Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Dear Friends,

Today the focus was on English training programs.  We visited an international training center for English learners in Yancheng. We also visited a summer English camp held at a luxurious resort. This resort is full of students studying English all summer long. 

 The impression I am getting is the Chinese see English mastery as a key to their future.  With that, there is a goal for many Chinese students to study in the United States.  There is definitely a sense that America is the needed stepping-stone to educational improvement. 

Yancheng, China is a highly industrious and progressive city of over 8 million people, with a New York feel to it.  A highlight for the group today was finding a Starbucks.  The Chinese are not into coffee as much as Americans.  Hotels serve a prepackaged Nescafe with sugar, creamer and coffee all mixed in one.  A Starbucks coffee hit the spot for many today in Yancheng.

This is a prominent landmark, a TV tower in Yancheng. 


Tomorrow we visit Suzhou where we will visit local school officials and make presentations on our schools. 

The educational systems we have met so far are void of Christ in their mission and vision.  They offer dedicated staffs, beautiful campus and a hunger for learning that is somewhat intimidating.  But they are missing the mark on the core of their education, that being a Kingdom building effort centered on Jesus Christ and a transformational Biblical worldview.