November in Shenyang

Dear Friends,

November has been a busy and varied one with visitors from the States who kindly acted as “mules” to take our Christmas cards back to be mailed and generally blessed our socks off; new additions to our Wednesday group; a Thanksgiving party for the orphans in our care; a “going away” party for one of our most valued volunteers; and continued interaction with Chinese students by way of an English Corner!  I’m no doubt forgetting something but we can at least start with these!
  
We were so happy to greet our Texas buddies from Marble Falls, Texas.  It is always wonderful to have friends from home visit!  They weren’t here just to bless us but lots of other ex-pats, too, in different areas of China.  We were grateful for the time we had with them and REALLY appreciated their willingness to take our Christmas cards back to the States and mail them!  If you don’t receive one before Christmas, email me your address and you’ll be added to the list for NEXT year!
  
The group of ladies who volunteer at the orphanage with our children there have been very active this year and we hate to lose even one of them but one of them is returning to the States since her husband’s work is done here.  Another volunteer threw a going-away party for her and though we’ll miss her, we enjoyed the party!
  
Thanks to our next door neighbor (the “Raven”) we now have two more participants at our Wednesday meeting!  They are young women but old friends!  One lives near us but the other lives quite a distance away so we try to wind up on time so that they don’t get home too late.  They have wonderful questions for us old hands and it has made for a very interesting study!  I hope to have pictures of them for the next newsletter. 
  
Before the volunteer took off for the States, she organized a “blow out” party for the orphans and the caregivers at the orphanage.  Most of the photos of children are from that event which was enjoyed by all!  I think that like most people, orphans enjoy a change of routine and nothing’s better than a rip-roaring party!
  
The “English Corner” has been experiencing great success with a teaching on “creation” and the latest one on “thanksgiving” as in the holiday in America.  We happened to have a copy of a short but appropriate dvd entitled “The Harvest” so we showed the group to set the mood for the holiday.  I remember it being a favorite of my late Pastor, Billie Joe Daugherty! It was a big success with the students as it gave them a view of life on a wheat farm and what “family” really means!
  
In the “How time flies” category: last weekend LiangLiang had his 18th birthday!  Lucky for us, he spent it by playing games on our computer and celebrating with a cake, home cooked by Migyeong and, the best thing: delicious food!  His two friends, LuPing and Sam (aka DaPing) joined us for the festive occasion.  Earlier, I had the pleasure of giving Sam some help with his English, an activity usually attended to by Alice who is currently visiting in the States.  I’ve successfully avoided teaching English formally in an English school during my time here but this was a very different deal and I had a wonderful time doing it.  I just hope that it was helpful for Sam!  We’ll continue next weekend when he is here from school.
  
I included a couple of dog pics and one of one of the many Chinese cabbage trucks to go along with the pic of stacked up cabbage from last month.  The difference between a good dog and a naughty one is to be judged by their treatment of ME!  The “good” dog was sweet and let me pet her while the “naughty” one not only barked at me but had the nerve to lift his leg and anoint my white sneakers!  Now, that’s NAUGHTY!
  
Now for the serious part of this newsletter.  I would like you to pray about the following info.  We have always depended on the Grace of God for our support through the offerings of His saints and He has never let us down and never will!  However, we are experiencing some difficulties in making ends meet due to prices rising here in China and the costs of education for our 3 boys.  We have a staff of 15 and their salaries continue to escalate as the salaries of the orphanage staff does every year, usually at the beginning of each year. Everything else is going up, too.   
  
As you consider your own end-of-year offerings, please remember our needs in your giving.  We depend entirely upon your offerings to sustain our work, so we do appreciate and thank you for whatever you can do to help us out by sowing into this ministry.
  
Migyeong and Elaine wish you a blessed Thanksgiving, filled with the knowledge of His love for each one of you!  Ours, too!

Love,
Migyeong and Elaine

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