Three Trips, Three Faiths

Picking up students from the airport coming to study for their MBA's at Thunderbird University has turned out to be very interesting. This week on Monday I picked up Andy, a mainland Chinese atheist. On Tuesday I picked up a young man who was Muslim. On Wednesday a Hindu. All I had was a name on a card to pick them up with but the drive to their dorms you could tell what each one was really interested in, what they were open to, and how open their hearts were.

"The God who made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17:24-27)

Divine Appointments... one out of two ain't bad, right?

http://youtu.be/MHfy6J7LEwc

One day Dezi and I went to pick up our van from being fixed and we saw this lady with hands full, dragging a bunch of moving boxes across the street. We didn’t even look at each other before Dezi was rolling down the window and I was pulling over so that we could help her. We loaded up the back of the car and took her almost a mile to her home. There. Our good deed for the day. We both felt pretty good so we stopped at the nearest Quick-Trip to get a drink. As I was coming out of the store I noticed a man sitting on the sidewalk, a little gruffy and very worn face. He asked me if I had some change and I said, “No, I use a debit card.” Then I walked away. Dezi saw the man too and asked what he wanted. It made sense to both of us since we normally don’t carry cash that we couldn’t help him. So we drove on. It’s been on my mind every since. Do we pick and choose who and how we help someone? Does God send people our way to see how far we will go to “feed the hungry, clothe the poor and needy, give drinks to those in thirst”? If it’s convenient to go to a convenience store for ourselves but not convenient on behalf of someone else, then all we have is a convenient faith.
    We are excited about the new group of Chinese students coming to study, most of them working on their M.B.A.’s. We joined a welcoming fellowship dinner for those are who are already here.  We met a young lady named “Hellen” and found out she lived in the same neighborhood when we lived in Taiwan. Always amazed at our small world. We are also picking up students from the airport and believe it is an excellent way to meet them as they first arrive. We are planning having English Bible studies on Thursday evenings and Chinese Bible studies on Fridays. Please keep these in your prayers.
    It’s been a really good transition for my mother to move in with us and it’s going well. Thank you for your prayers on this change in our family. I’ve been working on completing my Masters and took four courses in Ghana last month with only one more to go. Our lives are full and busy with kids back in school. Thank you so much for caring for us! We thank God for you daily…!!