We had the wonderful privilege of having Gao Yue from Chengdu, China with us from Sept. 1-23. Iris (the American name she picked for herself) is part of an exchange program through Jenks High School and Chengdu High School #7. Our daughter, Katie, will be going to China in March '08 to spend a little over 3 weeks, two of which will be spent with Iris.I think that Iris was very impressed with the USA and especially Tulsa. We treated Iris to all kinds of "American" food while she was here. In China, the only American food they have is KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut. The picture at the upper right is our first Sunday dinner with Iris and her first chance to sample Italian food. Clockwise from the lower left: Me (Jim Rutherford), Sheila (my beautiful, wonderful, incredible, fantastic wife!), Houston (our son), Kyle Miller, Amy Gibson, Kory Miller (all three from our church youth group), Katie (our daughter), Iris and our friend, Tim McClung.
Iris got to meet the Mayor of Tulsa, visit Philbrook and Gilcrease Museums, see the famous "Blue Whale" on Route 66 in Catoosa, visit a working cattle ranch, go to a football game (Jenks v. Union, one of the great high school rivalries in America). You can follow this link to see many more pictures. http://shoutlife.com/profile-view.cfm?uid=48729
You'll have to sign-up for a ShoutLife account to view the pictures, but you should do that anyway. ShoutLife is a Christian Alternative to Facebook or MySpace. When you sign up, let me know by inviting me to be your "friend"!
Or, you can go to http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15565&l=b732b&id=526231179 to access the pictures on Facebook, even if you don't have an account.
Iris was asked to come to Wright Christian Academy to talk to our daughter Savannah's 5th grade class and this is a video of Iris rapping to the 4th and 5th grade class at WCA in response to their request to hear what Chinese sounds like.
Iris experienced many "firsts" while with us - Barbeque (no better place then Oklahoma for that!), Mexican food (Chimichungas were the favorite) and a lot of other new foods, wearing high heels and wearing a formal, she learned many new words (wait till you see the next video I'm going to post of Iris) and made many new friends.
The most important "first" that Iris experienced was attending Church for the first time! I'm not sure she understood much of the preaching, but she told Sheila after the service that "The music warmed my heart."I believe that the Holy Spirit was softening her heart through music to create a desire to better understand what Christianity was all about - or better yet, to understand the One who Christianity is all about! As Iris asked us many questions, we were able to share some of our beliefs. Iris and her family do not practice any Religion, as is the case with most in China. If they have learned anything about God, it is that he is an imaginary figure. The night before Iris left for home, our last gift to her was a Bible in Chinese. I hope that you'll agree with me in prayer that the Holy Spirit that warmed her heart through the music she heard in church will continue to create a desire in Iris to learn more about God, until not only He, but His wonderful Son, Jesus, are no longer imaginary figures, but have become REAL to Iris. And, that through Iris, He will become real to her family and her friends and to many more in China. Pray also, that, like the Ethiopian eunuch, as Iris has questions, that God will send someone to her with the answers that she might understand and believe!
We often speak of the power of the Gospel and the power of God's Word. Pray with us that Iris will experience that power as she reads God's Word for the first time!
I'm going to write more about Iris in a few days and will, of course, keep you posted as Katie goes to China in March.
Love in Christ Jesus!
Jim
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