July 4th, Diversity & the Olympics

This year we spent July 4th with an unlikely smattering of friends. We had a BBQ, complete with watermelon, ice cream and a few fireworks brought by a Chinese friend. "Isn't this what you are supposed to do on your holiday?" he asked. None of us Americans (just 2 families out of many) had thought of buying fireworks. Anyhow, it got me thinking about where I've spent July 4th celebrations in years past.

July 4, 2007- The day we moved into our new apartment in China...so we just marked 1 year back in China!
July 4, 2006- Singapore
July 4, 2001- China
July 4, 2000- China
July 4, 1999- China
July 4, 1998- China
July 4, 1997- China
July 4, 1995- China
July 4, 1994- Estonia
July 4, 1992- Costa Rica

So, July 4, 2008 marks 11 years spending Independence Day in a country besides my "motherland" (so they call it in Asia). That does something to you.

Today I took the girls to an International Fellowship, an expat church here in this city, just to see what it was like. It was gloriously diverse... (Living in China isn't actually very diverse. Usually, you are the minority, and everyone else is Chinese.)... Lots of Africans, Lots of Hispanics, A mix of Asians, and very few Caucasians. We prayed for Zambia and Zimbabwe, 2 countries that I can't say I'd thought one iota about since I can last remember. I was struck again how wonderful it is to share fellowship in Christ. An instant kinship with people from all over the globe who are brothers and sisters by 're-birth'. Is there any other venue in the world where you can walk into a room of strangers and share immediate, real concern and love for one another?

Some may say this happens during the Olympics. Diversity, absolutely. But love? ...
Speaking of the Olympics, the excitement here is palpable. Unfortunately, as China welcomes the world, it is kicking out its foreign residents...making it next to impossible to renew a visa this summer. So we're planning a short jaunt back to the US in August till the visa situation clears. We'll be watching the games just like you--on TV. There is part of me that thinks it would be fun to stay around, just to say I was here. But another and possibly wiser part of me thinks its a good time to get out of town.