A Van from Cape

God is working!

Pat was able to get us a van to take us to Lambert on the 28th. We will leave from the BSU house at 5:45 that morning. Bring a pillow if you want to sleep on the way up.
If you need a place ot stay the night before let me know and we can work that out (Justin). There will be some parking at the BSU but if your family can drive you over it would be better to not leave a car at the BSU.

We have seating for the flights so I am posting it in case you want to go to NWA.com to check out the aircraft and flights


Seat assignment for June 28th travel to China


St Louis to Detroit NW Flight # 1680 DC 9
Seats 11A/11B/12A/12B/16A/16B/17A/17B
Detroit to Tokyo NW Flight # 11 Boeing 747 400 (sweet ride)
Seats 54A/54B/55A/55B/57A/57B/58A/58B
Tokyo to Beijing NW Flight # ? Airbus A330-200
Seats 41A/41B/42A/42B/39A/39B/40C/40D

The travel agent will send return flight info after April 19.
NW Airlines only allows seats to be reserved 90 days out.

Hope this helps.

Notebooks and Tickets

Just wanted you to know that I appreciated the time spent with the team last night. Seems like we took giant steps last night giving out notebooks and giving the times for our flights (Can you believe we are only 2 months away?)

Here are several things that I wanted to give you so that you have info.

1. Classroom preparation The notebooks give you resources but you still have to develop lessons and decide on activities you will use. Don't let the trip sneak up on you. Begin to review the info and make some choices about what you want to teach and how now. That wil lgive you time to look for supplies if needed and other things to make hte lessons more enjoyable to you and the students.

2. Flight Schedule Please communicate with your families the following
a. We leave Wendesday June 28th at 9:55 AM from Lambert in St Louis.
b. If you are riding with us from Cape you will need to be at the BSU at 5:45 AM
c. If you are meeting us at Lambert let me know that and plan to be there by 8:15 AM
d. We fly out on Norhtwest Airlines Flight # 1600
e. We return on July 18th at 3:54 PM NW Flight # 1679

3. Next meeting Saturday 1 PM at China Palace on Broadway across from Sonic.
We will be eating with chop sticks (Quaids) and learning from John about Chinese customs.
This will be a time of fellowship and laughter so everyone be there if at all possible.

4. Prayer Please remember the following
a. Connections in Beijing I am grateful for Doris! She is incredible!
b. Open doors into people's hearts. We have open doors into their lives but the heart is
only something God can open.
c. For our team. Everyone has uncertain moments about what will happen so we know
how to prayer for each other. So life each other up.

Take a moment to post comments on the blog either as responses or separate posts. This is a great way for us to share hearts and encourage each other.

bob

ESL Lesson Resources

I spent some tie checking out sites for ESL Lessons and games to gather ideas for lessons for our trip. Here are a couple of ones I foundthat have great FREE resources. The ESL Cafe , Purdue University's ESL site, The English Club and About.com. Check out the sites by clicking on the links posted on our blog.

For next Tuesday night please bring at least one lesson you found that you think would be good to teach and one game or activty from these or other sites.

Expect Great things from God! Colossians 4:2-6
Bob

The Door is Open Wide and We Are Going Through!

Last night was a great time just hanging out and sharing with everyone about why we are going to China. It was cool to listen to each one share how God has lead them to serve this summer in China. With that in mind we all agreed to commit to going an extra week so we can accept the offer to teach in a second city this summer. The school will pick up the cost of hotels and meals so it won't add to our overall costs for the trip. That is so God!

The way this has unfolded right in front of us has been incredible to watch. I never would have dreamed we would one day have two cities open to us coming to teach and share with them the things we hold closest to us. Jesus rocks!

As it stands right now we will leave June 28th and return July 18. Today I confirmed with a travel agent our plans and we have tickets for our group. The cost will be $1023 per ticket which is only $63 more than last year. The agent said we will not have to pay for these tickets until May 28 and she will continue to look for cheaper tickets. That is so cool because most tickets for other trips have been running several hundred dollars more than last year this time.

We talked last night about packing for the trip. Each of us will be allowed one suitcase (up to 44 lbs) and one carry on. You will want to find light weight clothing (no cottons) because it will be 95 - 100 degrees with no A/C in the classrooms.

We also talked about lesson plans. Everyone is to spend 1 hour on the internet searching sites for ESL lessons we could use and send me the info by next Tuesday. I will be compiling a list and giving out some lesson resources late next week. Then we will begin at our next meeting Tuesday March 7 to discuss ways to teach one or more lesson. We will be in the classroom 5 hours a day so it will take a number of lessons for us to do week long camps.

Please pray for this new opportunity and give thanks for the open doors God is placing in front of us. He is answering prayers Colossians 4:2-6.
Also pray for finances and the return of passports. Philippians 4:19 is so true. Let's hold it up before God and ask him to meet the needs we have as a team.

Can't wait to see what God will do next!

Prayers and Wisdom Needed

This week I received a call from Doris and she gave me more info on the opportunity to do a second camp this summer.
For those who were not at our meeting last week we have been asked to consider doing a second week of camp in another city. This is a totally God thing since we were not even expecting this door to open to us.
The school wants us to come for 10 days (impossible this year). They know via Doris that we are Christians and are open to us coming and even sharing with students. (Is that not amazing?) They are willing to cover our expenses if we can come for at least 5 days to do the camp.

So here is the deal
1. We are praying for wisdom about what to do
a. Rearrange our travel and time in China so we can give them 5 days for a camp (they wanted 10)
b. decline but make contacts for the possibility of next year
c. Do a short camp (3 days) Doris is asking them about this.
d. Extend our time in China by a few days either on the front end or the back so we can do a 5 day camp.
Next week we will be meeting to discuss this so please be in prayer over this.
We will also be discussing ideas for lessons you want to teach next summer. So bring your ideas for that conversation. If you did not get hte handout of last years lessons I have them at my office.
Money is starting to come in for many in the group. That is cool to see.
Pray for passports ot come back to those who have ordered them as fast as possible. We can not order tickets until everyone has a passport number.

It is way cool to watch God work out the details and open doors for us. Please hold up Colossians 4:2-6 for our trip.

A New Door is Opening

Hey, just wanted to let everyone know that God is opening some new doors for us in China this summer. We have an opportunity to go to another city to teach. Please pray for wisdom about what we should do in response ot this invitation. This could be an opportunity to expand our influence for the next few years and send a second team beginning next year.

We are begining to see money come in for team members. Please pray for God to continue to allow us to find favor and funding for the trip.

Prayers are needed for those who have applied for passports. Until the passports come back we can not order our tickets. The longer this takes the higher the cost of the tickets.

Check out the blog. We have many links for useful info about China and Christianity in that country.

I am always amazed at God's graciousness. To think He would allow us to be part of what He is doing both here and in China. Wow!