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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Li Yue, (left) 14, plans to visit Snohomish County soon through a Compass USA home-stay program. He is seen here with his father, Lixue Sheng and mother, Wang Wen Hui. (click to enlarge) Su Jinxiang (center), 13, plans to visit Snohomish County soon through a Compass USA home-stay program. She is seen here with her father, Su Shaochun and mother, Ma Ling.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, July 12, 2008 Homes needed for teenage visitors from China More than 50 teens will visit the U.S. from the quake-stricken region of China. By Leita Crossfield Herald Writer MALTBY -- Denice MacKenzie is on a mission. By Friday, the Maltby woman needs to find 12 more host families for some of the 50 teens from Chengdu, China she's helping to bring to the U.S. for a home-stay program. "I'm not worried," she said. "God is in control." The teens are coming from Sichuan Province where a May 12 earthquake left nearly 70,000 people dead. Roughly 2,000 of those killed were students and teachers who died when their schools collapsed. "As Christians, we have a mandate to share God's love, to carry out the Great Commission as it's stated in the book of Acts," MacKenzie said. MacKenzie is not a usual missionary. She's a college student, life coach, business owner and mom. She can't leave her home to go to a foreign land. So she's found a way to engage in missionary work by bringing foreign students to her community. MacKenzie is a program manager for Compass USA, a secular organization that works with other countries to arrange home stays for students who want to come to the U.S. for a few weeks to learn or to improve their English language skills. "This is an opportunity for us to share what America was founded on -- a love for God," she said. Learning English -- not religion -- is the reason the Chinese teens were granted visas. The students, who range in age from 13 to 17, want to shop, learn about football, eat American food, swim in a lake and go camping. It's the first time any of them have visited the U.S. It's also Compass USA's first time bringing a group of Chinese students to Washington state, said Debbie Dahl, founder and president of the Denver-based firm. While Compass USA is not a faith-based organization, its employees don't hide their religion. Nearly all of the people in Compass' Denver office are committed Christians, said Terry Springer, regional director for Compass USA. "We work with countries that don't want to work with a specific Christian denomination or group, so as a secular organization we believe we can be more effective. We can still be real and be who we are. It doesn't mean we are going to beat them over the head with the Bible. We share the love of God through our lives, in the context of how he meets our needs." Springer acknowledged that religion is a sensitive subject for the Chinese government. Her firm is careful not to make it an issue, neither attracting attention to faith nor hiding its importance. The Chinese parents are told during the application process if the family where the student is headed is religious. MacKenzie has planned a variety of activities for the teens to help them learn about America's culture and people. The students' visit is planned to kick off with a welcome party at 4 p.m. July 18 at Park Ridge Community Church, 3805 Maltby Road in Bothell, followed by a concert by Christian acoustic artist David Harsh at 7 p.m. at the church. The students will attend English language classes weekday mornings at the church. MacKenzie has also arranged a trip to Seattle so the teens can visit The Chocolate Factory and attend a Mariners game. She plans to take the group to Snoqualmie Falls, and on trips to the beach and bowling. A farewell party is planned for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7. Most of the boys and girls are 13 or 14. Most don't have brothers or sisters because the Chinese government makes it difficult for families to have more than one child. The students speak English. Some have chosen English names to use during their visit. Li Yue, 14, lives with his father, Lixue Sheng, a radiological technician, and mother, Wang Wen Hui, who works in sales. Li chose the English name Brian Lee for his visit. He hopes to make friends with American people, especially the children in his host family, he said in his application. He knows many Americans love football, but he doesn't know the game very well. He hopes his host family can help him play. Su Jinxiang, 13, lives with her father, Su Shaochun, and mother, Ma Ling. Her father is a senior engineer and her mother is a college teacher. In her application, Su said she is "very outgoing and energetic." She loves American history and wants to know more about it. "Dr. Martin Luther King said he had a dream," Su said. "And I have a dream, too." Reporter Leita Hermanson Crossfield: 425-339-3449 or lcrossfield@heraldnet.com. Host families needed Host families are still needed for Chinese home-stay students who will visit Snohomish County from July 18 to Aug. 9. To learn more about hosting a Chinese boy or girl through Compass USA, call Denice MacKenzie at 425-218-2988.

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