A Random God-filled Day

Today was a random day. But it was also a God-filled day, so it was good.

We started off by visiting the doctor this morning in Wan Chai early in the morning since we were super tired last night and slept early. We had roughly packed a full day to go get a hair cut, have lunch with Karen and then try and get some things for our home. It was really neat because right after the doctor's appointment, we walked right by a water-filtration store which was exactly what we were talking about getting earlier this morning. Hong Kong is so neat. You find what you need at the weirdest times, and other times, you can never find what you are looking for when you want to.

So it was a really pleasant way to start off the day, being able to get a water filter (yes, this sounds kinda lame coming from me because it's such an adult thing to care about- but I guess that's marriage now), but we've been having such a great time setting up our home and doing furniture shopping and looking for ways to maximize storage. We passed by this designer furniture store in Causeway Bay called GOD to look for ideas. They have some really beautiful stuff in there, but it's quite pricey. They have a block of wood (serving as a side coffee table) for just 2000 bucks. A great investment if you ask me.

We met up with Karen for lunch and had a great time catching up. We're looking forward to having her over tomorrow night. During lunch I got a call back from a guy selling a PS3 on the internet. Some of you know that I've been secretly wanting one since Dom and the guys keep playing COD and NHL. It'd be nice to have some guy bonding time over the internet. So originally he was asking for 3000 HKD for a 40GB PS3 with 6 games and a steering wheel. But I told him that I didn't want the steering wheel or most of his games and asked whether he could cut me a deal. So he said he'd give it to me for 1000 bucks.

Michelle and I went to meet him later on this afternoon. When we were meeting him at the mall we were guessing how he'd look, thinking he'd be a 20-30 year old nerd with short hair and thick plastic glasses. Turns out this guy was a 50 year old man who drove a red sports car with two cats at home. Totally random. But he was a nice guy and now I have a PS3.

The nice man's Fiat sports car

PS3!

On the way home, Michelle met one of her student's mother. The family is moving to China to do non-profit work for the Kingdom so it was such a God-moment for them to catch up. It was a neat way to cap off a random day of seeing God provide for us things we need and things we want and remind and encourage us of why we're here in Hong Kong. God has led us here to this place and has been faithful to us every step of the way. We are excited about what this new year will bring.

Being Home

Being home is awesome.

It's been 4 days since coming back to Vancouver and every moment of it has been comfortable as if we had never left. The fresh air, the great food, and most of the all the awesome friends we have are still the same. Even though it's been a whirlwind of activities and people to see, I've enjoyed every bit of it and hope to make the best of my time here.

I think the strange thing is that it feels like everything stayed the same and we flew paste this time lapse and never really left Vancouver even though we've been gone for a year. Our friends are all the same and I guess it goes to show that we've been blessed with some really deep friendships. Our experiences are different now and everyone's grown in so many ways, but the essence of who they are remains the same. It's familiar and comfortable. We are blessed here to be getting married soon in front of all our friends (and with their help) and we couldn't be more excited to share the day with a bunch of great people.

Of all the things I am glad to have here at home, I'm glad to have friends.

Riots

Watching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals today was painful for the actual parts I got to catch before I had to invigilate an exam at school. To see the Canucks get whooped 4-0 in the most important game in the foreseeable past was agonizing to say the least, but I think the aftermath of the game leaves me more disappointed and troubled. 


Don't get me wrong. I love hockey and I love the Canucks. But the response by fans and rioters in downtown after the game was shameful. It was embarrassing and humiliating. With the whole world watching, the youth in our generation chose destruction over law and order and violence over peace. All this over a hockey game. True, some may argue this game was a chance to rewrite history. This was our chance at redemption- to be great. Ironically enough, history has now been rewritten- and it condemns us for not having learned from our mistakes in '94


Where were these young rioters in '94? I suspect most were not even born yet. And if they were, they were likely toddlers and too young to remember the pain of a Cup that slipped from the grasps of a city. They hear stories of the lore written in sagas. They weren't around when Maclean robbed Reichel, or Bure downed the Flames, or when Messier sent the city into heartbreak. They weren't around to see the tears that filled the streets and the city spiral into chaos. None of that matters though because it still doesn't negate their behavior tonight.


What troubles me upon seeing this footage of drunken brawls, brazen revelers taunting police, and degenerate youth smashing public property is that we raised these youth. We are their chemistry teachers, their uncles and aunts, their hockey coaches and neighbours. We saw them fall of their bikes, dissect their first frog and go to their proms. And this is how they have turned out. Drunk, stupid, debauched. They are willing to turn their fist against the very community that raised them. And no, this isn't one of those passionate pleas for parents to get a rein on their children because well, to be honest, I think it's too late for that. 


On a spiritual level, I'm left with more questions than answers. Upon coming here to Hong Kong, I've been challenged to learn what it means to love the city and seek its good. Jeremiah 29:7 says, "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." As exiles and sojourners in the various places God has ordained us to be, how do we serve our city? How do we seek its peace and prosperity in a time like this?


What grips me is that in the city we have hordes of young passionate youth who have a displaced hope that needs to be redirected to the gospel and the purposes they can find only in God. As a church, if we truly desire to serve God and bring about His Kingdom, we need to speak out to this demographic and challenge them to more in this life. And if we have a segment of these youth passing through the doors of our churches, we need to step up and walk with them and ensure that we don't lose them to the waste of society. We need to be praying for them, caring for them, and mentoring them. God created them for more than the destruction we saw tonight.


Who knows? Maybe in 17 years we'll get another shot at the Cup. A generation will have passed, and perhaps by then we will have learned our lesson. Perhaps we will have raised our youth so that they stand in the face of defeat and agony and respond with grace and class. Perhaps our city will not be laid ruin by our own depravity spawned by the result of a simple hockey game. Perhaps things will be different because our city will know Christ.

Money

Just watched this video and was challenged again to inspect my own perspectives about money. After being in Hong Kong for about 9 months, I realize just how much my life is driven by my possession or the need to find security in the things I own. And now that Michelle and I are starting our lives together and making a home, I wonder how easy (or difficult) it would be for me to give all these things up if God asks me to.

In Matthew our Lord says, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul." And here I find myself calculating next year's salary, how much this or that costs for my wedding, trying to find the thriftiest way to cut a corner when my attention should be on Christ and the reward and joy of following Him.

In the video, Shane asks such a startling question about whether I'd be willing to give up my ipod if God asked. If I were asked by God to give up my iphone just because and to simply give it away, would I? And how much harder would it be, if he asks to have my life and spend me in the way he wants.

It's such an irony that as the recipients of the blessings that God has given us, we've chosen to horde and act as if they belong to us instead of passing them along as we should. They never belonged to us, they were lent to be freely bestowed on others because God's blessings are too good to keep to ourselves.

Amen,  Shane Claiborne

Wedding Planning

I find it necessary to just blog about all the wedding planning that's been going on over the last year. Not to gloat or draw attention to it, but simply to know and remember how hectic this time has been when I look back at this time in our lives in the future. This blog has been dedicated to the everyday happens of our time here in HK and the journey God's brought us on, and I have to say that getting married (at least the planning of it) has been an everyday process.

We've come a long way in a year's time. This time last year, we were still in Vancouver. I was winding down my time at Cornerstone Christian Academy and Michelle was TOCing and teaching piano. I was finishing up my duties as a deacon and starting to organize my life into boxes to be loaded into my van and a suitcase for the airplane. Little did we know that the next year would be a whirlwind of changes- of new schools, pedagogy, culture, and home. We have learned to befriend change as much as he likes to be an enemy to our comfort and routines. It has probably been the most consistent part of our lives here in HK. There is a perpetual drive to adapt and to be stretched. We trust this is all from God for our growth.

Some days I forget that this is all worth it. Some days the intricacies of tradition and the fight to discern the expectations of others take its toll. But I'm happy to say that through this whole experience Michelle and I have grown closer and better though we can't wait for this all to be over. We just want to be married and be together and not have to decide who sits where and eats what.

I guess I should treasure this time because one day all these questions and planning will be about the kids.

the Market

Today I went to the market to buy some veggies for the first time. It was a really neat experience. First of all I don't know any veggies because I don't eat them and to add to that, I wouldn't know what they're called in Chinese. I just know "Gai Lan". But it was cool because I came back with some weird mangos, a purple beet-like fruit, and some giant pineapple that produces these orange wedges. Oh, and of course, some, "Gai Lan"

I didn't get durian this time. I'll save it for after we get married.

Next time: wet market!

That orange thingy is now my new favourite fruit! It smells like a Jackfruit, tastes like a jackfruit/apple but has the texture of a pear and a seed of a durian. So awesome. The vendor called it a "Big Tree Pineapple" 

Robert Morrison's Grave

Yesterday we, (Michelle, Vivian, and Elaine) had a chance to visit Macau and walk around. Since Pastor Anthony had mentioned that we should go visit Robert Morrison’s grave the last time we were there with him, we went to take a look this time. It was the highlight of the trip for me – much better than sampling free meat jerky on the side streets :)

Some background on Robert Morrison can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Morrison_(missionary)

Robert Morrison was the first protestant missionary to serve in China. He endured years of loneliness, rejection, and hate by the locals he came to serve. He learned a language many thought was impossible to learn from scratch and did thankless work translating the Bible into Chinese. And for his 25 years in Asia led only 10 Chinese to Christ. Such seemingly fruitless work for the Kingdom with little to show.

We stumbled upon the Protestant Cemetery tucked away in the corner of a park oasis amidst the dirty grimy streets of Macau. We would have overlooked it if it weren’t for the tourist signs pointing us to this direction. Beyond the humble gates was a small protestant church. Behind the church was the cemetery.

Something about being in a cemetery just gives proper perspective to the sheer brevity of life. All are laid to rest here. There are no exceptions. Many died at sea, and other dies by disease, but they are all confronted by the end of their life here and the beginning of another one. It was odd and almost outrageous how some epitaphs showed a glimmer of hope of something beyond this side of world. Many souls buried here had faith of an eternity spent with their Maker where the pains of this world would cease and no longer infirm and wane their joy. Such hope was inspiring.

We found Morrison’s grave and epitaph shaded by a large tree in the back corner of the cemetery. Such a meagre monument for a giant hero. I’ll let the photos tell you the story:

And the one for his wife:

 

His colleague Samuel Dyer:

 

What faith!

Lord, let me cheerfully spend my life for your Kingdom and fame. And if there should be no reward, it would be fine because you are my reward. Amen.