Life is good, the weather is warm, and we are seeing God work!  We have seen several  Chinese Christians come out of the shadows recently.  I'm working with one Chinese girl to encourage her and teach her about God, the Bible, and Jesus.  Another knows the stories and knows the logistics of Christianity, even wants us Christians to pray for her, but has refused to make a personal decision.  I'm learning how to just love these girls with Jesus' love.  I'm learning how to trust God to work, that the Holy Spirit will change their hearts and convict them, not me!

I mentioned a known congregation of Christians.  I've since learned of 4 more.  The first congregation started three of these.  From these groups come a few stories.

A common practice among many people is friendship drinks, including the Dong.  In the villages, the men will get together in the evening and drink to friendship.  The problem is that these friendship drinks are hard liquor, I guess it makes making friends much easier.  The Christian men decided that they wouldn't drink these friendship drinks, but that has made hanging out with friends much more difficult.  "You drank them before, why not now?  Are you not my friend?  Are you too weak/scared?"

I can only imagine the questions and the criticism that these men get.  So far, they have held fast and God has honored them, their church is growing, but this can't be easy.

Pray for these men.  They are the leaders of their church and it is growing and more meeting points are being created.  Pray that they will be strong in the Lord, seeking his face and his favor.  Pray that their witness will be strong and that because of their witness others will enter the Kingdom of God.