Bible Study

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

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

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

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

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

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

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