March Madness

March has really been blessed.

Kris and I have been overwhelmed with the way God has moved this month. We have enjoyed more success in the past three weeks than in the three months of last semester. Relationships are deepening, new relationships are progressing effortlessly, confidence is building, goals are being achieved. But why? What is so different about this term? I can only guess:

1. The Big Man is in it. It can't be denied that what we're experiencing is the work of his hand. He's moving the mountains. I'm just glad we have a front seat to watch the action.

2. Big prayer. Kris and I both have people thinking about us every day. Not only thinking of us, but of the people we are trying to reach, our students, our friends, all of the work. I know that is playing a huge role in what we're seeing. Thanks to our prayer networks, dozens of people pray for us. Some are praying for us one day a week. Others bring us before the Father every day. On any given day, there are 25 people praying specifically for us. In a week, that's 175 prayers. In a month, the number goes up to 700. Think that goes unnoticed Upstairs?

3. Hard work last semester. The majority of our work last semester was relationship-building. We tried to spread our influence and by our actions let people know what we were about and that we cared about them. I believe all that invested time and effort is paying dividends this spring.

4. Now-or-never-all-or-nothing-we-only-have-a-few-months-left-so-pull-out-all-the-stops Attitude. The clock is ticking on our time in China and we have no reason to hold cards. July is coming, like it or not, and all that will remain in August is regret. We have determined that we will leave China regret-free this summer. With this attitude, we can be more aggressive and that leads to more opportunities.

5 . Yes. This three-letter word is power-packed. We use it all the time. Want to eat together? Want to work out together? Want to play basketball? Want to walk together? Yes, yes, yes, yes. "No" gets you home early and extra time in front of the TV. "Yes" gives you a chance to make a new friend and maybe a chance to plant a micro-seed of the Gospel.

So praise God for March Madness in Hangzhou, even if it has nothing to do with NCAA basketball. For the record, though, I'm still hacked that Calipari went to Kentucky.