TST

Ahhh, Tsim Sha Tsui.

So good...

TST is such a happening place! For those of you who don't know, TST is right at the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula, and arguably the heart of the city. For years, it's been a tourist and export center with stores lined along Nathan road. It is a busy place. We normally don't prefer to go there, but it's nice to take in the lights and crowds once in a while.

Tsim Sha Tsui

Just wanted to share a brief story with you about a guy I encountered in TST last week.

Last week, I had dinner with a former teaching colleague of mine who was visiting from Vancouver. Yvonne and I were at TST having a very nice donair meal and decided to walk around for a bit after our dinner. Sure enough, as it always happens, we both had to go to the bathroom. So where else to pee than the wonderful FREE restrooms at the golden arches?

After relieving myself at McDonalds, I sat down at a table to wait for Yvonne. I suddenly realized that someone's food was still on the table- actually uneatened. I stood up abruptly just as I noticed a man walking towards me, and I began apologizing. "I'm really sorry, I didn't see your food there. So sorry about that," I kept saying. But the man was super nice and mentioned I could sit with him.

At this point, I figured there was nothing to lose since this man was being so nice, so I sat down and tried to make small talk. I asked him where he was from, and he told me he was from Ghana. "Ghana!" I exclaimed, "I've been there!" The man seemed excitedly intrigued and asked me why I had gone there.

At this time, Yvonne had come back and sat down with us at the table and the man invited us to continue chatting with him. So we went and ordered some coffee and sat down again. When I sat down again, the man put his hands on the table, looked me in the eye and said, "So, you say you believe in Jesus, right? I want you to convince me why you think actually died on the cross because I'm a Muslim, and we don't believe that."

"What?!" How do you even begin to answer that? You can't just ask questions like that...

So that began our super-meaningful dialogue about faith. The guy was very cool, by far one of the nicest people I have met so far in Hong Kong. We talked about the similarities of our faiths, the differences, how we lamented they were poorly represented in our world, and how they were misunderstood by others. We weren't out to convert each other, we simply wanted to talk and learn. At the end of our conversation, we exchanged contacts and promised to meet up again.

I left that night with this overwhelming sense that God really wanted me to be here- right here in Hong Kong. Yes, at first, I didn't want to come back. And yes, it may have taken me leaving the comforts of home and friends in Vancouver, but if the reward is to see and meet one person and have a meaningful conversation about Christ - and to know that God was behind all of it and purposed every fragment of that discussion- then I am happy. I am happy to know that God brought us here.




Here's a random video of the rain in HK.

And the "egg-sons" (dan-chai's) we bought at a food stand. Sooo bad. Note: do not get dan-chai's at street meat-stands. We watched the food lady pour pig intestines into the cooker and then bag our snack into a bag without washing her hands. So gross. I guess we shouldn't expect them to... Man, we were so stupid.

boooo... made our tummy's mangry

  

ok. goodbye for now.