CHAPTER 19
OPEN THE DOOR KEITH!
PSALMS
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Whilst in China, I have been able to travel, around Asia and around the world.
In 2015, we returned to the UK for the first time, we had a five day trip around the UK starting in London and going right up to the Scottish highlands, we ended back in Cambridge, where we met up with my cousin Elaine and Husband Clifford and children Claire and John, they warmly welcomed us, and took us to Ely to see the beautiful cathedral.
We had booked two nights at a holiday inn in Bradford, to see Victoria my niece and her mum carol, along with my nephew James.
They agreed to meet us at the hotel, and sure enough they arrived on time, they all came up to our hotel room and then another knock on the door, and stood there grinning like a cheshire cat, was my brother Peter, who had come over especially to surprise me, you could say he had.
That day, we made our way to our birthplace and drove to Haworth, famous for the Bronte sisters, and went on the steam train, made famous by the railway children. What an amazing day.
It was Chinese new year eve, so Helen cooked authentic Chinese food for my family, the sceptics were completely won over by Helen.
We then went to my hometown of Morecambe to stay with Brian and Sandra, who had helped me fill in the visa forms to get my first visa for China, they took us back to my home church, where we had a meeting to share what was going on in China.
We were able to share the gospel on the streets of Lancaster, even meeting a university student, who came from Nanjing.
Over the next few years, were able to visit Helen's relatives in Indonesia, where we saw the 2nd largest lake in the world, Lake Toba, then onto the Philippines, where Helen and Ming swam with whale sharks and ate delicious seafood, especially crabs.
In 2017, travelled to the USA and Canada, we visited such iconic places as Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Golden gate bridge, The Grand canyon and the seedy side of life emphasized by Las Vegas.
Then it was off to Canada, where we saw the majesty of the Rocky mountains, especially n Jasper and Banff.
2017 was not a good year though as my beloved brother Peter, died after a very short illness, this was a great blow to me, as we had many phone calls and several skype calls.
I know he died very happy, knowing his little brother was settled.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Having my brother come over and see me, was so amazing.
Losing him to cancer in 2017 was so painful, he died after a very short illness of two months, due to a cancer that usually affected children.
When he died, many people said that they missed him, they had lost something from their lives, to me it was more than that.
It was like losing my right arm, we had the same blood running through our veins, we came from the same parents, although we were so different in so many ways, especially when it came to matters of faith, Keith the Evangelical Christian and Peter the atheist/humanist.
Some of the things we did together were so funny, such as when we were returning from Tadoussac, I decided to put a Cd into the car cd player, he said let me do that, he did not place it in the cd player, he put it in the hole above the cd player, and broke the cd player.
Such things seem so silly, we remember the small things. He was such a character, when his wife went to visit her parents in the UK he took his two kids straight to the sweetie aisle at the supermarket and then he gave them baked beans on toast for seven days in a row!
I miss him, I used to tell him that I loved him, he used to say Yeah me too.
Now I can't say it to him!
The things that truly matter are love, hope and faith, especially love.
What would of happened if God had concealed his love from us?
But God did not hide his love from us, he showed us his love through the cross.
God did not keep silent, he expressed it in Christ.
Romans 5
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Thank God, we are loved.
The one thing we never need to stop doing is telling people we truly love them, one day we won't be able to.
CHAPTER 20
JUST TESTING
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Life was idyllic, as we went into the third decade of the century, but there is always danger lurking and in early 2020, we started to hear of a sickness called Covid 19, we usually have flu like symptoms sometimes in the winter, but this was different, before January had finished, Helen was home all the time and we had to be tested everywhere we went, some mornings as I did the shopping and the chores, I had to be tested up to five times, I came back negative every time, there's a first time for everything!
I remember going out one evening at 8pm, the streets are usually still bustling at this time, but there was just eerie silence, no cars, no people and no activity, everything was closed, it was so surreal.
Everywhere we went we were tested, we were unable to travel for up to two-three years, Indeed we had to get tested every day, and then our whole complex was isolated for two weeks, we couldn't go in and out, thankfully we were provided with bags of food every two days, we were thankful for this small mercy.
Other places had much more stringent regulations, so we were blessed, but tempers could and would flare, as I saw at the gate of our complex, it is very difficult for all concerned.
All of us did get Covid, I remember walking near our flat and I started to feel hot and started to sneeze, But thankfully this was a mild dose.
Everyone wore masks and some people still do, but I never did. We never took any vaccine, as the Lord protected us.
Everything that had happened in person, school, teaching, church, meetings etc, had to go on Zoom, it seems so long ago, when the all clear came, it was such a relief, to get back to normal.
Now the previous year (2019), we lost My beloved Baba, Helen's father, he had his stomach removed due to cancer and he was getting weaker and weaker. Sadly in August, he lost his brave fight for life.
My favourite memory of him, was one day near Christmas 2016, we went to eat beef dumplings downtown, as we came back on the bus, there came on Bing Crosby singing have yourself a merry little Christmas, we just sang quietly together, that is how I remember him.
He was the best man I have ever met and one day I will meet him again as late in life, he trusted Christ as his Saviour and Lord, remember its never too late to trust CHRIST.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Everything was going well before 2020, we were looking forward and planning to go back to the UK.
But all those plans were thrown into confusion, once Covid Hit, it took everyone by surprise.
It showed that life is all too brief, we can make our plans, but God is in complete control, it reminds me of the verses in James chapter 4
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Life is very short, we are here for only a short time, we only get one chance at life, there are no second chances.
What are you doing with your life?
I know that myself and Helen are loving and serving our Saviour, that is surely the best way to spend your life.
The words of the wise king Solomon are as follows:
Ecclesiastes 12:13
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
The offer of salvation is s till on the table, one day that offer will not be there anymore.
Don't neglect or reject the offer of salvation
Hebrews 2:3
3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him
One day, all of us will appear before God, let me make this clear, this is going to be terrifying to some reading this.
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Death is not the end, it is the elephant in the room, no one talks about it, but 150,000 people die every day.
Jesus defeated death through his death and resurrection, so that the Christian can say
1 CORINTHIANS 15
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
CAN YOU SAY THESE WORDS, I KNOW I CAN?
OPEN THE DOOR KEITH!
PSALMS
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Whilst in China, I have been able to travel, around Asia and around the world.
In 2015, we returned to the UK for the first time, we had a five day trip around the UK starting in London and going right up to the Scottish highlands, we ended back in Cambridge, where we met up with my cousin Elaine and Husband Clifford and children Claire and John, they warmly welcomed us, and took us to Ely to see the beautiful cathedral.
We had booked two nights at a holiday inn in Bradford, to see Victoria my niece and her mum carol, along with my nephew James.
They agreed to meet us at the hotel, and sure enough they arrived on time, they all came up to our hotel room and then another knock on the door, and stood there grinning like a cheshire cat, was my brother Peter, who had come over especially to surprise me, you could say he had.
That day, we made our way to our birthplace and drove to Haworth, famous for the Bronte sisters, and went on the steam train, made famous by the railway children. What an amazing day.
It was Chinese new year eve, so Helen cooked authentic Chinese food for my family, the sceptics were completely won over by Helen.
We then went to my hometown of Morecambe to stay with Brian and Sandra, who had helped me fill in the visa forms to get my first visa for China, they took us back to my home church, where we had a meeting to share what was going on in China.
We were able to share the gospel on the streets of Lancaster, even meeting a university student, who came from Nanjing.
Over the next few years, were able to visit Helen's relatives in Indonesia, where we saw the 2nd largest lake in the world, Lake Toba, then onto the Philippines, where Helen and Ming swam with whale sharks and ate delicious seafood, especially crabs.
In 2017, travelled to the USA and Canada, we visited such iconic places as Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Golden gate bridge, The Grand canyon and the seedy side of life emphasized by Las Vegas.
Then it was off to Canada, where we saw the majesty of the Rocky mountains, especially n Jasper and Banff.
2017 was not a good year though as my beloved brother Peter, died after a very short illness, this was a great blow to me, as we had many phone calls and several skype calls.
I know he died very happy, knowing his little brother was settled.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Having my brother come over and see me, was so amazing.
Losing him to cancer in 2017 was so painful, he died after a very short illness of two months, due to a cancer that usually affected children.
When he died, many people said that they missed him, they had lost something from their lives, to me it was more than that.
It was like losing my right arm, we had the same blood running through our veins, we came from the same parents, although we were so different in so many ways, especially when it came to matters of faith, Keith the Evangelical Christian and Peter the atheist/humanist.
Some of the things we did together were so funny, such as when we were returning from Tadoussac, I decided to put a Cd into the car cd player, he said let me do that, he did not place it in the cd player, he put it in the hole above the cd player, and broke the cd player.
Such things seem so silly, we remember the small things. He was such a character, when his wife went to visit her parents in the UK he took his two kids straight to the sweetie aisle at the supermarket and then he gave them baked beans on toast for seven days in a row!
I miss him, I used to tell him that I loved him, he used to say Yeah me too.
Now I can't say it to him!
The things that truly matter are love, hope and faith, especially love.
What would of happened if God had concealed his love from us?
But God did not hide his love from us, he showed us his love through the cross.
God did not keep silent, he expressed it in Christ.
Romans 5
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Thank God, we are loved.
The one thing we never need to stop doing is telling people we truly love them, one day we won't be able to.
CHAPTER 20
JUST TESTING
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Life was idyllic, as we went into the third decade of the century, but there is always danger lurking and in early 2020, we started to hear of a sickness called Covid 19, we usually have flu like symptoms sometimes in the winter, but this was different, before January had finished, Helen was home all the time and we had to be tested everywhere we went, some mornings as I did the shopping and the chores, I had to be tested up to five times, I came back negative every time, there's a first time for everything!
I remember going out one evening at 8pm, the streets are usually still bustling at this time, but there was just eerie silence, no cars, no people and no activity, everything was closed, it was so surreal.
Everywhere we went we were tested, we were unable to travel for up to two-three years, Indeed we had to get tested every day, and then our whole complex was isolated for two weeks, we couldn't go in and out, thankfully we were provided with bags of food every two days, we were thankful for this small mercy.
Other places had much more stringent regulations, so we were blessed, but tempers could and would flare, as I saw at the gate of our complex, it is very difficult for all concerned.
All of us did get Covid, I remember walking near our flat and I started to feel hot and started to sneeze, But thankfully this was a mild dose.
Everyone wore masks and some people still do, but I never did. We never took any vaccine, as the Lord protected us.
Everything that had happened in person, school, teaching, church, meetings etc, had to go on Zoom, it seems so long ago, when the all clear came, it was such a relief, to get back to normal.
Now the previous year (2019), we lost My beloved Baba, Helen's father, he had his stomach removed due to cancer and he was getting weaker and weaker. Sadly in August, he lost his brave fight for life.
My favourite memory of him, was one day near Christmas 2016, we went to eat beef dumplings downtown, as we came back on the bus, there came on Bing Crosby singing have yourself a merry little Christmas, we just sang quietly together, that is how I remember him.
He was the best man I have ever met and one day I will meet him again as late in life, he trusted Christ as his Saviour and Lord, remember its never too late to trust CHRIST.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Everything was going well before 2020, we were looking forward and planning to go back to the UK.
But all those plans were thrown into confusion, once Covid Hit, it took everyone by surprise.
It showed that life is all too brief, we can make our plans, but God is in complete control, it reminds me of the verses in James chapter 4
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Life is very short, we are here for only a short time, we only get one chance at life, there are no second chances.
What are you doing with your life?
I know that myself and Helen are loving and serving our Saviour, that is surely the best way to spend your life.
The words of the wise king Solomon are as follows:
Ecclesiastes 12:13
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
The offer of salvation is s till on the table, one day that offer will not be there anymore.
Don't neglect or reject the offer of salvation
Hebrews 2:3
3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him
One day, all of us will appear before God, let me make this clear, this is going to be terrifying to some reading this.
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Death is not the end, it is the elephant in the room, no one talks about it, but 150,000 people die every day.
Jesus defeated death through his death and resurrection, so that the Christian can say
1 CORINTHIANS 15
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
CAN YOU SAY THESE WORDS, I KNOW I CAN?
CHAPTER 19
OPEN THE DOOR KEITH!
PSALMS
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Whilst in China, I have been able to travel, around Asia and around the world.
In 2015, we returned to the UK for the first time, we had a five day trip around the UK starting in London and going right up to the Scottish highlands, we ended back in Cambridge, where we met up with my cousin Elaine and Husband Clifford and children Claire and John, they warmly welcomed us, and took us to Ely to see the beautiful cathedral.
We had booked two nights at a holiday inn in Bradford, to see Victoria my niece and her mum carol, along with my nephew James.
They agreed to meet us at the hotel, and sure enough they arrived on time, they all came up to our hotel room and then another knock on the door, and stood there grinning like a cheshire cat, was my brother Peter, who had come over especially to surprise me, you could say he had.
That day, we made our way to our birthplace and drove to Haworth, famous for the Bronte sisters, and went on the steam train, made famous by the railway children. What an amazing day.
It was Chinese new year eve, so Helen cooked authentic Chinese food for my family, the sceptics were completely won over by Helen.
We then went to my hometown of Morecambe to stay with Brian and Sandra, who had helped me fill in the visa forms to get my first visa for China, they took us back to my home church, where we had a meeting to share what was going on in China.
We were able to share the gospel on the streets of Lancaster, even meeting a university student, who came from Nanjing.
Over the next few years, were able to visit Helen's relatives in Indonesia, where we saw the 2nd largest lake in the world, Lake Toba, then onto the Philippines, where Helen and Ming swam with whale sharks and ate delicious seafood, especially crabs.
In 2017, travelled to the USA and Canada, we visited such iconic places as Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Golden gate bridge, The Grand canyon and the seedy side of life emphasized by Las Vegas.
Then it was off to Canada, where we saw the majesty of the Rocky mountains, especially n Jasper and Banff.
2017 was not a good year though as my beloved brother Peter, died after a very short illness, this was a great blow to me, as we had many phone calls and several skype calls.
I know he died very happy, knowing his little brother was settled.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Having my brother come over and see me, was so amazing.
Losing him to cancer in 2017 was so painful, he died after a very short illness of two months, due to a cancer that usually affected children.
When he died, many people said that they missed him, they had lost something from their lives, to me it was more than that.
It was like losing my right arm, we had the same blood running through our veins, we came from the same parents, although we were so different in so many ways, especially when it came to matters of faith, Keith the Evangelical Christian and Peter the atheist/humanist.
Some of the things we did together were so funny, such as when we were returning from Tadoussac, I decided to put a Cd into the car cd player, he said let me do that, he did not place it in the cd player, he put it in the hole above the cd player, and broke the cd player.
Such things seem so silly, we remember the small things. He was such a character, when his wife went to visit her parents in the UK he took his two kids straight to the sweetie aisle at the supermarket and then he gave them baked beans on toast for seven days in a row!
I miss him, I used to tell him that I loved him, he used to say Yeah me too.
Now I can't say it to him!
The things that truly matter are love, hope and faith, especially love.
What would of happened if God had concealed his love from us?
But God did not hide his love from us, he showed us his love through the cross.
God did not keep silent, he expressed it in Christ.
Romans 5
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Thank God, we are loved.
The one thing we never need to stop doing is telling people we truly love them, one day we won't be able to.
CHAPTER 20
JUST TESTING
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Life was idyllic, as we went into the third decade of the century, but there is always danger lurking and in early 2020, we started to hear of a sickness called Covid 19, we usually have flu like symptoms sometimes in the winter, but this was different, before January had finished, Helen was home all the time and we had to be tested everywhere we went, some mornings as I did the shopping and the chores, I had to be tested up to five times, I came back negative every time, there's a first time for everything!
I remember going out one evening at 8pm, the streets are usually still bustling at this time, but there was just eerie silence, no cars, no people and no activity, everything was closed, it was so surreal.
Everywhere we went we were tested, we were unable to travel for up to two-three years, Indeed we had to get tested every day, and then our whole complex was isolated for two weeks, we couldn't go in and out, thankfully we were provided with bags of food every two days, we were thankful for this small mercy.
Other places had much more stringent regulations, so we were blessed, but tempers could and would flare, as I saw at the gate of our complex, it is very difficult for all concerned.
All of us did get Covid, I remember walking near our flat and I started to feel hot and started to sneeze, But thankfully this was a mild dose.
Everyone wore masks and some people still do, but I never did. We never took any vaccine, as the Lord protected us.
Everything that had happened in person, school, teaching, church, meetings etc, had to go on Zoom, it seems so long ago, when the all clear came, it was such a relief, to get back to normal.
Now the previous year (2019), we lost My beloved Baba, Helen's father, he had his stomach removed due to cancer and he was getting weaker and weaker. Sadly in August, he lost his brave fight for life.
My favourite memory of him, was one day near Christmas 2016, we went to eat beef dumplings downtown, as we came back on the bus, there came on Bing Crosby singing have yourself a merry little Christmas, we just sang quietly together, that is how I remember him.
He was the best man I have ever met and one day I will meet him again as late in life, he trusted Christ as his Saviour and Lord, remember its never too late to trust CHRIST.
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT
Everything was going well before 2020, we were looking forward and planning to go back to the UK.
But all those plans were thrown into confusion, once Covid Hit, it took everyone by surprise.
It showed that life is all too brief, we can make our plans, but God is in complete control, it reminds me of the verses in James chapter 4
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
Life is very short, we are here for only a short time, we only get one chance at life, there are no second chances.
What are you doing with your life?
I know that myself and Helen are loving and serving our Saviour, that is surely the best way to spend your life.
The words of the wise king Solomon are as follows:
Ecclesiastes 12:13
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
The offer of salvation is s till on the table, one day that offer will not be there anymore.
Don't neglect or reject the offer of salvation
Hebrews 2:3
3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him
One day, all of us will appear before God, let me make this clear, this is going to be terrifying to some reading this.
2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Hebrews 9:27
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Death is not the end, it is the elephant in the room, no one talks about it, but 150,000 people die every day.
Jesus defeated death through his death and resurrection, so that the Christian can say
1 CORINTHIANS 15
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
CAN YOU SAY THESE WORDS, I KNOW I CAN?
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