January in Shenyang

Dear Folks,

I guess that any month that contains Spring Festival (aka Chun Jie, Lunar New Year, Chinese New Year, etc) could also be spelled PARTY!!! In spite of the VERY chilly weather, it was a month to meet and greet old friends and these visits were frequently accompanied by lots of wonderful food!

For one thing, as I am sure you know, this is the season of the largest migration in the world as millions and millions of Chinese return to their family homes, usually by train but it has been reported that this year a new wrinkle has developed: motor cycle caravans! Apparently, there is a new trend among the young set to rent motor cycles to avoid the congestion on the trains!

Several of our college aged friends were back in Shenyang from their universities and we were especially happy to see them! Lacey, the daughter of our good friends that have a small store in the “night” market near our apartment appeared with a set of RED long underwear for Elaine who just happens to have been born in the year of the Dragon which just happens to be the animal for 2012! Another young friend is Rainbow, the daughter of the Manager of the Children’s Building where our little ones live. She is a delightful girl that attends the provincial Teacher’s College and hopes to follow in her Mom’s footsteps some day at the orphanage. She, her Mom, her Mom’s sister and little daughter came to our home for lunch during the holidays. They came along with the newest “toy” at the orphanage, a precious little black orphan boy that has been there since he was about six weeks old. He is nearly two now and a barrel of fun!

Rainbow and I were able to meet at the orphanage one day to catch up with all that’s gone on since summer when we last met. She met Zhi Lei during that visit and it was “love at first sight”! We topped it off with a lunch at KFC with Migyeong and Liang Liang.

We shared a special Spring Festival dinner with the three boys and their foster family at a nearby hot pot restaurant. It just happened to coincide with Migyeong’s Lunar birthday! Not telling her age but her animal is a rabbit!

The three boys are off from school for the forty day winter vacation but aren’t getting off the hook so easily! When Yong En isn’t in private school, he and Lu Ping are brushing up on their English. Liang Liang is going to the orphanage with Migyeong most days and she is enjoying his company very much. They also come over to our apartment where they are free to hang out, play computer games, and get in on some of “Mama” Migyeong’s home cooking!

One of our Wednesday participants, Hannah, invited us to go to her Mom’s home for dinner last Saturday. She and her Mom are Christians and were in hopes that we could share the Good News with their other relatives, some of which had come from far away such as one uncle who had travelled from the Russian border! This is a precious family that includes several teenagers. After lunch, they insisted that we tell them about Jesus! Of course, Migyeong had the main job but Elaine was able to add to things by telling a condensed version of “Heaven is for Real”, a book that has really spoken to her heart since it was brought to her by Pastor Joan and Jan from Bastrop in October. They really seemed to get into the story and were particularly interested in the painting of Jesus that the little boy identified as looking just like Jesus! I had passed the book on to Rainbow so asked one of my old VA friends to scan her copy of the photo and send it to me. I was able to email the photo to all of the young people at the dinner as well as the members of the Wednesday night group! I am in hopes that I can find a way to get the book translated into Mandarin!

Jia Hao Moyer had his first hip replacement surgery the early part of January and came through with flying colors. He is due to have the second one early in February and we would really appreciate your prayers again since they worked so well the first time! I feel that if this one goes as well as the last one, there’s no doubt that we will be seeing all of the Moyers in Florida in April!

The firecrackers are still going off periodically but, since the firecrackers last year managed to burn the Marriott Hotel down, rules have been laid down to make things a little safer and even quieter! I’m told that next Monday (Feb. 6) is the last day of official celebration and I am really looking forward to some peace and quiet after that! I DO love to see the red lanterns in the windows such as those in the high rise apartments seen from our kitchen window! It seems that almost everything is RED this time of year.

As always, we love and appreciate you and your prayers for our work. There’s no question that we just couldn’t do it by ourselves and really need your support. We also love to get emails from you or even phone calls!

Love, Elaine and Migyeong

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