I made it across the Pond

I’m in South Korea at the airport waiting to go to China. It’s 5:45 am on Wed, though China is an hour behind.

The flight was as good as can be expected for being on the plane so long. :)  The airport here is nice though it’s so early no one is around.  I’ve taken a few pictures so far and will share when I can. 

I leave for China in about 3 hours.

I’m on my way soon…

Well, I’m heading out in just a few hours.  Before I reach my destination, I will have a layover in Chicago  (and I’ll get to see in-laws!!) and then in South Korea.  I will be in China tomorrow  evening, our time (CST).  It will be Wed. morning, China time.

Keep me in your prayers as I travel.

One month or less…. and some prayer requests

Well, it’s been a little while since I wrote, simply because I’ve been busy with work, preparation, and waiting.

I found yesterday that I will  be heading to China “sometime” during the week of September 8th!  This means  it’s around a month, perhaps a little less. 

I have some prayer requests for now, so if you think of it, please keep me in prayer:

- Funding for A LOT of things that I need to bring over that I don’t have or that I don’t have enough of

-Funding  until I  get settled in and start getting paid

- That the VISA process  would be swift.  I received my VISA application  from the  school yesterday and need to have it sent down  to Missouri so they can get it to Chicago.   Random, but it’s because they are paying for the  Chinese consulate to work on it.

-For time.  I am so busy right now that  I really need some rest time.   And time to spend with Phil.

Even more confirmation!

One of the last major obstacles has been eradicated! Praise the Lord.

I have received my teaching schedule. It is MWF 8am – 3pm. This means, that, without a doubt, I can do my live seminars for Kaplan on Thursday mornings. There is no conflict, no needing to beg for change, nothing wrong. This is good.

I also found out my classes start Sept. 15th and I will arrive in China up to one week before classes. So now that I have a firm leave time, I will be able to plan my good-bye party.

If life couldn’t be any more happy, I found out something else, too. I had been thinking about quitting Axia because of the office hours requirement. Well, guess what? Starting Aug. 4th, Axia no longer requires office hours!!!!!! Instead, they are implementing a policy about communication that is similar to my other schools. This means I can still teach for them. Wow!

Passport to China or how this crazy adventure got started

Two weeks ago my life changed forever.

Without a doubt, I know this is the Lord’s will, as He alone has opened the doors for this to happen. Here’s my story…

I was looking for adjunct positions on the Chronicle of Higher education, as I’m often looking to add additional positions to my teaching load.  I saw an opportunity to teach public speaking at Lianoning Normal University in Dalin China.  I thought, well, this seems like a neat opportunity, but it’s probably unlikely.  Since Phil and I have a heart for China, I told Phil about this position.  He told me to apply.

I said, “Seriously?”  He told me that he was serious and that I should apply.

So I did…

The day after I applied, I asked the head pastor of my church and his wife to pray for me about the position.  We prayed together, after service, for God to confirm the opportunity if I should go, and to close and open doors.

Well, He’s only opened doors! 

I knew when I applied that there were several obstacles that would have to be figured out before I could think about actually going, regardless of whether or not I got the position. 

I received an email the next day, a Monday, inviting me to interview for the position.  My interview was scheduled for Wed. morning, 8am Beijing time, which would be Tues evening, 7pm MN time.

The interview went extremely well!  During the interview, several of the obstacles that I had been thinking about were eradicated. I found out:

-I would be able to get high speed internet in my apartment.  This is quite important because I need to keep my online teaching jobs.

-In the initial communication I received with some information about the position, it listed the mandatory faculty orientation as August 23.  This seemed like a difficult date for me to get to China by.  This is because I have two classes set to end that week.  One of those classes is an in class (not online) class at Bethel that ends August 21.  The other is an online class, but grades are due that weekend.   LMU is 13 hours ahead, so with travel time to make that meeting, I would have to leave August 21, making it impossible for me to end my class!  Well during the interview, the dean told me I would start later because the public speaking prof teaches freshmen.  Freshmen have a mandatory 2-3 week orientation before classes start.  LMU would have a 2nd faculty orientation for freshmen profs!!!  This was a MAJOR obstacle that was removed.

-My teaching schedule at LNU would be either MWF or  TTh instead of 5 days a week.  This was important to find out because I teach live seminars for Kaplan (one of the schools I will stay working for).  The live seminars are night time here, but would be day time there.  Having a schedule that is not everyday in China makes it easier for me to keep teaching these seminars.

-Along with the salary, I would have my round trip plane ticket provided, a furnished apartment provided, health insurance, life insurance, accident insurance, and an office or cubicle. 

After the interview, a few days passed.  We simply prayed about the opportunity.  At our life group at church, we asked for additional prayer, including, specifically, prayer for the Lord to provide money for a passport.  Well, the next day our economic stimulus check arrived! 

I had some other details get worked out, too.  I found out I can get a MN phone number through Skype and talk to people in the US over the internet at MN rates.  This is an important way for me to keep in touch with loved ones, but also to connect to students.

There were still several other details that needed to be worked out for the job to be possible.  Phil and I believer we needed to progress forward, as if I would go, since the doors had been opening.

Wednesday of this past week, I heard from Kaplan.  One of the things I was somewhat nervous about is that with my teaching schedule this past term, I had seminars on W and Th nights.  I figured it would be easier to ask LNU to not teach one of these two mornings, but not both.  I was on the schedule to teach this same schedule, however.  Well, Kaplan emailed me and let me know my Thurs. class didn’t make enrollment and was cancelled.  But they didn’t want to hurt me financially, so they offered me another class as a replacement — the SAME day as my other class!!! 

-I knew working for Axia College while in China would be hard because of the office hours requirement.  Well, Axia has made me quite frustrated for several months anyway because they keep cancelling courses that I’ve hard scheduled.  I, however, need the money from them unless I could get a replacement school.  The Lord made a way for me to get out of Axia!  Here’s how: My teaching load went from 1 course with Darton college to 3.  I’ve got courses scheduled for EVERY term for Davenport.  I’ve got training (and likely will get hired for) 2 new schools: IWU and Argosy University online.

All of these obstacles and all of the details have just been working out for me, so I wasn’t surprised to hear from LNU the morning AFTER I heard from Kaplan.  I was offered the job. 

I took it.

So I leave at either the end of August or beginning of September, following the Lord’s leading to teach public speaking at a university. 

This will be my chronicle to tell you all of what the Lord is doing in my life and how He’s using me in China.