Summer's Best Two Weeks: Chinese Weekend At SB2W

Friday, September 9, 2011

Chinese Weekend At SB2W

Over Labor Day weekend SB2W hosted for the 20th time a retreat weekend for Chinese internationals. Through an organization called China Outreach Ministries we were privileged to have Chinese students from universities all over the US at camp. They and their families worshiped, played, attended seminars, and ate authentic Chinese food catered to our dining hall. The purpose of the weekend was to both grow and challenge those who are already Christians and to present the gospel to the many who are not believers. These students will return to China with a new found faith and help to continue the already explosive growth of Christianity in that country.

According to Operation World, "The staggering recent growth of the Chinese Church has no parallel in history - from 2.7 million evangelicals in 1975 to over 75 million in 2010. [Jason Mandryk, Operation World. (Colorado Springs: Biblica Publishing, 2010), 216.]" Is this not amazing to see what God is doing? We are blessed to be able to be a very small part of this work of God amongst the Chinese people.

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Many of you might remember a comp talk or two from camp in which we talked about Eric Liddel. He is famous for saying, "When I run I feel God's pleasure." Eric was a devoted Christian and very talented athlete. His first ever college race he took second place, from then on he never lost a race he entered in his home country of Scotland.*

There is much to learn from him on how to compete as a Christian athlete. Here is another quote you may not be familiar with. "In the dust of defeat as well as the laurels of victory there is glory to be found if one has done his best."* If we were giving a comp talk we would explain that the glory is God's, and win or lose in competition, God is glorified when the Christian athlete has given his or her best. When the athlete has sought to treat teammates selflessly, and opponents with dignity, coaches and officials with respect, and with gratefulness to God for their abilities have given their all, then who gets the glory? Jesus!

Check out more about Eric Liddel at http://www.ericliddell.org/, or see the academy award winning film about his life, Chariots of Fire.

*Janet & Geoff Benge, Eric Liddell: Something Greater Than Gold, Christian Heroes: Then & Now (Seattle, WA: YWAM Publishing, 1998), pages 30 and 66 respectively.

Devotional Details

Every week we will make two types of posts.

1. Weekly Readings from the One-Year Bible*: there will be an Old Testament Reading, New Testament Reading, Psalm, and Proverb. You can choose to read all or just a portion, but we encourage you to make it a daily habit to read God's Word.

2. Text or Video Devotional: there will be at minimum once a week a devotional thought that is included in comment on one of the readings from the week for you to read or watch. We hope this encourages you and helps you see how we too are connecting with Scripture.

*“Scripture quotations and reading plan are from The One Year Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2002 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”