Who Needs Fire?

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...