Living in HK: January 2008

Warning this is a long one, but I have so much to share....and if you haven't checked the blog recently, I have added a lot of new postings below.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! A few verses from the Bible came to mind as I was thinking about the New Year. I thought I would share them with you:

2 Corinthians 5:17-21Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

What an encouragement to me that as a Christian, I am a new person. Christ is working in my life and making me the new person that he wants me to be and he will not stop working on me.

The month of December was a busy month here in Hong Kong. Here are some of the Highlights:

SPORTS DAYS: We started off the month with Sports Days. For two days the entire school participated in track and field events. Those who weren’t running, jumping or throwing, they were cheering their team on. They have heat winners, final winners, overall team winners and even a prize for the best cheering team. The best cheering team would be what I would have won if I was still in school since I am not very athletic. J

ORPHANAGE IN MAINLAND: Every Saturday a group from my church goes to an orphanage in mainland China. This orphanage is for special needs children. The special needs range from something as small as a split lip(which has been fixed) to children that have severe mental retardation. I went up on the 15^th with the group to do a Christmas party with the children. It is against Chinese Law to share the gospel with anyone under 18 and of course there is a language barrier, so we just loved on the children, and they loved right back. I can’t wait to return. I am going to try to go up once a month or so.

LEVI SCHEU: Dec 16-24 Levi was on the mission trip this summer with me. He really connected well with the students when he was here over the summer and was able to find a cheap ticket to come visit again. He was busy, running non-stop. He gave a little talk at one morning assembly., shared a song at another , joined me in my classes, and spent lots of time with the students: Dinners, lunches, shopping and sightseeing. He even went to places that I have never been. I know that students really enjoyed having him here, almost as much as I did.

SHELLEY HUGHES: Dec 20-28 Shelley is from my Bible Study at home. Our last day of school was on the 20^th and that evening I picked up Shelley at the airport. It was so good to see her. It’s always fun to get to do the tourist thing here, so that is what we spent most of our time doing, and just relaxing. On Christmas day we went to the store to get an apple pie and ended up eating lunch at the grocery. Both of us agree it was not a good Christmas lunch. That evening some of my friends got together to have a potluck dinner. Are you ready for this the main meal was KFC—And yes KFC means the same thing here as in the states Kentucky Fried Chicken.

FILIPINO MINISTRY: In Hong Kong, many people have domestic helpers and nannies, and most of these ladies come from the Philippines. My church has a ministry for these women. The ministry has many different aspects to it. Usually these women only get one day off a week and they live with the family they work for, so this gives them a place to come and fellowship with other women. They have a Bible Study and a time of worship and they have cooking classes. I know this is going to be a big shock for those who know me well, but I actually did a cooking class for them Sunday. Some of them work for families from Britain, America or Australia and so they want to learn to cook things that are from those cultures. It was really a lot of fun and the food was really good, if I do say so myself. I am planning on doing this again. So if you have any good and EASY recipes forward them on to me.

Praise:

Holidays: I wasn’t really homesick.

Levi: His visit to Hong Kong was really good, he was able to connect with Students that he had met over the Summer on the mission trip. (please continue to pray for him as he seeks God for direction for his future)

Shelley: Having a friend here for the Holidays kept me busy and not thinking about home.

Prayer Requests:

Students:

Form 1-4 and 6 are taking final exams these next two weeks.

Form 7 has their last day of school on Feb 1^st. They then start self study for about a month and then they start their public exams.

Form 5 has their last day of school on Feb 29^th, and then they also start their self study to prepare for their public exams.

Bible Study: I lead a Bible study with Form 7 girls. We had two new girls this past week and both are non-Christians. Annie and Suki. Please pray for them as they are seeking to find out more about God.

Anna: A Filipino who works as a domestic helper here. She is working for a family that is not very good to her. Her work hours are 6am-Midnight and then she has to get up with the baby in the night. She has a really positive attitude about it, but her concern in wanting to get another job is because she doesn’t have time to read her Bible. Please pray that she would be able to find another position, preferably with a Christian family.

Orphanage in Mainland China: Pray for the stressed/overworked/untrained workers. Pray for the Children to feel that they are loved.

Filipino Ministry: Pray for those who are not Christians that come to the gatherings. Pray for these women who are very overworked to be granted strength and endurance and that those who are Christians will be a light to the families that they work for.

Again, Happy New Year!!!

God Bless,

Katie

Levi was part of the group that I traveled with to Mainland China with this past Summer. Our group spent one week in Hong Kong working at Cheng Wing Gee College and then we took about 30 of their students into mainland with us. All of us really had a great time connecting with the students. Levi was able to find a very good price for a ticket and so he came back to visit: the students, Hong Kong and me. (in that order) He really has a heart for these kids.

Levi spoke one morning at the school. Here's the video of his talk. He did a great job considering he was suffering from some Jet Lag and he was having to talk in front of 1200 students. Hopefully my camera holding abilities don't make you seasick. I didn't realize I had such a hard time not moving. ;)

One of the nights that Levi was here we got together with a Bible study group. These guys with us were some of the ones that were our helpers this summer. They did so much stuff for us. They are the BEST!!!