Bob's posts with tag: china
 The most underrated person on my team - is my wife. I know what she has done, what she has honored in my work, what she has done for our two children, the sacrifices she has made and the persecution for the Gospel she has endured. I do not speak about her often to others and I can respect and defend her decisions based upon what she had done for myself and our children.
When we first married, she acted as a translator for me for mission work in Communist China and paid a heavy price for that with persecution. When I started the tennis ministry, it involved me working long hours - long after she had fallen asleep. She honored that without complaint. She gave up her own desire to travel to where she wanted to go, so that we could travel to where I was requested as a missionary. She works to help support the family and thus allows me to use the additional money to support missions. She birthed our two lovely children and spends all her free time schooling them. She prepared wonderful meals for me. She allows me to travel for the Gospel's sake, understanding the message to others that takes place as I travel. She curtails her spending so that we can have more for the family and additional money to support missions. We went forward together and were sent out by the church.
A better wife I could not have. God brought her to me in Mainland China. I often imagine that God must have looked down at me and said "I have the right person for what you need, she is there" and then He pointed to a spot in China.
http://dailyverse.multiply.com (upcoming on May 7th: ENJOY LIFE WITH YOUR WIFE [AND YOUR HUSBAND], WHOM YOU LOVE)
http://www.tennisministry.org
http://bobkraft.multiply.com
 My own defining moments: My Mother was never home growing up > My earliest memories of visiting Mom were in the insane asylum and remained so until my adulthood > Attempted molestation by a teacher and an employer as a pre-teenager > Every summer living with a different family as a teenager. A different time in my life; helping others...Listening to prisoners in jail singing in unison 'Amazing Grace' (listen to the song) each behind a locked door - 1985. (the unreachable) > Staying in the home of a missionary in Daveo, Philippines and the family being murdered for their own faith the morning after I left - 1986. (the ultimate sacrifice) > Philippine business and government leaders be driven to hear me speak in Manila about having a Presidential prayer breakfast and faith - 1986. (the unreachable) > My Mother healed of terminal cancer and mental illness instantly after a prayer of faith and remains so twenty years later. - 1988 (miraculous) > China government arresting my staff and confiscating almost everything I own as I shared the Gospel message to the Chinese. - 1996 (provision) > In ministry I usually wear tennis shoes - Now. (joy) God reaches the unreachable, offers protection, gives the ultimate sacrifice, provides provision, is miraculous and brings joy. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. - 2 Corinthians 1:3
Some suggestions on how to deal with issues. 1. Write it down and be specific! Until you can see it, you won't know the symptoms from the cause. 2. Divide the problem into parts. Take care of the part you can right away; now you're getting it 'down to size.'3. List people and ideas who might be able to help. It takes humility to say, "I don't know" and ask for assistance. But go ahead and do it. Don't let pride keep you stuck in the problem. To read more about defining moments for athletes at 'The Daily Verse Blog'.
| Start: | Sep 9, '08 | | End: | Dec 31, '08 | | Location: | Hong Kong, China |
Office and Hong Kong Tennis Ministry Association
| Start: | Aug 12, '08 | | End: | Aug 17, '08 | | Location: | Hong Kong, China |
Office and Hong Kong Tennis Ministry Association
| Start: | Mar 4, '08 | | End: | May 20, '08 | | Location: | Hong Kong, China |
Office and Hong Kong Tennis Ministry Association
 Spent the better part of this week planning my trips up to July 1, 2008. Called and made flight reservations to three cities for tournaments in Australia (Perth, Sydney and Melbourne), covering January to February and then a short trip for me to three cities in the USA -- Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Saint Louis, Missouri and Bloomington, Illinois covering late February to March. The wisdom in traveling from my home in Hong Kong is to call the travel agent 3-4 months before looking to get the best price and maybe a confirmed seat. Seems like all is go on these trips. The most amazing part of the Europe trip in May to Paris and London is looking out the window of the Oasis Hong Kong Airlines plane and seeing the remoteness and flatness of the Gobi Desert in China rising up to meet the highest snow covered peaks in the world of the Himalayan mountain range. That is as far as I could see into the horizon for over a period of three hours. A remote and amazing world that we live in!
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