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My year in China

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by asterisktom, Jul 1, 2013.

  1. asterisktom

    asterisktom Well-Known Member
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    This is cross-posted to this forum.

    I have returned from a year of teaching English in the Northeast of Mainland China (But they call it the East-North! (东北)

    I don't have one place where I have written about my time in China, but I do have a link to many pictures from there. Two in particular might be of interest to some here. My best of China series:
    www.flickr.com/photos/asterisktom/sets/72157629254045523/

    and my Teaching in China set:
    www.flickr.com/photos/asterisktom/sets/72157629254045523/

    Unfortunately, Flickr has revamped their interface where it is much harder to find what I want there.

    Also I have this Youtube video where my college students gave me a very touching and heartfelt gift - a song:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1UYB6M17lU

    This is one of the classes where I have had the opportunity of letting it be known I was a Christian. In fact I have had a number of witnessing opportunities. Some Chinese are quite open to the Gospel. A lot of them, however, are so dazzled by the still-new pageant of gadgetry, entertainment and relative prosperity that they don't feel the need for the Bible message.

    Hank wrote:
    When my wife bought dog for food I was prepared to not eat any. Then I said I would just try it. But, surprisingly, it was very good. It was like tender beef. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat dog, but I no longer have the aversion - just a cultural thing, after all. Cows also have cute brown eyes.
    You see that a lot there. And also a lot of hem are misspelled. One girl had a shirt with ICKY MOUSE on the front.
    This was in my apartment, but yes, we did carry our Bibles to church. We went to an English-preaching Baptist church. It had a mix of roughly half Westerners (Americans/Canadians/Aussies/Brits) and half Chinese. Also a few Africans, Indians, etc. The pastor was Chinese, but (unfortunately, IMO) schooled in the Hyles-Anderson KJV-only tradition.
    I am not sure which picture you are referencing. I have pics of both Buddhas and Confucius. Probably some others too.

    BTW, I have already signed a contract for another stint in China, this time in Dalian. This is also in the Dongbei, the North-East. But it is a port city. More connected to other cities than Jilin was. I start teaching at the Dalian University of Finance and Economics in either the end of August or early September.
     
  2. HankD

    HankD Well-Known Member
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    Fantastic!
    Thanks for the update.
    BTY, Just this Sunday at the Church BBQ I had dog (hot dog) :)
    God-speed Tom.

    HankD
     
  3. asterisktom

    asterisktom Well-Known Member
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    Thanks, Hank. Prayer is always appreciated.

    I dislike the new arrangement that Flickr does. It is so hard to wade through the school pictures. One might get the impression that most of my time was teaching younger kids. But that isn't the case. Only the first few months did I have to do that. Later on I was given assignments that I believe were better suited for me, High school through adult.

    To show some of these older students I made this separate set:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/asterisktom/sets/72157634439419420/

    BTW, the pretty lady (the Western one!) in the third picture is my wife!

    This is where I got most of my satisfaction as a teacher. There was a greater challenge here, as you might imagine. I am glad that my next assignment should all be college age.
     
    #3 asterisktom, Jul 1, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 1, 2013
  4. Iconoclast

    Iconoclast Well-Known Member
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    Thanks for posting these images....it helps expand the mind and understand God's worldwide purpose. Thank You.
     
  5. kyredneck

    kyredneck Well-Known Member
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    Cool! Thanks! I browsed the pics, want to check out the vids when I get more time.

    Dog. A friend spent time in the Philippines as a Wycliffe translator; he learned to not even ask what it was that was being served, just give thanks for it and go on.
     
  6. asterisktom

    asterisktom Well-Known Member
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    Thanks for all the comments, guys. I added this set also, Christianity in China. Right now it just has some short video segments from our hotel TV in Beijing about a house church in rural China. But eventually I will add other pictures and videos.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/asterisktom/sets/72157634448256340/

    Of course, these clips are from national programming. The attitude concerning Christianity is relaxing more and more, but it is occasionally conflicted. In the city where we live, Jilin, there was a city-wide crackdown on house churches as recently as 2005. But most of the targets were the Falun Gong congregations.
     
  7. Tom Bryant

    Tom Bryant Well-Known Member

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    Great to read about this. A staff member left last July for China with ELIC. He taught in Suping. This next year he will be teaching in Tibet. He loves how God is working thru him and his family.
     
  8. HankD

    HankD Well-Known Member
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    What a responsibility Tom.

    I'm praying for you and your wife.

    HankD
     
  9. asterisktom

    asterisktom Well-Known Member
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    Thanks, Tom and Hank, for the feedback and prayer. We live in such interesting times. There are many open doors. I wish I was younger and had more time and opportunity. But I guess a lot of us wish that.

    I believe many Christians are still not taking advantage of today's networking possibilities. A lot can be done under the radar (or around it).

    As I have time, I plan to finally write my blog on China. I had already started it months ago, but got distracted. I need to have it finished before I go back to China because Wordpress is blocked there. The site, largely empty, is here:
    http://thirteenmonthsinchina.wordpress.com/
     
  10. Tom Bryant

    Tom Bryant Well-Known Member

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    Looking forward to reading it!
     
  11. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    Thank you for posting your experiences in China. I have been in many foreign lands, but while in the service, China did not even have formal relations with the United States. It sounds like a very rewarding experience.
     
  12. asterisktom

    asterisktom Well-Known Member
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    Yes, it is a rewarding experience. We are looking forward to returning in about 6 to 8 weeks.

    Before we leave I hope to have the trip reports from our last time posted. They can be found here:
    http://thirteenmonthsinchina.wordpress.com/

    I am not very familiar with Wordpress, so the postings are not very in-depth. Hopefully I will learn as I go. I plan to first do a quick run-through of the different months, and then have posts on separate themes.
     
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