LCMS World Mission Blog

“The students at the Concordia English Center are now at a point where they are comfortable with us to ask personal faith questions. Praise the Lord! Through the strengthening of our friendships we are able to witness to them in a variety of ways. The value of our words and testimonies had also increased with them. It is so encouraging to see the changes in their actions and questions. The Holy Spirit is present in every class and conversation. The strength of the Holy Spirit is a powerful one.

“This past week, we had an 11-person team visit us from the St. Louis, Mo., area. Along with their can-do attitude, they brought tons of teaching resources and Easter
decorations. It is always great to have a little bit of home here in Macau. Since two of the team members are pastors, they led us in English worship on Sunday. I hope I never take English worship for granted again. My co-workers and I look forward to it with giddy excitement. Thank you Pastor Al and Pastor Ron for a wonderful service! Each time a team comes, we hold a couple of social events for our students. This time, we focused on Easter. We taught them how to dye eggs, to do the bunny hop, and of course, shared with them about the ultimate gift God has given us through Jesus’ death. We had more than 100 people attend out events. This was, by far, the largest social event the Center had besides Christmas. Praise the Lord!

“It is events like this that make you stop and stare in awe of the glory of God. It was perfect timing for such a celebration, due to the coming Chinese festival, Qing Ming. Qing Ming is a time of reflection on the deaths of their ancestors. People are required to sweep the graves of their family members that have passed on. As well as, make sacrifices and offerings for the dead. It is a very solemn festival, where the actions are done in total silence. In general, the Chinese do not talk about death. They see death as the end of life instead of the beginning. It is my ongoing goal to share with my students the awesome joy that was given to us in Jesus’ death on the cross. I think the event did just that. It helped shine light on the truth and made them question their beliefs. I pray that we all will take the time to praise God with great joy this Easter season.”