Who Needs Fire?

Worldwide cases of the COVID-19 virus are skyrocketing. Every day, I get up and look at the numbers, and I am continually shocked. At the current rate of progression, there will be over a half a million cases by the end of March. As the rest of the world is declaring lockdowns and other preventative measures, China is beginning to release them. Every day, I hear more and more car horns outside as more people are returning to work. Stores and restaurants are opening. A few days ago, I ventured out to get my hair cut… finally, after almost three months. Many people are still wearing masks and gloves though, despite assertions that there is no longer any danger. I also just received word this weekend that I’ll begin teaching again on April 7 th . Junior and senior high schools will resume then, and primary schools will resume a week or two after that. My school has been preparing by setting up temperature check stations and examination and quarantine areas. With over three thousa...

It seems that I was meant to get up early this morning, for some reason. Shortly before 5am, while it was still dark, a ‘delightful’ little bird decided to perch on the laundry racks just outside our bedroom window and start singing, quite loudly. I did my best to ignore him, and had just started drifting back off to sleep when a jackhammer started tearing up the road at the intersection just outside our window. I just gave up and got up. I was stunned to see that the number of coronavirus cases throughout the world had increased dramatically as we slept. Watching the numbers, it is easy to see that what happened in China has now broken out in many countries around the world. It’s a helpless feeling, knowing that people are suffering and there is very little you can do about it. I sometimes find my mind drifting back to decisions that I made years ago involving my career path. I often wonder what my life would look like had I pursued a career in medicine and virology. Might I have...

The coronavirus has continued its rampage across the world, infecting thousands each day. It is fairly clear that this is becoming a global epidemic. It breaks my heart to imagine the daily struggle of those working in the medical field, those infected and suffering with the virus, and the grief of their loved ones. We continue to hear about new cases of infection in the communities of some of our friends. We’ve also heard that a nearby suburb-village of our city has been sealed off due to several cases of infection. Thankfully, the government responded quickly and decisively to contain it. With new cases emerging in the area each day, it seems that the return to “normal life” remains in the obfuscated future.   Several weeks ago, Katie saw an announcement online from the regional education office; it announced that school would resume on March 9 th . A few days ago, she saw another memo indication that school would not begin on that date, but instead was put off until fu...

There has been quite a bit of coverage in the media about the economic impact of the COVID-19 virus. Obviously, Chinese businesses have been hit quite hard, as have the businesses around the world that rely on Chinese consumers and manufacturers.  One thing that has gone somewhat unnoticed is the effect it is having on some farmers. Katie has been following the chatter on the web about the struggles that some farmers are having because their products are not consumed as frequently as the staple grains, proteins, and vegetables that typically comprise the average Chinese diet. Many of them are selling their products for well below their average price in an attempt to increase demand; it is sad to think that their products are spoiling when they could be helping so many people. My wife has a huge heart, and over the past few weeks, she has been ordering things from these farmers online, and not just in small amounts… like a lot. So, we’ve had foods like, okra, asparagus, basil, ...

Four weeks have now passed since our city went on lockdown. Although the restrictions remain, it seems that the coronavirus’s rampage across China has slowed. There haven’t been many infections reported in our area, but it is starting to have a significant impact on other parts of the world. It is truly distressing to see how outbreaks have begun in South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Italy. We have been praying for those infected and that the healthy can stay safe.  Since we have been locked down at home, a serious case of stir crazy has set in. I am really wanting to get back to teaching and hanging out with friends, but the way things are going, that day seems to be quite far off. We saw an official memo from the education office last week, indicating that school would start on March 9 th , but no one from my school has heard that. In fact, they are now starting to further restrict our movements within the school. Today, we were told that we could not go running on the track...

It’s been two weeks now since we’ve bedded down in our apartment. The only contact that we’ve had with others is the school guards who occasionally check our temperature when we venture near the school gate and random teachers and workers that we encounter on our way to the track to run each day, the latter consisting of a wave and a shouted greeting that happens from at least fifty feet away. Each morning, we’ve established the morose routine of checking the progression of the coronavirus pandemic and praying for all those involved. As of today, there are over 35,000 cases throughout the world, resulting in 724 deaths. The number of cases has been shooting up each day by over three thousand. However, another number has caught our attention in the last few days, and that is the number of recoveries, which as of now stands at 2,355. Thankfully, it too has begun to increase at an accelerated rate. We’ve also been sorrow-stricken reading the news and hearing that two doctors hav...

As of today, there are almost 25 thousand Novel Coronavirus infections in the world, and it has claimed almost 500 lives. Fortunately, there is another number that is going up, and that is the number of people who have recovered from it, almost one thousand people. While the majority of these infections are limited to China (and mostly in Hubei), there are an alarming number of new cases in other countries. The WHO (World Health Organization) has classified it as a global emergency and now refers to it as a pandemic, rather than an epidemic. We have been praying so hard for all of the infected, their families, the doctors and nurses who have been working tirelessly in difficult conditions, and for the government leaders and administrators. There is also cause for optimism. I read about a new drug a few days ago that shows promise in treating the Novel Coronavirus. It is called Remdesivir. It seems that it was given to an infected man in the USA whose symptoms had progressed to pne...

Life here has been greatly affected by the recent coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Although we are far from there, it has had a profound impact on our lives and the people who live in our city. When we first heard about the outbreak, we never imagined that it would spread as fast or as far as it has. We believed that it would burn itself out rather quickly. However, the traveling due to Spring Festival has greatly compounded the situation. Katie and I went to visit her parents for the holiday in a neighboring city. At that point, the infections were limited to Wuhan. We kept a close eye on it, and within a matter of days new cases of infections showed up in the majority of the provinces. We also heard about a family from Wuhan that had travelled to our town who was infected. We decided to go home early, and it is a good thing that we did. Just a few hours after we returned, the city government closed the highway ramps into our city and suspended long range bus services. A day later,...

Just recently, Katie and I made the trip to Rockford yet again. It was wonderful to see our friends and family, but it felt really rushed because we were only there for two weeks. Two weeks just isn’t long enough to catch up with everyone and spend time with the folks. We will truly miss them. Anytime I go back and forth, I always think about the things that one place has and the other doesn’t. This time, I was struck again by the amazing state parks that Illinois has. We visited Starved Rock State Park and Rock Cut State Park. It was great to be out in nature. Parks like this just don’t exist near where we live in China. I do love seeing the different species of birds too. Here are some of the shots that we got this time. Northern Flicker Northern Cardinal American Goldfinch Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Well, we are off back to China. This promises to be another challenging year of growth, but we know that it will be a great one too. “Why do you...

Last Thursday, we had the pleasure of being reunited with our cat. For those of you who don’t know, before we went to the US for the summer, we left our cat and her three-day-old kittens in the care of one of the ladies who attends our church. That’s right; Mimi delivered a litter of 8 kittens three days before we left. The lady from church was kind enough to take care of them in our absence. She fed them and gave them shelter, and after they were old enough, she gave the kittens away. Thank goodness! I did not want to have to find homes for more kittens. At any rate, we didn’t hear much from the woman over the summer. We only got news from her twice. The last time we heard, she had given away all but one of the kittens. After we returned to China, we called her and were pleased to find the she had given away the remaining kitten. She also said that we could pick Mimi up whenever we wanted. Katie was very eager to do so. This past Thursday, she did. She went alone bec...

Wow! Our time back in the USA really went by fast. I can’t believe that we are back in China already. We arrived on Friday night, and it took us a long time to get back home because the rush hour traffic in Shanghai was atrocious. The normally three=hour drive took us a little over four hours. We were exhausted. When we arrived at our apartment, it didn’t take us too long to realize that mold had been working hard over the summer. Our bed, shoes, floors, clothes, and kitchen were covered in a thin layer of olive green mold. So not cool… So for the past few days, Katie and I have been systematically cleaning and sterilizing everything in our apartment, all while fighting off jetlag, which has been rough this year. Saturday we laid down for a nap at 1pm, and woke up at 11:30pm. We stayed up and made it to the following night though. We thought it might be over until our four and a half hour nap from 4pm to 8:30pm yesterday. Jetlag is brutal when there is a 13 hour time diffe...

Today was the last day of the Global Leadership Summit. The speakers that presented today were absolutely incredible. They shared so much practical information about how to be a leader within organizations, and they also challenged me in a way that will continue to motivate me for a long time. First, this conference has reaffirmed for me that I want to get back into school and complete my master’s degree. I will be searching out a school to find out where, how, and when, etc. Second, it motivated me to increase my emphasis on service when I teach. The brothers and sisters in my congregation need to understand how important service is for our world and for them. Next, we all have a part to play in this Grand Tapestry that God has created, and we all need to be faithful in doing so. God prepared good works for us, and if we don’t complete those tasks, what will the Tapestry look like? What would be missing from the world if we don’t do what we are called to do? I feel compel...

Katie and I have also been thinking a lot about leadership over the past several months. Over the last year, we have felt called to be leaders in certain places. It has also led us to focus on further cultivating our leadership abilities. Leadership is something that I have always viewed with a great deal of fear and humility. Many people in the world like to think they are leaders, but they have no idea what it means. Today, Katie and I were able to attend the Global Leadership Summit held by Willowcreek Community Church.  We heard a lot of different speakers today – pastors, CEO’s of fortune 50 companies, business consultants, etc. At first, I was a little irritated at how they seem to integrate church and business. I was hoping that the focus would be on church leadership. Most of it was, but there were also speakers who focused on business leadership. I listened and did my best to learn all that I could from each speaker. By the end of the day, an interest...