JD–>ZG

I’m Jon. I live and work in Harbin 哈尔滨, Heilongjiang Province 黑龙江 in Northeast China 中国东北, and this is my online home while I’m serving overseas. You’ll find stories, observations and random thoughts on living well (to steal from my personal hero, Joann Pittman) “in a place I don’t belong.”

I live and teach on a university campus in Harbin and lead a team of four first-year teachers. As we seek to serve our campus and community by living and teaching well, we’re also enjoying opportunities to invest deeply in the lives of our students and friends. Here’s a part of a letter I wrote to friends and family this past summer about why I was heading back to China:

Even though I’m heading back to a country I already lived in for a year, lots of things will be different this time around and lots of things have changed. As a team leader, I have more responsibility and more (though still limited) experience to draw from. I hope to jump into the work full speed ahead—be it building relationships or learning the language, and I’m thankful for the base of knowledge I have for the work ahead. I also realize, though, that there is still so much I don’t know about living well in China. I’ve never taught in a university before. I’ve never taught a Chinese student over the age of six, in fact. I won’t be in Beijing again, so I’ll be in a new city. I’ve been home for 3 years and in returning to a country growing and changing as rapidly as China, sometimes I’m afraid 3 years might feel more like 30. And on top of all of that, this time around I’ll be responsible for a team of first-year teachers, some of whom may have never set foot outside of their hometown, state or country. I’ll be the one with the Chinese language skills and the cultural know-how necessary to get us around town and around campus. I’ll be in charge of making sure we all teach well and maintain a good relationship with our school. Meanwhile, my Mandarin is poor at best and my know-how is often lacking even here in America. Neither do I have an education degree or a minute of teaching experience outside of my Kindergarten in Beijing.

Despite all of these challenges, I know the Father will use me and provide me with whatever is necessary to do my job well—for His glory. Each day will be a challenge in which I must rely on Dad for each of the things I’ve mentioned above, in addition to the wisdom, knowledge, patience, compassion and kindness which can come only from Him. I loved living in China—from the people to the food to the abounding everyday hilarity. I don’t remember it only with rose-colored glasses, however. I was often homesick, frustrated and overwhelmed by the challenges of living in a foreign land. But the Father calls each of us to this: to be a pilgrim in any land (home or otherwise), as our true Home is elsewhere and yet to come. And it’s for this Home that I leave my home with joy, because the Father’s house has many rooms, and many of those rooms are not yet filled. Likewise, His Word tells us that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. I’m committed to doing the Harvester’s work in China for as long as He calls me there. Until every room is filled.

I’m originally from Pittsburgh, PA, graduated from Geneva College (in Beaver Falls, PA) in 2005 and spent a year teaching Kindergarten in Beijing in 2005-2006.

If you have any questions or would like to contact me for any reason, shoot me an email. If you don’t know me already, let’s get to know each other better. And thanks for checking out JD–>ZG. This site is a chance for me to share my continuing journey with you, and I’d love for you to become a part of the community here and my work in China.

Mad props to Chris Carson for helping me get this site off the ground and graciously hosting it for me. Chris is a great friend and does some impressive work on the web. Check it out at http://illbrandyou.com.