For those of you reading your Bible chronologically this year like me, are we in about the same spot? This morning, the Israelites crossed the Red Sea in my reading. Amazing.

It’s funny what jumps out at you each time you read the Bible through. Now that I’m a parent, I’m viewing this experience from a parent’s point of view. I remember the first time I read the Bible through was in the fifth grade, in a competition with my school friend, Marti. (If you can do it, then I can too. And you have to PROMISE not to skip even a single word. OK?)

Here’s what I read this morning:

“CLOUD SEPARATES FORCES. Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long” (Exodus 14:19, 20 NIV).

OK, now take this from a Hebrew parent’s point of view. Can you even IMAGINE the millions of questions these poor Hebrew mamas and daddies were having to answer?

Mama, where are we going?
What’s that cloud thing?
What’s that fire thing?
Who is God?
Why is God a fire?
Why does God look like a cloud?
I’m hungry. When are we going to eat?
Is Daddy going to work today to make bricks?
Do I have to go help get straw today?
Why are we camping?
Can I go play?
Why is the cloud behind us now?
Are we there yet?
Are we going home?
I’m cold. I’m hot. I’m scared.
I need to go potty. Where can I go?
I forgot something back home. Can I go get it?
Why are the Egyptians chasing us?
Are they going to make us go home?
Are they going to hurt us?
I’m SCARED!
Who is God again?
Who is Moses?
Why are we following Moses?
Can you tell me the story about the frogs again?
And the gnats? Ooohh….and the water turning to blood?
Remember that hail? That was scary, wasn’t it?
Why did we have to leave so fast?

So you get the picture. I’m sure glad it’s not ME having to answer all those questions. Although I get plenty from my own little crew. Reading about the plagues in Exodus this year also brought out something new for me. I realized for the first time that the plagues weren’t just to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go — the plagues also built the faith of Moses, who was transformed into a leader.

That’s what my job is today as a mom — to build the faith of my children. No gnats or frogs required, thank you.

I wrote yesterday about how I’ve been praying about which books I should read and review this year, and how I felt led to read Across the China Sky by C. Hope Flinchbaugh.

As I began to read it, I knew there was something unique about this writer — sure enough, I later discovered that Flinchbaugh was a finalist in the 2003 Christy Awards in the First Novel category. Her writing is spectacular, and I felt like every time I picked up the book, I traveled to China. Part of the story takes place in a Chinese orphanage in Shanghai, and part takes place in the countryside, giving me a taste of both city and rural living in China.

You can read an excerpt from the book here. This novel made it very clear to me how powerful fiction can be for drawing in readers so that an author’s message can come through clearly. Although I probably wouldn’t pick up a non-fiction book right now to read about a dangerous cult in China, this novel made me aware of this terrible problem.

It’s such a joy to be able to introduce C. Hope Flinchbaugh to you via this interview! I thank the good people at Bethany House for making this connection for us.

Across the China Sky is such an intriguing title. Can you tell us what your book is about?

Across the China Sky is a novel based on the true testimonies of Chinese Christian leaders that I interviewed in China — leaders who were deceived and kidnapped by the Eastern Lightning cult. Across the China Sky follows the relationship of an engaged Chinese couple who struggle to keep their love alive while being separated and persecuted for their faith.

What inspired you to write this novel?

Several years ago I had the opportunity to go to China to interview some Chinese House Church leaders who were kidnapped by the Eastern Lightning cult. These Christian leaders were devastated by the kidnapping, and they begged me to tell their stories to “President Bush.”

I wasn’t exactly scheduled to have lunch with our president that month, so I wrote their story in my novel, Across the China Sky.

I was stunned to learn about the Eastern Lightning cult, and I was so thankful you included an actual letter from a Chinese pastor in the back of your book. Can you tell about this group? Are they still active?

Yes. The Eastern Lightning cult is a vicious group that seeks to kidnap Christians and brainwash them into believing that Jesus has already returned to the earth, and this time He’s come in the form of a woman who lives in China.

They base their beliefs on Matthew 24:27, which says, “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Their belief is that Jesus was the Western Christ. Now the EASTERN Jesus has returned to the earth, and he is a Chinese woman who is to be worshiped as God.

How does the cult operate?

Eastern Lightning cult members do not walk up to Christians and ask them to join their club. They are very subtle and deceiving. They have decided that instead of finding new converts in China, they would rather deceive and then convert the main Christian leaders. They hope that if they can convert church pastors in China, these will in turn tell all their churches to convert to Eastern Lightning.

To do this, an Eastern Lightning cult member will go to an underground church and pretend to become converted. They will be baptized, sing the songs, read the Scriptures, and even testify about what great things Jesus did for them. They gain the trust of the pastors and evangelists and then lure them away with the promise of bringing them some great blessing.

They promised Brother Chen and all his main leaders (34 of them) a biblical seminary training. The leaders were excited to have the biblical training, but in the end they found out it was all a lie and they’d been kidnapped by a vicious cult that tried to brainwash them.

Brother Chen (not his real name) said, “Let our stumbling be the warning for the future of the church in the rest of the world. May brothers and sisters be alert and watchful, to guard against and resist the schemes of cults and heresies, and to walk in the truth of the Lord.”

I understand this is your second novel. How does your first novel, Daughter of China, relate to this one?

Daughter of China is a novel based on true stories of the persecuted Christians in China and the intense persecution of Chinese women and their daughters due to the one-child policy in China. If you want to peek into a state-run orphanage that is not a showcase orphanage for tourists, read this book.

Your second novel made me more keenly aware of the agonies Chinese women must go through when they aren’t allowed to keep a second baby. It broke my heart and made me realize if I were Chinese, I would only be able to keep my oldest son. How did you become so interested in China?

As a child, I sat in on classes when my mother taught inner city children stories from Child Evangelism Fellowship about missionaries from various countries. China always struck my interest. As a teen, my father handed me books about great Chinese missionaries such as Hudson Taylor, John and Betty Stam, Adoniram Judson, and Watchman Nee.

How did you become interested in the topic of Chinese orphans?

My interest in the orphans began when I saw two documentaries on television, each depicting the dying rooms in China’s state-run orphanages. Videotapes do not lie.

I saw babies lying in a room left to die—they looked like so many scattered rugs on a hard floor. I looked at my second child, a one-year-old baby girl, and realized she would not be with me had I given birth to her in China. I knew then that I had to do something to help these orphans.

I researched the Chinese orphanages by doing interviews with people who had been to China. After one look at Human Rights Watch Asia’s report on Chinese orphanages, called Death by Default, I knew I had to write the book. The lame boy in my first book is named Zhu, after a little one in the Death by Default book. Zhu died of starvation while the workers around him ate three meals a day.

Daughter of China has inspired a number of couples to adopt children in China—it doesn’t get any more rewarding than that.

Who are your sources of inspiration?

The great scientist Isaac Newton was asked in his old age how he accomplished so much in his life. Newton answered, “If I have seen further than anyone else, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”

My giant was my dad — my biological and spiritual father, a mentor, friend, and great evangelist at heart. He personally led thousands of inner city children and teenagers to the Lord through his chalk art evangelism.

When I was a child, he drew chalk pictures at camp meetings, inner city parking lots, street corners, and churches. I sang and played the guitar or piano as he drew, bringing squeals of delight from children as he changed the lights above the picture to yellow, blue, and red, revealing in the end a “hidden picture” under a black light.

My dad and I went to China in October 2002 and met with the leaders together.

Do you know what he did? He fasted meals and gave away every penny he had to the leaders who were still brokenhearted from their recent kidnapping experiences — leaders who needed a gray-haired pastor to love them and tell them it was going to be okay. My dad did that — and they respected him.

Dad drew chalk pictures for Chinese children, put coins into the cups of beggars we saw on the street, and taught in underground seminaries. He died in June 2006, and would you believe, I am still standing on his shoulders? You can see a picture of the two of us together on my website.

That is a wonderful picture of you and your father. What a blessing that you were able to be with him in China. Thank you so much for writing this book and for sharing your insights into the persecuted church in China. I hope to be able to visit there someday.

For now, the very least I can do is pray for my brothers and sisters who are there, struggling to keep their faith strong.

Hope Flinchbaugh is an author, freelance writer, and homeschooling mom from Pennsylvania. Daughter of China received a Catherine Marshall Christy Award of Excellence in 2003. Hope’s nonfiction book, Spiritually Parenting Your Preschooler, was released in August 2003. She’s also a contributor to Soul Matters, a series released in bookstores and Sam’s Clubs in 2005.

A few weeks ago, my online writing group was discussing mission statements. I didn’t have anything to contribute because … I don’t really know what my mission is. I just like to write, and when I write I feel like I’m pleasing God. That’s it.

One of the mentors in our group impressed on us to pray about every aspect of our writing, and ask God to show us how to best spend our time this year. So I began to pray, “God, please show me what you want me to write. Please show me what you want me to read.”

As soon as I prayed that prayer, things began to fall away for me. I felt less excited about certain writing assignments and more excited about others. Seek Me and You Will Find Me. This is the phrase I’ve been impressed with since the start of the year.

I don’t feel like a parenting expert or a writing expert or even a “Christian Living” expert. But these are the areas I love sharing about. And in the past week two invitations have come to write as a parenting columnist. Thank you, Lord. This seems to be what I’m called to do this year.

As I’ve prayed about reading material, certain books have jumped off my stack of TO READ books, making my heart beat faster when I open the first page.

One of those books had a pretty green cover with a picture of a Chinese woman drinking tea. The cover intrigued me, and so I began to read Across the China Sky by C. Hope Flinchbaugh.

Wow.

I am NOT the same person since finishing that book! My heart weeps for the persecuted church of China — and I had no idea God would use the connecting point of my interest in orphaned children to captivate me with Flinchbaugh’s story.

When I finished the book, I wanted to know more. It was based on a true story involving the kidnapping and torture of a group of Chinese pastors. The author went to China and interviewed some of these people, and her writing reflects a depth of passion and knowledge that is unlike anything I’ve ever read.

I wrote the publisher (Bethany House) to see if I could ask the author some questions about the book, and Flinchbaugh graciously responded. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a Christian in modern-day China, come back tomorrow and you’ll learn why we must PRAY for our brothers and sisters in China.

There are so many exciting things happening at my local church. We have a new music minister AND a new youth pastor breathing new life into our fellowship. The worship services are SO inspiring. I sit with my husband and three older kids, while our two younger ones are in the nursery — and it’s the highlight of my week.

Our new youth minister and his wife have preschool kids so they’ve joined our Sunday school class of other tired, worn-out parents who need a break. We laugh a lot, but we’re actually learning and growing as well — and I can’t thank God enough for this good church fellowship.

This past Sunday, our youth minister was telling us there’s a dynamic movement of the Holy Spirit among college students. “We started a new small group last week, ” he said. “And we had 40 kids show up. I couldn’t believe the hunger among these kids for all things spiritual.”

As he talked, I was thinking, I’ve got to tell him about that great Louie Giglio book I read a while back. What was it, something about worship?

So I googled it and found my review at Christian Book Previews. The book is called Wired: For a Life of Worship, by Louie Giglio (with Stuart Hall). This is an incredible book that includes a 30-day personal worship journey through the Psalms. Oh how I wish I’d had great material like this when I was in high school.

Here’s what the book jacket says:

Athlete or musician, quiet or “the life of the party”—you are unique. There is no one like you on the planet. But your life has a common thread that is true of all people: you are wired for worship. Not just any worship, but for that of your Creator! That’s what this book is about—discovering your purpose and learning how to fulfill it.

Geared for teenagers and college students, Wired is designed with pages that teach, challenge, and connect as you dig into Scripture and learn about your created purpose. This interactive student edition of The Air I Breathe includes a thirty-day worship experience as a guided personal journey that discloses the depth of God’s character and how to know Him more intimately. Ideal for use in small groups, an accompanying leader’s guide is also available.

Giglio writes:
“I love teenagers. In fact, while writing this, I’m on my way to spend four days with more than 1500 of them at camp! My passion to see young people awaken to a lifestyle of worship that goes far beyond singing songs, coupled with the need for small-group material, stimulated the idea for Wired. I want to equip youth workers with a resource that can be used in small groups, large Bible studies, or Sunday school classes. I pray that Wired will encourage teens everywhere to a lifestyle that reflects God’s greatness to the world.”

You can read my review of the book here.

The exciting thing is — I later discovered in our church newsletter that our youth pastor is TEACHING this book on Sunday nights starting next week!!

If you are older than any teenagers in your church (ha! most of us, huh?) then you could easily lead a small group of teens using this book. It brings the Bible to life — it’s explosively relevant and fresh.

Sometimes, I get down and worried about what an awful, scary place our world has become, and I almost hyperventilate imagining what it will be like when I have a houseful of teenagers. Then I decide we must think positive and strengthen ourselves even more for the BATTLEFIELD of our children’s minds and hearts.

Materials like WIRED give us the tools we need to empower our kids to fight back. I think this book would also be great for college kids to mentor high school kids.

I have to add here that I heard Louie Giglio speak in person when I was in my early 20s at Metro Bible Study in Atlanta, Georgia. I was at a season in my life when I was out of college, working, and a tad bit bored (OK, VERY bored). I bought a tape of Louie Giglio’s speech and listened to it over and over. And I told myself life is too short to be miserable and bored — maybe God wants me to do something more interesting.

So I packed that tape in my suitcase and hopped on a plane bound for Tokyo. This is something I can’t do now — but I can definitely mentor younger people who can.

How about you? Is God speaking to your heart about mentoring the next generation? If today’s teens can keep their minds, hearts, and bodies pure NOW … just think what they’ll be accomplishing 20 years from now when they’re raising their own families.

Here’s a writer I really look up to. Kathryn Lay is someone who has reached a great level of success in her writing career, yet she’s also extremely generous in willing to give back her time to encourage the rest of us.

She was recently interviewed by her local newspaper, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and I found the story so inspiring I wanted to keep up with this link!

Kathryn Lay has sold over 1400 articles to magazines and is a prolific contributor to Chicken Soup books and others. Her children’s novel, Crown Me, won the Texas State Reading Association’s Golden Spur Award and will be repackaged into paperback and sold by Scholastic Book Clubs under the title, How to Rule the School.

Kathryn is one of my heroes. She is continuing to perservere with writing a new novel while undergoing chemo treatment for uterine cancer.

In the Fort Worth Star interview, she was asked, “How have you sold so much stuff?”

Kathryn’s reply demonstates her tenacity:

“I usually work on a lot of stuff at once. My friends call me the marketing queen. My mantra to all writers: When you sell, always resell. I think I have one Christmas piece that’s been published about 14 times. When summer comes, I start thinking about Christmas. Right now it’s time to start thinking about summer.”

She says her ultimate goal is to become a full-time children’s writer and says, “You’re not preaching at them. You’re just having fun with them. Mostly, adults are already jaded.”

If you need more writing encouragement, Kathryn also has a book called The Organized Writer is a Selling Writer. Sounds like something I could use!

You can learn more about Kathryn Kay at her website.

Kelsey at HolyMama! has finally shared why she’s so passionate about Breast Cancer Awareness. You can read her story here.

Every month, on the 17th of the month (or whenever works best for you), Kelsey is encouraging all of you ladies to do your BSE (breast self exam). That way, if you notice anything unusual, you won’t panic because it will only have been a month since you last checked.

If you join the club, you can put this groovy little button on your blog — and if you participate at least six months, you get a super-special Queen button that is so adorable, you must go see it on her site.

When a mother is worried sick for her child in the hospital at 2 in the morning, I want her to know that we’re here to share in her burden. When another is worried for the health of her husband, we’re here. When a man is broken under the pressure of the world, let’s bring him before God in prayer.

First, I’m asking that anyone who is interested in a ministry of prayer write me. I’ll be gathering a team together that will be emailed as the prayers come in. When we have a team established and growing, I would like to publish the first names only along with their locations, so that people will see the many voices around the world stretching their hands to our Lord.

I remember a time when my baby was deathly ill, but I found comfort in knowing that churches around the world were in prayer.

Secondly we have opened a new page for prayer, The Prayer Room. We will post prayers that come to us, or needs that we see on the net, and ask that those who wish to comment leave prayers and encouragement for them.

Click here to learn more about this new online prayer ministry.

Cindy Sproles of Mountain Breeze Ministries has been writing a series called “Christians with the Heart of a Servant.” She’s highlighted the ministries of several people, including, most recently Mom 2 Mom.

I sometimes forget that blogging here is my ministry. What keeps me going is knowing that I might encourage one of you to grow in your faith by “connecting” you to a book or other resource that might be just the tool God will use to speak to you.

Cindy’s interview allowed me to do some major soul-searching, and I feel rejuvenated in my writing here.

I hope you’ll visit her at Mountain Breeze Ministries and see what we talked about!

The last two weeks have been very tough around here. My kids have had a stomach virus, and they’ve all missed at least three days of school. Today, I have a date with a bottle of bleach, if that gives you any kind of idea what it’s been like for me. FlyLady Friday, here I come.

In the midst of all the madness, I’ve made excuses about my dieting. I’m tired and stressed, so who cares if I eat these cookies/brownies/tortilla chips? I convinced myself that moms of preschoolers can’t diet because life is just too hard dealing with all the NOISE and messes from kids everywhere.

Then I got an email yesterday from one of my special, love-her-to-pieces college friends. I don’t hear from her all that often — we’re both busy raising families. The email subject: “You inspired me.”

When I opened it, she said she was browsing my blog and was intrigued by my post on the South Beach Diet.

She wrote:

You did such a good job describing it and how to make it easy with a family, that I immediately went to the library and got the book and an extra cookbook. [My husband] and I are trying the strict Phase 1 first to de-tox our bodies from all the sugar and carbs we crave so. Thanks for the encouragement.

OK. That was totally what I needed to hear. I mentioned how this diet was so much easier with an accountability partner. So now I don’t have just one — I have two. heh. No more excuses!

I went to the grocery store this morning and bought the low-fat cheese, salad, and tuna I need to keep me away from the carbs. While I was at it, being so bold in my shopping, I bought three new, matching sippy cups for my 21-month-old daughter. That’s all she needs. I came home and threw away all of her hand-me-down baby bottles. (deep breath here). I weaned her from nursing a year ago, and she uses a cup fine, but I was just being sentimental, seeing how sweet she looks carrying her little bottles around.

Well, we’re moving on.

That email was the boot spur I needed to get me back in the groove. I’m not going to give in to carbs and sugar and be sloppy and lazy into my 40s (which are not far away at all). YEA! I’m motivated again.

Thank you, sweet friend, if you check into my blog. This verse came to mind:

When my husband and I were in Cavendish (Avonlea), P.E.I. several years ago, we both noticed there were a lot of Japanese tourists visiting the Green Gables site. I asked one of the Japanese schoolgirls there why Anne of Green Gables was so popular in Japan, and she held her hand over her mouth and giggled.

Then another girl who could speak some English touched her own braided hair and answered, “Akage no Anne. She’s very popular in Japan. Akage no Anne means ‘Anne with red hair.'” She told me they read about Anne Shirley in their English textbooks at school.

This is a little fact I tucked away for years until I ran across this site that explains more detail. This is from the Prince Edward Island government website: Anne of Green Gables.

I’m quoting directly:

“In Japan, Montgomery became part of the school curriculum in 1952. In 1939, when New Brunswick missionary, Miss Shaw, left Japan, she gave to her friend Hanako Muraoka her prized copy of Anne of Green Gables. Secretly, the respected Japanese translator rendered Montgomery’s text into Japanese, Akage No Anne (Anne of the Red Hair).

When the Second World War ended and officials were looking for uplifting Western literature for the schools, Muraoka brought out her translation of Anne. Ever since, Anne has been a part of Japanese culture, with her exotic red hair and comic outspokenness.

Yuko Izawa’s recently published bibliography of editions gives some idea of the continuing popularity of Montgomery in Japan (see Credits under Works Cited). Today, there is an Anne Academy in Japan; there are national fan clubs; one nursing school is nicknamed “The Green Gables School of Nursing” and is sister school with the University of Prince Edward Island’s School of Nursing.

Thousands of Japanese come to Prince Edward Island every year as visitors to Anne country and the Land of Green Gables. When the National Park house called Green Gables caught fire in May 1997, the Japanese responded immediately by sending money to restore and repair the building. Dozens of glossy Japanese magazines have devoted whole issues to photographs of Island scenery and crafts and of course to the sites devoted to Montgomery and her works.”

This completely fascinates me!

As I’ve been reading through the Anne of Green Gables series this year, one thing really strikes me about Montgomery’s writing — her descriptions of setting. The beauty of Prince Edward Island is what attracts us so much to the world of Anne — and I can’t help but imagine how Japanese readers feel when they’re reading it.

Japan is densely populated, with many people living in high-rise apartments surrounded by noise and concrete. Anne’s world was one filled with beauty, quiet, nature, and peace. It’s something few of us have, yet all of us long for.