Sunday we had a great number of first-time visitors – a few students showed up from the English classes that Ashley started last week, and some other regular attenders brought some friends for the first time. In light of the earthquake a couple weeks ago, we took a break from Philippians and I preached on John 11, Jesus at a tragedy. We also took up a special offering for the victims of the earthquake. Really good offering, actually – about 1400 kuai, which is around 200 bucks. For some perspective, the average student is probably living on about 6 or 700 kuai a month.
The night wasn’t as depressing as it probably sounds. T.’s birthday is on Wednesday, and my wife’s birthday was Monday, so the students planned a surprise celebration for them in between the services. Really thoughtful of them. My wife really does an awesome job discipling the girls here, and many of them feel very close to her. Yesterday, on her birthday, they wanted us to come over to the church building and cook dinner for her (and by extension, me). Probably about 14 or so of our closest friends came and just about everyone cooked one dish. Seems everyone knows how to make at least one thing well, so by the time we ate, we had a real feast on the table. My taste buds are definitely adjusting – I smashed that food (which speaks to a growing ability with chopsticks, too – it’s not easy to “smash” food without a fork).
Anyway, my wife’s birthday was a great reminder of how blessed we’ve been in the past year. Last birthday, we had just arrived in China, and we celebrated her birthday in an empty house (literally – we didn’t have furniture yet). This year we got to enjoy her birthday with some wonderful friends that the Lord has given to us.
The Gospel in China 
Praise God for His goodness to you. I am so very proud of both of you and God has done some amazing things over this past year. We should all be very grateful and praising HIm.
Please tell Stephanie that we love her and wish her great blessings this week. Keep up the good work