Katie is 17 years old and a Junior at Jenks High School. In September a group of 16 High School students from Chengdu, China, came to spend about 3.5 weeks and yesterday morning at 6:08 a.m., the 16 Jenks High School hosts left Tulsa for 3.5 weeks in China, including about 10 days in the homes and school of what are now their host students.
In September, Katie was host to a beautiful, personable and very bright young lady who took the American name of Iris while she was here. Her name is actually Gao Yue. Gao is her family name and her given name is Yue, which means Moon.
This is a picture of Katie and Iris (Katie won't like that picture, because she still has her braces on) and one of our family, including Iris who we feel is a part of our family now. (That is Savannah down front, Iris on the left, then Katie, my incredible wife Sheila and yours truly on the right!)
This a quite an adventure for Katie, but Katie is quite an adventurer, so it should work out well. The group will be in Beijing for a few days seeing all the sites there (and shopping!). They will visit the Great Wall tomorrow! Then they will take a plane to Chengdu - China's 5th largest city at 11.5 million! Katie will spend the 9 or 10 days there with the Gao family and go to school with Iris. She will also see the Panda Research Center, which is in Chengdu. They will spend the last few days shopping in Shanghai and fly home from there.
Katie has felt God's call on her life to be a missionary, maybe working with the deaf and/or orphaned children and that is a part of the reason she wanted to go to China. One of Katie's High School teachers asked her to please not get arrested while she was in China for trying to smuggle in Bibles or telling people about Jesus. We have been praying, since Iris was here, that through her visit with us, the Fire Bible we sent home with her and Katie's visit there, that Iris would come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and I hope you'll be praying with us in that regard.
Katie said that last night they had a meal with lots of vegetables and rice, as well as some beef and pork, fish with their heads still on (eyes open and teeth showing) and some kind of intestines!!! But, she said that she really liked what she ate.
Today, they are seeing Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and, I believe, the Temple of Heaven and tomorrow Katie has promised to shoot some video of her skipping along the Great Wall.
Katie is a most amazing young lady - and I am so very, very proud of her - and love her very, very much! She is beautiful, very personable and has a tender heart for the Lord and for others, especially those less fortunate. I am certain that God is going to use Katie in an incredible way.
Here are a couple of recent pictures of Katie that will not only show you what a beautiful young lady she has become, but also give you a glimpse of her personality.
Please pray for me over these next few weeks, because I'm already really missing Katie. With her being 17, there are lots of days I don't see her, but it is somehow different knowing she is clear on the other side of the earth!
And, please keep Katie in your prayers over these next few weeks while she is in China, not just for her safety and that she has a good time, but that God will use her in some way to impact someone for Jesus Christ (I know that is what she wants) - and that she won't get arrested!!!!
Love in Christ Jesus,
Jim
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