Lui family update!

Only been 4 months?

F-O-U-R months! For us, how time flies. Can't believe < 5 months ago, we were still living and working in Dayton, Ohio. We were surrounded by the familiar. We were able to rely on ourselves for almost anything. Man, how times have changed...and man, how we've grown as a family in this short amount of time. Lily and I agree, that we've grown more in the last 16 weeks, individually and as a family, than we've probably grown our entire adult lives. But it's been great. We're slowly but surely settling in a bit.

We know which street vendor to buy our pork. We know which vendor gives us the best deals on fresh vegetables. We know to expect dirty looks when we can't find the right words to say or make silly mistakes in public (because we look asian/local and we should know better). We're able to get around a bit better with our bikes, and when we get lost, we're not lost for as long. We're getting used to not having any air conditioning. We're starting to figure out the little things. Praise the L-rd!

Kingston Joseph Lui

Kingston has been doing MUCH better with his eczema and allergies. He still has his up and down days, but overall, it's been an answered pr-yer! When he first came, his flareups were probably some of the worst we've ever seen...and were scared for him (and us). Now, his skin is great, and he's been such a happy 2.5 year old boy that is about to start pre-school in a few weeks. He definitely misses his school and friends from the States, but he finally started referring to our place here as HOME. He loves it here...and we love that he does. He recently got a haircut because it's been so dang hot. He also recently came back from a trip with me to Hong Kong so we could buy a 25 kg suitcase full of medicines and vitamins and snacks that we can't get here.

Here's a picture of King & Fi watching Lion King (the original) for the first time. Kingston loved it. Fiona only sat long enough to eat her raisins.

Fiona Ray Lui

Fiona has been growing like crazy. She is crazy stubborn, but also so full of joy and happiness, and can be outright goofy. She is always laughing. She even has laughing contests with mommy to see who can laugh the longest and loudest. She is built like a tank. She can run into things, fall down, bang herself on something and just get right up like nothing happened...and I think she will likely be the athlete of the family :)

Here is her being silly.

Fellowship & Blessings!

After weeks of trying different Sunday fellowships and after lots of pr-yer, we finally are committed to a local fellowship. Nothing wrong with the two international fellowships here in the city, but we just felt called to invest in local believers. There's no children's ministry, we don't really understand the sermons (completely), and it's a good bikes-ride away...but the local believers are just amazing. We see their hearts. We feel like family.

For the most part, only Chinese folks are allowed to take part in these local/home fellowships. Good thing we look the part! :)

We also started to host a local, international, home/small group (every other week). It's been great! It not only gives us an opportunity to serve the local m-ssionary community, it allows Lily and I to both attend. Because the home group is Saturday evenings, one of us has to stay back to look after the kids when it is some place else.

More to come!

We'll share more about "work" stuff (i.e., international medical clinic, rehabilitation center, future community center plans) later. For now, Father is doing a good work IN us...and we continue to pr-y He does good work through us.

We again, TRULY APPRECIATE every one of you that is supporting us and walking alongside us. I can't say this enough...we can't do this without you!

Always looking up!