May the seeds blossom…

At the last minute our motel reservations had to be switched  to a new place and the rooming situation had to be rearranged. It meant that Fred and I would not be together but we roomed with the students.  I was with a girl from Hong Kong and a girl from Iran.  As we got ready for bed the Iranian girl pulled out her prayer rug and compass to make sure she was praying in the right direction. After she prayed, she hopped up on the bed to chat with me asking me questions of whether Christians pray.  I was able to tell her that yes, yes, we pray and not just at special times but all day long… that it is a relationship with God and I speak to Him often.  She was so open and eager to understand.  Later on after hearing of the death of a grandfather of a student, she asked me if Christians believe in the after -life.  I was able to share with her how I did not have a fear of death as Jesus has given me a hope and assurance of heaven because of Jesus.

On the other side of me was my new friend from Hong Kong.  She has been attending a Bible study and was so excited about all that she was learning about God.  She openly told me of challenges that she was having.  Her friend back home had told her about how God can answer prayer and she was so amazed by that.  We ended our night be praying together wanting them to see how real God can be.

We have come to love these students and desire that they would love our Lord and know of His depth of love for them.  Pray that these seeds will not be snatched away… but blossom .  May Spring time remind you to pray for them.

Arranging a spring break trip for nearly 30 people is hard enough, but then the hotel CANCELS on us four days before! Due to renovations!!

How great that God DOES NOT CANCEL on us, and heaven needs no renovation!

Please pray for our spring break outreach trip this week. I could say pray for safety, good conversations, and a good time, but let me defer to Acts 4, what the first Christians prayed for in a time of persecution:

Lord, help us be courageous in boldly speaking the word!

Pray for the 8 adult leaders and the lone two Christian students. Pray that we might go deeper in our friendships, and start Bible studies, and that souls will be thirsty.

To see the trip details, see  www.fredandmarykay.org, look on the bottom left side for Events, then select the Spring Break Charleston SC trip.

You can even see who is going and pick someone to pray for! Send us an email, and we can give more specific details. We want to carry you there in our hearts!

As well as our presence being in your prayers.

Together with Christ,

Fred and Mary Kay

PS: We did find an even better hotel, after much prayer!

At our Christmas party we trained nonChristians in how to sing Christmas Carols, and then we sent them out next door. If there aren’t enough Christians singing His praises, then let’s train the nonChristians!

We had to stop on the second song. “Let every heart prepare him room.” “WHO is the person it is talking about?” came the question. After sharing more about what it means to have Jesus in your heart, we continued. We all really enjoyed the songs, the Christmas story video, and the reason for the season. 

Want to listen to us? Maybe not a good idea.

Wait!

That was not quite what I expected when I started to pray over the food! Our new friend, Chen, had just started reading the Bible with the story of Matthew, and I had just helped her understand it, and also review her English paper. To say thanks, she treated me out to lunch. We had just sat down and she was about to dig in. I never ask preChristians to pray, but sometimes I do pray aloud with them. So I mentioned something about giving thanks.

With a heart of gratitude she began to thank me before the meal! I quickly stopped her.

“No, I mean, let’s give thanks to God.”
“How” she wondered.

“Thank you God for this wonderful food and our time together learning about Jesus. Amen”

When I looked up I saw that she was still looking down; so I added something like “I’m done now.”

“OK,” she responded. “Can I give thanks too?”

Surprised, I said yes and she bowed her head like I had done and she started her own prayer. It was longer than mine and oh so sincere and fresh.

I was completely blessed by it.

And a big THANK YOU to you for letting me a part of it. We depend on the prayers and finances of our supporters in order to have time to love these people. Without finances, we would have no quality time, because quality time requires quantity time. And without prayers, we would not be effective.

May God Bless You!

“During your year in the USA, what has been the biggest or most important thing you have learned about Jesus or Christianity?”

Our friend was returning to China and her answer surprised us.

“Your love is the biggest thing I learned about Christianity.” She continued that I had given up my computer programmer salary, but she was really thanking YOU, our financial and prayer supporters, that make it possible for us to be here. Without you, we would not have the time to be with students nearly every day.

Another student wrote similarly

Dear Mary Kay,

Thank you for being such a dear friend and for taking me so many times to be in company of your wonderful family. Thank you for the in-depth Bible studies and the immense kindness with me as an international (lost!) student.

You and  your family have the beauty of thox upon whom the light of God shines.

Love and Peace

So we pass the thanks on to you!!