Day 76-78 - March 22nd - 24th

The last couple of days have been pretty eventful. On Saturday I worked on my homework in the morning. In the afternoon the three of us went out with Tom and Grace. We took the bus and subway over to the center of the city. In the afternoon we biked around and through the old villages which are known as hutongs. It cost about 10 kuai to rent a bike for the afternoon. That probably somewhat explains why I had to go back and get a new bike - my pedal fell off! Biking in the little alleyways was pretty eventful. We always had to be aware of our surroundings as dogs, wagons and people ducked and dodged through the narrow streets. After our biking adventure we headed over to Wong Fu Jing where we grabbed dinner in an underground street market.

On Sunday we walked over to BICF for the nine thirty service. For some reason I couldn't really focus during the service. Tom and I had a pretty intense theological discussion and I was caught up thinking about it during the service. After the service I looked around at some wonderful art. BICF was hosting the largest Christian local art gallery. Some of the paintings (or rather most of them) were fantastic! Once we were back from BICF we spent most of our time relaxing. On Sundary afternoon we did have an unexpected visitor to our flat. A man with a badge was looking and inquiry into our stay. An interesting experience none-the-less.

On Monday I headed over to the gym at 9am. Once I got back I worked on my Mandarin while getting caught up with my emails. We had to head over to the school a little earlier because Carmen wanted to have a meeting with us and plan out our schedule for the rest of our stay. After class we came back to the flat and cooked dinner. I needed to find a quiet place to study so I headed over to KFC where I prepared my outline for a paper. Before heading home I stopped by to see my friends from hot pot. Once again there were many moments of confusion but also great laughter. At one point the manager asked me a question about the resurrection. I couldn't make out what she was saying. It was a close call when a guy sitting by told me he spoke English. He asked if I needed him to translate but I assured him that everything was ok. Shortly after I headed back to the flat. On my way up the elevator I ran into an overly curious man. Please keep us in your prayers. The manager of the hotpot had given me a piece of paper with some Chinese on it. Once I found it that she was talking about the resurrection I was again overwhelmed with excitment and thanks. I got in touch with Mike (who was at the gym with Tom) and told him that the manager was trying to ask me a question about the resurrection. We ended up heading back over to see them. The store was closing so we ended up walking with our friends back towards our home. On the way home, the manager was talking to Mike about the resurrection. She has been reading the book of John and she is confused and has a lot of questions. She said she mentioned the stories of John to her boyfriend but he insisted that it is just some other fairytale. Please pray for Yi Bo boyfriend too. With that being said, we ended up going out for tea with the manager and the cashier. We talked for about an hour or so. Up until tonight, the cashier had no idea about the gospel. Pray for our friends. When I called Tom and Grace to tell them what we were doing Tom seemed a little concerned. But after sharing and talking with him back at the flat he was so encouraged and excited. Early in the day Tom had met a lady of faith at a clothing shop where he had the opportunity to talk with her for a half-hour or so. Tom also shared a story about his friend, who had encouraged a man who worked at a massage parlor to share his faith with the other workers. Today the whole massage parlor believe in my Father and are seeking to share and tell about this truth. These stories are truly amazing. I am so thankful to be part of the journey. Another day in Him