Immune?

Maybe it's because I grew up around Christian missionaries that I'm immune to some of the habits that they employ. I get emails from time to time from a missionary I know that has been stationed in China for the past year and a half/two years. She went over there as an English teacher in order to form strong relationships with the students and then share the gospel with those that she thought were ready/willing. When she sends emails to those back home (like myself), she gives us updates on how things are going and her progress. As you may have guessed, the Chinese government doesn't allow for emails to contain religious words or phrases so Sandy (the missionary) has to abbreviate those words in order for the emails to get through without any trouble. This is a May update email that I think would help people understand how missionaries have to communicate in countries with censorship. The pr. stands for pray (as most of you have probably figured out)... this specific email doesn't have as many abbreviations as some of her past, but it's just a taste of real life censorship.

From: Song ssong@*********.org
To: Song ssong@*********.org
CC:
Subject: May update
Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 19:20:32 +0800

Hi everyone,

Sorry that it's been so long since my last update.
Time has completely escaped me these past two months. Believe it or not,
I'm already in packing mode... I am returning to Chicago on July 14th. Not
sure what the future holds long-term - I'm open to coming back out to China
someday, but for now, I am planning to settle back in the States for a
while.

I am in process of making goodbye gifts for my
students and for some local Chinese friends here. I've also started
shipping boxes home. It's amazing how much you can end up collecting in
two years! I'm leaving my city four days after I finish teaching, so I
have to try and pace myself so that I can enjoy my remaining time here rather
than running around like a crazy person the last few weeks. Any of you who
have experienced moving know how overwhelmed I am feeling right now.
:)

Anyway, as crazy as it is to think that two years
have passed already, it's definitely a very bittersweet time right now.
I'm SO looking forward to seeing all of you again on a more long-term
basis. However, it's incredibly sad for me to think that I may never see
some of my students ever again. Please pr. for me in these two months
here.

1. Please pr. for some specific students that
I've been sharing with- that they would come to know Him. I've been
studying the Word with some of them, but they have not yet professed
faith. Please pr. for Ring, Cynthia, Cynthia, Danielle, Charlie, Kyle,
Iris, Gorilla, and Pig (yes, that's actually their names).
ha-ha.

2. Please pr. that I be a Mary and not a
Martha in my remaining time. There's so much that I still need to do, and so
little time left. However, I don't want to sacrifice my time sitting as
His feet, and I also want to make the most of the time that I spend with
students and friends here. Please pr. that I would have wisdom to know how to
manage my time and who to spend time with in these last few
weeks.

3. Please pr. that I can find a job when I
return to Chicago. If you have any thoughts or ideas, I'm definitely all
ears! Thanks so much!!!!

Sandy