Sunday Thoughts June 8th, 2008

It is hard to believe that we will be back in the United States in less than a week! The school year is over, and it is surreal to think that we will be on a plane this Thursday.

Aside from the fact that we are in China, I had assumed that the end of this school year would have felt much like previous years. I was wrong! Although we are excited to return home, we are not excited about leaving. In the past, I was always counting down the days until I would be free from teaching. I saw my job as a burden, a necessary evil. This year, I am saddened to think that I will not see any of my students for 11 weeks. We are eager to return to our friends & families, but we are hesitant to leave; it’s a paradox of feelings!

Why we are grateful this week:
1) All of the teachers from English Week have returned home safely. It was a tremendous success, and the team learned to “flex” with the changes to their destination and schedule.

If you are interested in being part of an October 2008 or May 2009 English week, then please contact us for more information. We would love to talk with you this summer! It really is a life changing experience for everyone involved.

2) One of my New Year’s resolutions was to run two marathons this year. Jess and I ran the Great Wall Marathon three weeks ago. I ran with her the whole way; the pace was not taxing. For me, it was like a long slow training run. So, I scheduled another marathon for this week. I planned to push my pace to see how much 20 weeks of training had helped. I finished 30 minutes faster than my previous personal best, but I am most thankful that I am uninjured after running two marathons in less then a month.

3) Jess has been baking with students the past two Thursday nights, and I have enjoyed the delicious creations. M & M Cookies made with oil instead of butter, and pistachio-walnut-chocolate

chip cookies are surprisingly good. These times have been great opportunities for us to share our lives with students. I also love being the taste-tester; it’s a win-win situation!

4) We held our final movie night of the semester last night, and we closed it out with Life is Beautiful. About 100 students came.

We have enjoyed the movie nights this semester, and will probably continue them next year. They are easy to plan, and the students appreciate them.

5) Our contracts are complete! The changes have been made, the necessary physicals completed, and our signatures are on the papers. At this point, we have completed everything we can do to be prepared to return next year.

Please continue to “think” about us:
1) This is our final week in China, and we don’t want to waste it with packing and anticipation. We want to finish strong! Beyond that, we want to realize that this is not the finish. We plan to return next year, and we plan to stay in contact with those students who have Internet access during the summer.

2) Our plane leaves from Beijing on Thursday at 6:30pm and we arrive in Washington DC on Thursday at 7:44pm. It’s a 13-hour flight that only takes one hour, and we will probably spend the better part of a week recovering from the jetlag. Coincidentally, we will be spending that week with 400+ high school students in Virginia.

Our only concern about the flight is how we will get to the airport with our luggage. The college is supposed to provide transportation, but we are unsure if that will happen. So, it might be challenging to find transportation to the airport next Thursday.

3) We are currently working on plans for next year. We are hoping to organize more frequent English Clubs on the Main Campus.

My vision is that we would hold two clubs on the Eastern Campus and one club on the Western Campus each month.

My concern is that the students might view the Club on the Main Campus as competition for their student-run English Clubs. This is why I want our Clubs to be on a different night, and I want them to look and feel different from the student-run English Clubs. In this way I am hoping that they will be viewed as a compliment instead of competition. We also need to get approval from the English Department, which includes the arrangement of our teaching schedules so that we could all be free on the same evenings.

4) One of the first tasks we need to complete when we return to Maryland is creating a 2008/2009 budget. We have been extremely blessed with the necessary funding for this year, and we already have a good start toward next year. However, once we are home and have full access to our accounts, we will need to reevaluate our financial situation and continue the process of raising our 2008/2009 budget.

5) We will be home for about 30 hours before we get on a charter bus full of high school students heading for Rockbridge, Virginia. We have been looking forward to the opportunity to spend a week with many of the students we worked with during the last three school years prior to China, but we will also be coping with jetlag. We have stayed in touch with many of these students via the Internet, and this should be a great week. As the summer progresses we are hoping to support the new leaders at this high school as they work toward creating a “Club” of their own.

We will be in Maryland for most of the summer (June 12-August 25), and we can not wait to share our experiences in China with all of you.

Living outside the boat,
Brad & Jessie

Sunday Thoughts May 26th, 2008

Storms can be exciting, fun, and dangerous. In the midst of a storm we might struggle, panic, cower, or foolishly believe that we are in control. We are not in control, and until we realize who is in control, we will always be fighting against the storms in our lives. He calmed the storms!

Why are we grateful this week:

1) If you do not know yet, we were able to alter the plans for English Week. Unfortunately, it will not be in Langfang, but we were able to switch colleges at the last minute. The team is now about two hours away in Baoding. Although we are disappointed that they were unable to come to our college, it is amazing to us that they were able to find a new location with such short notice. 17 teachers, $2000 each, and nowhere to go; “He calmed the storm!”

2) The English Week Team made it safely to Baoding. They had a five hour delay in Chicago, but other then that there have been relatively few problems. We took the two hour bus ride to visit them over the weekend, and they were doing well. They are very excited about the upcoming week, and have been jokingly referring to their trip as “Operation Flex.”

It was great to see the team! We talked with old friends, played basketball with students, toured the campus, participated in the first English Club, and went to a leadership seminar for the Chinese teachers. It was revitalizing to see the excitement of the English Week teachers!

We had to return to Langfang for 8am Monday morning classes, but due to a slight miscalculation, there were no more buses leaving from Baoding to Langfang until Monday. So we went to the train station, and found the same results. We finally settled on an overpriced taxi. We were tired, sad to be leaving our friends for the week, and our driver insisted on smoking. When we arrived outside of Langfang, our driver refused to take us into town, and left us in the middle of the highway to find our way back to the college. When we finally got back to the campus just before 10pm, we stopped at the local convince store and bought some ice-cream. As we walked the final 100 yards to our apartments, I enjoyed my ice-cream and thought, “He calmed the storms!”

3) A wise man once said: “Don’t tell Him how big your storm is, tell you storm how big He is!” We are grateful that He calms the storms in our lives!

Please continue to “think” about us:

1) Jet-lag is in full force for the English Week team. Please keep them in your thoughts! The English Week team is: Joe Paolella, Brian Kough, Tim Phillips, Jeffrey Guinn, Emily Guinn, Beth Rivera, Stephen Rivera, Ryan Betty, Laura Sauvain, Dana English, Bethany Thornton, Nancy Suter, Damond Lassiter, Jessica Samblee, Claire Hetrick, and Newt Hetrick.

2) We are trying to finalize our contracts for next year. We return home in less than 20 days, and we are worried that this will not be completed before we return to the United States, even though we started this process over a month ago. Finalizing our contracts also includes the reimbursement of our airfare, $1500 each.

3) The college has agreed to have five full-time IECS English teachers next year, and they have also said that they are looking for a Native Japanese teacher. We have been pushing for a sixth teacher, but it looks like there will only be five next year. The odds are slim, but if you know somebody who is Japanese, like-minded, and interested in teaching in China, please do not hesitate to recommend them. Otherwise, please keep it in your thoughts.

Thank you for your thoughts,
Brad and Jessie

May 17, 2008: The Great Wall Marathon

I am not an athlete.

I tried softball when I was little. I remember that I wanted to play softball because my brother played baseball. The Hustlers were the best team in our league, so I spent most of my time on the bench. My father had to argue with the coach to put me in the game. I think we won the local championship that year, but it certainly wasn’t because of me. I was too busy ducking from the ball and picking daisies in right field. Halfway through the next season, I decided that the uniforms were too much to wear in the summer heat. I asked to stay home, and my parents happily obliged.

I tried ballet when I was older, with much the same results. I didn’t like rehearsals, and I dreaded the final performances. The leotards and crowns were itchy, and I wanted to stay home and read books.

Gym class was a comedy. I benched a bar with no weights. I was the last one to finish every mile run. I had the lowest number of sit-ups, push-ups, and chin-ups. I couldn’t touch my toes or jump over the high jump. I couldn’t dribble, throw, hit, or kick with any accuracy. Awkwardness and weakness defined my every movement.

In high school, tennis was my new dream. No one wanted to be on the tennis team. I was told that ANYONE who came out to play would make the tennis team. My family liked to play tennis at the park, so I thought I’d give it a try. For my birthday, my family gave me a new racket and some neon yellow tennis balls. I went to every pre-season practice with joy and commitment, and loved the team camaraderie. A week before the season began, the coach pulled me aside. It turned out that not just ANYONE could make the team. I was the only one cut that season, before I ever played in a single game.

Fast-forward 10 years. I am now married to a super-athlete. Fantasy sports, team sports, coaching. You name it; Brad loves it. Before we were dating, I began training for a marathon to impress him, but quit after reaching 7 miles. He had run 5 marathons, and 9 ultra-marathons. Running a marathon became a secret dream of mine. It sounded perfect for a non-athlete like me. You can run as slow as you want; the only catch is you have to keep running. It’s the only sport I can think of where everyone wins when they cross the finish line.

So, it was with some hesitation (and after swearing him to secrecy) that I explained to Brad that one of my dreams was to complete a marathon. He was, of course, thrilled to help me. He immediately downloaded Hal Higdon’s Novice Training Schedule from the Internet. Before I knew it, I was running 4 out of every 7 days. My 12 to 15-minute miles were nothing to brag about, but for me, every mile was an accomplishment. The little girl who was the embarrassment of the gym class, now found herself jogging around the track for hours. I was daily spurred on by students and teachers around the track, and by Brad’s words of encouragement or prodding as needed.

Running through sickness, winter winds, freezing cold, rain, dirt, heat, sun, and floating pollen was not exactly my idea of a good time. Some days ended in tears or collapse as I fought blisters, cramps, aches, and fatigue. The most difficult fight was against myself, as my mind daily reminded me of my previous failures in the realm of sports. I fought feelings of discouragement as the marathon date came closer. Living in China for the year, Brad and I didn’t have too many marathons to choose from. So we’d chosen to run the Great Wall Marathon, one of the world’s most difficult adventure marathons. Feelings of dread at the heights, stairs, and uphill climbs of the Great Wall loomed ahead.

During race week, I was miserable. Whereas I had done great in my 20-mile run, I now struggled mentally with my 2 and 3 mile runs. It was during this time that I remembered why I was running the marathon. I was not running it to break any speed records. I had decided to run to practice self-discipline and a healthy lifestyle. I had decided to run because I saw the training and marathon as something that Brad and I could enjoy together. (Brad said that running a marathon together was the equivalent of an 8-hour date.) I had decided to run because I admired Brad for running marathons, and it was a dream of mine to finish one. I had decided to run 26.2 miles (42 K) to prove to myself that I could do it. Finally at peace with the coming marathon, I was calm and relaxed for race day.

The race weekend was great. On Friday, we met a group of foreigners for the 3-hour bus ride and soaked up the stories of those who had run the course before. After arriving at our picturesque ivy-covered hotel at the Great Wall, we explored the Wall and the area for opening ceremonies. At dinner and breakfast, we shared the anticipation of the course with first-timers and old-timers. We made friends all weekend with people from all over the world, exchanging e-mails and Facebook accounts.

The morning of the race dawned cool and overcast—perfect weather for a marathon. We were up packing our bags at 5am. I was frustrated to realize that I’d forgotten my sports bra! We asked around, but weren’t able to find anyone who could lend me a sports bra. In the end, I was standing in a room under the stands (immodestly surrounded by mirrors and windows) being “bound” in a cotton wrap and gauze by a Danish first aid woman. My new “bra” was surprisingly comfortable, but I put my regular bra on over it, and rubbed vaseline under its edges just in case.

The race itself justified the 5 months of training. After the starting gunshot, we walked forward until we crossed the starting line, activating the timers on our shoes. It was an uphill climb to the Wall, where we were met with breathtaking views and staggering heights. I had to hold Brad’s hand or shoulder during the descents to bear the sheer drops and vertigo. The path was so narrow at times that we had to walk single file, or hold on to a rope lest we drop into the abyss beyond. At times there was no wall, but only stairs, and frequently there was no railing. Sometimes there were no stairs, but only a dirt path or a rock scramble. After descending from the Wall, we ran through the starting gate again, and then 20 miles through the surrounding villages and countryside. We made friends along the way, like John the chiropractor, and Roxie the encourager. We ate bananas, and drank water and Gatorade.

Mentally and physically, the course was exhausting. There were times when I would have much rather quit than kept going. Given my vertigo on the heights, I certainly did not want to climb the Wall the second time at 22 miles. If it weren’t for Brad’s encouragement, and the encouragement of our new friends, I probably wouldn’t have made it. I doubt I have ever felt such physical fatigue, but as we approached the finish line, I knew that it was worth it. As I ran the last 1 K at a slow jog, and finally crossed the finish line I felt nothing at first but relief and exhaustion. Race officials announced Brad’s and my name as we crossed the finish line in 7 hours: 58 minutes: 42 seconds. Others placed medals around our necks. Only 2 people crossed the finish line after us before the race ended for the day. It was then that I realized that I had earned a medal. I had certainly never received a medal for anything like this before. Exhilaration replaced exhaustion. I finished! We finished!

During the 3-hour bus ride home I felt disbelief at the accomplishment of my dream. It’s great to know that there is a place where “the slow and steady win the race.” My success has boosted my confidence in myself and in my physical abilities. In the days since the marathon, I have been enjoying my “Zero Week” of rest and relaxation from running. But I’m realizing that running a marathon doesn’t end there. During the past five months, running has become a part of my lifestyle, and a hobby that I now share with my husband. Yesterday, as I watched Brad create new marathon schedules for the summer months, I realized that I am really looking forward to doing this again in the future.

So maybe I’m not an athlete. But I’ve run a marathon. :)

Love,
Jessie

Sunday Thoughts May 18th, 2008

“Consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials… because you know that the testing…develops perseverance.” This week has been a lesson in joy and perseverance! It started with the earthquake on Monday, a huge disappointment concerning English Week on Thursday, and finished with eight hours of The Great Wall on Saturday.

Why are we grateful this week:

1) Our dinner with students on Thursday night went well. The four of us worked together to make an American style breakfast to serve to our students for dinner. It was great to see our students get excited about eating pancakes and French toast for the first time! It was also fun to share childhood stories after the meal as we reminisced about some of our favorite holiday memories.

2) Jess and I completed the Great Wall Marathon on Saturday! The landscape was beautiful, and I probably spent more time taking pictures and shooting video than I did actually running. We ran the whole way together!

3) Newt and Claire made it safely to Langfang today and, as always, they have been a great encouragement for us.

Please continue to “think” about us:

1) We have run into opposition with English Week. A few days ago our administrators informed us that English Week would be canceled. At this late notice, all arrangements have been made, and the 17 teachers will arrive in Beijing next Friday. Unfortunately, there was a recent notice from the city authorities restricting events on college campuses in Langfang. We are obviously very disappointed with this news from the city authorities, but we are investigating other options and hoping that these restrictions can be lifted within the next couple days.

Most of all, this experience has helped us realize how much we appreciate our Authority. Our Authority, the Authority we answer to, does not change! Our Authority does not speak without acting, he does not promise without fulfilling! Like a home built on a solid foundation, we can stand strong even in the midst of any storm.

Please continue to think about the English Week team: Joe Paolella, Brian Kough, Tim Phillips, Jeffrey Guinn, Emily Guinn, Beth Rivera, Stephen Rivera, Ryan Betty, Laura Sauvain, Dana English, Bethany Thornton, Nancy Suter, Damond Lassiter, Jessica Samblee, Claire Hetrick, and Newt Hetrick.

2) As many of you already know, there was a devastating earthquake in China last Monday afternoon. Our lives have been relatively unaffected since we were about 900 miles away from the epicenter. Jess, Peter, and Shannon were all teaching at the time. Some classes were evacuated during the brief moments of mild tremors, but others did not even notice. I read about the earthquake on the Internet 15 minutes after the fact and was surprised that it had happened because it was so mild that I did not notice.

However, even though the earthquake has had a minimal affect on our lives, many others were not as lucky. As I read the daily news, I am heartbroken; we feel like we are so close to this tragedy, but there is so little that we can do. The pain and suffering is obvious in the photographs and video of Chengdu. Yet, I am reminded that this is the same pain that many of our students are experiencing for various reasons, and we are here to attend to that suffering. Please continue to remember our students as they struggle with the meaning of life in the face of this great tragedy.

Thank you for your thoughts,
Brad and Jessie

Sunday Thought’s May 11th, 2008

There’s no place like home! We have spent the past ten days traveling, and when we returned to Langfang last night, I had just enough energy to unpack, complete my daily run, and crawled into bed. It was a sweet feeling to return home, and as I fell asleep, I thought: “There’s no place like home.”

Our time in China has dramatically changed my perception of “home.” It’s strange to think that we now consider Langfang, China “home,” and yet it is not our home! This world is not our home; we are strangers in this world! How sweet it will be when we return to our true home!

Why are we grateful this week:

1) Jess’ family visited and returned to America yesterday! We spent ten days with Jess’ parents and younger brother Josh, but we missed Kristy, Karilyn, Kerri, & James. We had a great time showing them around Langfang, Beijing, and Qinhuangdao. During their stay we held an English Corner, visited the Philip Hayden Foundation, and toured the Great Wall! We also visited or friends in Qinhuangdao for an evening of their English week.

2) It has also been an exciting time for Shannon and Peter as they continue with their wedding plans. They went to Beijing on Saturday to buy some gifts and pick up Shannon’s finished wedding dress.

Please continue to “think” about us:

1) The English are coming! Langfang’s English Week is less than two weeks away, and many other campuses are either finished or in the middle of their English weeks. We will have the final English Week of the year on our campus from May 23rd to June 1st. Please remember the team coming to Langfang: Joe Paolella, Brian Kough, Tim Phillips, Jeffrey Guinn, Emily Guinn, Beth Rivera, Stephen Rivera, Ryan Betty, Laura Sauvain, Dana English, Bethany Thornton, Nancy Suter, Damond Lassiter, Jessica Samblee, Claire Hetrick, and Newt Hetrick. Chris Buda will be leading another team to a campus in Tianjin.

2) This Thursday we will invite students to an American style dinner. We did this earlier in the semester with a Mexican style dinner, and it was a tremendous success. This time we will be serving some of our favorite American breakfast foods for dinner.

3) About a week ago we were very encouraged to find out that one of our administrative advisors had asked Tony for a very special reference book! It is our hope that it will be very useful for the rest of his life.

4) Recently, we have been very concerned about a male foreigner who has recently appeared on our campus. He is not affiliated with IECS or ELT Edge, but he has been spending an increasing amount of time with some of our female students, and we are worried about his motives. He has made the trip to China to visit students at least four times this year. We are not sure how to proceed with this situation, but we are very concerned for some of our students.

5) Jess and I will be running the Great Wall Marathon this Saturday. It will be Jess’ first marathon, and I will probably run with her.

6) Our camera is still limping along. We just want it to last until we make it back to the United States in June.

Thank you for your thoughts,
Brad and Jessie

Sunday Thoughts: April 27, 2008

We have been in China for exactly 8 months today, and I am still amazed to be here! It has been a great year, and it has also been a constant lesson in “learning to let go.”

This "letting go" process started last year with the letting go of our possessions, but recently I’ve been learning to give up my life in more difficult ways. It’s easy to humble myself when it is a benefit, but it is much more difficult to humble myself when there is no reward. More specifically, it is not easy to “let go” of my pride, but as it slips from my clutches, I am finding that it is being replaced with Grace, for which I am not worthy.

We have also been studying what it means to “open our hands” as we let go of our lives. When we “open our hands” our Father tenderly removes the things we think we need in order to make room for those things that we actually need!

Why are we grateful this week?

1) The week 10 evaluation seemed to go well. I’m sure we will hear the final results this week, but from what we saw, there were no problems.

2) Jess’ parents and younger brother will be arriving in China on Thursday, and we will spend our May holiday with them.

3) We had three outdoor English Clubs, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night last week. All three went well, and other then a little wind on Tuesday the weather was not a problem.

4) Tony surprised us by visiting on Wednesday. We spent the day together, and had dinner with students after our English Club. It was a great surprise and encouragement!

5) Jess and I made it to Beijing and back on Saturday for an English Club with Tony and Lily. It was a crazy day, but the Club went well.

Please continue to “think” about us.

1) We will be making at least two more trips to the Philip Hayden Foundation before the end of the year. Please remember these children in your thoughts. These really have been great day trips for us, and our students. We are hoping to continue this next year.

2) Unfortunately, our digital camera was broken earlier this month, and it cannot be fixed properly. I was able to patch the problem with an exacto-knife and tape, so if we are lucky it will last until this summer. We would like to continue to share our adventures with everybody back home.

3) The month of May is upon us and that means there will be many English Weeks at various colleges. The different groups have finished their training and are preparing to come to China for two weeks. Please remember these teams in your thoughts. Also, remember Newt and Tony as they spend over a month traveling from college to college organizing these weeks.

4) As many of you know Lily, is pregnant. She has been doing well, but please keep her in your thoughts. Tony and Lily will be apart for most of the month because of the various English weeks.

5) As I mentioned earlier, Jess’ family will be visiting this week. Please remember their travels in your thoughts.

Thank you,
Brad & Jess

As We Disappear

I want to hide in you…So I can disappear and love is all there is to see coming out of me, and you become clear as I disappear. Bebo Norman: Disappear


Dear friends,
The past few weeks have been busy with the daily life of living and teaching in China. It is difficult to believe that we have been in China for almost 8 months, and that we will be home in less than 2 months! Each week is full of English classes and English clubs, lesson planning and summer planning and wedding planning, marathon training, dinners with kids, lunches with kids, meetings with kids, sports with kids, movies with kids, and going to the orphanage with kids. All of it keeps us on our toes! I’ll just pick out a few events for your reading pleasure:

Mark Ashbaugh’s visit (April 3-5): Mark came to visit us from Qinhuangdao (3+ hours by train) and brought a lot of encouragement and humor to the team! Mark joined us for dinner with kids, some serious ‘thinking,’ and a rousing game of Sucketash. We were sad to see him leave again on Saturday morning, but glad for the joy he brought to our team even for a short time!

Couples Night (April 10): 5 couples made Couples Night a great success! Brad & I, Peter & Shannon, Forrest & Vivian, Allie & Allen, and Bruno & Vivian enjoyed a lot of great food, and great questions about life.

Outdoor Games: The weather this week was warm (70-85 degrees F) and beautiful so we did a lot of games outdoors. I took my classes outside to play “Signs” as we studied American body language. Brad and Peter played basketball and soccer with the guys, and Shannon and I taught Frisbee to the girls and some children who joined us. Vivian and Bruno came to the orphanage with us, where the nannies took the children outside to play in the sunshine. Brad and I strolled around the campus after dark, eating ice cream and talking about life.

The Great Bicycle Adventure (April 19): Peter had a problem. He had a bicycle in Beijing, but was now living in Langfang. Trains and taxis discourage the transportation of large items like a bicycle, so after some speculation, Peter decided to ride his bicycle from Beijing to Langfang (usually 1 hour by train). After checking out the route and borrowing a helmet, Peter safely traveled 4.5 hours yesterday morning to bring his bicycle to his new home!

Wedding Dress Shopping (April 19): Shannon also had a problem. She is getting married in August and needed a wedding dress. Not wanting to wait until the last minute for this important item, Shannon had scouted out dresses on the Internet, and her twin sister Emily was going to fittings in the U.S. to try on dresses. Shannon didn’t want to miss out on this exciting experience herself, so Lily Zhang and I joined her for a day of wedding dress shopping at Beijing’s Camera City (of all places!) After a 90 minute trip to the store, we spent 2 hours looking at every shape and style of dress, and Shannon tried on her favorites. We decided to take a break for lunch to reevaluate. After some serious contemplation of the various styles and choices, we did some serious ‘thinking.’ Then we went back into the store to look one last time. On a rack we’d overlooked earlier, we found Shannon’s wedding dress. As she spun in front of the mirror, we all agreed that it was exactly what she was looking for in a gown! The girls measured Shannon and took notes on a few adjustments, and then Shannon made the down payment on the dress, which she will be able to pick up in one month. In addition to the blessing of finding her gown, it was far more affordable then any comparable gown in the U.S!

Gift Giving: We have been so blessed by the love and generosity of our friends lately! Every e-mail or snail mail encourages us with your thoughtfulness. Our Chinese friends are also so generous, often giving us much out of the little that they have. Joseph gives us American television shows and movies (on his thumb drive), Danial brought us chestnuts from her hometown, and Cassie brought us a small goldfish! Tony and Lily give us so much of their time and welcome us into their home, allowing us to sleep on their foldaway bed whenever we visit, feeding us delicious meals, and showing us around Beijing. The warmth and generosity of the Chinese people is something I hope that I can imitate for the rest of my life.

It might be easy to believe that we are too busy for rest here in China, but we’ve found that the opposite is actually true. We live very full days, but we also fall into bed early with exhaustion from our life abundant. Our daily mornings spent in quiet reflection, and our Sundays spent in rest and refreshment are nourishing to our souls. In such a close living and working atmosphere, we grow together, intentionally sharing life and love with one another and with our students. We are daily reminded that in order to bring clarity…we must disappear. In order to reveal…we must be concealed.

Thank you so much for supporting us in our work here, for loving us from the other side of the planet. We look forward with joy to seeing you again soon, so that we can tell you in so much more detail the wonders witnessed and the lessons learned during our time in China.

Disappearing,
Jessie and Brad

On a day like this I want to crawl beneath a rock, a million miles from the world, the noise, the commotion that never seems to stop.

And on a day like this I want to run away from the routine, run away from the daily grind that can suck the life right out of me. I only know of one place I can run to.

I don't want to care about earthly things, be caught up in all the lies that trick my eyes. They say it's all about me, I'm so tired of it being about me.

I want to hide in you…So I can disappear and love is all there is to see coming out of me, and you become clear as I disappear. Bebo Norman: Disappear