a club. May also brought a new family to our team - Tim, Rachel and the kids. A new door also opened up here in the city at the University. While Kenan has had some frustrating moments, he has persevered and will finish school next week on a stong note. On a fun note, we are forming a foreigner baseball team. While a lot of it is for fun and exercise, we are also hoping it will open doors. we have already been invited to play with two local teams, are looking at forming an instructional team for foreign kids here and are hoping that very soon in addition to a team at our school, we will be able to form a team at the University. Even though it seems like a superficial use of time, meeting to play sports draws a whole lot less attention than just meeting. Across the water, Anna has finished her sophomore year. She will be an RA starting in the fall. Right now, she is on our side of the world - but in a different country. She will be serving there for two months. Please be lifting up her opportunities to share, to grow as well as her safety.

We can look back and see so many things that have happened or are starting to happen. But during this time we also really feel very sluggish - like we are here, but barely getting anything accomplished. It is a frustrating feeling. Please help us to trust in His timing - and listen to His prodding.

PR Requests

Kenan's finishing well

Kenan's finding his place of service and purpose in all of this

Open doors at the school and in our areas

Our new teammates to adjust well

Anna's summer of ministry

Decisions that we are facing

Our summer plans and travels

Kenan and his little sister - Lydia Grace

Having some fun in April

The Korean fan dance, some Indians performing, Asher doing his thing, Korean drums and Kenan's line dance.

Salomi and Lisa, Arsha and Lisa, a cute girl and Kenan's buddies.

We started off the month in Hong Kong renewing visas and even got to visit Disney. Back at home, we dove into language and continued with our teaching. Trish helped out with a training, I started working with a couple of local guys and Kenan is pushing through to do well at school. Because of Kenan's school schedule, he had his birthday party in April, during his spring break. He had several friends over and they had a great time - mostly playing Halo 3 through the night. Things are still going well at the school and those relationships are growing and some of them have grown deep with Him. One of the more fun activities we had was going to Kenan's school for International Day. Lots of diverse food, fun and entertainment. Though there were several cultural performances, the highlight was Kenan helping out the the line dance performance. He has a spring school trip and finishes up. He needs a break and we hope he has a great summer in which to do that. We've also been busy getting ready for May. In May we have Tim and Rachel coming to join us - so we're looking foward to lots of fun. Wee've also got a team from TN coming to determine what Father wants them to do.

We look foward to great things in the days to come.