11 Dec Front Row at 50th Macau Grand Prix

Jennifer Blandin, a fulltime UB missionary in Macau, sent the following on November 23.

This year marked the 50th year of car racing in Macau. Where do they race cars in such a small place like Macau? That would be on the streets of Macau! While it brings a lot of visitors from around the world to watch the Formula One motorcycles and Formula Three racing cars, it creates havoc for the locals! Macau’s traffic jams get more jammed in November, but I guess that is part of the tradition!

Jana, her sister Cindy, and I took the opportunity to go to one of the time trials. It was exciting to see the cars speed by and we took lots of digital pictures. But after one hour, my ears said it was time to go! I think I ‘heard’ that experience for the rest of the day!

7-Year Stretch! In baseball, the seventh inning stretch is when you stand up and stretch because you’ve been sitting in those hard seats for so long that you no longer feel your toes. It’s a tradition, but also a warm welcome because you’ve been a faithful fan to sit for that long and cheer on your team.

After a person has lived in Macau for seven years, a foreigner goes from being a “temporary” resident to a “permanent” resident. Somehow the time has snuck up on me–I just received my permanent residency card. Amazing how the time flies! I remember when I first agreed to come to Macau, I thought it would be for just three years. Guess God knew better to bait me and then hook me into seeing that His timeframe for me in Macau was longer than three years. Once again God’s plan are far greater than ours, and for that I’m grateful!

Victories. For the past few months a teenage guy, Ziv (don’t know where he got that English name), has been attending Living Word Church with his friends Edwin and Michael. At the beginning of this month there was an evangelistic meeting that Ziv and Edwin attended. During that meeting, Ziv accepted Christ into his life! We’ve got a new brother in Christ!

Today at Living Water Church was a baptismal service. Ken and Gloria, Maggie, and Fong Fong (a woman) took the public profession of faith. During the service, they each shared their testimony and how God had been working in their lives. Some of their non-Christian friends and family were in attendance and heard what they were saying. What a witness! Each shared about ways that life’s difficulties haven√¢t disappeared, but that now they know that they are not alone! God is right their with them. It was an amazing service!

This Christmas we will hold a Christmas party at the Taipa English Center. We are making final plans and hope it will be a special time with the people we know from our English classes and Bible studies.

Please continue to lift both Jana and I up in your prayers. We are still seeking God√¢s direction as to what direction to take the work here in Macau. There have been additional pressures that have come up as well. I have appreciated the words of encouragement that have been received. They have been a true blessing.