CELEBRATIONS

We have been on-the-go and chalked full of busyness the last few days! But it has certainly been incredible beyond a doubt.

Two nights ago we had the first of three parties for our readers and their friends. We had over 40 people come out for our party! This is an incredible turn out--especially because a decent amount of them were friends of our readers. This means, we have added even more readers to our list! God is good!

In order to prepare for the party, Mitch R.; Julie; and Mitch C. went with one of our readers, also named Julie, to the Open Air Market to get fruit. While we were there selecting massive amounts of fruit to serve at our party, there was an old lady that was following Mitchell Roush around the entire time. Eventually, Chinese Julie asked him if he knew what the old lady was saying to him. Naturally he didn't. She then informed him that the old lady thought that Mitchell R. was very handsome. The old lady then smiled very big with her very nasty teeth showing and gave him a thumbs up. Mitch quickly responded with thank you in Chinese and proceeded to walk away.

Throughout the party we had many stations of games taught by the team: spoons, ballyhoo, jenga, and uno. These games were more than a hit--the Chinese students were excited to be a part of learning these new games. We are very grateful to God for the overwhelming success of the party. What makes these so important is the fact that it is one of the few opportunities to minister to everyone and have fun with them as we strengthen our relationships with them all at the same time. We are eagerly awaiting our next party for some more epic moments with our huge amount of readers.

Following the party was our day off: a.k.a. Our day of exploration. We had Sui and Caleb, two of our readers, take us to Xiamen and Gu Long Yu Island. All you need to know is that Gu Long Yu is considered to be the most beautiful island in all of China. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Worry not, we took massive amounts of pictures. Be sure to hit us up when we get back to the states to see the amazing scenery from Gu Long Yu. Another positive thing that took place while we were there was that we met up with our friend from last year's visit, Champion. It was so good to see him again and spend time joking around with him and praying along side with our friend. And he still says his famous catch-phrase: "Nothing special!" It did us very good to spend time with Champion again.

The exotic food experience has certainly not slowed down at all. We have enjoyed incredible amounts of food, with many of it being things we have tried for the first time.
* Snail
* Abalone
* Whole Fish
* Many others!

Our readers are still coming in full force and providing us with excellent opportunities to be used by the Spirit. We have a few that are becoming really excited about reading the Bible on their own and starting to pray to God now. Some are still very cautious about the whole God thing. Others are already Christians and asking us questions about how to get involved in ministry. Needless to say, we have many aspects of the day in which we are all over the spectrum with thoughts, passions, questions, and discussions. However, we couldn't be happier with what is going on here in Jimei and what a rare and glorious opportunity we have to be a part of this mission. Thank you for joining us on it! We plead that you continue to pray for our endurance, patience, and ability to get out of the way of the Spirit moving and working on hearts here in Jimei. We love you all!

~ Grace and Peace be with you