China Adventure and Strange Foods

Fun Fact of the Day: Praise the Lord, it's late October, still in the 80's, and I am wearing short sleeves!

 

Top 10 Strangest Things I Have Eaten:

1. Chicken claw

2. Fish skin

3. Shark fin

4. Goose liver

5. Thousand year old egg

6. Squid

7. Fish Balls

8. Oysters

9. Bamboo

10.Things with eyes staring at me….

 

 

Highlights Swatow, China

 

1. Since, this trip was planned specifically for the 70^th Anniversary, 75% of the trip participants were former church members visiting from abroad.  Watching the trip through their eyes made it ever more memorable as I heard learned about where family members use to live, what foods were their favorite, and more about China's rich history.

 

2. On the second day of the trip, we visited three Baptist churches that our church has been sponsoring for many years. Each of these churches was in an area the faced strong opposition from town members, lack of ministers, and low monetary resources which makes it difficult for the churches to continue. Please pray for encouragement for these believers who face so many spiritual battles.

 

3. Sitting in my comfortable tour bus, I watched street after street of poverty-stricken people living from day to day in China. Being raised in the USA, I never had these worries and I wanted to jump from the bus to do something, to help somehow……yet, at the same time what can I do? Though there is so much I want to do, the best place for me to start……..Prayer.

 

Note: Thank you all again for all your prayers. If you ever have, any questions or comments about my blog please feel free to post them. Blessings- Margaret

 

The adventure continues

I am sorry for the tardiness in my update, but I have two very good reasons.

            1.) I was in China for the first half of the week (more on that next week).

            2.) When I got back to Hong Kong I caught the stomach flu  L Which is awful, if          you've had it you know…misery galore.

 

The last week and half have been quiet eventful. Therefore, I will touch on a few highlights that led up to my trip to China.

Highlights Oct 14-19th:

1. Wednesday night I had the opportunity to see an old friend (an exchange student at my high school) from Hong Kong who has resided here after university. Not only did we able to catch up on old times, but she also agreed to attend church with us on Sunday. That Sunday she also brought her sixteen-year-old cousin who wanted to work on his English. Both of them have lived in Hong Kong almost their entire lives and have never gone to church. Please pray for the Lord's continual blessing and movement in this relationship.

2. On Thursday, we had our first Cultural Club Meeting with Emily leading about 25 students in 'Yankee-Doodle". Though we had some technical difficulties, it was a great kick-off to the club and I am anxious to see how the Lord will work next.

3. Through out Saturday our building was suppose to have our toilet shut down for…who know what. Yet when we returned that evening, our toilets were still turned off. Long story short, after walking to McDonalds for 24 hours to use their bathrooms we had a friend (via cell phone) talk to our Security Guard to find out what was going on. It appeared our water main broke and the toilets would be out of use until Tuesday night! Thank the Lord we were headed to China the next day- where they had working toilets.

 

Prayer Requests:

Besides what I have just mentioned please please pray for the Lord to quickly heal by body. The worst, I believe it over but I have a busy week ahead of me starting with the pentacle 70^th anniversary church celebration (which they have been celebrating for 2 months) tomorrow which is an all day event from 8am- to midnight.

Hitting the Halfway Point

Greetings!

 

Highlights of the Week:

1. Celebrating my last national holiday in Hong Kong. During this holiday family members go to bring flowers to their ancestor's graves.

2.  Though sports are not a major emphasis at Pooi To besides basic P.E. it was fun to get a lunchbox (getting fast-food) and cheer on the girls in the volleyball tournament between all the classes (about 50 classes).

3.  At the church, each member is assigned a membership number when they join the church since its beginning in 1938. On Saturday, I had the honor to attend the funeral of the first church member (#001) who helped found the church. If anyone is interested in learning more about a Hong Kong funeral just e-mail me.

4. As much as I enjoy Asian food I have missed Western food, but I had my fill this week with first eating out at a Mexican restaurant and then an American restaurant. A great taste of home! Thank you to those who made it possible – you know who you are.

5. On Friday our mentor took Emily and I to the largest bookstore in Hong Kong, which was on the 8^th floor of an office building. It gave me a chance to read a few commentaries (in English) for my Sunday school lesson. Plus, we also visited the Hong Kong Baptist Convention.

             

 

Prayer Requests:

1. Thank you for those who have been praying for the establishment of the new culture class! It is now underway with a large response from the students but with some administrative issues. This Thursday is our first week club meeting please pray that these lessons will be clear and it will open up the opportunity to build new relationships.

2.  Over the last two weeks, we have been trying to get internet in our apartment along with two friends who have done lots of research for us. Yet, we have hit wall after wall trying to get the plan we need without paying our lifesavings and one that we can terminate in less than 2 months. Please pray that this works out, as it would relieve some major stress with our homework and lesson planning.

 

Blessings- Margaret

Finding My Way

Greetings!

 

            Last week represented a changing point in our ministry here in Hong Kong. After being here for a month, I evaluated what had happened in those four weeks: What did I learn? What had changed? Where do we go from here?

  

Short Version:

            Despite my busy schedule, I was feeling rather useless at Pooi To School where my duties and interactions with the young women had decreased greatly due to intensity of school and our location. For more details please read below. Therefore, I started to brainstorm some ideas on how I could benefit the school and get more interaction with the girls. The idea I developed was creating curriculum about American culture to help improve the students' English; then Emily and I could execute this one of two ways, as substitute teachers in the classroom or by starting an after school club. We set up an appointment with the Principal to discuss our ideas and she embraced it but was a little fuzzy on the execution of the plans and is trying to work something out. Please pray that we will be able to take a more active role at the school.  Please pray that these classes work out so we are able to share the love of the Lord with a new group of young women.

 

Long Version:

            Besides the daily lunch meetings, initial introductions to the upper form classes, an assembly speech, involvement with English club, and occasional assistance with morning announcements I really did not feel useful at the school. Though it may look like several of those activities would keep us busy you must count in the fact we spent about 27 hours at the school each week.  85% of that time students are in class so we work on other projects or meet with teachers. Unfortunately being on the 7^th floor of a building where students are required to take the stairs doesn't give them strong motivation to come and visit (despite our cheery dispositions). Plus, our isolation up there causes teachers to forget us also, so we don't get any classroom invites.  Truly, I enjoy the few quiet hours to work on homework and the use of the internet as we don't have it in our apartment. But this isn't why we came.

 

             I wanted to be useful while I was at the school…..so I started working on American culture lesson-plans. I began putting together some ideas for curriculum, that maybe Emily and I would be able to use in the classroom if a teacher needed a substitute. Substitute Street and Fine to the rescue! As I described my plan to Emily, she suggested we ask to start ‘An American Culture Club” after school where we would address the same type of issues (Religion, Politics, Holidays etc in the US). With these ideas in mind, we meet with the Principal who embraced them but was a little fuzzy on the execution of the plans and is trying to work something out.

         What many do not realize is school in Hong Kong is intense…..Senior students study constantly to try to pass their exam to get into college….only 18% of the student qualify to go to University in Hong Kong. The rest usually cannot afford to go overseas so they get jobs. This atmosphere makes it difficult for older students to be involved in any activities outside of studying.

 

            Please pray that we will be helpful to the school no matter what happens here. Please pray that these classes work out so we are able to share the love of the Lord with a new group of young women. Finally, please pray for the Principal as she is under immense stress.

^“Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
      do not depend on your own understanding.
    Seek his will in all you do,
      and he will show you which path to take.”

-Proverbs 3:5,6

 

Blessings,

Margaret

 

 

A Limitless God: Using Mickey

         

              On September 19^th I had an experience that I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have in Hong Kong…..I got to go to Disneyland! For one I didn’t even know Hong Kong had a Disneyland or the God can use Disneyland to spiritual revitalize someone. I’m repeatedly learning not to limit the Lord.

            A few days before the 19^th our Internship Mentor told Emily and I, she had gotten us free tickets to go to Disneyland.  Who can say no to free Disneyland tickets? The day before we went I was so stressed with work I didn't know if I would go, but being the good friend she is Emily told me I was going. That morning as I walked into the theme park, seeing friendly Disney Characters whom I had grown up with produced an overwhelming sense of joy and peace that I hadn’t realized was missing.

            That day I flew with Dumbo, waved at Buzzlight Year, climbed Tarzan’s tree house, floated through ‘it is a small world,’ sang with the High School Musical, and sat in awe as my favorite characters paraded across the stage. Walking out of the glistening park, I felt my cultural stress and internal frustrations replaced with calmness. Having the opportunity to step outside my normal schedule made me recognize that my focus had been on the lack of control in my life, instead of the total control that God provides. Most of us do not realize how caught we are in the net of life’s woes until we step back and gain perspective. Thank you Lord for using whatever means possible to reach me, even a smiling mouse.

 

General Update:

1. Sing Along- The Pooi To girls love to sing so many will come up to our room after school and we will all sing praise and worship songs together. If you have not sat down recently and just sang some of your favorite worship songs I recommend it.

2. Please pray for Swatow Baptist Church in Kowloon City as they celebrate their 70^th anniversary- may it be a time of thanksgiving and opportunity to share the love of the Lord with others.

3. On Tuesday, I experienced my first Typhoon with lots of wind and heavy rain; plus the school shut down on Wednesday so we had a ‘Typhoon day or ‘Snow Day’ as we like to call them in the States. Though our area was not hit hard at all, please pray for the individuals who have flooding or damaged homes.

 

Thank you for your prayers of support!

 

Blessings- Margaret