2007年3月22日 星期四

A Day in Macao

Macao is just a boat hop away from Hong Kong. It was a former Portugese colony that is becoming a Vegas of the Far East.



2007年3月21日 星期三

On the Mountain Top

I run
On the path of your commands
For you
Have set my heart free......


scaling a mountain, we did, Cynthia and I
in a land unfamous for natural beauty
two women with different pasts
sat on the mountain top
praying to our God
feeling small in
the presence
of Him

2007年3月18日 星期日

Action-Packed Frist Day


Joanne told me that a sister named Cynthia, and that was all I knew about her, would pick me up at the airport, and I was to meet her at the only MacDonald's when my flight arrived at 6 am.

But my plane was delayed by 2 hours, due to some technical difficulties like the AC wasn't working and such. And the 'what ifs' began to run through my mind. What if we run out of oxygen in a turbulence? What if this is my last flight ? I thought I was going to faint, waiting for the mechanics to fix the problems while sitting next to two large men in a stuffy, full flight aircraft breathing in hot air. Finally the pilot announced that we were ready to take off. I'd never paid such careful attention to the emergency instructions before taking off...

Anyhow, I landed and finally found the one and only Micky D's. I'd never seen one so busy and so full of people at 8 o'clock in the morning. There was a sea of Hong Kong Chinese people, and I began to wonder how I'd know which one is Cynthia. Well, later we finally met, and Cynthia doesn't look anything Asian except her dark hair. She is a white American from Texas who was excited to introduce me to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is a concrete jungle, in every sense of the word. I'd never seen so many tall residential and commercial buildings in my life! After staring at these humongous skyscrapers for awhile, I had to take my eyes off them. It was overwhelming and jarring for a suburbia girl like me to take in Hong Kong. I wanted wide open spaces and forests and beaches.


So after the airport, I dropped off my luggage at Cynthia's and we had to book it to church. How awesome is that to attend service first day in Hong Kong! We met at a Chinese opera house. Kenny Wong preached about the Samaritan woman (John 4) in a whole new light. Although I dozed off a few times due to extreme exhaustion, I got the three main points. The message was about the pursuit of happiness. Kenny pointed out that the Samaritan woman was happy after she met Jesus because 1) She has God 2) She needs the living water 3) She worships in spirit and in truth. This woman didn't lie when Jesus asked her to bring her husband.

After the service, we had lunch together at this rather modern Chinese/western restaurant. I tried to order the most authentically Chinese as possible on the menu and got stir fried pork neck. Not bad, eh?

I met John and Joan from New Zealand. They lead the international ministry and have been here 26 years, watching the church grew from 20 to about 2000.

After lunch, we went to their house for the "Sunday sisters" devotional. These are Filipino sisters who came to Hong Kong as maids. They are bound to their employer's house six days a week and sometimes they're not allowed to be contacted during that time. So fellowship is very scarce. On Sundays, they have to pack them all in--church, devotional time, fellowship time, hang-outs and dates. The message Joan preached was on deceit. Again, it cut me and made me think hard. A few things I got before my head started pounding and I had to lay down were: One reason that people lie is because they don't want to be challenged (I can relate); some people lie because they are ashamed of themselves and we have nothing to be ashamed of because we are the bride of Christ; and we have the freedom to be ourselves and that's what being Christian is all about.

I woke up from a deep sleep and got a chance to fellowship with the Filipino sisters a bit. They are lovely and already invited me to the Jubilee in Manila this June. If it is God's will, I hope to be there. Joan also asked me to join a HOPE project in China for one week in August, teaching in a province. Again, I pray that it's God's will. I get excited about stuff like that. But for now, I have to make it out to Cambodia by May. Still haven't heard from the English coordinator, but I have to be patient and trust in God's timing.

John made us some Chinese tea. Yum...

Finally I got a chance to hang out with Joanne. She took me on a Double Decker for the first time. It was cool! She also took me to this authentic Chinese restaurant in Fanling where she lives. My taste buds exploded by the spicy southern Chinese food. We had great talks and I told her how much I felt at home in Melbourne and I miss you all very much. If you, Melbournians, come across this entry, please pray for God to open the door for me to go back and visit or possibly to live? But for now, I have to continue on my journey/pilgrimage and service in third world countries. Much love to yall...