Carlson and Naomi Becker Update

Carlson and Naomi Becker

Mid-September 2002

Carlson and Noami Becker, from Northland, Mich., went to Macau in August 2002 for a three-month term as volunteers. They sent this note in mid-September.

It is past time for us to up-date you concerning our time in Macau. We are enjoying good health and are enjoying the country and people very much. We had taught month-long classes during August and then we started fall classes the second week of September. We teach classes every Tuesday and Thursday morning, and two classes every Tuesday and Thursday evening, getting done at 10:15 pm. We teach a class every Wednesday and Friday night, also. We are teaching two "level 4" classes and one "level 6 class," along with a class called "Anything Goes."

Anything Goes is for advanced students who want practice speaking English. We suggest subjects for them to discuss and then help them with grammar while they express their opinions. Sometimes I think we are learning more than they are. We recently discussed the 9-11 commemorations and the feelings over here about that whole story. We have also learned some Chinese history and some things about the struggles that they are going through and have gone through over the years. I buy a South China News paper quite often and find it fascinating to read about this area. Their perspective on world events is interesting, to say the least. However, they don't seem to be very interested in USA college football.

We are worshipping with a group of missionaries every Sunday morning, and I have spoken to that group twice and am scheduled to speak a couple more times, before we come home. We also worship with a Chinese church called Living Water Church. It is a church of many young people, many of whom have recently graduated from University. They are a great group of Christians. Naomi and I are leading a small group that is studying marriage issues for married couples. That group meets every couple of weeks in homes (apartments, I haven't seen any individual houses yet). The church had a fellowship night at one single teacher's apartment last month and we drew names of people to pray for and do nice things for. We took one of our "names" (Clayton) out for lunch last Sunday after church. He does testing of building materials to assure that buildings meet code. We had a delightful time getting to know him better.

Our classes are delightful and we enjoy every student. We are working with a super staff. Jennifer has been here for six years, Melissa has been here for over a year, and Linda came about a week or so after we did and is staying for a year. Jana, the director of the work, is in the States on furlough.

The students seem to be quite open to the Gospel and our witness to them about God and His love for them. We have time each week that we spend 15 minutes telling them about the Bible. Many times the discussion lasts much longer, as they have many questions. Some have had instruction before, and to others it is all new! We try to build relationships with our students so we can talk to them at a deeper level than we have time to do in class. That has happened some, but we desire that it happen more. Bob and Kit are two students that seem to be really open right now. You might want to pray for them. We would appreciate that.

There have been a couple of conversions in the Living Word Church in the time that we have been here. The pastor is working with those new Christians, and that is very exciting to see. That church is the smaller and newer of the two churches that the United Brethren have in Macau. The rest of our staff attend church there to help with that work.

We experienced a level 8 typhoon (level 10 is as high as they rate them). It damaged the sign on the ELP Center on Taipa. None of the staff suffered any ill affects of it. They closed the bridge between Taipa Island and Macau City one evening and night, so we had to call off classes one night. We saw waves washing over the lower parts of the bridge just as we crossed it to get home. Cycles had a very difficult time with the wind. There are thousands of cycles and motor scooters here.