Wednesday, June 17, 2009


Well, It has been forever since I have posted anything. We arrived in Grass Valley, CA 2 weeks ago. A little bit of culture shock. We learned alot about the house churches in China and North Korea. There is so much oppression! You are not allowed to teach children, anyone under the age of 18 anything about religion. The only legal churches are called The 3 Self Church, the pastors have to be approved by the govt and they are not allowed to preach on the resurrection of Christ or Revelations. We had to be so careful about what we said, emails, cell phone calls etc. Everything is monitored. There recently was a woman arrested in S. China who had been there for years as a missionary. She has been deported and they had records of phone calls, emails etc. We continue to have freedom of religion and freedom of speech in the USA. Russ and I had a taste of what it is without and we do not take it for granted anymore! There is so much persecution in North Korea and we met a dear pastor who is smuggling abandoned, starving children to China in hopes to get them to South Korea. He and his family are taking a huge risk and would be imprisoned or worse if caught. Please keep the persecuted church in your prayers! We are to celebrate with our bros, and sisters and Christ and to share there burdens. I am making a plead for anyone who reads this to pray specifically for North Korea and China. For the wall of North Korea to fall and for the Church to be able to enter and begin the healing.

Russ, Lian and I are going back to Kona in Sept to take classes on Primary Healthcare and Community Development. We will be ther for 3 months and then in Uganda for 3 months. Lian has proved to be quite the traveler. We were so proud of her. We stayed in 3 cities while we were there, along the border of North Korea. She did so well on the plane ride, train, bus, city bus, tram, and walking. We appreciate all the prayers and support we have received. Thank you so much