Odds and Ends...

Today I took a nap.  It's the first nap I was able to take since I got here!  It was glorious :)

My friend Jennie and I!  She was AWESOME and
came to Macau to visit me!!! :)

I have been blessed with the opportunity to host a few different people over the past few days.  A coworker of mine is staying with me this week, and I had 2 different girls stay for one night each also--one was my college friend Jennie!  She lives in Asia, and was in Hong Kong, so took the ferry over to Macau to see me!  I feel so blessed that she was able to visit!! I also had a coworker's girlfriend stay with me.  It was great to spend time with her and get to know her better!!

I also was able to make plans with a new friend of mine.  I was walking past her place of work with the whole Macau team as we were on our way to supper, and I saw her! So I waived, and then after supper I stopped in to say hello.  She and I are going to go to the food festival in Macau on Thursday--should be fun!  It should be interesting getting there, though--the Grand Prix also starts that day, and lots of roads will be closed off!  It will be fun navigating during those days!

Maggie (left), Peter (yellow shirt), Serena (upside
down) and me pose for a pictureat the office one day!

I have a prayer request.  And I guess it could be considered urgent, because it's urgent for people to come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  You never know how short life will be, and I ask for fervent prayer for those who have not yet come to faith in the One True God.

I ask for specific prayers for Alex (I changed this person's name due to the fact that this is on the internet...).  Alex is a friend of mine, and I am so sad that Alex does not yet have a personal relationship with God.  I have been very troubled about this for a long time, but especially in the last couple days.  Please pray for Alex, that the Holy Spirit would work as only He can to create Faith.  And please pray for me, that God would use me to be a witness and that I would be given the right words to say at the right time, and that all would be in accordance to God's will.  I had a vivid daydream (I think that's a good way to put it haha...a daydream that I remember quite well) about Alex becoming a Christian, and I pray fervently that that comes true!

On a slightly different note, I went to a casino the other day.  When I say that I went to a casino, it wasn't to gamble: rest assured!  I went to look around.  It was the first casino you encounter when you enter Macau via ferry terminal, and I walked right from the terminal to the casino.  The entrance...well...there was a small entrance, and you open up another door to find 4 floors of gaming.  It's not even a "welcome! We have many things offered here, and gaming is among them".  It was: "Here's the casino. Enjoy!"  It was crowded.  It was about 2pm on a Sunday.  The only place that wasn't crowded yet was the top level...which was almost empty, because it wasn't crowded enough for people to make their way up that way yet.  As I was walking around, I felt pain.  I looked at the faces of the people gambling, and I just felt...I don't know what word to use...very...sad.  I don't know what everyone in that room was going through, but I just felt a contagious sadness.  There was no hope, except for the hope that they would get rich.  So please...pray fervently for the people of Macau who spend their time and money on gaming instead of placing their hope in God.  Pray that God would put something in their lives to turn them around!