China Update Email 3

Dear brothers and sisters,

Just as a preface, please do not reply to this email because of the sensitivity of what I am doing here. But please to ask the Boss for me every day if you can! :)

This past Monday, I started my first day working with the organization here, and it has been quite an experience! The group here is composed 1/3 of internationals (all from the US) and 2/3 of Chinese nationals, and they range in age from kids my age all the way up to those who are married with teenage kids. Also, even among the Chinese nationals here, there is great ethnic diversity. This province is well-known for the presence of ethnic minorities, and in fact, the minorities actually make up a majority of the Chinese staff. Having only had contact with Han Chinese previously, it has been an eye-opening experience working with different types of people here. As you can see, I have encountered many different types of diversity here!

I have begun working on the microfinance projects that I hope to complete by the end of this month, but I have quickly realized that all of my training and education are barely applicable unless I understand the context of the people that this organization works with. I am trying to learn as much as I can while I am in the city (which is already substantial), but I know that truly understanding the villagers' situation will only happen once I see them and live with them.

I will be visiting the village for the first time this Sunday, and I hope to learn a lot. It is several hours away by car, and so when the organization visits, it's usually for several days at a time. I look forward to spending time there but am also a bit nervous about communication, as the local dialect can be difficult to understand. Even some of the co-workers at the organization have no knowledge of English, so that has been a challenge so far. If you could ask the Boss for me to trust in His provision and for Him to grant all of us patience as we work with each other, that would be great!

Unfortunately, blogs are highly restricted here, even more than they were previously, so I apologize for not being able to update my blog very often. I will try my best to do so, but cannot guarantee anything. I will still be able to send email updates, though, so I hope that you can keep up-to-date and ask the Boss for me.

I hope to update you again soon!

In Him,
Mark

Safe and Sound!

So I've arrived here safe and sound! I got in last night by bus and slept in my apartment for the first time, an apartment I'm sharing with another guy from the company, who does a lot of the accounting and such.

I got an orientation this morning and afternoon, and got to spend time with the boss's family and also with another girl from the States who is also working here. Got a pancake breakfast!

Local food-wise, everything has been tasty so far, and my stomach seems to be cooperating. Hopefully that will continue to be the case over the course of the next month or so!

The weather has been nice thus far, with no rain and little humidity, although daytime temperatures have been higher than I expected, but maybe it's just because of the bright sunshine here, unlike a certain city where I went to college. :)

I've gotten to find out a little more about the work that the company does, and it sounds like they've grown a lot! In fact, they celebrated a 6th year anniversary just this week, and I hope that the next several years will be just as productive.

My first day in the office will be Monday, so we'll see how that goes. I trust that I'll have more to share by then!

Safely in Hong Kong!

I'm here now for a 5 hour layover before embarking on my final leg. Here's the travel tally thus far:

30th Street Station (Philly) to JFK International (NYC): 4 hours
Wait at JFK: 4 hours
NYC to Vancouver: 5 hours
Vancouver stop: 1 hour
Vancouver to Hong Kong: 13 hours
Hong Kong layover: 5 hours

Total: 32 hours

Whew, after HK, 7.5 hours to go before I finally arrive. Talk to you then!

Microfinance Article from TIME Magazine

With the economic crisis that has been hitting the US and the world, you may be wondering how this may be affecting microfinance and the people it serves--the poorest of the poor. In this article from December, TIME Magazine interviews the CEO of a microfinance organization to discuss some of these recent events. Please click here to read the article. I hope you find it interesting!

This will be my last post from the US, but I will update you again in Asia!

China Update Email 1

Dear Friends and Family,

I just wanted to write you a quick update before I leave for East Asia tomorrow!

These past few weeks have been busy, indeed. I actually graduated from college just yesterday, and these past few weeks have been a great time. At the same time, I have been preparing as much as I can for my upcoming trip and have been trying to continue learning as much as possible about my work before I leave. It's been overwhelming at times trying to juggle everything on my plate, but the past few weeks have also served as a reminder of my need to rely on Him, and not on myself.

In addition to the previous prayer requests I have mentioned, I have a specific one stemming from the past few weeks: Please pray for the swine flu situation, and especially for the situation in East Asia,because the quarantines and restrictions there have been severe. I even have a friend of a friend who was banned from entering at all, because she holds Mexican citizenship. I have not encountered obstacles as severe as that, but please ask Him to watch over me and the people in my flight as we enter East Asia.

Also, I wanted to update all of you with the blog I will be updating throughout the course of the trip. You can find the address at: http://mfmark.blogspot.com/. I hope you will enjoy reading about the work that I will be doing, and I pray that my experiences will help inform you as you pray for the people there.

As one final note--please be careful with your communication to me from May 20th to June 22nd (email, blog, etc.), because of the sensitivity of the work that I will be doing. I should have email access at least some of the time during my trip, but please forgive me if any responses are delayed.

Thanks again for all of your support!

For His glory,

Mark

How Microfinance Works - A Ping Pong Story

During my first semester senior year at Penn, I had the privilege to work with a newly-formed microfinance institution (MFI) that has now begun working in Southern Sudan. The girl who is the executive director of this MFI has a favorite story that may give you a better idea of how microfinance works:

"The best microfinance story I’ve heard is about a little boy in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. He asked for a $50 loan from a loan officer. The loan officer asked him what he was going to do with that money.

'Buy a ping pong table and wheels and paddles and ping pong balls,' the boy said. And that’s what he did… wheeled a ping pong table around town, charging a penny a game. Very quickly, he paid back the loan and asked for another bigger loan.

'What are you going to do with this one?'

He made a portable shower, wheeled it around town with a water tank and charged a nickel per shower.

With the money he earned and saved, he not only supported himself, but also paid for his brothers’ and sisters’ school fees.

And it only took $50 to start.

This is what microfinance is. The microfinance concept rests on the clear observation that the majority of the working poor do not lack the skills to move up the socio-economic ladder, but rather the capital to utilize these skills practically in the form of operating small businesses. With the lack of banking systems in developing countries, microfinance has become a substitute means for capital infusion for the poor."

Microfinance Overview

To find out more about the type of work I'll be doing, and how it serves as a tool of poverty alleviation, please check out Microfinance Gateway.

If you're interested more specifically in how this type of work applies in a faith-based context, please check out this website.

First Update

I am so grateful for your support (both p and financially) in the
past few months since my plans were finalized. It has been amazing
to see how much the Big Guy has helped me to grow during college and to see how He has provided for me in my preparation to go on this journey.

Please ask Him to help me prepare my heart and mind for this upcoming trip!

Missions Email Update

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am so grateful for your prayers and for your financial support in the past few months since my missions plans were finalized. It has been amazing to see how much God has helped me to grow during college and to see how He has provided for me in my preparation to go to Yunnan. I just wanted to send an update email to all of you to tell you a little bit more about my preparation and to ask for continued prayer.

Praise the Lord! Since you last heard from me in my support letter, God has definitely blessed my preparation! I have bought my plane tickets, received my visa, purchased a Chinese/pinyin/English New Testament, and have also reached my fundraising goal. Also, through a class I'm currently taking this semester, I have been delving deeper into microfinance and have been learning many things that I hope will be useful for the work I'll be doing in the villages of Yunnan province.

This past week, I finished the last classes of my college career and am now preparing for graduation. It's an exciting time, as well as a busy one, and I ask you to pray that I would take the time to adequately prepare my heart as I finish the last bits of my schoolwork and other graduation activities.

I'd like to leave you with a verse from the benediction this morning in Sunday service, words that I think really hit me, because they highlight the reason for why we go on missions. In Romans chapter 10:12-15, it says:

"For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'"

Thank you for reading this, and please continue keeping me in your prayers!

For His Glory,
Mark