A Year End

We are coming up on the end of our second year here in Lijiang, Yunnan, China. It has already been such an adventure and a truly exciting journey. From stumbling, stuttering, and sprinting through the Guangzhou airport to making Lijiang our home, Jewel and I have been blessed the whole way.

I wanted to give an update on LJIA. We are moving! The location we are in now is in the middle of a village. It is neat for those of us who are into that sort of thing, but not so much for the parents who are not from the village and send their children to our school. So we will be waving goodbye to the mud walls that make up the buildings surrounding our present complex and the dogs that have chased us through the village street (and did in fact bite me once); and we are saying hello to the new facility in Coart Village. Yes, it is called “Coart Village” but it is more like “Coart Shopping Center of Beauty and Awesomeness”. Maybe you can tell, I am a little excited for this move! Jewel has encouraged me through many hours of laboring over powerpoint presentations and promotional videos, and Dom’s idea has been accepted by the Coart team. The move will take place at the end of July and beginning of August. We have had a few new children enroll already and we are praying for even more. The more children enrolled, the more influence we are able to have here!

As this year closes, we have already started reading the prologue for the 2016-2017 year. Applications have been turned in, acceptance letters have been sent out, and training documents have been edited. We are hoping to begin next year very smoothly and with the help of our present teachers’ hard work in filling out form after form of ideas for orientation/etc., I believe that it can be possible.

If I could ask you to consider one need that Jewel and I have. We are trying to raise support to purchase a car for when we return in the fall. The rainy and winter seasons can be harsh, and I want to be able to provide my wife, as well as other teachers, a ride safe from the elements. The vehicles that we are looking at could also be used for village travel! If the Lord lays it on your heart, I know we would be greatly blessed by any donation. I am also giving a CD of Christian music that I have recorded to anyone who would like a copy. Please contact me with your email address and I would be happy to send it your way. - https://www.gofundme.com/car4chris-jewel -

We are never forsaken.

    Christopher D. Pearson

So a Man Sharpeneth the Countenance of His Friend

The reference is from Proverbs chapter 27 and verse 17. It reads, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." 

It seems to always be a while in-between these posts. Jewel and I want to thank everyone who has been praying faithfully for us. We know that we have been blessed. We have been given the opportunity to come over to this wonderful country without having to raise support due to the job that we have at Lijiang International Department of Huayang Academy for Language and Culture. I could not express to you just how thankful we are to be working here with these children every day, and striving to help them to grow. 

I wanted to express the great joy that Jewel and I have whenever we get to speak to one of our dear friends back in America. Those of you who have taken the time to be an encouragement have done just that. This week I feel more sharpened than I have in a while because of the opportunity that I have had to meet online with many of my brothers in Christ. 

A couple of updates for you to consider in prayer. The first is the possibility of growth for LJIA. The details are still being worked on, but I hope that you will pray earnestly that God might be glorified in the growth of this school. The second is an opportunity that has been presented very recently. As the Lord has led Jewel and I along so far, I believe that He is leading me into a continuance of my education. After a great deal of research into programs, I have decided to apply to attend PCC's graduate program. The entire course (Bachelor of Science in Educational Leadership) is online, and I am actively pursuing the completion of the application process. I hope that you will pray for Jewel and I as we open up a fresh chapter, and I know you will. 

Thank you again for your encouragement!

In Christ,

Christopher and Jewel Pearson

Investing in Preparation

Happy New Year from Christopher and Jewel Pearson! We are very grateful for your thoughts, prayers, and encouragement.

    As I think about a new year beginning, I laugh to myself because, where I am, I celebrate three. Working in a direct way with a school makes you think about your year in terms of a fall and spring. Your year begins when new teachers arrive, new students enroll, old students return, and new books are used. Americans celebrate their new year traditionally on the first of January. This is a celebration of the solar year. It takes the earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45.51 seconds to orbit the sun. (Yes, of course, I just looked that up! :) ) The Chinese, on the other hand, celebrate their new year based on a lunisolar calendar. Their new year usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. With these three new beginnings fresh on our minds, it is easy to remember Dr. Sexton’s quote, “The Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”

    One such beginning has just been brought into our lives through certain events. I will outline them for you in a moment, but, first, I want to explain the impact it is having on my heart and mind. See, today, we were reading through Luke 12 and I had to re-read verses 35-40.

     “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.”

    This has impacted my heart deeply for a couple of reasons.

I am a steward of LJIA during the administrator’s absence.

    I take this very seriously. While Bro. Dom is away, I have the responsibility of watching over the workings, teachers, and students of the school. I know that God has placed me here to serve by helping Bro. Dom. I do not want to fail him upon his return. I want to be a faithful steward of the opportunities and time I have here. I want to be ready for his return!

We have been robbed for the second time.

    We are fine, and no harm was done besides some money being stolen. However, this made me think about what I could do to be PREPARED for what might come. The brothers and sisters here have helped us greatly by helping us to interpret conversations with our guards, local police, etc. They have also helped me to find a video camera that I can place in my house to alert me if/when someone breaks in.

    These two things together have been heavy on my heart recently. The desire to be a faithful steward, and the desire to be prepared for someone to enter my house at a time when I will not know. So when this passage was a part of my reading today, it really stuck with me. I have been meditating on the challenges set forth in this passage, and they are greatly magnified by the reality of these things in my life at the present time.

    The return of the Lord is said to be like a thief in the night. No man knows the day or hour. I am putting this video camera in my house because I want to be as prepared as I can for the possible thrice return of our unknown thief. But there will not be two precursor returns of our Lord. He will come, and I am to be found faithful at THAT time. The video camera does not come free, and neither will our preparation for the return of Jesus Christ. It will cost our lives. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Will we prepare? Will our lights be found burning? Or will we be the ungodly servants who do not the will of their Lord. See, the wicked and slothful servant of Matthew 25 still had what his lord had given him, but he had not invested in preparation for his return.

    My challenge to you this new year is the same challenge that the Lord has laid on my heart. Invest in preparation for His return! Let your light so shine before men TODAY! Stop putting off your resolution for time spent feasting on the goodness of God’s Word. Stop deceiving yourself by being a hearer and not a doer of the Word. Allow the fruit of the Spirit to grow in your heart TODAY! Invest in preparation for the Lord Jesus Christ cometh at an hour when you think not.


Love in Christ,

    Christopher and Jewel Pearson