Living in HK

USS Denver

2009-01-21T19:19:00.006+08:00

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I was able to show my thanks and gratitude to 4 servicemen by hosting them for the day.

We met up for a Dim Sum lunch and then I took them to the Chinese Garden.

Christopher, Kevin, Quentin and Kevin

We then headed to some local markets. Quentin has a new baby girl at home, so he wanted to buy some baby clothes for her. Then we headed to one of the many shopping centers. A popular thing to do in HK is to take pictures around any kind of display that might be up at the mall. So we had to do it too.

In front of the Christmas display at the Mall
Kevin, Me, Kevin, Quentin and Christopher

Please pray for these guys. They are all really young: Quentin is only 19. He is very homesick and since he has a new baby at home that is making him want to be home all the more. I have been keeping in touch with him via email and am trying to encourage him.

Sports Days

2009-01-21T19:18:00.010+08:00

Sports Days are a highlight of the school year for the students. They wouldn't be typical students if they didn't love the fact that they get three days away from academics (2 for competitions and 1 to recuperate).

The two days of competition are a series of track and field events and also cheering competitions. My job during these two days is to be the announcer and supervise student announcers. We end up having so much fun doing our job. It ends up being a great time to get to know the students better, and on a much more personal level.

Kinphen, Elfleise, and Nikki

three of our student announcers

Me and Paul

Passion World Tour

2009-01-21T19:14:00.008+08:00

Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, and Louie Giglio came to Hong Kong as part of their 'Passion World Tour.' It was a great night of worship with Christians from all over the world.

One of Chris Tomlin's songs is called "God of this City." During all of their songs, they played videos with the lyrics on the big screen, and for this song, they used videos and photos of Hong Kong. Here are the words to the song.

You're the God of this city
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation, You Are Bridge: For there is no one like our God, There is no one like our God Chorus 1: Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done in this city Greater things are still to come
And greater things are still to be done here Verse 2: You're the Lord of Creation
The Creator of all things
You're the King above all Kings, You Are You're the strength in our weakness
You're the love to the broken
You're the joy in the sadness, You Are Chorus 2: Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done in this city Where glory shines from hearts alive
with praise for you and love for you in this city Greater things have yet to come
Great things are still to be done in this city Greater things are still to come
And greater things are still to be done here

I have really been praying about my future. As you know my original time in Hong Kong is set to end in August '09, I have been praying about what God is wanting me to do next. I do feel that He is calling me to stay in Hong Kong, but doing what, I'm not sure. Please pray that I will have wisdom in making decisions about where to work and where to serve. I know that He is going to use me as part of the greater things He is going to be doing in Hong Kong.

Some of you might know Greg Mosby, a missionary from CFC here in Hong Kong. After the Passion concert, he made his own video for the song with pictures of HK. Here it is.

Nikelle's Wedding

2009-01-21T19:14:00.007+08:00

Nikelle was one of my roommates when I lived in Hong Kong the first time. I moved home, but she stayed here. Three years ago she met Stuart at a Rugby Tournament, and as they say, "The rest is history."

October 11th Nikelle and Stuart got married and they asked me to do one of the readings in the wedding. I guess teaching has helped me get over my nervousness of speaking in front of people (at least a bit), so I did the New Testament reading.
Please pray for Nikelle to continue to grow in her relationship with God and for Stuart to come to see his need for a Savior.

USS Benfold

2009-01-21T19:13:00.004+08:00

The first week of October brought the USS Benfold to town. Again, I hosted a few sailors: Mark, Mike and Jake. Because the day they were in town was a public holiday, I was able to spend the entire day with them. I asked them what they were wanting to see, and they said they wanted to see things that typical tourists wouldn't see. So took them on an interesting adventure.

We started out with a Dim Sum lunch and then headed up to Monkey Mountain. This is a country park where monkeys run wild. I went there when I lived here before and didn't have a very fun experience, so this was my first time back in six years. It wasn't quite as bad as I remember it to be, and the guys really enjoyed it.
On our way back into town, Mark joked about wanting to see Jackie Chan. I told him I couldn't do that but I could get him to Jackie Chan's office.
Our next stop was a Chinese Garden. This was a beautiful, peaceful place and the funny thing is that there is a freeway that runs right over it, but you don't even realize it. It's just so relaxing.

After the Garden we went to the Hong Kong history Museum. This place really is a must for anyone who comes to visit Hong Kong. The history of this city is just amazing.

And because this was Tuesday we had to hit Tequila Jack's. TJ's is a Mexican Restaurant that I have found that is about 20 minutes from my place. Every Tuesday they have a special on their ground beef tacos. only $10hk/each ($1.25 US) This is such a great deal, because normally their tacos are $70 for 2. ($10 US)Mike, Me, Jake and Mark

Group from Evansville

2009-01-21T19:11:00.009+08:00

My former boss, Jeff Howell, and his cohorts from U of E's MBA program came to Hong Kong on October 1st. They spent a few days here before heading into mainland China for two weeks. It was so great to see Jeff and even though I didn't know the others beforehand it was so nice to talk with Evansville people.

October 1st is China National Day, so I met up with Jeff and we watch the fireworks from the roof of his hotel.
Since I had to work everyday while they were here, I met up with them in the evenings to do a bit of sightseeing and the last night, we went out for Peking Duck.

Jeff is in the light blue shirt sitting next to me.

Minori's Birthday--fundraiser for Africa

2009-01-21T19:10:00.003+08:00

My dear friend, Minori, has such a heart for Africa.

This past summer she was able to go on two different mission trips to Africa. One in Rwanda and one to Uganda. On the second trip she met a couple that is starting up a ministry working with Street children. So for her birthday in September, she had a party. Everyone was to bring food to share and money in any currency in units of 26 (because she was turning 26) You wouldn't believe the different currencies that were brought to this party. And after all was counted and converted into Hong Kong Dollars, the final total was $15,000 HK (about $2,000US)

Bible Study

2009-01-21T19:07:00.011+08:00

My Bible study group took some time off this summer and when we started back up this fall, Andrew and Rachel asked me to join them as part of the leadership team. Our group seems to have trouble with people committing to come to the study, so we thought we would try to meet every other week so that it wouldn't be such a pressure on people to come but it didn't seem to work. We also wanted to challenge the members to do homework, to be in the Word daily and so we chose a study that I have done before, but one that is definitely beneficial: Experiencing God. But at this time, I don't think our group is spiritually mature enough to do homework.

We will be staring I Peter in February. We are just asking that they read over the chapter prior to coming to Bible Study. We are also going to try to start up some accountability groups within our study. Hopefully, we will be able to encourage each other in our walks and the three of us leaders will be able to disciple the members a bit more.

Please pray:

they will start to hunger for God in their lives more than just on Sundays and Thursdays.
they will be open to being held accountable
they will be willing to commit to coming to study more frequently than they have in the past
they group would feel connected to each other and more like a family to each other.

On a lighter note: The Church sponsored a Wii Competition for all of the Bible Study groups. The competition consisted of Boxing, Swimming, Tennis, Running, Hurdles and one or two other events. Since no one in my Bible Study had a Wii, we figured we would just go and have fun. Well we ended up sweeping the day. We won every event!!

New School Year

2009-01-21T19:07:00.010+08:00

The end of August brought about the start of a new school year, and with the new school year there are lots of new changes.

Since Nikelle is getting married this year, she has resigned her position at the school, so change #1: A new Native English Teacher. Paul is the new teacher. He is from England and has been living in Hong Kong for 2 years prior to starting at CWGC. Although he's not like Nikelle in personality or teaching style, he and I work really well together. We have quite a good time and I've done somethings socially with him and his wife, Angela. Paul does not have a religion and his wife is Buddhist. Pray that I can be a good witness to them.

Me, Paul, and Angela out at an Indian Restaurant

Change #2: I am teaching quite a few more classes this year. So this year, I teach 860 students. Basically I see them once every 14 school days. The thing that makes me so frustrated is that I don't know my students names. Not seeing them very frequently and having so many makes it difficult.

Change #3: Along with my classes, I am also in charge of a few extra activites. I am helping to run the English Ambassador Program, the English Society and also Student Lunch time Performances.

Please pray for the remaining school year that I will be focused and organized and that I can make a difference in these Students lives and my co-workers lives for Christ.

Typhoon Season

2008-08-21T19:03:00.004+08:00

Well typhoon season is upon us now. And it looks like Hong Kong is going to be getting a direct hit on Friday (Hong Kong time) But luckily the typhoon which was forecasted to be a category 3 didn't make it that high and is only going to be a category 1 when it hits.

Lots of New Posts

2008-07-29T15:18:00.004+08:00

Well I just posted a bunch of new posts. Not including this one, I just posted 6 new posts. I hope you enjoy reading them all.

New Church Location/New Worship Pastor

2008-07-29T15:17:00.005+08:00

Back in May our church officially opened its doors. Well, the doors to the new location. For the last 8 years, my church has been nomadic: every Sunday a different location. Every Sunday God provided a location for us to meet. Back in October, the church Elders announced that they had finally found a location for the church and asked for a church vote. The church also needed to raise money to be able to do the building out of the space. The people of the church voted positively for the location and they also pledged to give the entire amount that was needed for the buildout. $20million Hong Kong (almost $3 million US) By the time the building was complete in May all of the money had been raised. The new address for the church is 633 King's Road. If you are interested here's my church's website. Island ECC

Along with a new building, we also got a new worship pastor two weeks ago. His name is Jeff Caylor. He's originally from INDIANA!! Most recently, he worked in Colorado Springs for Focus on the Family. Besides being a worship pastor, Jeff is also a recording artist. He has a great CD that you will want to check out. jeffcaylor.com I think you will really enjoy it.

Ann Leaving

2008-07-29T15:16:00.009+08:00

I mentioned back in May that Ann Osburn was going to be coming to Hong Kong for 2 months. Well, that two months has already come and gone. She arrived on May 13th. I had made plans for the next day's lunch for us to eat with the Nelson's who are from Evansville and currently live in China. They were passing through Hong Kong on their way back to the states. So for Ann's first official meal in Hong Kong she had Italian food. Since I had to go back to school, they took her on a bit of a whirlwind tour of Hong Kong island and took her to a very popular place.

Krispie Kreme Donuts.

Ann spent the next few days getting over jet lag and adjusting to life in the big crazy city. She started her classes on Monday May 19th. She had two classes a day one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Form 5 students who had been out of school since February, studying for and taking public exams, came back to the school to be in her classes. This was additional practice for their oral English Exam that they had to take during June.

Towards the end of the school year, the Form 5 students have a graduation dinner with their teachers, and since Ann was currently working with them on their exam practice they invited her to join too. It was a nice evening. I hadn't seen some of the students since February, so it was nice to see them again. It was funny to see some of them too, because I am so used to seeing them in their uniforms and for this dinner they get all dressed up.

Ann, Janice and Me

Vivian, Iris and Phoebe --
(They call themselves the VIP girls: because of their initials)

One of the things that Ann was hoping to do while here in Hong Kong was visit an orphanage in Mainland China. Unfortunately the Chinese government has stopped all groups going to volunteer at orphanages until after the Olympics. But Ann got to do something that she wasn't expecting to do. I have two friends here that are Bible Smugglers. I introduced Ann to them and they asked her if she would like to go with them. So the week before Ann left she went across the border twice smuggling Bibles.

While Ann was here we also did quite a few fun things...Disneyland, Shopping and Massages in Mainland China and Afternoon High Tea at the Grand Hyatt.

Ann left on bright and early on July 7th. It was really hard to see her go and not to be getting on the plane with her. I cried at the airport and pretty much the whole way back to my apartment. It was really weird walking in and not seeing her and her stuff. I had gotten used to having a roommate for the last two months and now I had to go back to being by myself.

Ann hadn't been feeling well right before she left Hong Kong, so as soon as her plane landed in Evansville she went to the doctor and found out that she has Mono. Please pray for her as she continues to recover from that and also as she continues to seek God's will for her life. For me, please pray that I won't be as homesick as I have been this past month. It really makes it hard for me to be an effective witness when I really want to be in the States. I apologize if you emailed me this month and I didn't get back to you. It's hard to write when you are homesick.

Navy Visit

2008-07-29T15:15:00.005+08:00

At the end of June another group of Navy Ships were in town. This time I hosted 4 sailors from the USS Decatur. The end of the school year, we only have half days, so I was able to meet up with them in the afternoon and take them through Hong Kong Park and to the Peak. Then Ann joined us for another great dinner at the "American Peking Restaurant." We had a great meal and a fun time. After dinner we headed to the ladies market so they could do some shopping.

Charles, Ann, Me, Nichole, Beth and Sonya

Nikelle's Bridal Shower

2008-07-29T15:08:00.005+08:00

My dearest friend here in Hong Kong is Nikelle. She and I lived together the first time I was here and over the four years that I was back in the States, we continued to keep in touch: she came to visit me and I came back to Hong Kong to visit her. Then when I moved back, she was very generous to open her home to me until I could find a place to live.

Well she is getting married this October, so I decided to throw her a Bridal Shower. Apparently, Bridal Showers are an American thing. None of the ladies in the English Department had ever been to one. Not even Nikelle: she is from Australia. It was a pleasure to plan this for her and a blast to be at since everything was so new for all the ladies.

Working on the word scramble

Using Toilet Paper to design a wedding dress

The three TP brides

The whole group
Back: Koey, Melva, Daphne
Middle: Christina, Teresa, Ann, Nikelle, Katie, Natalia
Front: May, Florence, So

Filipino Ministry

2008-07-29T15:07:00.003+08:00

Back in January I got the opportunity to do a cooking class for some Filipino ladies who are a part of the Filipino ministry that my church runs. This ministry is an outreach to domestic helpers. The cooking classes are so that the women can learn to cook "Western" food for their employers. I found out the end of May, what good cooks these ladies really are. The church held a cooking contest for them and I got to be a judge. We had to judge not only on taste but also the presentation of the food. It was all so good; it was hard to declare a winner.

Shannon Hilliard--Pastor's wife gave the devotional

Yummy Food!

Some of the ladies

If by chance you know some different Filipino foods, here is a list of the dishes and drinks that they prepared.

Ube Halaya, Fresh Lumpia, Pancit Malabon, Puot Pao, Guinattang Halu-Halo, Glutinous Rice in Lumpia wrapper, Maja Blanca, Banana Turon, Biko, Bibingka, Buko Salad, Palabok, Leche Flan, Bihon Guisado, Suman Inangit, Calamansi Juice, Sagot & Gulaman, Pinamansi, Halu-Halo, Mango Puree Sago.

Prayer Request

2008-07-29T15:06:00.004+08:00

Why do I seem to start my newsletters with some variation of "it's been too long" I don't know about you but time just seems to slip away and I don't always find the time to sit down and write out all that has been going on. I need to get better at doing little bits when I have time, rather than trying to find big blocks of time.

It is definitely Summertime in Hong Kong. The combination of heat, humidity and pollution makes it awful to be outside. I am so very thankful for Willis Carrier and his wonderful invention of Air Conditioning. I wouldn't be able to make it in HongKong without it.

Back in May, I sent out some prayer requests so I thought I would update you on these.

1. One of my students, Ruby: her father just passed away last week. It was very sudden and unexpected. Please pray for comfort for her and her family and also for any financial needs that they may have without him. (She is doing fairly well, I don't have much of a chance to talk with her, but when I see her in the hallways she is always full of smiles, so I think that is a good sign)

2. One of my students, Phoebe: her mom has been diagnosed with Cancer. I am not sure what kind, but they are doing more tests on her. (Phoebe said that the tumor is not cancerous after all, but the doctor wants to watch it and will be doing follow-up checks regularly on it)

3. One of my co-workers, Teresa: her daughter was rushed to the hospital yesterday due to some kind of epileptic episode. The doctors are doing tests, but are unsure of what is causing this in her. Her daughter is 7 years old. (Teresa's daughter is home from the hospital and hasn't had another episode. Please pray for wisdom for them as they try to decide if they should put her on medication or what type of treatment that they should do.)

4. A friend of mine: she has been dealing depression. (She has realized her need for Jesus, realizing He is beyond just a distant thing that is talked about at church, but rather that she is able to trust Him with all of her needs and rely on Him for strength to deal with all things. Please pray that she will continue this searching and reaching out for God. She is starting to come to church with me and we are doing a Bible Study together every week.)

In all of the situations please pray for wisdom for me in talking with them and comforting them. Pray that they will see Jesus through me and that I can point them to the one that will give them the ultimate healing and comfort. (God has truly given me wisdom in a variety of situations. As it says in I Corinthians, I am able to “boast in the Lord.” I have been able to point people to God and explain that the wisdom I have is not my own, but rather from God.)

5. Ann arrived last week. Please continue to pray for her adjustment to life in HK. Also pray for the time she spends with the students that she will be able to connect with them quickly, help them with their English and show them Jesus. (Ann has come and gone already. The eight weeks she was here flew by. I have more about her time here in a post on my blog. )

Thank you all so much for your prayers and the continued financial support, I am so thankful that I have this support team behind me. I couldn't be here without you.

Earthquake in China.

2008-05-13T09:40:00.003+08:00

I have heard from quite a few people wanting to make sure that I am ok since there was an earthquake in China yesterday. I am fine, I didn't even feel anything. To give you a perspective on where I am vs. the location of the earthquake...the distance from Evansville would be if there was an earthquake on the Kansas/Colorado Border (approximately) As you can see from the map below, the earthquake was in central China and Hong Kong is down on the coast.

But just because I'm ok, don't stop praying. Almost 10,000 people have died and many more are still trapped/missing. Also please continue to pray for the victims of the cyclone in Burma/Myanmar. The Burmese government is hardly allowing aid to come into the country and hundreds of thousands are going with out food and clean water.

Newsletter 6

2008-04-15T23:04:00.001+08:00

Well it has been too long since I last wrote an official newsletter and for that I apologize.

Sometimes when you are in the moment of life, you don't always see the ways that God is working. Not because you don't want to see it, but rather because you are so busy living life. A few years ago, my Pastor from my church in Indiana challenged the congregation to look for God in little things of everyday life. It was something that I tried to do but I have to admit I got back into the hustle and bustle of life and I didn't always see how He was working in the little things every day. I have a friend who often send emails telling of how and where she sees God working. These "I Spy" emails have been my little reminders that I need to be looking for God, not just in the big things but also in the little things. Imagine how much more wonderful our worship would be if we really saw Him working in everything in our lives.

I have been trying lately to look for God in the little things. Here are some ways that I have recently seen God working in my life and through me.

Moving and settling here cost me quite a bit more than I expected. In the last two months, people have continued to donate money to help with these costs. I am so very greatful. ( Since the checks were given through the church, at this writing I am still not sure who gave, but please know that I am so thankful for your generosity.)
Good Friends--God has blessed me with good friends both at home and here. There have been many times when I have been homesick and I have come home from school and a friend had sent me a card. They have all been so encouraging.
A few months ago my friend Liz asked me if I knew any teachers that were needing a job because her school was looking to hire. I told her I didn't but I would keep my eyes and ears open. Days later I was contacted by an old friend from Evansville, Josh. Josh and his wife Patricia had been living in China, but this past summer they were arrested for having a church meeting and kicked out & banned from China. He was wanting to be as close to China as possible to be able to still work with the pastors he worked with there, so he was hoping to move to Hong Kong. Did I know of any jobs or any other connections. Long Story short...Josh and Patricia moved to Hong Kong 3 weeks ago and he is working at Liz's school.
At the end February my friend Nikelle and I were driving in her car in a very congested area of town and we were basically sideswiped by a bus. The bus was pulling out from a bus-stop and didn't accurately judge where his back end was. He hit us starting at the front tire and finished by ripping off the front bumper of her car. God protected us in that Nikelle was paying attention and was able to stop before we were hit. If she hadn't stopped, we would have been farther up and the bus would have hit right where I was sitting. When the policeman arrived, we were so thankful that he spoke English.
God has given me the gift of gab and hospitality and I have been able to use that when the US ships have come into town. I have been able to host 3 different groups for dinner. This last group that was in town used my talents of tour guide too.
Last week was English week at the school. We had lots of different activities for the students to participate in and I was in charge of quite a bit of things. God has also given me the gift of administration so I was able to use that in preparing things. There were sometimes when I was needed in two different places at once, and wasn't able to give 100% to either thing, but in the end everything ran smoothly and the whole week was a big success.

I know that I could go on with more things, but then this letter would be too long. So, on to prayer requests.

Prayer Requests:

Students:

Health--There has been a scare recently of a flu outbreak in Hong Kong. So now everyday the students have to check their temperatures before coming to school and show their homeroom teacher what it is. In March there were 2 primary students in Hong Kong that died from the flu.
Endurance--School doesn't end here until the middle of July. The students are already seeming antsy to get out for the summer.
Form 5 & 7--They are taking their public exams now.

Orphanage in Mainland China: The orphans have been sick a lot recently and so the visits have been put on hold

Church Move: Since my church here was first started, it has been a nomadic church. We haven't had a church building that was actually ours. The church has tried to rent the same space at the convention center every week, but it hasn't always been available so we have moved around the city. You always had to check the church website to make sure you knew where to go for church. Well finally the church has found a location for a permanent venue. As long as the construction work stays on schedule we will be moving into the new facilities in the middle of May. Please pray that the move goes smoothly and that this new building will be used for the glory of God. Having a permanent venue will open a lot of doors for the church to do ministries that they haven't been able to do before.

Josh and Patricia--That they will continue to get settled in their new home and that their adjustment to life in Hong Kong will be smooth. Please pray for their ministry that they have had in China and that the distance that the pastors will have to travel to meet with them will not be a hindrance to them.

Ann Osburn--She will be coming to volunteer at my school. She will be here from May 13-July 7th. I listed a bunch of prayer requests on the blog for her. The big ones right now are for her preparation time and her China visa. One of the things she is hoping to do is to go to the Orphanage while she is here and she needs to have the China visa for that.

Accountability Groups--I am currently in an Accountability group with 3 other gals. Please pray that we would be consistent with meeting together and praying for each other. Also I am going to be meeting with the leaders of the other groups in hopes to try to encourage them to be accountable as leaders and to be mentors for the gals in their groups.

I would love to hear how you have seen God working in the small things in your life. Leave me a comment or if you don't want to share it on the blog drop me an email.

SPECIAL VISITOR

2008-04-14T14:48:00.005+08:00

In less than 30 days I am getting a special visitor to my home.
My friend, Ann Osburn.

Ann and I met last in February '07. I was standing at the table for the Hong Kong mission trip and she came up to the table and said that she was interested in learning more about the trip. Well fast forward a few months and Ann was one of the 1o who went on the trip to Hong Kong and China last summer with me. While on the trip, Ann was able to build relationships with students both in China and in Hong Kong. During this trip, God also worked in Ann's life regarding the direction she should go for her education and future. Ann decided to change her major to English Education and is now currently working on her degree at USI. God has opened the door for Ann to come to Hong Kong again this summer. This time she will be here for 8 weeks.

Ann arrives in Hong Kong on May 13th. During her time here she will be doing a variety of things:

Connecting again with the students she met last summer and doing Bible Studies with them.
Working with Form 5 students as they do last minute preparations for their Oral exams
Doing presentations at Morning Assembly
Visiting the Orphanage in China
And anything else for which God may open the door

Please pray for the following things regarding her trip:

All of her support will be raised.
Her preparation time will be fruitful.
She will be able to get a visa to China. She doesn't need one for Hong Kong, but to be able to go to the orphanage she will need one and China is not accepting applications for them here so she must get it before she leaves the USA.
She will have safe travel
She will be living with me...Two girls living in less than 400 sq. ft. YIKES :)
Our time together would be a time that will bring us closer as friends and will bring us closer to God.
She will quickly adjust to HK life
She will not experience homesickness
She will quickly reconnect with students from last summer.
She will quickly connect with new students.
She will have good time management
She will have discernment--She will have the opportunity to work with about 200 students, pray that she will be able to see where God is already working in their lives and she will be able to come in and work along side God.
Her relationship with God will be strengthened and deepened by this experience.

Anchors Away

2008-04-11T14:09:00.000+08:00

The USS Nimitz was recently in town with its fleet. This time I got the chance to host 5 sailors that are on board the USS Chafee. It ended up that Friday the 4th was a public holiday, so I offered to be their Tour Guide for the day. We started off with a trip to a tailor and then Indian food for lunch. We made it up to the Peak in the afternoon, but unfortunately it was so overcast that they couldn't see the harbor. Then we headed to dinner for some wonderful Chinese. HoHo Mei. (delicious)

We got together again (plus two more sailors) on Sunday for some Market Shopping. I took them to the Ladies Market and then we went for dinner. It was a really nice time spending those two days with them.

Jatan, Nate, Matt, Paul, Me, Nick, Michelle and Jen

My birthday

2008-04-11T13:52:00.002+08:00

Tuesday was my birthday. And here's the funny thing...When I lived in Hong Kong before(2003), I celebrated my 29th birthday and here I am celebrating that one again. And this year my little sister caught up to me. She just turned 29 on Saturday. Happy birthday, Sarah!!

In all my years, I have never met anyone who shared my birthday. Until Tuesday and I found out that 2 of my students have the same birthday. How crazy is that?!?!

Since my birthday was in the middle of the week, some friends and I went out to celebrate on Saturday night. We started out at Habibi Cafe for some really good food. Then we went to Honeymoon Dessert for my favorite dessert...Mango and Black Glutenous Rice in Vanilla Sauce. (you have to try it before you say gross...It's very good)

Lynn, Nikelle, me and Rachel

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes, cards, emails and gifts!

Thank you!

2008-03-11T19:31:00.003+08:00

I thank you, dear readers, for your letters, emails and prayers over these last 7 months. I have really felt your prayers and have also enjoyed getting your emails and letters via snail mail. Your correspondence has been very encouraging as I have been adjusting to life in Hong Kong.

I thought you might enjoy seeing what one of my friends, Lauren (8yrs old), has been sending me. Over the last few months, I received 4 letters with puzzle pieces in them. Today, I received the last letter and have been able to complete my puzzle!!

Thanks, Lauren. I really appreciate your hard work in making the puzzle and that you and your mom took the time to send it to me.

The Beginning of my puzzle
The middle stage of the puzzle
The finished puzzle!!!

Sweet Potatoes

2008-02-17T20:12:00.003+08:00

Around the corner from my apartment is a street vendor selling Roasted Chestnuts and Sweet Potatoes. I have walked past this vendor since I moved in and haven't stopped. I guess part of me has been a bit nervous about buying from a street vendor and the other part of me has actually wanted to stop. Well today that part of me won. I stopped and bought a Sweet Potato for dinner. (I also realized that the other item is not Roasted Chestnuts...I'm not really sure what it is) I got home and cut into my sweet potato and got a big shock. I have never seen a white sweet potato before. But, oh, was it good. I think I will have to stop there again tomorrow after school.

Kung Hei Fat Choy!! Happy Lunar New Year

2008-02-07T14:28:00.000+08:00

So today is the first day of the New Year on the Lunar Calendar. One of the great things about living in Hong Kong is that we have two new year celebrations. So, if you make new year's resolutions on January 1st and have already broken them by February you get a chance to start fresh on them.

Please pray for the people of China and Hong Kong as they participate in the Celebration for this holiday. Many will be traveling to their hometowns and as you may know China has been hit very hard with snow and the travel situation is not good. Also pray for those who have become Christians while away from their families and are now going to be traveling to visit these families for the first time as Christians. May the light of Christ shine through them as they spend time with their families and friends.

Navy visit

2008-02-01T21:06:00.000+08:00

This week the USS BlueRidge was in Hong Kong. As I mentioned before I have gotten involved with the American Women's Association and I host a group of sailors for dinner when they are in town.

Caysie, Me, Loren and Steve

This time I hosted Caysie, Loren and Steve. Caysie is originally from Brooklyn, New York and is 21. She has been in the Navy for almost 2 years. Loren (a fellow Boilermaker) grew up in Haiti and is now a helicopter pilot. Steve is from Springfield, Missouri and is the Chaplain on the ship. Loren is also a Christian and is getting ready to start leading a Bible Study on the ship.

I took them out for a true Chinese Meal. They loved it.

Dried Beef and then you put it in the pockets behind it.

Peking Duck...(A Christmas Story anyone?)

Dumpling Soup.

Everything was delicious (hohomei)

Our time together was really a lot of fun. I think I was blessed by them more than they were by me. Please pray for them as they are out at sea for sometime and pray for the ministry that Steve is trying to build and for God to raise up more women and men like Loren to help work along side Steve.

Form 7 Last day

2008-02-01T20:55:00.000+08:00

Today was the last day for the form 7 students (seniors) to have classes. They will now start their self-study as they prepare for the public exam that starts in March. Even though I didn't teach these students this year it is sad to see them go. Many of them were on the trip with our group this summer to Mainland China, so we grew close and it was so good to see them in the halls everyday.

Please pray for them as they prepare for their exams.

Cooking

2008-01-16T22:54:00.000+08:00

In my newsletter I wrote that I taught a cooking class for the Filipino ministry at my church, and I know some of you who know me well probably don't believe that I actually did it. I promise I did and to prove it I have pictures.

It was delicious!!

Newsletter 5

2008-01-08T22:59:00.000+08:00

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

Singles Group at IslandECC (my church)

2008-01-08T22:52:00.000+08:00

The Singles group had a really nice fancy dinner on the 28th. It was a fun evening and a great excuse to get dressed up. I knew there was a reason I packed that top.

Me and MinoriMe, Minori and Sarah

Me and Karen

Shelley

2008-01-08T22:27:00.000+08:00

Shelley was in my Bible Study at home. We had a really nice relaxing time. We did the tourist thing and spent time relaxing.

Shelley's first night here some friends got together for Indian dinner.
starting on the left. Julie, Lynn, me, Liz, Shelley, Levi, and Minori

Shelley's last day, we went into Mainland China. We did some shopping, got massages, and had a dim sum lunch.

Shelley, thanks so much for visiting me. I had a great time with you.

Levi

2008-01-08T21:39:00.000+08:00

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!!!

The English teachers all love Levi. We had an English Department "meeting" at the dim sum restaurant next door to the school.

Count Down for Levi and Shelley

2008-01-08T21:02:00.000+08:00

Growing up we at Christmas time used to make paper chains to count down until Christmas. So this year I did a chain that counted down to Levi and Shelley arriving. But since they were arriving on different days, I had to have a link that said Levi and a link that said Shelley and because I couldn't just have a plain boring white paper one, I decorated all the other links with Christmasy things

Since Levi arrived on a Sunday night, I hadn't torn the link off for his arrival so here he is tearing his link off the chain.
And of course you have to have a poinsettia for Christmas decorations.

Sports Day

2007-12-13T13:17:00.000+08:00

This week at school was an easy week: Monday and Wednesday were Sports Days, Tuesday was Professional Development day, Thursday is a day to recuperate from the activity of Sports Days and then Friday we actually have school.

So SPORTS DAYS: The school divides the students into 4 groups(houses): Red, Yellow, Blue and Green. Most of the time there is any intra-school competition it is done between these houses. Sports day is 2 days of Track and Field events. I thought I would share a little video of the Cheer Competition. This is the Green House doing their little dance.

Baptism

2007-12-13T13:04:00.000+08:00

Shortly before I moved back to the States, 4 years ago, one of my students Beetle introduced me to a friend of his that had just returned from studying in the US for a year. Crystal had been a student at CWGC but the year I worked at the school she actually was in the states, so I didn't teach her. Even though we didn't have much time to spend together before I moved home, we really hit it off and have kept in touch all of these years.

A few weeks ago Crystal got in touch with me to let me know that she was going to be getting baptized and invited me to come. So this past Sunday (Dec 9th) was her baptism. It was so great to be able to witness her public expression of faith.

Crystal giving her testimony before the baptism. Unfortunately, the service was all in Cantonese so I wasn't able to understand what she said. But Crystal and I have talked many times about her life and her Christian walk so I'm sure I know what she shared.

Crystal and Beetle after the Baptism.

Primary School

2007-12-05T21:28:00.000+08:00

The entire school system here in Hong Kong is different from the States. Another example of a difference is that the 6th graders have to interview for which school they will attend the next year. Seventh grade (Form 1 here) is the grade that my school starts. So Saturday I went with some other teachers to one of the nearby primary schools to interview the 6th graders. Basically, I asked them questions about themselves and their families. When asked about their families, many of them responded with something like this: "My family has 4 members. I have a hardworking father and a beautiful mother and a younger brother. On Sundays we like to go to the park and play games together, we love each other very much." What a cute response, but after listening to over 60 students, it was very tiring.

While we were waiting for the interviews to start, I went into the assembly hall and watched some of the younger girls practicing for the choral speaking competition. I couldn't help myself and I had to record it. They are doing a poem in Chinese. The video is just ok, it was so cute in person.

After practicing the girls took a little break. They are so adorable...

Thanksgiving

2007-11-29T20:45:00.000+08:00

This year Thanksgiving was spent with 25 friends.

Newsletter 4

2007-11-29T20:27:00.001+08:00

Hello Friends,

Happy Belated Thanksgiving. I hope that the Holiday was enjoyable for you all. Obviously since the pilgrims didn’t arrive in Hong Kong or China, they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here. So I didn’t have the day off. But on Sunday a group of friends got together and we had a Thanksgiving meal. There were 25 of us who got together to celebrate and give thanks to God. After dinner we went around the room and shared what we were thankful for and sang worship songs. As much as it’s strange to not be with family for the holidays, this group is very much like family and so I wasn’t homesick at all.

Since it’s the time of being thankful, I thought I would try to keep this newsletter short and just list out the prayer requests and my Thanksgiving list.

Prayer Requests:

* Juliana—Friend from my small group. She is searching for direction and I’m not really sure that she is a Christian.

* Franklin Graham Crusade—Starts on Thursday (Nov 28) and runs thru Sunday (Dec 2). We are taking our upper level students to the festival on Friday.

* Speech festival—I have been working with 7 students on their poems for speech festival. Pray that their nerves will not get the best of them when they do their performance and they won’t be stressed from the added work.

* Christmas Season—as the Christmas season is approaching pray for students’ hearts to be open to the message of Christmas.

* Levi Scheu—Levi was on the mission trip this summer with me and he is going to be returning a week. He will be here on Dec 16^th. He really connected with the students this summer and will be spending the week hanging out with them. Pray that he will be able to use this time for some really good conversations with the students. Also pray for his safe travel.

Things for which I am thankful:

* Prayer and financial support from my friends and family at home.

* Letters and Cards—I love to get things in the mail from home and they always seem to arrive on a day that I need some encouragement

* Nikelle and Stuart—They really helped me out a lot in my transition here.

* Other teachers at the school—They have helped so much in getting settled into work, and my home.

* New Friends—one of my big concerns in moving was that I would be alone, or that it would take a long time to get connected, but God has provided so many wonderful friends. Friends that have quickly become my family-away-from-home.

* Location of my apartment—I know that might sound like a little thing, but the location is probably the best I could ask for. It’s 20 minutes to school, 30 minutes to Church. There are 3 grocery stores with-in walking distance of me. 7-11 right around the corner. And it’s quiet!!!!

Picnic Day

2007-11-17T22:57:00.000+08:00

Friday was Picnic Day for the School. Every grade chooses a location to go to and they spend the day there. Some classes go to the beach, others go to parks, my class choose to go to an Amusement Park called "Ocean Park." OP has 4 Pandas, and a huge aquarium, and lots of rides. It's also on two sides of a mountain so you take a cable car over the mountain...Gorgeous views. Here are some pictures of the sites and my students. and a little video of the Dolphin Show.

Traffic

2007-11-17T20:33:00.000+08:00

I thought you would like to see a typical night of traffic in the area I live in.

Interesting food

2007-11-17T18:27:00.000+08:00

One thing about living in HK that's great is that I love sushi and it's cheap here. It's also a fun thing because you sit at a counter and there is a train of sushi that passes by. You just choose off of the line what you want and at the end they count up your plates. I went with a former student recently and took some pictures to share with you. This is the counter you sit at and the sushi just goes past on the little conveyor belt. If you want something you just take it off. The little faucet below the train is for hot water to make your tea.

Here are the plates that Giovanna and I ate when we got our sushi.

I also went out with a some friends after church one Sunday to a Chinese Tea House. One of the girls ordered a tea that was interesting as it brewed. I made a video of it as it was brewing.

Bible Study

2007-11-08T10:27:00.000+08:00

I am leading a Bible Study on Thursdays at lunch for three Form 7 girls(seniors). All three are Christians but haven't really learned much about the stories in the Bible, so we are studying women of the Bible. We are also memorizing Bible Verses. As we learn them, I will post them here. (I will have a link on the side so you can quickly locate this post to see our bible Verses.)

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Ways to be a light in a dark world

2007-11-07T20:40:00.000+08:00

When I was in College at Purdue, I was involved with an organization called Worldwide Discipleship Association. (WDA) The group was similar to Campus Crusade, but rather being focused on evangelism, WDA focused on discipling Christians. They wanted us to be Christians who after graduation could be lay leaders in our churches. There were many ways that we were discipled...Bible Studies, leading Bible Studies, Leadership meetings, weekend retreats and meeting one on one with a staff member.

One time in a leadership meeting we took a spiritual gifts test to find out exactly what our gifts are. Of course everyone's were different, yet we are all called to the same thing: Sharing God's love with people. One of the staff members Kevin Scott introduced us to a way to do it: Servant Evangelism. We would do service projects and when asked why were were doing it we would respond "just to show you God's love in a practical way." One of the ones we did that sticks out the most was on a Saturday morning we hit the big party area of town and knocked on people's doors asking if we could take out their trash for them. After collecting their bags of beer bottles, we gave them a card that told them why we were doing this and then if they had any questions to contact the number listed or come to one of our meetings. Everyone we connected with that day was shocked that we would do something like that. What an opening it gave us to share with others.

I have since realized that Servant Evangelism can also be called Life Evangelism. Living our lives to help others, to show them God's love for them. Since arriving in Hong Kong, I have been praying for my ministry with my students and have been a bit frustrated that it hasn't been developing as quickly as I like. But this last week or so, God has shown me ways that I can be ministering, but instead to the community I live in.

My apartment doesn't have a washing machine, nor does my building. I was frustrated about this considering that they are not cheap to buy and then I would have to pay someone to install it. Of course I needed to get my laundry done in the mean time and so down the street about a block is a little laundry shop. I took my clothes down, dropped them off, tried to communicate to them that I wouldn't pick them up that evening but rather would the next day. I got my clothes the next day and didn't really think anything more about it until 3-4 days later. I was walking early in the morning to train and I see a man walking towards me with a great big smile on his face and he waved at me. I realized it was the laundry man. He recognized me (well ok, I do stick out a bit). I realized at that moment, that my lack of a washing machine was all part of God's plan. If I had a washing machine, I probably would never meet this man. Now,anytime he is at the front of his store and I walk by we wave. I visit his store about every 1-2 weeks to do laundry and even though we can't communicate very well, I am able to be a light. I'm planning on having one of the teachers at school help me with a Christmas card to him written in Chinese.
Another person who I have come into contact with on my way to school is a Domestic Helper and the little boy she watches. Everyday I see them waiting for his school bus as I am walking to the train. These past few days I have gotten a smile back from her.
The security staff in my building
The workers at the 7-11
The two old men I see every Thursday night on my way home from Bible Study
The ladies at the salon around the corner

Please pray for me as I shine God's light in these peoples lives. Pray that my own being wouldn't get in the way and cast a shadow.

US Military

2007-11-06T09:24:00.000+08:00

USS Essex

There is an organization in Hong Kong called the American Women's Association (AWA), I have connected with them and have joined a program they do called "Meals in the Home." This program is to offer a meal to some of the sailors who come to port here. I thought this is the least that I could do as a thanks for what they do for our country. This weekend a ship came into port. Since my place is pretty small, I decided to take them out for dinner for... nope not Chinese food, rather, I took them out for Italian. I was supposed to host 3 sailors, but one (Tom) ended up changing duty times with another sailor and so he couldn't join us. So I took Diane and Gary out. On Sunday when I met them at the Pier, Tom was on duty, so I was able to meet him as well. After dinner I took them to a night market and then down to the peninsula side of the harbor. As you think about it, say a prayer for our service men and women. These guys have been away from their home port and families for the last 8 months and still have about 2 months on this tour.

Gary

Diane

Tom

After school on Monday I went down to the pier again and Gary took me on a tour of ship. What an amazing thing. The pictures below are of my tour on the ship.

Hallway on Board

Longer hallway on board

One of the boats that the USS Essex carries on board.
You can see by the size of the boat compared to me, and this is inside the Essex, the Essex was huge.

One of the many helicopters on board

Transportation in HK

2007-10-22T15:00:00.000+08:00

The main way that I travel around in Hong Kong is by the MTR (subway) I live in between the Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei stations so I can easily walk to either one. I was recently shown this video about the MTR and thought you might want to see it. First is the song about all the stations names and then there are some added bits. These are the sounds of the MTR...The announcements that are spoken at every stop. The announcements are said first in Cantonese then in Mandarin and then in English. ENJOY!!!

Friends

2007-10-08T10:39:00.000+08:00

As I mention friends on here, I will hope to have a pic of them so you can see them. I will also make a link on the side to this page so you can easily refer back to the pics.

Nikelle and Stuart
Nikelle and I lived together when I lived here before. They were nice enough to let me live with them for the first 5+ weeks that I was in HK and also paid for a lot of food for me and drove me places in their car.

Teachers

2007-10-08T10:20:00.000+08:00

Here are pictures of some of the teachers with whom I work. (I will continue to add people's pictures here so I will add a link to this post on the side. If I mention someone in my blog, hopefully I will have a pic of them.)

Koey and I are cubicle mates. She teaches English.

Natalia sits on my the other side of my cubicle wall.
This is her first year at this school and she teaches English.

Mr. Tom (his sir name is Tom) when I lived here before he is the one who gave me my Chinese name. Kind of my adopted dad. (my dad's name is Tom)

Daphne is also an English Teacher. She takes great care of me.

May teaches English, too. She and I both love Fashion and enjoy spending time together.

Denise Jim (everyone calls her Jim) teaches English. She is the head of the F.3 Class English Lessons.

Newsletter 3

2007-10-08T10:09:00.000+08:00

I am moved in!! Not yet settled in, but I have now slept 4 nights in my own place. Last Thursday IKEA delivered the last of my furniture that I had ordered (bed, wardrobes, and bookcase) and then on Saturday morning a moving company came and picked up my suitcases and boxes from Nikelle's place and delivered them and me to my apartment. I spent the rest of the day Saturday and Sunday afternoon trying to get organized. I have made quite a bit of progress but still have lots to do. Once, I get it done, I'll take pictures and post them so you can see my cute place.

Since my apartment is pretty small. I had to get a single bed and I am used to a double. The other night I almost fell out of bed 3 times. And I'm not sleeping well. I think I am subconsciously aware of the smaller bed and so I am not letting myself get a deep sleep. Please pray that I can let go of that and sleep deeply.

This past Saturday night, I went to a Singles Event from my church. It was a movie night... not really an easy way to meet people while you are watching a movie, but I was able to meet a few people. Hopefully, I will be able to connect with a good group of friends to have as a local support and encouragement. Also, I think I have found a small group Bible Study to be in. The study meets on Thursday nights. The entire church is going to be going through the study SHAPE (it's part of Purpose Driven Life Program).

School is really getting going now. Along with my classes during the school hours, I also am teaching 3 lunch classes a week and then every other week I am teaching 3 after school classes a week. I am also the advisor for the English Society which requires me to have committee meetings (lunch) and General group meetings (after school). During the fall, many students are preparing for the city-wide Speech Festival... I am also helping 6 students with their preparations for that. One lunch a week, I am leading a senior girls bible study. We are starting this week. I am excited about it. I have 3 girls and two of them were one's who went with us to Yunnan this past summer. (Jan and Connie)

So as you can see, I am pretty busy with school things. Please pray that my "job" won't keep me from ministry. I don't want to forget why God has me here. Pray that I will use all of these contact times with students to build relationships with them, not just be their teacher.

Prayer Requests:

Friends--for encouragement and support.
Sleep--I haven't slept well the past 4 nights.
Bible Study at lunch
Not let work hinder my ministry

Praises:

Moved into my new place.
Friends--I am meeting people.

Mid Autumn Festival

2007-09-25T21:57:00.001+08:00

Tonight (Tuesday) is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the second most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. Mid-Autumn Festival is when the moon is at its fullest and brightest, and is to celebrate the abundance of the summer's harvest.

The traditional food of this festival is the mooncake. Typical mooncakes are round or rectangular pastries, measuring about 3in in diameter and 1 1/2 in thick. A thick filling usually made from lotus paste is surrounded by a relatively thin crust and contains yolks from salted duck eggs.

For more information on what Mid Autumn festival is about check out these sites:
DiscoverHongKong.com Wikipedia

Typhoon Warnings

2007-09-24T10:10:00.000+08:00

Well this morning, I woke up to strong winds and lots of rain. I thought I better check the weather channel to make sure it was safe for me to leave the apartment. What I found was that Typhoon Signal #1 had been raised. Since most of you reading this have grown up in the midwest and are not used to Hurricanes, I thought I would give you some background information on the Signals. I don't want anyone to worry about me if you hear sometime that a signal has been raised.

1--This is a stand-by signal, indicating that a tropical cyclone is centred within about 800 km (500 miles) of Hong Kong and may affect the territory.

3--Strong wind is expected or blowing generally in Hong Kong near sea level, with a sustained speed of 41-62 km/h (25-39 mph), and gusts which may exceed 110 km/h, (68 mph) and the wind condition is expected to persist. Winds are normally expected to become generally stronger in Hong Kong within 12 hours after the issue of this signal. Winds over offshore waters and on high ground may reach gale force.

8--Gale or storm force wind is expected or blowing generally in Hong Kong near sea level, with a sustained wind speed of 63-117 km/h (39-72mph) from the quarter indicated and gusts which may exceed 180 km/h(111 mph), and the wind condition is expected to persist.

10--Hurricane force wind is expected or blowing with sustained wind speed reaching upwards from 118 km/h (74mph) and gusts that may exceed 220 km/h (136 mph).

about 3 hours before they raise the #8 they announce it and everyone has to run home. The entire city closes.

We also have rain warning here.
Amber--Heavy rain has fallen or is expected to fall generally over Hong Kong, exceeding 30 millimetres in an hour (1.2 in/h), and is likely to continue.
Red--Heavy rain has fallen or is expected to fall generally over Hong Kong, exceeding 50 millimetres in an hour (2in/h), and is likely to continue.
Black--Very heavy rain has fallen or is expected to fall generally over Hong Kong, exceeding 70 millimetres in an hour (3in/h), and is likely to continue.

When the Rain warning is Red, school is cancelled for the day.

Newsletter 2

2007-09-18T08:57:00.000+08:00

Since last writing to you, I have been able to secure a flat. I just can't move in yet, due to the fact that I have no furniture. I got the keys to the place last weekend and on Sunday went to Ikea(a big home store) to find the items that I needed for my place. After spending 3 hours picking out furniture, I went to place my order and they didn't have in stock half of the items that I wanted. More importantly they didn't have the bed in stock. The bedroom in my apartment is very tiny. Ikea has lots of beds, but only one was a size that would fit in the room. So I am back to square one on the bed again. I am planning on going out this week to a few different places to hopefully find a bed. Please pray that I can find this quickly and have it delivered soon. The rest of my furniture is being delivered on Tuesday night sometime between 6 and 10pm.

The day I received the keys to my apartment, I went with my realtor to sign the papers at the building so the security guards would know who I was. After signing the papers, the security guard said something to the realtor in Chinese and then she translated for me in broken English. "No pray in morning." "No pray Buddha." After hearing these sentences a few times, I realized what she was actually saying. The building doesn't allow praying in the hallways to Buddha in the mornings. Often times families will have little alters outside of their front doors, and will present offerings, burn incense and pray very loudly to Buddha. I am very thankful that I found a place that doesn't allow that. At the same time this makes me very sad, that the people believe in this.

School has started up and I am meeting lots of students. My brain is on overload with the number of students that I am meeting. The school is on a seven day cycle. (We don't go to school on the weekends) but in that seven day cycle I teach 18 lessons. 9 different classes. each class has 40 students in it and so that means I have 360 students to teach. I hope that I can eventually learn some of their names. Please pray that my mind will grasp them easily.

Praises:

I found a nice flat, the location is great. 5 minute walk to the train and then just two train stops from the school, so about 20 minutes total from door to door. Then to church is about 30 minutes door to door.

Requests:

able to find cheap/nice furniture
able to quickly learn the students names/connect with students

Morning Assembly

2007-09-17T14:39:00.000+08:00

Every morning the students have an assembly. Sometimes the students are split: upper classmen in one location and lower classmen in another. Sometimes the entire school is outside for the assembly. I have to admit, I don't know what is talked about at the assemblies except for one day a cycle when it is English day. As you can see in the picture the students all wear uniforms to school. Girls: Blue dresses. Boys: white shirts and blue trousers.

If you are interested in seeing more about the school here is the website: http://www.cwgc.edu.hk/

My place

2007-09-17T14:06:00.000+08:00

Here is a video of my apartment. Enjoy the short tour.

Newsletter 1

2007-09-03T09:49:00.000+08:00

I have arrived safe and sound in Hong Kong. The first few days were spent adjusting from the Jet Lag, I'm not sure if I am completely over it yet or not...I am still waking up pretty early. Even before my alarm.

I have started my apartment search. Apartment searching here is different than the states. Every apartment/flat is individually owned, so you work with a realtor to see some places. But unlike the US where realtors have access to other company's listings and can show you various areas of town, the realtors here have a certain area of town and only their company's listings to show. So this makes looking for a place very difficult. Luckily, some of the local teachers have been helping me. I had tried to do some apartment searching online prior to my move, but unfortunately I didn't realize that most of the prices listed online are not inclusive of all the costs (building management fee and a government rate the renter has to pay), so I am finding they are more expensive than I thought. This is going to mean a tighter budget for me, but I know with God's help, my money can stretch to make this adjustment. I am also finding that they are smaller than I thought, apparently they include space from the elevator lobby in the size listed for the apartment. Also they all need a good cleaning. (Mom do you want to come help) Another part of the process that is different is that you negotiate the rent with the landlord through your realtor. So I have put an offer on a place and I'm waiting to hear back from the realtor. –(In between writing this and sending it, I got a call from the realtor. The landlord won't accept my offer. So I am back to square one with looking at flats)

School starts this coming Monday, I'm excited about getting started and meeting the students. Since I was just here in July on the mission trip, I was able to meet some of the students I will be teaching. It will be great to reconnect with them. It is also going to be great to reconnect with students from when I lived here before. I actually went to the grocery this afternoon to get my dinner and ran into one of my old students. It was so great to see May again. We exchanged numbers and will be getting together next week for dinner.

Thank you all for your prayers and support, I really appreciate them.

Praises:

Safe travel to Hong Kong

Helpful colleagues to help with adjustment

Prayer Requests:

Staying on a tight budget

Finding an apartment

Adjusting to teaching

Connecting with Students