Operation China - Day 3

Day 3 of "Operation China" and its along nicely. I have no idea how many people are reading or participating but I hope somebody is. Last night, my girlfriend Lindsay and I went to Branson for the World Missions Alliance Conference to hear Pastor/Author Mark Batterson speak. He has written three books and I highly encourage you to read all three. Their amazing, they make you think outside the box and he has a story for everything so it really helps you grasp what he's saying. Last night he made a statement that I've read in his book before but it stuck more when I hear him say it. He said, "Don't accumulate possessions accumulate experiences." Man, thats so good!

The picture is of an experience I will never forget. Basketball in China is HUGE. Because of Yao Ming and Kobe Bryant NBA is the sport to talk about, at least at the University we were at. I've seriously never seen so many basketball courts in one place in my life! They had like 20 courts on the north side of camps and 20 on the south side of campus. Everyday there were students out playing basketball and just having fun. When we would hang out with students at the coffee shop they were constantly asking us to play with them. We had a busy schedule during the day but we ended up having some free time one day to play. So they set up a US v China basketball game. They set this up days in advanced, told everybody they knew about it, and were very excited to play the foreigners! Team USA (Braley, Jared, Crystal, Jayson, and myself) and Team China (made up of about 15 Chinese University students) and let me just say... people showed up to watch! It was so cool! I played basketball all my life growing up, and played in school until 10 grade but none of that added up to the game we played in China. We had height, some skill, and knowledge. They had speed, speed, speed! They were quick, constantly running up and down the court. And we were huffing and puffing the whole way. haha It was such a great time, I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was a close game the whole time, and came down to the last couple of minutes. But... Team USA came away with the win! Winning usually means something to me, Im a very completive person. But on that day, on that court in China, the only thing that mattered was the experience that I will never forget.

Heres the prayer challenges for today... wont you join me? Prayer changes everything, and when we pray God answers... Amen!?

MARCH 26

THE LESS EVANGELIZED
1) The nearly 60 million Communist Party members are, by definition, atheists, but ideology is a facade to cover self-seeking opportunism

2) The armed forces, who are the protectors of the Marxist state, and who jealously guard their privileged position and network of industries

3) The 'lost generation', the young people mobilized as the Cultural Revolution Red Guards

4) Those still bound by the idolatrous superstitions of Daoism, Buddhism and the legalism of Confucianism

5) Children and young people under 18 number over 500m

6) University students (3million) are the key for the future
a) Christians among them to be built up in their faith and to be fervent witnesses
b) The establishment of Bible study groups on every one of the 1,054 campuses
c) Those who study abroad

7) Muslims number 25million, and are almost entirely linked to specific ethnic groups

8) Ethnic Minorities comprise 8.7% of the population, 100m people in 464 distinct non-Han ethno-linguistic groups
a) A global concern for the evangelization of these numerous unreached peoples,
b) Greater involvement of Christian tribals and Chinese Han Christians in reaching them
c) The planting of indigenous churches