“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, ‘With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19)
Greetings in the Holy name of Jesus Christ our Lord! We pray this letter finds you rejoicing and rekindling your love continually in the blood of God!
We are facing two apparent impossibilities here in China. One of these is our adoption of YangMei and the other is employment for next fall. We came to China with the prayer, “God, may our faith toward Thee extend to every part of our lives,” and with the conviction that “None are truly God’s bondservants unless He controls their means.” These two ‘impossibilities’ have thrust these truths deeper and caused us to seek God afresh earnestly.
Our dossier for YangMei’s adoption is currently in the hands of CCCWA, the Chinese Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption agency - simply put it is the branch of government that controls all adoption in China. In our attempts to be honest in all things, we included our student loan debt on a required financial statement. Despite having no other outstanding debt and meeting all other eligibility requirements, this disclosure could be viewed unfavorably by the CCCWA. Furthermore, our adoption agency has fallen through on some commitments, and we will still have some sizable fees remaining. With God this impossibility is possible.
Greetings in the Holy name of Jesus Christ our Lord! We pray this letter finds you rejoicing and rekindling your love continually in the blood of God!
We are facing two apparent impossibilities here in China. One of these is our adoption of YangMei and the other is employment for next fall. We came to China with the prayer, “God, may our faith toward Thee extend to every part of our lives,” and with the conviction that “None are truly God’s bondservants unless He controls their means.” These two ‘impossibilities’ have thrust these truths deeper and caused us to seek God afresh earnestly.
Our dossier for YangMei’s adoption is currently in the hands of CCCWA, the Chinese Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption agency - simply put it is the branch of government that controls all adoption in China. In our attempts to be honest in all things, we included our student loan debt on a required financial statement. Despite having no other outstanding debt and meeting all other eligibility requirements, this disclosure could be viewed unfavorably by the CCCWA. Furthermore, our adoption agency has fallen through on some commitments, and we will still have some sizable fees remaining. With God this impossibility is possible.
Secondly, the public school Rich has been teaching at the past two years has closed its doors for anymore teaching. In the last letter, we informed you the group that brought us to China and contracts Rich for teaching, had come under intense scrutiny by the government. In light of this, the government has warned the school about that group (the group is openly Christian and its mission is to supply Christian teachers to public schools and impact China for Christ.) and the school has closed its door for Rich. With God this impossibility is possible.
What makes our situation so uniquely ‘impossible’ is that if we cannot secure work, we must leave the country. If we leave the country then the adoption may be further delayed or declined. On top of that, with our current fostering situation - having YangMei living with us now - we cannot take a job outside of Beijing city. That makes the difficulty compounded greatly. Oh, But God…
At the writing of this letter (June 24th, 2017), we have a potential job just thirty minutes away by scooter bike, at a private Korean school. Not ideal in the sense that we are not teaching Chinese students directly, but it still impacts China for the gospel. Seventy five percent of the Korean students in this school will be placed in Chinese universities for further study. They in turn, with biblical discipleship, can impact their Chinese classmates. We feel it is a good fit at this time and with the very short time we have, to renew Visa’s, sign a new contract and wait. “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lam. 3)
What makes our situation so uniquely ‘impossible’ is that if we cannot secure work, we must leave the country. If we leave the country then the adoption may be further delayed or declined. On top of that, with our current fostering situation - having YangMei living with us now - we cannot take a job outside of Beijing city. That makes the difficulty compounded greatly. Oh, But God…
At the writing of this letter (June 24th, 2017), we have a potential job just thirty minutes away by scooter bike, at a private Korean school. Not ideal in the sense that we are not teaching Chinese students directly, but it still impacts China for the gospel. Seventy five percent of the Korean students in this school will be placed in Chinese universities for further study. They in turn, with biblical discipleship, can impact their Chinese classmates. We feel it is a good fit at this time and with the very short time we have, to renew Visa’s, sign a new contract and wait. “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lam. 3)
Our living conditions are good - life in the village is interesting. There are families who have begun to open their lives and their doors to us. Others have been friendly and have wanted to talk about President Trump or something else about America, and gospel seeds have been sown. The eyes of these precious people are blank, dark, lifeless. They stare at us as we go by; they whisper in their card-playing groups; they shout and cat-call at our children - they have lives empty and void of the Life of God. May our lives here among them be such a light upon their darkness, such an uncompromising reflection of the Life of God that dwells within us that they too will come to desire Him! The prospects and hopes of this makes selling out and giving all to King Jesus worth it. No American dream or promised comforts, no tenured work-positions or salaried careers can compare to a life lived in the will of God.
We have two months coming up (July and August) without full-time work. Jody and I will teach a summer english camp to a small group of children in our village - another way to see doors open to us for gospel work - but we will be without monthly income. We treasure your prayer support! Dear friends, you are so far away in miles, but prayer can go anywhere! Pray for us that vital doors of gospel work will open for us. Pray with us and watch as God supplies all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Hallelujah! Worthy is the Lamb. There is no sacrifice too great for us to make for Him who sacrificed Himself on our behalf.
A short video we put together with a song that has blessed us: By His Name by Scripture Lullabies ( https://youtu.be/GOPFsGzidZM ). We pray Jesus will bless you and By His Name, nations will turn, the sick will be made well, bonds will be set free, and many souls will be saved.
If you desire to contact us or give, please click this link: ( http://hagennation.weebly.com/support-or-contact.html )
For the glory of King Jesus!
The Hagen Nation
We have two months coming up (July and August) without full-time work. Jody and I will teach a summer english camp to a small group of children in our village - another way to see doors open to us for gospel work - but we will be without monthly income. We treasure your prayer support! Dear friends, you are so far away in miles, but prayer can go anywhere! Pray for us that vital doors of gospel work will open for us. Pray with us and watch as God supplies all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Hallelujah! Worthy is the Lamb. There is no sacrifice too great for us to make for Him who sacrificed Himself on our behalf.
A short video we put together with a song that has blessed us: By His Name by Scripture Lullabies ( https://youtu.be/GOPFsGzidZM ). We pray Jesus will bless you and By His Name, nations will turn, the sick will be made well, bonds will be set free, and many souls will be saved.
If you desire to contact us or give, please click this link: ( http://hagennation.weebly.com/support-or-contact.html )
For the glory of King Jesus!
The Hagen Nation