Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Introducing Mr. Ding



Meet my neighbor Mr. Ding and his youngest child, Wendy. Three times in the last week or so Wendy and Mr. Ding have come over to practice English, and I've chatted with him outside his workshop and in his house 3 doors down on several occasions as well. I also enjoyed sitting with them for an hour or two during a Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue at their house they invited me over to attend.

Mr. Ding is a wood-carver. He carves idols to sell either to individuals or to temples. He is very skilled and also strikes me as a moral, conscientious husband and father.

Tonight after casually teaching English for a half hour or so in my living room, I turned to my laptop to show Mr. Ding and Wendy a few English-Chinese learning tools on the web. I also showed them a few other applications which I thought my interest them. Finally, when I closed the windows, my wallpaper, which shows Rembrandt's depiction of the Prodigal Son, provided a sharing (as well as language-learning) opportunity for me as I opened my computer bible up to Luke 15 and Mr. Ding, who had heard part of the story before, gave me his vernacular Taiwanese rendition line-by-line as he read the biblical story in Chinese silently. When we finished, I pointed out how the moral of the story applies to our Heavenly Father. May God grant that Mr. Ding and Wendy know more of God's love.

3 comments:

PAL said...

This is a nice blog. I was stunned by the scooter accident. I wonder who filmed it? They must be a prophet.

Unknown said...

Hey Mark,
Enjoyed your blog! Did you keep the yellow room? I think it is very cheery. Your neighbors seem to enjoy posing for your camera. Keep up the good work and know we are thinking about you here in Jasper, GA!
Julie Greene

Anonymous said...

Mark,

Thank you for the update on Mr. Ding and daughter, Wendy. I was wondering how that was going. Keep up the God work! Also, as a man, I am not afraid to admit that yellow is my favorite color. However, your paint is a little much, but I could live with it.

Your Streetsboro, Ohio Tuesday Night Life Group Family is praying for you!

Jeff Aten