Feisty Shrimp and Missing Mushrooms ... Happy Chinese New Year!

The year of the monkey wiggled in on Monday, February 8th, signaling the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar and Chinese New Year! Xiannian kuaile! (Pronounced sshin-nyen kwhy-ler). Happy New Year, Mandarin style!

Donna, Bryan, and I in China
on Chinese New Year.

Celebrating the new year in China is as easy as pulling your chair up to the table. It's all about eating with family and friends. "Hot pot" is the usual fare of the season. It reminds me of fondue, only trickier. The hot pot, or a boiling pot of water, sits on a portable burner and dominates the center of the table. The table must be circular as it's an equal opportunity conversation setting. Nothing goes better with hot pot than relationships.

The universal rule is "you don't eat hot pot with people you don't like." That could have something to do with the double dipping and lavish exchange of saliva that takes place in the group pot. Everyone cooks and eats out of that one bubbling mix. Nothing spells unity like hot pot.

Bowls of just about anything surround the hot pot: mussels, greenery (of every shade and texture), chicken feet, rice noodles, oysters, squid, eel, fish balls, tofu, mushrooms, vegetables, and shrimp, all raw and fresh from the street market. Since my city in China is a coastal city, hot pot is always heavy in seafood. Shrimp are usually the most difficult to control on the table. Everything is "directly from the sea this afternoon" fresh, and the shrimp, alive and kicking, make a feisty delicacy.

During one new year's hot pot I attended, the shrimp took to jumping out of the boiling water on to the table whenever they were thrown in. Cooking them seemed almost barbaric, especially when they slapped you in the face in their attempts to escape. The chop sticks would start clicking and dunking around the table, and the shrimp never had a chance.

Once you throw your tofu into the pot, the next problem is finding it. Perhaps it sinks under a sea of bok choy and buries itself beneath the rice noodles. The natural impulse is to do a little "chopstick washing," swishing your chopsticks about in the broth to find your tofu. I tried that approach at first, but it appeared that rather than wash my chopsticks in the mutual eating pot, it was easier to just take whatever floated to the top and was handy. After all, you're among friends. Your fish ball is my fish ball.

Eastern culture values time around the table. Talking, eating, cooking, enjoying each other's company for several hours. These are the joys of the East. No rush. Another cup of tea. This is the essence of a Chinese New Year celebration.

The Eastern culture of Jesus' day was much the same. In fact, the Hebrews would even recline around their tables, allowing for hours of relaxed talking and sharing. Although hot pot was probably not on the menu, there were mutual dipping dishes, and with all those fishermen friends, Jesus probably ate plenty of fish. And He loved to share a meal with anyone - short tax collectors who sat in trees, good friends just off their boats, big crowds, tax collectors, wedding guests, families. Meal times were for relationship building. Dinners were a place to meet God.

How are meal times at your house? Hurried? Pressured? Eat and run? TV dinners or boxed mac and cheese? Mobile phones dominating the attention of everyone at the table?

MAYBE A HOT POT IS IN ORDER!

Cook together around a gurgling pot. Laugh about missing mushrooms and feisty shrimp. Engage in a chop stick battle over the last noodle. Get to know each other a little better.

A hot pot dinner reminds me of one of those times God talked about for teaching our children the command to love Him with all our hearts, souls, and strength. He said to impress this command on the children when we sit at home, when we walk along the road, when we lie down or get up, or ...

when we have family hot pot night!

Happy Chinese New Year!

How to Travel the World Without Leaving Layton . . . Or Wherever You Live!

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all people cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends."     -Maya Angelou

Travel . . . the soul of adventure, magic, escape, discovery.

And who isn't thinking escape as the temps drop to toe-curling lows, the mailbox wallows into oblivion, and the car gasps for breath beneath endless drifts? The Caribbean comes to mind, Florida at the very least. Pipe dreams. For local responsibilities demand, the value of the dollar drops, terrorism runs rampant.

Locked tightly in my Layton cocoon, hands to the fire, blankets to the rescue, I settle down for a long winter's nap like the peonies by the front walk. Wake me in late April.

Cousin Bill from Glasgow, Scotland,
connects weekly with Layton vis Skype.

But last week the siren song of travel sang its sweet melody and called me from my hibernation to points . . . near. . . . Scranton and Wilkes Barre. No bathing suits, no sunshine, no aircraft and taxis.

For travel's glory is not only the monuments and mountains of foreign soil. It is people - their food, traditions, music, language, and culture. By this definition travel can happen even to our local city, where coal was king, if foreigners are involved.

And foreigners were the prime focus in last week's travel adventure.

First stop, Marywood College - for "Conversation Corner" with English language learners from around the world who are studying at the school. Afternoon conversation took me to Asia and the Middle East.

My first conversation partner was Zhicheng Zhang (also called Frank). Frank came to the U.S. just two months ago. "Fresh off the boat," eager, and enthusiastic about all things American,  he chose instead to walk the streets of Beijing with me, to remember favorite dishes, to practice his English and my Mandarin, and to reminisce about Chinese holiday celebrations. Frank's studies in health care will prepare him to return to China to "help his country."

Without the aid of technology or transportation, I left China for Kurdistan-Iraq, a Middle Eastern location which I will probably never visit. But Mr. Mohammed brought the country he loves to Northeast Pennsylvania. He, his wife, and children came to the U.S.two years ago so he could obtain a master's degree in public administration. Mohammed will return to Kurdistan at the end of the year to work for his government. War-torn and beleaguered, the Kurds have fought bravely for their country against Muslim extremists. My first Kurdish friend left me with a sweet taste of the courage, strength, and character of the people of Kurdistan-Iraq.

An avid traveler himself, Mark Twain once said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." May I amend your thought, Mr. Twain? "Befriending people from around the world is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." Our world is a hot bed of seething war and strife. What can one person do to make a difference in such a world, especially when travel to some countries is impossible? I suggest that the way to make a difference in the world is to make friends with the foreigners in our own backyards.

These trips to China and Kurdistan were early in last week's travel adventures. Sans jet lag and luggage, I hustled back to China again for the Chinese New Year celebrations. The holiday fell this year on February 18th.

Dr. Youyu Phillips, Keystone College

We heralded the year of the sheep with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Chinese-American Association at the King's Buffet in Wilkes Barre to do what all good Chinese and Americans do on a holiday - eat. Dr. Youyu Phillips, a professor of mathematics at Keystone College, is the president of the association to which I now proudly belong. Dr. Phillips and I met last week for the first time, but we talk every Friday on the phone as she is the Mandarin translator for our "Voice of Hope," blogtalk radio program to Chinese around the world:  www.blogtalkradio.com/voiceofhope

Shiyong Liang and Xiangni Wang,
Keystone students

Another Chinese dinner last week with American friends who have worked with me in China plus a Skype call to cousins near Glasgow, Scotland, and yet another continent, completed a week of rich cross-cultural interaction and friendship. I traveled continents last week, and the only expense was the Chinese buffet. I experienced countries because I experienced people. "My destination was not a place, but it was a new way of seeing things" (Henry Miller).

Passports and visas were  moot issues. 

Flight delays and cancellations, non-existent. 

Food, language, culture, and friendship, abundant and rich,

during the week I traveled around the world

without leaving

Layton.

"I live pro life every day." Melanie Madeira

I went to my first political rally last night . . . (that is if you don't consider the vehement speeches in history class during the Kennedy-Nixon campaign in 1960 as official political fire branding).

Voting faithfully in every election and one stint as a juror have been my nod to civic responsibility
 . . . (that is if you don't consider my commitment to recycling and collecting litter).

I make this admission with remorse, for every day now I see and hear of the denigration of our culture and the encroaching extremist terror. I realize that our freedoms and the integrity of our country truly may be disintegrating. I love my life on Layton. I value that life for my children and grandchildren. It is long past time that I should become actively involved in the political process.

So . . . I went to my first political rally. I expected free food and loud music. I expected political promises, usually empty and unfulfilled. I expected generic talk about keeping America free.

What I didn't expect was inspiration.

The candidate was Melanie Madeira who is running for state representative in the 114th district in Pennsylvania against Sid Michaels Kavulich. I was impressed and persuaded. I stand ready to support Melanie.

Melanie Madeira, candidate for state representative
in the 114th District.

A candidate's pro-life conviction is an integral factor. A pro-life conviction is not just about saving the lives of the unborn. It is about putting value on every individual's life, whether that individual is still in the womb or whether the individual has a diminished mental capacity or whether that person can contribute to society or whether the individual is treading the edge of life at 95.

God created life, and for that reason alone it has value . . . at any age and in any condition. 

"I live pro life every day, " Melanie stated. She and her husband, Dave Madeira of the talk radio program, the Dave Madeira Show, from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. on 94.3, are parents to six children. Melanie has home schooled the children since they began school.

One of their children, Nicholas, has Down's syndrome. Just two days ago Nicky thought it was Christmas and proceeded to wind an entire roll of electrical tape up the stair railing. Living with a special needs child is not easy, but to the Madeiras, every individual matters. Nicky matters, and God will use him in a special way . . . just wait and see.

Dave and Melanie Madeira with their six children.

I have lived in a culture that does not value individual life, a culture that is not pro life, and I have seen how that belief system can direct a government and its policies. I have lived in China.

China routinely practices abortion on women who have already had their sole child. One woman I met had ten abortions. Special education classes are not provided in public schools. Children who cannot pass the mandatory national testing may not enter high school. Nursing homes are not a routine option for the elderly. Life does not carry a high price tag. Life is dispensable.

Government policies reflect this lack of value on the individual. If  you cannot perform, if you cannot contribute, if you haven't earned the right, you are dispensable.

In contrast, America was founded on the rights of the individual because of the God-ordained value of the individual. I am so glad that I live in America (I might not qualify as worthy in another culture!). 

So the candidate, who is willing to put value on each person and is willing to LIVE pro life, is the candidate for me.

Melanie also speaks wisdom, based on our individual rights as valued people, about the Second Amendment, the tax burden on the elderly, education spending, energy development, and jobs. She can be believed because she lives what she believes. 

Vote this November. Vote for the basic tenet of life . . . you are a creation of God. You have value.

"What's in a Name?"

"What's in a name?" Juliet bemoaned to her lover, Romeo, in Shakespeare's classic play, Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo's family name, "Montague," caused much chagrin for Juliet's parents because it represented an unacceptable union for her with a despised family. Juliet tells Romeo,

"O, be some other name!

What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."
 (Act II, Scene II, Romeo and Juliet)

What Juliet meant is, it only matters what something or someone is, not what they're called.

True, Juliet, but "name" still carries a boatload of significance.

Little Jo Ann of the Yi people in western China

Some boys are named after their fathers, and they bear the tag "Junior" or "III or IV." I even know a family whose son is called "Bob 5,"  fifth of the Bob line. Girls are sometimes given their mother's name.

I have had the unique privilege of bearing the names of both my mother and father. Joseph married Annette, and the union produced their first of three daughters who was named "Jo Ann," a little of mom, a little of dad.

The name "Jo Ann" never caught on in American culture really. As a school teacher for many years, I had thousands of students, including an abundance of Jennifers, Emilys, Ashleys, Megans, Sarahs, Amys, Amandas, but I can't remember even one Jo Ann. The name lacks the star quality and pertness of a "Jennifer" Anniston or "Sarah" Jessica Parker. Cultural "name" trends, spurred by Hollywood, produced only "Joanne" Woodward, and the "name" stopped there.    

Our family has done well by the name. My son and daughter-in-law did a wonderful thing when their first daughter was born. They gave her the name Anna, after Grandma Jo Ann and Great-grandma Annette. Anna is a much lovelier form of the name.

ANNA, third in the "Ann" family line.

Through the years the name "Jo Ann" has been a source of continual frustration when it comes to spelling. "Joanne, Jo Anne, Joann" are a few of the variety of ways the name can be spelled. Employed for 27 years in the same school district, my employer spelled my name incorrectly on my retirement certificate. A close family relative has yet to get my name right on gifts and birthday cards.

Imagine my surprise last month when I opened an email with the above photo of a Chinese girl holding a sign with my name . . . spelled correctly! This child lives in an orphanage in western China. A friend of mine worked at the orphanage for six weeks this summer among a minority group called the Yi people. Because Chinese names prove challenging for the Westerner, my friend gave the children English names. She named this little Yi girl - Jo Ann. No cultural pressure for trendy names there! And small chance that I will forget to pray for my  namesake on the other side of the world.

Yes,  a name bears connection and identity.

Nowhere is that connection and identity of name more significant than in God's Kingdom. In Isaiah 43:16 God says, "I have summoned you by name: you are mine." God knows our names. More than that, He knows the essence of who we are. He KNOWS us.

I love Isaiah 49:15-18: "Can a mother forget the infant at her breast, walk away from the baby she bore? But even if mothers forget, I'd never forget you - never. Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands." Imagine that. His blood has tattooed our names for eternity on His hands. Simply wonderful.

Your very special name is also recorded in heaven. Those who acknowledge the sacrifice that God made of His Son Jesus for our sins are eternally remembered in the "book of life." Revelation 3:5 says, "I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life but will acknowledge that name before my Father and His angels."

And Revelation 21:27 continues the reminder, "Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will get in."

What's in a name? The sweet grace of our Father's love . . . no misspellings, no mistakes.

Your name - whether a Yi orphan in the remote parts of western China or a retired grandmother in suburban America  . . . on Layton . . . preserved forever with God.

This Summer . . . Off Layton!

 Every spring, excitement builds as plans are made for summer trips that will take me figuratively, not literally ... off Layton.

During February to May, letters arrive on Layton from people who desire to serve God somewhere in the world on missions trips during their summer vacations. Some want to "love on" little ones in orphanages; others will dig wells; a few will teach English or the Bible. All of them demonstrate a heart of love for God and people. All are willing to sacrifice their beach and relaxation time to let their faith be set in motion around the world. I'm awed by their love and commitment and eager to jump on their support team.

This summer I'm "traveling" with five of the finest young people I know, my 2013 Heroes of the Faith.

Sarah Allen is currently in China with the
 Yi people.

One of them is Sarah Allen. Her desire is to introduce children to the love of Jesus. She will spend the summer on the streets and in the churches of Philadelphia teaching Good News Clubs with Child Evangelism Fellowship. But before her summer work in Philly begins in late June, this teenager traveled alone to the mountains of western China to work in a school with some of the poorest children of the minority Yi people. For six weeks Sarah is teaching the Bible and English to 150 orphans at the school. Sarah said, "The best occupation in the world is being a fisher of men. I can't wait to see how God's hand will work this summer." What courage and trust in God! Sarah is still in China.

Ben Williams with his grandparents

And then there's Ben. I've known Ben Williams since he was a toddler in our church. Now, his physical stature and his faith and devotion to God are heights for the rest of us to attain. Ben will spend several weeks this summer in Dearborn, Michigan, of all places. Dearborn has a large Muslim population, and Ben will witness to Muslims there. He said that God has confirmed to him in several different ways that he should be part of a group that would break the power of Islam in the world. "Your guess is as good as mine as to what that means!" Ben writes, but his intention is to go into full-time missions in the Middle East when he finishes his education at Liberty University. His desire is to take the transforming love of Jesus to places where that news has not yet been proclaimed.

Jill Hart and Corryn Klien, center,
with Jill's husband and daughter Rachel.

Could a mother and daughter have a better bonding experience than one that will put them in a foreign culture together on the forefront for God? Jill Hart and Corryn Klien, a mother-daughter team, will join a group traveling to China for English camp in mid July. They will teach English everyday for two weeks to middle and high school students. There will be many opportunities to form relationships with Chinese students and witness of Christ's love. Jill said, "One of the coolest parts about being able to travel to China and be a part of this team is...Corryn wants me to go with her! I know that God will use us however He wants. Pray that we will have one-on-one opportunities to share the gospel with some of our new Chinese friends." I taught at English camp in China several times, and I am following these two lovely women every step of the way. I can see the classroom and hear the excited laughter of the students. Perhaps I should have planned to board the jet with Jill and Corryn.

Elisabeth, on the far right, is pictured with
her grandmother, sister, and mother.

And finally, Elisabeth Phillips is another of my Heroes of Faith this summer. Elisabeth just completed ninth grade. She is going with a former teacher to South Africa for the month of July. They will minister at Dayspring Children's Village, a boarding school which provides orphans and other disadvantaged children with a loving home as well as a quality education. Elisabeth writes, "I will be helping the children with school work, teaching them how to read music and play the piano, and showing them God's love."


One of the letters received on Layton said, "I want God's name to be glorified in all that I do. I want to be completely drenched in His presence so that the people I come across will be drawn to His glory. My prayer is that when you read this letter, you will not see me, but Jesus and only Jesus." Dear young ambassadors for Christ, Jesus is seen in you.

Sometimes, the greatest blessing isn't at home, but in some distant and exotic place (even Detroit). . .

off Layton