One of the things that I think we are all bringing back with us is a deep appreciation for how much the people who serve in China love God and want nothing more than to be obedient to the call. I asked these some 175 people if I could adopt them as my church for the week and they could adopt me as their Pastor. I did not realize the affect that would have.  Many of these folks have little or no interaction with the Pastor in the U.S. and while they are in China they are often limited as to gathering together.  They have some of the same problems that you and I face, struggles and concerns compounded with the pressure of being in a country where things are difficult and their lives are under constant scrutiny.  So you can imaging that Worship time with these great folks, was especially real and deep as they were able to lift their voice and their lives together to praise Jesus.  I know that at Cornerstone we love God and love to worship Him, I hope that we will be sensitive to the amazing joy and privilege we have to worship together in a free society where expressing praise is not monitored by the government, nor are we limited in our expression of Praise to the God of the Universe.  We met people who are part of this team to the nation of more than 1.3 billions people who have come together from different nations for one common purpose.  It reminds me a lot of you who have made it a strategic reality to say that we together can use everything that God has given to us even our backgrounds, to bless God.

Another thing that is apparent quickly is they diversity of age among this team.  There are those who have been apart of the outreach for decades and others for mere weeks. Those who are in the later years and many who in the early twenties have decided to leave a potential comfortable life and follow the Master.  We met several young people who have degrees in fields that would allow them great advancement in the U.S. but that have chosen to go after the reward of Heaven. I will be honored to tell you more about several others when we have a chance to talk face to face. Because of the sensitive nature of the region, we will need to do that in person.  But suffice it to say God is Good!  We all want to thank you for your prayers that were evident on a daily basis.  No one got extremely sick and we are all looking forward to being home with you.  Please pray for us as we are traveling the nearly 10,000 miles home. 

One last thing that I wanted to say that many of our new friends wanted to say to you,  Thank you for having a worldview of the Gospel.  Thank you for not limiting God to a small comfortable corner of our world. Many churches have lost sight of what is really the heartbeat of God.  Now of course we look ahead and being a constant partner too many of these who have surrendered so much to accomplish so much.  Thank you Cornerstone family for your prayers for us and for them.  Thank you for keeping the focus on the big picture of God's love.  Thank you for Lifting up Jesus, Growing in Him, Touching our World.  We look forward to seeing you all on Sunday. Even though our bodies will be tired our hearts will be full.  If you are coming to Saturday eve prayer, please spend some time praying for these servants who we were able to encourage this week. As they return to their assignments we are asking God to take them deeper with Him and to move in areas of their world that need God's Love.  See you soon!