28

So last Saturday, 28 people came to study.

Its amazing that The Author of Life can use a bum like me to be a witness.

A little taste of heaven - people crowding and craning their necks to hear a liberating message.

- m -

Lonely Emperors

Where are all the brothers and sisters?

I can't imagine going one day without my two brothers and my sister, but in China there is only one child, only one hope for every family. All this pressure, placed on the shoulders of one "little emperor" (the name given to China's only children because how their parents and grandparents treat them like royalty).

I can't explain this social and cultural atrocity quite like NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2010/11/23/131539839/china-s-little-emperors-lucky-yet-lonely-in-life?ft=1&f=1001

On this Thanksgiving I'm thanking my Father for my family - for brothers and a sister, for cousins, for people that shape me and fill me up when I'm running on empty. Without them I'd just be a bland limp noodle of a boyish man.

- m -

Lazarus the Chicken Wrap Woman

She's back folks...

My chicken wrap lady is back. Just like Lazarus, she dead and now is alive. For 16 days (yes, I've been counting) I've walked by her empty stand on the street and shed a tear in silent tribute. But now she's back to feed two hungry gringos her scrum-diddly-upmtious chicken wraps every weekday at 11:51 AM.

She's back in her greasy glory.

Lazarus the Chicken Wrap Woman, how I've missed you.

- m -

27

27 people came to study tonight.

The doorbell didn't stop ringing.

I only made 15 copies.

We talked about Esther.

What an amazing night.

27 people.

54 eyes.

54 ears.

27 brains.

27 souls.

1 liberating message.

Tea with Mao

Its not every day that you get to have tea with Mao.

We didn’t have school this week because the kiddies are taking exams (I can’t stand the emphasis that China puts on tests – my kids in middle school and my friends at the university study and live in holy fear of tests. Intelligence is not confined to a number). So on Monday my three teacher friends: Mei, Shelly, and Brita invited me to go to Fragrant Hills Park and walk around inhaling the Fall beauty, then sip tea and study the Word.

We were sipping jasmine tea in Mao’s “Camp David.” It was his secluded retreat where he could sip tea and plot his revolution. So we sipped tea where Mao did and studied something he never did. There is nothing better than breaking down the Good News into its most basic and beautiful forms: the disease, the cure, and the treatment.

So let’s raise our tea cups to Mao – the man who wiped out all religious belief then so that people have this empty cross-shaped void in their hearts that they desperately long to fill. Filling this hollow-ness is the greatest job I’ve ever had.

- m -

Summer Palace

How do you celebrate your 23^rd birthday in Beijing, China?

Well, Matt turned 23 on Tuesday so we decided to go to the Summer Palace – the playground of the Emperors. Here are some nuggets from our unforgettable day:

I couldn’t help but giggle at some of the names of some of these buildings: Pavilion of Blessed Shade, Pavilion of Forgotten Desires and Accompanying Clouds, Pavilion of Mesmerizing Scenery, Hall of Increasing Longevity, Garden of Harmonious Interests. I was acting like our tour guide saying, “And to our left is the Pavilion of Ambidextrous Forbearance and to our right is the Pool of Intermingled Philanthropy just in front of the Corridor of Gastronomical Fortitude.”

The Summer Palace is truly awesome, but sad at the same time. All this money, beauty, labor, land, and unparalleled artistry was funneled into making one person happy. According to my “Guide to the Summer Palace” (which I bought from a woman who just picked them out of the trash) which said that Empress Cixi reconstructed the Summer Palace to its current glory by redirecting funds that were supposed to build a Navy. Protect my nation or build the sweetest vacation home this side of the Mississippi?

The crowning buildings on the grounds are temples to Buddha. It hurts me to see people bowing, lighting candles, shoving money into a box as they worship this lifeless god. I just want to grab them and tell them that salvation is free. Stop trying to please a poser god. Let me tell you a story about a Father and his lost son (the Prodigal Son is my go-to). But seeing that my Mandarin vocabulary is 92 percent food-oriented I refrain…

What better way to end an awesome day than to eat at the Kros Nest? Its the best pizza in the city and is owned by a surfer from California. Two growing boys (one of them still in puberty) and one 19 inch pizza with the works … we didn’t walk away hungry.

- m -

P.S. - To see some more pictures of our day at the Palace click on: Micah's Online Albums.

Faces...

Faces

They’re all different.

The ones I thought all looked the same.

How wrong I was.

Faces

They all tell a story.

A story I want to read.

A story they can’t help but tell.

Faces

There’s hurt in that face.

There’s joy in that one.

There’s loneliness in that hollow smile.

There’s love in those glittering eyes.

Faces

I can tell your craving something more.

Maybe, just maybe I could tell you a story.

It begins like this, “It is finished.”

The Leaves Still Fall...

I was sitting on a stool a stone’s throw away from school taking a bite of a scrumptious chicken wrap. I was so infatuated with the tastes from this lunch staple that I was floating. As I was floating in taste-bud euphoria, I noticed something else floating. A green leaf lazily wove its way through the air and landed on my table like it was sliding into second base.

A world away, the leaves still fall…

I picked it up, turned it, tilted it, sniffed it, studied its green veins and its crisp curves. It was sort of a Forrest Gump moment – but this was no feather, there was no moving music playing in the background. Just a tired woman with a stained apron to my right making another pot of jaodzi; just some students in red and white uniforms walking by, arguing over something they will soon forget; just a man in a suitcoat to my left hawking a loogie; just an English teacher who loves food and misses his family analyzing a lonely leaf.

A world away, the leaves still fall…

The other day, Matt and I are walking through the hallway and we are cornered by a posse of our brightest and most outgoing students and they excitedly hand us a gift – a dozen golden leaves from the Gingko tree decorated with Chinese characters in black marker. The leaves read, chuan (a lamb kabob that I adore) and Mi Jia (my Chinese name, literally translated: Excellent Rice). To my left smiles Matt, my brother and friend who can’t help but smile; in front of me are dark-haired students who unblinkingly worship us; to my right I see the golden Gingko tree, shimmering with a pride that rivals the sun.

A world away, the leaves still fall…

I walk by that tree every day. Its a little more naked than it was – a little less gold. A selfish gust of wind steals a few more precious leaves as the days graduate into November. I press pause in my whirlwind life and stop for once and just look at it – inhaling the moment. In front of my stands the majestic Gingko, standing tall although its golden glory is stolen and the leaves that once clothed it crunch as the tall teacher trots by in a rush to a class that starts in four minutes.

A world away, the leaves still fall…

The Crew

When you live a world away, and your family is an ocean away - you adapt.

This new world becomes your new home. Your group of friends becomes your new family.

Let me introduce my Beijing family to you: here are some factoids about FOC Beijing – a crew with sass, class, linguistic talent, and an undying love for sharing the Water parched people. Let it be known that some facts listed below are mere figments of the author’s imagination – but that only magnifies his love for them. Here they are:

JON BARE

Alias: Bare Bare, JB, J-Business, Man of the Cloth

4.7 year veteran

Jon is our fearless leader. A man who loves Jesus, experimenting with facial hair, the Chinese language, Kashmir sweaters, castles, and his bride-to-be: Kim. Bare Bare recently moved to Gotham City (just down the street from the Cloister – where Micah, Ted, and Matt live) and is getting the place ready for his mate – sort of like a papa grizzly bear getting the den ready for the female, rearranging the brambles and rocks in a cozy yet manly décor. I couldn’t ask for a better shepherd, mentor, and friend.

P.S. – Hearing Bare speak Zhong wen is like listening to a babbling brook in the Rockies, or like the London Philharmonic Orchestra, or like Barry Manilow belting out “All the Small Things.”

KIM LEMPKE

Alias: The Kim, Kimothy, Jasmine

4 year veteran

Kimothy is Bare’s bride-to-be and is busy planning a wedding a world away. Kim is a very talented camel jockey and has aspirations of pursuing her love of racing camels by bringing the sport to America. We don’t understand this dream of hers, but we applaud it nonetheless. Kim is going to be a great Mom, I know this because she is sort of like my Beijing Mom – she takes care of me.

TERRI RUST

Alias: Rust Mama, Mama Rust, Mama Rust Mama

5 year veteran

Terri is practically Chinese (her 6^th year I believe). She is a phenomenal cook (her applesauce provoked a lunar eclipse it was so good) and does a hilarious impression of an elderly Chinese Grandma slapping her back in the park. She is witty and genuine – a pretty sweet combination.

HANNAH BOUGHTON

Alias: Bonan (said with a French accent, because its French for “banana”), Hannah Baudzi

6 year veteran

Hannah speaks French, she speaks Mandarin, she runs her own school, she has run a marathon, she leads seven studies a week, she is freakily talented and super busy. I think this is her 6^th year in China so she’s practically Chinese too. Hannah is a true missionary, a true leader, and a true friend.

JOSH(UA) VICK

Alias: JV, J-Visness, J-Vizzle, The Rabbit Whisperer, The Old Testament

6 year veteran

Oh, JV – how I could type pages and pages, but alas a few scant paragraphs will have to do. JV is practically Chinese also who is never seen without his blue booties. He’s trying to set a new trend, we think it looks a bit weird but are loving and supportive of his dream to change the world. JV is the proud owner of a rabbit. His reputation as a rabbit whisperer is growing by the second. JV is also our Old Testament scholar. He is a humble, talented, and addicted to Orange drink.

THEADORE RATTEI

Alias: the Ted, Tedison, Tedisphere, Tedwick, the Skipper, Ar bei leo, The Milkman, T-time, T-magic, T-bone, T-money, T-thunder, T-tot, T-biscuit, T-jemima, T-harry, T-potter, T-fodder, T-lightning, T-lemonade, T-marmelaid, T-pro, T-major, T-general, T-colonel, T-frigid, T-waters, T-mama, T-papa, T-foo, T-helen, T-keller, T-hottie, T-button, T-mutton, T-cheddar, T-cash, T-skip, T-butter, T-plum, T-orange, T-kilowatt, T-bear, T-mobile, T-estosterone, T-pot, T-party, T-pod, etc…

2 year veteran

Ted is the man that get things done. Need something fixed, T-hammer is your man. Need some milk, T-udder is your man. Ted has transformed the Cloister into a livable and loveable abode thanks to Ikea and his Apple connections. Ted has a unique gift for rapping and defiling classic Lutheran songs – he does not hide this gift under a bushel basket. Theadore’s Mandarin skills are budding, but not as quickly as his rapping career. Ted is comic relief, technology guru, passport papa, a cooking fiend, a rapping Norwegian, a facial hair entrepreneur, and a man who knows no fear and no stranger. Without T-biscuit the Cloister, Beijing, and China would have less Apple products and less joy.

AMBER SCHLOMER

Alias: Schlom-dog-millionare

2 year veteran

Amber is probably the only FOC Beijinger who is always on time. She recently celebrated a birthday that coincided with Reformation Day (coincidence…I think not). Amber and I recently came up with the idea of a Bible Bomb – a passage that blows apart the wall that satan tries to construct in our lives. She’s currently filing for a patent.

TIM MALCHOW

Alias: The Professor, the Soviet Cucumber

8 week rookie

The Professor came to Beijing a week later than everyone else – it was like calling Babe Ruth to pinch hit, or getting MJ off the bench. The Professor can speak Russian and has an uncanny gift for accuracy with a laser (maybe that is because of his time in the “Fuscia Daggers” – Russia’s version of the Navy Seals). The Professor’s new life mantra is, “Why not?” and it is this attitude of classy recklessness that we adore.

WONG HO YI

Alias: Ruby, the Rube, Mei Mei, Rubster, Rapunzel 1, the Gem of Beijing

9 week rookie

Ruby’s Cantonese name is literally translated, “cute and brittle.” She can twist an ankle better than anyone in the Beijing family but no one is more selfless, dripping with joy, or fashionable (although JV with the blue booties comes pretty darn close). Ruby’s favorite saying is, “Yo Ma Ma” or “Ma Ma Yo.” We are still befuddled as to what this means but we just smile and giggle. Ruby is the gem of Beijing who is impossible not to love.

DANIELLE WEBER

Alias: Cruella DeVille, Rapunzel 2, Deutchland, Dani, Dirty D

9 week rookie

Dani is our video aficionado; she is the Steven Spielberg of blue collar, touristy, low-budget, homemade movies. Dani introduced our FOC Family to Antoine Dodson – a Reformation to remember “homeboy.” Dani adds class, sophistication, blondeness, boldness, and honesty to our clan.

BECCA BALGE

Alias: Beccs, Rapunzel 3, Connie Winters

9 week rookie

Becca is the Aryan representative from our group. Some might say that this would detract from her effectiveness as a witness – on the contrary people flock to her like the salmon of Capistrano. Becca is the colonel of the party planning committee, thus giving unfettered authority and security access into the unknown and secret files. Becca is the human definition of Christmas, wit, and frosting making.

MATTHEW JAMISON WERNER

Alias: Donnie Darko, Wernike, Matt,

9 week rookie

Matt is in the process of reforming his formerly polychromic ways into more of a time-fearing, watch-glancing citizen. However, this young idealistic pursuit is being thwarted by a society where 15 minutes late is considered early. Also his current bike, affectionately named, “the Piece” is even worse and more decrepit than his first bike known by all as, “Hot Sauce.” Matt’s athleticism and chiseled body combine to make him the ideal basketball evangelist. To teach and live with this man is a constant adventure because he has the uncanny gift for making something monotonous unforgettable. He is a friend worth imitating.

MICAH RICKE

Alias: the Mistress, Excellent Rice, Yo Yo Ma, Colt McCoy

9 week rookie

Micah’s dream of bringing Kramer to China is hitting a rough spot. It seems that his humor, which is hardly understood by his American compatriots is even more confusing to his Chinese friends. Micah’s Spanish skills do him no good in Beijing and his knowledge of Mandarin characters is south of pathetic – he can only read, “chuan” and “entrance.” But he hopes that with a smile and a “giddiup…” he can leave a wake in this far off land.

Chinese Reformation

On Sunday, our FOC family celebrated Reformation like true American Lutherans with German roots living in China.

We made a fortress of our favorite passages and sang Luther's ballads with gusto.

We had a potluck that boasted home made apple sauce, a frappuccino frosting (I made it way too sweet), French wine, a cornicopia of fruit, and the gem - beer boiled brats, courtesy of the Ted. It was a feast, a glorious feast that reminded me of home. Then we went outside and played catch in the yard (the courtyard). This one guy came and joined our circle, and whenever he threw the pigskin he would either throw in like a grenade or like Charleton Heston smashing the stone tablets. But the best part was that he would let out a menacing bellow every time he threw it. Whenever he threw it to me I would scream in terror and laughter.

Afterward we watched that ridiculous YouTube video of Antoine Whats-his-name saying, "Hide your kids, hide your wives, and hide your husbands too, cause they rapin everybody out here." I guess its a sensation in the US. Then we sang a little Taylor Swift, played cards, and just relaxed as a family.

Then Ruby gave me a haircut behind in the Abbey of the Cloister. I look like a blend between Lloyd Christmas and Yo Yo Ma - but at least its out of my eyes. And so ends my Nazarite vow with a Beijing twist: no scissors will touch my head until Reformation, to razor will touch my cheeks unless its the stache region, no acohol will touch my lips but the occasional beer is not frowned upon. It really wasn't much of a vow anyway.

It twas a glorious day.

- m -