Friday, June 29, 2007

Lao Wai in America

I went to a Chinese restaurant with my friends Lingyin and Hui... they often eat there. The owner is Chinese... I order Vegetable Chow Mian (noodles). There are two styles of this dish - American and Chinese. The owner gives me the American kind... but because I am a foreigner! Even with Lingyin there the owner gives me the cheaper American version of the dish. Then the owner talks with Lingyin in Chinese and mentions that I am a foreigner (lao wai) so he gave me the foreigner dish! And I am listening and understanding some of this conversation... feeling kinda stupid. The owner tells me that next time I should order the Chinese Noodles.

I think this is a little funny... maybe you do too?

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Yichang, 250 Feet of Ice, Understanding Fully

We just got back from Yichang. We hung out with our *friends* and saw the Three Gorges Dam. It was so nice to go to a different place, eat different food, and meet new people! I love the people of Shiyan, the city, and most other things... however, it is very refreshing to visit friends and see how they live.

When serving Him in another country, there seems to be an awkwardness about having too much fun. We are here to work, to serve, to give our lives for others, but we are also normal disciples living normal lives.

How can I explain this strange phenomenon? We can't say as much as we'd like about our favorite things. We can't talk about His work in ways which are instantly understandable. We struggle to replace the common daily communication about Him with simple and easy to recognize substitute words. All the while, wanting to yell from His mountaintops how wonderful the view is! How great the Spirit works through His followers!

And then, we take a little time for R&R... and wonder if we are having too much fun. We ask how much fun should we have? How much fun should we tell others about, especially since we struggle to speak freely about His service?

Does any of this make sense? And if it did, how could you tell me? How could you be sensitive to my needs for careful communication?


All the while, I am enjoying reading about and am continually amazed by the Creator!

How many years does it take to form 250 feet of glacial ice? Check out this article "The Lost Squadron" or go to: http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v19/i3/squadron.asp

"For now we see as if looking into a very poor mirror, but later we will see Him face to face. Now we understand only a little, later we get to understand everything, just like He completely understands me."

I am looking forward to sharing face to face how much His life has impacted lives here.

Three detained for high-tech exam cheating

Three detained for high-tech exam cheating
Fri Jun 8, 2007 1:21 PM ET
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained three people for running a high-tech cheating scam involving wireless microphones during the national college entrance exam, Xinhua news agency said Friday.

A record 10 million Chinese high school students sat for the exam Thursday and Friday, competing for just 5.7 million university places.

It means make or break for the students and has spawned a string of cheating scandals in recent years.

Police in Jiutai, in the northeastern province of Jilin, became suspicious when a mini-bus remained parked outside a school hosting the exam Thursday, Xinhua said.

Inside, they found three people, "two of them staring at a computer screen and talking into a walkie-talkie," Xinhua said.

A student in the examination hall used a wireless microphone to read out the questions and received the answers from the van, Xinhua quoted their confessions as saying.

The three had charged the student 12,000 yuan ($1,500) for the service, it added.

Security for the exam is tight and exam papers are considered state secrets before the tests.

Authorities in neighboring Liaoning province spent 100 million yuan fitting over 8,000 exam halls with metal detectors and cameras to prevent tech-savvy students from cheating on national university entrance tests.

Police had found some 42 pairs of so-called "cheating shoes" with transmitting and reception ability, selling for about 2,000 yuan each, in a flat in Shenyang, the provincial capital, state media said Thursday, adding that they -- along with "cheating wallets" and hats -- had proved popular this year.

Three men in the southwestern province of Sichuan received suspended jail terms of 8-12 months last year for using pinhole cameras to send out images of the entrance exam papers to be worked out by "hired guns" for 19 students.

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Tired

Today I am tired. It could be the constant thought of going back to America where I have no job, no real income, possibly a borrowed car, a lot of travel, and still working on the schedule of everything. Or the idea of leaving our home in Shiyan, knowing some of our friends will leave for employment in other provinces and some returning to the States. What about the change in the weather, it is much hotter here now. Or maybe it is that I haven't been running since the Great Wall. Then again, it could be giving finals and having to grade them. Or maybe it is my digestive system that hasn't really liked the food, although I have liked it a lot. Maybe trying to plan which language school to attend in Beijing is what's doing it.

I suppose it could be all of these things added together that is making me tired...

So, if you can Remember me I'll Remember you. We all need strength and encouragement from Him. We all need Dad to refresh our spirits and give us wings like eagles.

I need to finish making plans for Beijing, let my friends know how much they mean to me, and prepare for journey to the States ... this also helps the energy flow!

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Facebook Puzzle Page

Come check out my Facebook Puzzle Page - click here or go to this site:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=5158&l=75d0b&id=601795676

See what you can do... and send me a few more puzzles, I'll add them to my site!

I got them from Freddy Genius Xu, he got them from the web, which got them from who?

Sunday, June 3, 2007

You've got Questions, Here are some Answers

You can read this book online or purchase a copy...

The Revised & Expanded Answers Book
Is there really a God? Where did Cain find his wife? What about the gap theory? Are radioisotope dating methods reliable? How did ‘bad things’ come about?
If you have friends or relatives who are asking these questions too, email them and let them know they can get answers at www.AnswersInGenesis.org. Or purchase your own copy of The Answers Book—Revised & Expanded at our online bookstore.
Chapter 1: Does God exist?
Chapter 2: Did God really take six days?
Chapter 3: What about the ‘gap’ and ‘ruin-reconstruction’ theories?
Chapter 4: How about carbon dating?
Chapter 5: How can we see distant stars in a young universe?
Chapter 6: How did bad things come about?
Chapter 7: What about similarities and other such arguments for evolution?
Chapter 8: Cain’s wife—who was she?
Chapter 9: Were the ‘sons of God’ and/or nephilim extraterrestrials?
Chapter 10: Was the Flood global?
Chapter 11: What about continental drift?
Chapter 12: Noah's Flood—what about all that water?
Chapter 13: How did the animals fit on Noah's Ark?
Chapter 14: How did freshwater and saltwater fish survive the Flood?
Chapter 15: Where are all the human fossils?
Chapter 16: What about the Ice Age?
Chapter 17: How did animals get from the Ark to places such as Australia?
Chapter 18: How did all the different ‘races’ arise (from Noah’s family)?
Chapter 19: What happened to the dinosaurs?
Chapter 20: What can I do?

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Mosquito Food



Lately, we are being eatin by mosquitos. It is kinda crazy, cause we are waking up some mornings with 5-10 new bites. This isn't much fun, but we are remembering/relearning somethings about the mosquito from here:

When mosquitos are adults, only the females search for blood because they are the only ones who need it. The reason that the female needs blood is because it helps egg production and makes them fertile before they lay them. The male searches for nectar, sugar, plant juices, and other sweet things. The sugar serves as fuel for their bodies. The females mostly go out at night to find some blood to take in. A female mosquito is usually attracted to humans because of our warm, moist bodies. They can sense hosts from up to 35 meters away. When a mosquito finds something to suck on, it will first put some saliva at the place it plans on sucking on. The saliva causes a red bump on people's skin. Once the mosquito is on you, it will take in about five millionths of a liter of blood from your body. When you hit it away and don't kill it, the mosquito will come back for more blood again.

Written by Mike P., Nathan S., Nick B. and Max K.
and compiled by the Twin Groves Virtual Wetland Preserve Team
http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/wetlands/Mosquito/MosqFood.html

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There is a Chinese Lotion that should make the bites shrink, and not eat you.

Friday, June 1, 2007

Darwin's Real Message

This article shows Darwin was completely against God. Here is a qoute:

Harvard’s renowned Professor Stephen Jay Gould1 is a vigorous anticreationist (and Marxist), and perhaps the most knowledgeable student of the history of evolutionary thought and all things Darwinian.

It goes on to say:

Gould argues that Darwin’s theory is inherently anti-plan, anti-purpose, anti-meaning (in other words, is pure philosophical materialism). Also, that Darwin himself knew this very well and meant it to be so.

If you would like to read the entire article and see the evidence click here for this or you can go to this site:

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v14/i4/darwin.asp