Greetings!
 
I have just returned from South India where Dave Seemuth and I spent 10 days teaching and empowering Indian students and church leaders at the South Asian Institute for Leadership and Cultural Studies. It was a week full of collaboration, adventures and rewarding conversations!
 
There is no greater proof of the impact of BrookLink’s ministry than when leaders we have trained in past years return again and again hungry for additional teaching. For instance, meet Nagaraj!

He greeted me the first day of our Pastors Conference in Coimbatore. He had seen my name in the advertisement for the conference and traveled many hours to take advantage of the training. Nagaraj actually translated for me in another city five years ago, has attended previous BrookLink trainings in India, and was back eager to learn more. Today he supervises and oversees pastors in the city of Mysore. He assured me everything we shared would be translated and taught again.

Dear friends,

Lee is halfway through his time of ministry in Coimbatore, India. He and Dave Seemuth have been teaching Leadership Development and the book of Romans to the 40-plus Indian students at the South Asian Institute for Leadership and Cultural Studies (SAILCS).

Lee had a case of dehydration but after some medical treatment, he has recovered and is back to the work at hand. Thank you for all of your prayers for the ministry there.  Please keep praying for God's work to take root in the students' hearts.

For more updates, check our website and our Facebook page.

A Letter from the Chairman of the Board

Dear BrookLink family of supporters,

When Lee Heyward, the Founder and President of BrookLink asked me to join the board of BrookLink in 2009, I was honored and excited. Little did I know that five years later I would be appointed as the Chairman of the Board. It has been an honor and privilege to work with my fellow Board members and to experience firsthand what the Lord has done through Lee and the ministry of BrookLink worldwide. 

Dear friends,

Terry and I have a good friend who is a well-known author, speaker and world traveler. When asked how she manages her hectic schedule, she replies, “I just do the next thing in front of my face.” 

Terry and I have added this phrase to our lives, especially when we look at our calendar for 2014. The year has already been full of adventures. Terry spent 20 days in West Africa shepherding a medical team as they set up and dismantled mobile clinics in remote communities. After saying goodbye to the dedicated doctors, pharmacists, nurses and volunteers, a team of contract landscapers arrived to provide clean water access that a Volta community lacked.

Dear Friends,        

Last month I spent 2 weeks in Sichuan Province serving with China Partner. Founded in 1989, China Partner works alongside the “registered churches” of China to train and equip pastors and church leaders to fulfill the Great Commission. It was a privilege to serve with China Partner’s President, Erik Burklin, as well as his sister Linda Pervenecki and translator Teh-An ‘Daniel’ Hsu.

March 2, 2014

It has been several days since I recorded a trip report. The reason for this has been that I’ve been in transit to two cities since I last wrote.

On Thursday, our teaching team boarded the train and took a 2.5-hour train ride from Dazhou to Chengdu. Chengdu is a city of 14 million people and serves as one of the larger cities in Sichuan Province. We arrived in the city, checked into a hotel, and that same afternoon met with the President of the Sichuan Christian Council, along with his Deputy Administrator. Pastor Jia also serves as the Pastor of one of the largest Christian churches in Chengdu.

February 22, 2014

Early yesterday, I flew from Shanghai to Chongqing (pronounced Shong-shing). Arguably China’s largest city, Chongqing is inhabited by more people than Shanghai, vying with Mexico City as the world’s most populated city (in excess of 30 million people). As we approached landing, I couldn’t help but notice the low cloud cover, only to realize it wasn’t cloud cover—it was smog.

I had come to Chongqing in order to meet the gentleman who would serve as my translator for week. Daniel was born and raised in Taiwan to Chinese parents. His parents fled during the early 50’s after the birth of the People’s Republic. We boarded a bus at the airport to make the three hour bus ride to Dazhou (pronounced Da-Joe). Daniel was born into a Christian family, eventually making his way to the US to study for his PhD at Purdue University. He spent quite a few years working in the US before he and his wife decided to settle in Honolulu. He now is semi-retired and works part-time for China Partner as translator for their work on the mainland.

Dearest Friends,

Just a quick note to inform you that today I leave for China for 16 days. I have been invited by China Partner to visit pastors and leaders among the “registered” churches in three cities in Sichuan Province. This will be my first visit into the interior of the mainland.

Pending the availability of reliable Internet access, I hope to be posting updates on our website as well as on Facebook while I’m away. We encourage you to keep abreast of our travels and even better, to pray!

Dear friends,

Located in southwest Wisconsin, Richland Center is a small town which prides itself as the birthplace of world-renowned architect, writer, educator and interior designer, Frank Lloyd Wright.

Years ago Wright was given the impossible task of building the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. No comparable construction job ever before had been undertaken. In the land of earthquakes and terrible tremors Wright proposed his plans for this building with uncanny patience and an eye for detail. During the process of the design Wright discovered that eight feet below the ground lay a sixty-foot bed of soft mud. Wright suggested a design to “float” the massive structure in some way to make it absorb the shock of an earthquake.

From February 20-March 8, 2014 Lee and a team of four trainers from China Partner will be ministering in Dazhou, Chengdu and Yibin in the Sichuan Province of China. Join us each day in prayer that the Lord would lead their conversations, direct their thoughts, anoint their teaching, grant them patience as well as a servant heart while they meet with and teach key Christian leaders.

30 Days of Prayer for the Church in China

Sponsored by BrookLink

1. Jan 20: Give thanks for the staggering growth of the Chinese Church from 2.7 million evangelicals in 1975 to over 75 million in 2010.
2. Jan 21: Praise God for the emergence of many urban churches reaching educated professionals.
3. Jan 22: Human tragedies like the SARS epidemic (2002), corruption within the government; ideological disillusionment and crass materialism have created spiritual hunger amongst the Chinese people. Pray that many would continue to seek hope and salvation through Christ.
4. Jan 23: Praise God for the changing attitude and approach toward the Church on the part of the government. The State is recognizing the potential of faith-based organizations to address social ills.
5. Jan 24: Offer thanksgiving for the increased unity in the Church, There is a growing cooperation and partnership between registered and unregistered churches across China.
6. Jan 25: Pray that believers might be “sanctified by the truth” (Jn. 17:17), as many Christians and churches succumb to influence from cults and heretical teachings.
7. Jan 26: Massive urbanization and soaring social problems such as internal migration, family breakdown, suicide, divorce and unbalanced male-female ratios all contribute to higher incidences of human rights abuse. Pray for the church to lead the way in restoring justice.
8. Jan 27: Repression of minorities and dissidents, systematic violations of the rights to privacy and expression, and a harsh penal code continue to plague China’s political scene. Ask God to give wisdom and boldness to the Church in the face of these realities.
9. Jan 28: The social ills facing China are great. The church is leading the way in addressing many of these social needs and issues. Pray that the Lord will give favor to the church and the love of Christ will be paramount through these deeds.
10. Jan 29: Pray for the easing of persecution on religious groups and religious expression.  
11. Jan 30: Praise God for the growth of Christian media as a means of spreading the Gospel. Pray that many will hear the Gospel through the various media outlets.
12. Jan 31: The vision to reach unreached minority groups across China is growing. Pray for a missions vision to flourish in the Chinese Church.
13. Feb 01: With a growing economy comes growing materialism, which affects people’s receptivity to the Gospel. Pray that the Refiner’s fire might keep burning and that the Church’s spiritual edge might not become blunted.
14. Feb 02: Pray for Lee and a team of four other trainers from China Partner as we minister in Dazhou, Chengdu and Yibin. Pray that the Lord would lead our conversations, direct our thoughts, anoint our teaching, grant us patience and a servant attitude while meeting with key Christian leaders.
15. Feb 03: Pray that Christ followers working within state structures will walk blamelessly and be a redemptive influence in government and society.
16. Feb 04: Pray that forms of wickedness might be opposed, that kindness will be shown to the oppressed and that justice will be served to all members of Chinese society.
17. Feb 05: China performs over 13 million abortions each year. Many infants, if not aborted are horribly abused, abandoned, kidnapped or trafficked. Pray as the Church seeks to reach out to children.
18. Feb 06: With fewer children available to care for an aging population, and with changes in pensions by the state, the need for elder care in China is staggering. Pray that the Church will play a creative and Christ-honoring role in addressing this need.
19. Feb 07: Pray for Christians working in the healthcare field as they care for the suffering. Ask God to grant them courage and sensitivity as they speak about the love of Christ. 
20. Feb 08: Pray for Christian lawyers as they advocate for justice on the part of the ill, infirmed, disabled, vulnerable and helpless populations.
21. Feb 09: Pray for increased printing and distribution of Bibles and Bible materials.
22. Feb 10: Lee will be preaching and training in the Three-Self Patriotic Movement and Chinese Council Churches (together they form the only state-recognized Protestant Church within China. Pray for revival and renewal to purify these churches. 
23. Feb 11: Pray for the future growth of the church, wise and godly leadership and for the sharing of the Gospel with an increasingly interested Chinese population.
24. Feb 12: Pray for the lost generation in China. These were those exploited by warped ideology during the Cultural Revolution. Today as parents they often spoil or coddle their children to insure opportunities they were denied. Pray they might find hope and peace through Christ.
25. Feb 13: Children under 15 number almost 300 million in China. Modernization has brought with it juvenile crime, sexual promiscuity, and other struggles for this age group. Pray the Church would intentionally disciple and train up children and youth.
26. Feb 14: Pray for Christians studying at Chinese Universities. Pray they would be built up in their faith and be fervent witnesses for Christ.
27. Feb 15: Pray for outreach efforts near university campuses through cafes where students can find Bibles and mingle with Christians.
28. Feb 16: Pray that the atheistic system promoted throughout the country for so long might continue to be revealed as hollow and deceptive lies.
29. Feb 17: Pray that a doorway for the evangelization of many unreached peoples might be opened or re-opened in those places where it has been closed for so long.
30. Feb 18: Pray for Lee and the team as they prepare to make the long journey to China. Pray for strength, health, spiritual and physical vitality, humility and openness to the Spirit’s guidance while they minister.