Birthdays, May Day, and Gatherings

The end of April/Beginning of May has been filled with a lot of celebration for us here in China. May 1st is a holiday here and it is celebrated in conjunction with Labor Day. For this holiday, people got off April 29- May 1. However, they had to work the Saturday and Sunday prior in order to make up two of the three days off. So confusing! Regardless, and holiday in China is an opportunity to celebrate.

Also, our friend Beili's birthday is May 3rd and Megan's birthday is May 8th. We opted to do a big birthday celebration for the two of them and originally chose Sunday May 5th as the celebration date, which lands between the two birthdays. However, Beili told us it is "bad feng shui" to celebrate after your birthday, so we had to do it earlier. With this being said, we celebrated their birthdays with lunch out at a Japanese restaurant on Sunday April 28th.

The restaurant was a lot of fun. We enjoyed delicious fish plates and lots of sushi. We were so blessed to take part in the celebration. After our lunch, we went to Dairy Queen and had blizzards for dessert. Later that night we enjoyed lemon zest cheesecake made by the lovely Joy. We definitely got spoiled even though it was not our birthday!

Following such a great Sunday, we were invited to the house of our friends Brian and Joann for a barbecue during the holiday. They have a beautiful modern home here in Shanghai with a nice backyard including a pool. On top of that, he works for a furniture company and had awesome outdoor furniture. If the weather had not been so cold and rainy prior to the barbecue, we definitely would have been in the pool.

They generously prepared coleslaw, potato salad, and vegetable skewers as sides to a meat overload. We enjoyed steak, hamburgers, barbecue chicken, and buffalo chicken. So delicious!! This was followed up by a board game new to Justin and I called "Settlers of Canton." After a little while we were victorious with beginners luck! We have already been challenged to a rematch to test if we have skill or just luck.

The following day, we were unexpectedly invited to yet another barbecue. This was slightly different though, because it was hosted by a Singaporean family. We had beef, pork, prawns, and fish patties on the grill. There was definitely a cultural difference, but it was equally as delicious!

The best part about the barbecue was the company. We met some of the family's friends and colleagues. The father in this family works in film production for commercials and we met friends of his including a photographer and two film editors. Justin and I really enjoyed their stories of living all around the world and what they have experienced. We have plans to go to Karaoke the next time they are around. I also got to hang out with the family dog, Jay Jay, who has become a great friend of mine. A little comfort because we are unable to have a pet while here.

I also had the privilege to watch some kiddos the next day while our church staff had a dinner at the pastors house. I enjoyed time with these kiddos and was thoroughly entertained by Kenneth!

He wants to be the Hulk when he grows up and wanted to make sure you could see the wings...

I have really enjoyed the cultural exposure here in China. However, I am very thankful that I can now wear shorts without being stared at quite so much since Labor Day has passed. Bring it on warm weather!

Until we meet again,
Blythe :)

Reflections on the Holy Spirit

It has been an interesting couple of weeks for me. With the youth group, we are doing the Alpha series. This week was the session about the Holy Spirit. In preparation for this, we were asked by some of the adult leaders to choose a day this week to fast and pray for the students as a couple. When I received this email, I immediately thought about how Justin and I both have health issues that disable us from really being able to fast. I got really frustrated and just felt like I did not want to answer the email.

Nonetheless, I did and I committed Justin and I to fast and pray on Wednesday of this week. When Wednesday rolled around, I woke up and then realized that it was fasting day. I was feeling sick and really wanting to start my morning with some coffee and breakfast and I was not able to. Also, plans had rolled out for the day and Justin was set to help with a video recording which would leave me at home, not feeling well, and really wanting to eat.

Sadly enough, the day got crazy quick, I forgot to pray with Justin before he had to leave, and then I gave in to eating something anyhow. I felt like a complete failure and felt like my efforts were worthless. Justin then contacted me and told me that we were invited to a barbecue that afternoon. I was thinking, “Of all of the days, God, really?”

That afternoon, I packed up my stuff and walked to our friend’s house where they were having the barbecue, and we really enjoyed our time and the food. All the while, I felt pretty guilty for not following through with my commitment. The next day came and went, while I hustled and bustled around and we still did not pray for the youth.

However, this morning, I woke up determined that I would pray about the Holy Spirit session and how the youth would be affected and would encounter this topic. When we sat down to pray, though, I realized I had NO idea what to pray about. The topic of the Holy Spirit has split up churches and people around the globe and all of my life I have done what I can to avoid any conversation about the Holy Spirit, because I HATE conflict.

So, I prayed a bit and then just felt like I did not know what to do. I even got pretty nervous about the fact that I had to have a discussion with a small group about the Holy Spirit when I had no idea what to say. I looked over the questions for the group and thought, “well, these are not to bad…” and went on with my day.

Before I continue with my story, I will rewind a little bit. I promise, it is valuable information. I grew up in a church where it was not common to see people speaking in tongues or healing people. When I first saw this happen, I was really weirded out and did not know what was going on. It just made me very uncomfortable. I encountered it here and there in my life, but when I saw it to the extreme on TV or somewhere, I really thought that people were just acting crazy and faking it all to make themselves look good or “more holy.”

This last summer Justin and I went on our first mission trip together with our church to Guatemala. Justin had been on one other trip and I had led quite a few up until this point. I had seen many instances of miraculous healing and spiritual gifts in action and so had Justin. However, this trip was a little different.

The leader of the organization we were with judged our team from the moment she met us. Because of our outward appearance, she immediately called our spiritual maturity as a team into question. From that point forth, we were treated as though we a lower class version of Christian than she was. And just to be clear, this was not only a perception, because she even said that we were.

Because of such treatment by her, I immediately rejected advice and counseling that she tried to offer in various forms. She was adamant about “being filled with the Holy Spirit” and what that meant in her terms. Nightly there was a time that she prayed for people and it was about them being filled with the Spirit to the point that they fell out and lost control of their bodies.

Do not get me wrong, I have seen these events occur before and believe they were very real. The problem was not with the actual events, but with the motivation behind them. She used them as a way to elevate herself above us and act as though she was more holy. Because of this whole experience, I have been very resistant to any talk or actions revolving around being “filled with the Spirit.”

Going into youth this weekend, I was not sure what to expect, because I am working with a completely different group of people. I was just terrified of having a similar experience as the one we had in Guatemala. During our youth night, we watched this video. I do not think anyone has quite captured my belief about this and so clearly. I was a wonderful video to watch and felt like God was speaking directly to me.

The night ended up going incredibly and we had an awesome opportunity to pray over all of the students. It was refreshing to me as well, because I had so much fear and bitterness about the topic, which seemed to just wash away.

So many people, so little time...

Lovely friends and family,

As you know we came here for a couple of reasons, but the most important was to reach the people here for whatever period of time we could. One of the biggest realities that has hit me since being here is that there are A LOT of people here. Driving down the road, you pass by one compound after another of gigantic building housing tons of people. It is one of those things that you cannot believe until you see it.

I think the moment this became a reality to me was during Qing Ming (or Tomb Sweeping Day) at the beginning of April. Qing Ming is a way to honor those who have passed away by visiting their graves and redecorating them. It is also a time to celebrate the coming of Spring.

I was running late the day prior to the holiday and decided to take a taxi instead of a bus. When I got about a mile away from where I needed to be, traffic came to a complete stop. After waiting 15 minutes and watching the cost of my ride increase, I decided to get out and walk. There was a cemetery on the street where we were stopped and everyone was trying to get to it. This is what I saw on that walk...

As I was walking in the pedestrian lane, a car honked at me to move because it was driving in that lane. It would have taken possibly another hour to get to work if I had not walked. This is just a tiny illustration of how many people live here.

With that being said, there are so many people here that need to know about Jesus and it seems as though it would be impossible to reach them all. I made a friend named Sherry, who was my co-teacher. In the time that we were working together, she expressed to me that she is a Christian and was very excited that I am too. Since we no longer are working together, she wanted to meet with me because she misses me.

The beautiful Sherry!

I met up with her at the metro station and she decided she wanted to take me to Pizza Hut, because it is a "Western restaurant." On top of that, she had brought me a gift of some items for my home. She is just too sweet! When we arrived at the Pizza Hut, I was ready to order a pizza and some drinks, but she had something different in mind. Pizza Hut in China is like eating at a nice restaurant. You get appetizers, an entree, and dessert. It was slightly bizarre for me, but the company was fantastic. :)

While we were talking, she caught me up on everything that had happened since we last saw each other. Then, we started talking about church and doing volunteer work. She was expressing to me how she felt so bad for the poor in China and how she desperately wanted to help. She also told me that she wishes that people who know about God could teach those in China who do not know about him. She has such a sweet spirit and a sincerity about her that is beyond anything I have experienced.

After having dinner with her, I realized that I am so thankful to have met her. I want to continue my relationship with her and try to connect her with other Christians in China. I am glad that I can impact the life of one person in China who can help impact the millions here!

Please keep Sherry in your prayers when you think about us. I have so much more to share... Hope to get to all of it quickly!

Sincerely,
Blythe

A Fun Little Project, or Two...

Hello Lovely People!

Since the job situation did not work out as planned, I have been home and working out new plans for how to move forward. Justin and I have been praying consistently about what God wants us to do and how we can work within his will. I have been doing little jobs here and there to get by and we have been praying for God's provision to purchase plane tickets.

While being at home, I realized that we had quite a few spices in little baggies (how they are sold here) that were making quite a mess. I decided that I wanted spice jars, but did not want to buy any. I was not sure what to do, but the thought was brewing in my mind.

Also, Megan had purchased some jelly that appeared to be grape. In reality, it was blueberry, which was a simple mistake since everything is in Chinese. Since no one really wanted to eat it on their bread, I decided that I could find a use for it. I found a recipe for oatmeal bars that could be filled with any jelly. This is what the process involved...

They ended up being delicious and basically tasted like blueberry breakfast bars. I would not mind making the again sometime. When I finished, I was cleaning out the glass jar and then had the idea to use it for the spices.

I messaged our friends here and asked them if they had any small glass jars. They are not hard to come by here because all the jellies come in small jars as well as condiments. I made my own labels, covered them in clear packing tape, glued them on, and this was the result.

I am proud of my two little projects and how I was able to use barely any money to do them. Can't wait to see what else I can come up with!

Until I write again,

Blythe :)

Journey to Hong Kong: Another Adventure for the Books!

Greetings!

Justin and I went to Hong Kong last week, when I was off for Qing Ming (Tomb Sweeping Day). We had to go for a day to renew our visas. We were fortunate enough that our parents were able to loan us the money to go, because I would not receive a payment until the following week.

We heard a lot of great things about Hong Kong. However, most of those were about shopping and eating. We had a pretty limited budget for the trip, so we decided to find some places close to our hotel to walk around in the short time we were there. We flew in on Thursday evening and came back on Friday night.

This was a huge adventure for us because we were going somewhere we had never been, by ourselves, with a lot of travel involved. We began at about 2:30 on Thursday. We caught the bus out our back gate to get to the subway, and road it to the terminal station, which took about 30 minutes. We were then in for an hour ride on Line 2, one of the longest and most popular subway lines in Shanghai. We passed most of the major tourist attractions in voyage to the airport. After reaching Guaglan Road, we had to cross the platform and get on a second metro (still Line 2), and travel for an additional 30 minutes to the Pudong Airport.

Once we arrived at the airport, we had to check in and go through security. We had dinner in the airport and headed to our gate. We were supposed to take off at 7 pm, but we were delayed 30 min. When we went to board, we were loaded on a bus and driven out to the tarmac, where we boarded a plane on stairs. I have done this before in Honduras, but this was Justin’s first experience doing this.

Waiting for our flight at Pudong Airport

We had a 2 and a half hour flight, which was rather interesting. We traveled on a smaller and lower budget airline, which generally leads to questioning how the flight might be. In addition, I was out of motion sickness medicine, which had me concerned, since we were on a smaller plane. I did not get sick at all, thankfully. We had fun watching all the other people on the plane, crocheting, etc. We even enjoyed an end of flight exercise session led by the flight attendants. It was a rather pleasant flight.

Once we made it to the airport, we cruised through immigrations and happily walked away with just our bookbags. We were able to exchange American currency that we had with us from January and then got Airport Express passes that would take us to and from the airport. We took the Airport Express to Hong Kong Island, a 30 min trip, and got a shuttle from the Express to our hotel.

We stayed at the Empire Hotel. It was pretty nice considering the price we paid for it. We were not expecting that they would require a 500 HKD ($65 USD) deposit that evening to check in to the hotel, so we surrendered all but 100 HKD of our currency. We then walked to a McDonald’s and grabbed a quick meal just before their midnight closing time, since that was about all we could afford :).

 We slept for the night and planned out our couple of hours out the next day prior to our departure. We checked out early, retrieved our deposit, and headed in search of the nearest Starbucks (a real treat for ourselves!). We both enjoyed an Asian Dulce Latte, which you can only get on this side of the planet! We walked around and got to see what Hong Kong was like and saw quite a few familiar stores, including 7-Eleven and Circle K.

 We then made our way to Times Square to see what that was about. There was a rather large mall, and it was made to look a bit like NYC. We found a Forever 21 that carried our sizes, and each opted to buy one pair of shorts (since we have none with us) instead of having a more pricey lunch.

Soon after, we headed back to the airport, where we ate lunch. We checked in and waited for our plane. Unfortunately, after boarding, our plane was delayed for an hour due to weather. This would not be a big deal, except for the fact that we were trying to catch the metro in Shanghai before it closed for the night. We landed in Hong Kong at 8:50 pm and had to be on the first part of the metro by 9:30pm in order to cross the platform by 10pm. We literally ran to immigration and had the officers chuckling at us being in such a rush. We got on the train right at 9:30!

On the Airport Shuttle

Kinda cool city view

Finally on the Metro again!

We took the train for 90min and then decided to go to a different stop, where it would be easier to get a cab. We accidently got off at another airport and after seeing a line of 50 people waiting for cabs, decided to go to the last stop. At about 11:30 pm, we got in a cab that was just waiting there. We paid very little to get home and were so glad to finally get there.

Just another adventure to put in our book!

Until next time…

Blythe

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Hello Lovely Friends and Family,

I want to share with you about this week and what has been happening on our end of the world. As I have told you about in past posts, I got a job with Golden Kids International School. However, they encountered quite a few problems with opening and acquiring government approval for the construction of their campus. This past Monday, I was asked not to come to work and was told I would be informed of the next steps soon. I waited for almost two days to hear the decision on what was to be done.

The company decided that they would not be able to open the school until September, possibly. Therefore, they tried to offer us positions in the head office until that time. They offered me a position that was a decrease in my salary and would require nearly and hour and a half travel to and from work each day. I could do this position until the school reopened or keep it if I decided to. I told them I needed to talk to Justin about it and decide what to do.

I know that it seems that having a job is better than not having one, which is very true. However, this position would require a lot of sacrifice. One sacrifice would be a decrease in pay. Another would be spending 3 hours on public transportation daily. Thirdly, I would not be home but to eat and sleep. I would not be able to take part in any of the youth ministry activities and I would have to quit tutoring. With all of this sacrifice and a lot of factors in play, the offer was just not good enough for me.

We put together a counter offer and requested help with transportation, etc. Justin and I spent two more days praying and seeking counsel about this situation while in wait. We made very specific requests to God in prayer and asked that he make the right decision very clear to us. Today, we received a call from the company concerning their decision. They gave us three options. The told us we could stay with they original offer including a 10 RMB allowance for transportation, we could leave with an additional half months pay, or leave and get a recommendation letter. I knew in that moment that I only had one choice, because the additional 10 RMB would not help alleviate the travel at all, so we chose to leave with the pay.

To all of you out there that have been praying for us so diligently, we greatly appreciate it. We know that we are here for a purpose and that we have to seek God in all that we do. We know that with all that has happened this week, we have made the right decision, and we have incredible peace that only God can provide because of it. We are also very thankful for an incredible loving and caring community here that has supported us so much. We could not make it without them!

I will continue to seek work and do what I can to help support us. Justin has some exciting prospects on the horizon, which may be just what we need. Please keep those in your prayers as the details are worked out.

We also have to come home in July for multiple reasons. We are hoping that we can save the money to get there, because the company had promised to help get us home, which will not be happening. We have to buy tickets fairly soon in order to get them at a reasonable price. Please pray that God will provide the funds to do so.

Also, if you are willing and able to provide us financial support, please contact me at blythe.ure@gmail.com. I will arrange a time to give you a call and talk to you about how you can help. It looks like we will need $3,000.00 USD to get home in July and we will need to purchase tickets in about a month to get them at that price. This has been very unexpected and we are asking for support in whatever way you can help.

We are believing that God will work everything together for our good.

With Love,

Blythe

Feeling Like I am in a Valley...

Hello out there,

I hope everyone is doing well as we move forward from the Winter and into Spring. It seems that Shanghai is beginning to develop some color for the new season and the sun is peeking through the dreariness that has clouded us for a while. Nonetheless, the last week or so has left me feeling a bit weak and weary.

Last Monday, I was very sick with what I think was a sinus infection. My brain was clouded, my nose was stuffed,  and even a little movement resulted in a headache. I decided to call in sick to work, because I could barely even talk, much less teach. On my day home sick, a series of unfortunate events unfolded. Sunday night, we had a lovely dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread (which we have dearly missed!). However, when we went to do dishes, we discovered that the faucet was no longer attached to the rest of the piping. This resulted in the kitchen floor flooding and a ridiculous pile of dirty dishes. So, the next morning, while I was home sick, we exhausted our small supply of towels and still had a soaked floor. Our only solution was to close the kitchen doors and block the water with the already drenched towels.

Notice the towels and the bowls trying to contain the water...

I then made a quite pathetic and frantic call to our friend Beili (mind you, I had no voice), explaining that we had to have this repaired and now. We have had quite a few problems getting repairs done in our apartment, so we could not let this go, like everything else. The repair man from our complex came pretty quickly and turned off the water and told us we needed to go purchase a new faucet so he could replace it and left. Within a couple of hours, the faucet was replaced and the water turned back on. However, we now turn the knob right for hot and left for cold. We know we could fix this, but we would take the risk of breaking something else in the process.

We still have some other lingering problems in our apartment. A washer that floods the floor when we do laundry, no lock on the back door, and a hot water heater that has to be reset at least once a day. Justin and I also have a major leak in our room, which we found out is a problem for the whole first floor in our building. It was not treated properly when it was first built and the result is a rather soggy and mildewy wall. After a long discussion with our friend, and bypassing the agent (who we found out was not passing information on to the landlord) we are hoping to have these repairs done without too much more frustration. Each item in itself is manageable, but altogether, they are rather overwhelming.

A small portion of the wet wall

The water seeping in through our window

 Later in the week, after my illness subsided,  I encountered some difficulties at the school. The main difficulty was lack of communication between myself and everyone else. After I came back to school, I was told that I would need to make up my sick day, which did not coincide with my contract, so I had to set that straight. Then on Wednesday, the principal had a meeting with someone from head office and it resulted in a lot of third hand information. I was told that the principal was quitting, the other teachers were leaving, and the principal who came in to assist with marketing was taking over (even though she has her own school). This was all passed to me through a series of three people, so I had no idea what was really the truth.

The next day our principal did not come to school, and showed up later to collect her things. The second principal left halfway through the day and we were dismissed early by a very angry principal who was leaving. We were told that the one student would be asked to leave until the school was ready. When I arrived Friday morning, we had no principal at all and were told we would need to tell the mother of our student that he could not come on Monday.

Thankfully, I had a Skype call with my supervisor that afternoon, and was able to get some clarification. She notified me that our school is not able to recruit students, because we do not have the appropriate license. To get the appropriate license, we must build a playground for the students. A playground area is ready, but we have been unable to build the playground, because we have to get the permission of the community. However, there is no community leader, so we do not know who to get permission from. The solution: Close the school temporarily and pass out papers to the whole neighborhood asking for permission. Whew! I was told I might be working from home in the next week or so, in order for this task to be accomplished.

I went home for the weekend and incurred terrible neck and shoulder pain to the point that I could barely sleep or move. I tried to deal with it the best I could and hoped it would go away, but it did not. I eventually made a pleading call to my friend to see if she could take me somewhere for a cheap massage. I am so thankful that she did, even though she was hosting guests. The next day, I felt much better.

This week at work has been interesting. I have not been working from home, and the student has still been coming to the school because the mom just leaves him. However, this is causing problems for us, because when inspections are being done, they want to fine us for having students on campus without a license. On top of that, work that I have done to decorate my classroom, has to be undone, which is very frustrating. I am not sure what to do while at work, so I just wait. Thankfully, there is a holiday this week, so after today, I am off until Monday. Below you will find pictures of the neighborhood, the school, and my class.

Current building we are using

Second building in progress

The road where we are located

Compound surrounding school, mostly international

Wishing there was a die cut

 

Morning circle, all handmade and individually cut out!

As you can see, progress is being made. Unfortunately, we are now at a stand still. For me this is very challenging, because I highly value productivity. When I ask what the next step will be, the principal responds with, "I don't know." I was also very excited at the prospect of students and being able to teach, and I now feel stuck.  I need a lot of prayer, we need a lot of prayer, so that we do not get discouraged in this. Please keep us in your prayers.

Sincerely,

Blythe