I am writing from Hong Kong. I am with many other people right now, as we are celebrating Thanksgiving and having a retreat for missionaries in the surrounding countries.
Last night we were able to have dinner with all of the fixings, which was a fun treat. We also got to have a fully English worship service! Now we are at a retreat center, just having fun.
It is starting to get quite cold here. I have multiple layers on right now, and I am wishing that I had a nice blanket that I could carry around at the moment. It doesn't snow here, because it's not that cold, but before you judge, come and experience the cold. From South Dakota, I know. It feels quite cold here.
Anyway. I am going to try to get warm. I hope that you all have a spectacular Black Friday, and I hope that you are able to stay away from too much craziness.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Thanksgiving fun!
We had some fun at our Thanksgiving social! We made turkeys as one of our crafts, and people had such a fun time making them! I was excited to share my minimal artistic knowledge with people so that we could have cute treats for Thanksgiving! After that, I went to the annual International Food Festival here in Macau with friends. It was such a great time! I had an awesome weekend.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Updates
So, some updates :)
November's been an interesting month. There is a relative norm here, since we have similar teaching schedules thoughout the whole year. The norm was replaced this month, since I had 3 group classes at the beginning, but 2 were cancelled, leaving me 6 hours of empty space. Once our short-term teacher left on Nov 2, those 6 hours were filled back up again with her students--students that I have never actually met before. That isn't normal for me, as I know most of the students, and have personally taught many of them!
But with the switch, a holiday or two, a TOEFL symposium, and more, there hasn't been a normal week yet. I guess this week is normal, but I have adjusted my schedule so much already that it is no longer normal.
What remains normal, though, is the desire to build relationships. 2 weekends ago, I was blessed to be able to go to Zhuhai to eat at PapaJohns. I brought with me 2 Americans and 4 Chinese people. It was so much fun to be able to do that with all of them! They called me their local tour guide, because I seemed to be more familiar with the city than they were, which was a confidence boost for me ;) It is exciting to be able to make my way around the city without help...that is something that I had lost when I came here, and I am slowly gaining it back: independence. It feels nice to have that again.
We are preparing right now for a fun time. Thanksgiving! We are going to make cute little turkey cookies and some treat baskets and thanksgiving cards. We'll also be learning about the meaning behind Thanksgiving, and possibly watching a Peanuts video, if we can find it. I've been spending a lot of time doing that, and also planning a bulletin board that will go up soon after we finish that event on Sunday.
Speaking of Sunday, we have an international food festival happening right now, and my plan is to go on Sunday, as long as it is not closed by then! It comes to Macau every year the same week as the Grand Prix, but lasts longer. The Grand Prix finished up last Sunday, and now the International Food Festival is leaving I believe this next Sunday.
That's all of the updates that I have for now, but I will hopefully get more to you as soon as I have them!
November's been an interesting month. There is a relative norm here, since we have similar teaching schedules thoughout the whole year. The norm was replaced this month, since I had 3 group classes at the beginning, but 2 were cancelled, leaving me 6 hours of empty space. Once our short-term teacher left on Nov 2, those 6 hours were filled back up again with her students--students that I have never actually met before. That isn't normal for me, as I know most of the students, and have personally taught many of them!
But with the switch, a holiday or two, a TOEFL symposium, and more, there hasn't been a normal week yet. I guess this week is normal, but I have adjusted my schedule so much already that it is no longer normal.
What remains normal, though, is the desire to build relationships. 2 weekends ago, I was blessed to be able to go to Zhuhai to eat at PapaJohns. I brought with me 2 Americans and 4 Chinese people. It was so much fun to be able to do that with all of them! They called me their local tour guide, because I seemed to be more familiar with the city than they were, which was a confidence boost for me ;) It is exciting to be able to make my way around the city without help...that is something that I had lost when I came here, and I am slowly gaining it back: independence. It feels nice to have that again.
We are preparing right now for a fun time. Thanksgiving! We are going to make cute little turkey cookies and some treat baskets and thanksgiving cards. We'll also be learning about the meaning behind Thanksgiving, and possibly watching a Peanuts video, if we can find it. I've been spending a lot of time doing that, and also planning a bulletin board that will go up soon after we finish that event on Sunday.
Speaking of Sunday, we have an international food festival happening right now, and my plan is to go on Sunday, as long as it is not closed by then! It comes to Macau every year the same week as the Grand Prix, but lasts longer. The Grand Prix finished up last Sunday, and now the International Food Festival is leaving I believe this next Sunday.
That's all of the updates that I have for now, but I will hopefully get more to you as soon as I have them!
Sunday, November 3, 2013
New Guitar Strings
I got new guitar strings! This is something that is wonderful for me.
I found out that when I am down, something that helps me is singing. When I have my guitar, it sounds nicer. Getting new guitar strings for me was a wonderful experience, because I was blessed with the ability to play guitar at home for the first time in many months. This makes me feel good!
It's been a better week than in the past, and I am so thankful for it. I have been ahead on my lesson planning, and quite frankly not having a whole lot to do, because my teaching hours were low. Starting on Tuesday, my hours jump up to almost the maximum. I was so thankful for this break that I had, and I feel refreshed and ready to get back to teaching more students.
On Friday we had a man come who has been attending for a long time. I had heard already, but he officially shared the news with us that he is a first time grandfather! We were delighted to share this joy with him! He was sharing the joy of having a baby in the family, along with the chaos that follows! A story that this man told (without sharing too personal details) goes like this: his daughter had been unsuccessfully trying to have a baby for a long time. He has been exposed to the Bible for a long time, with a good understanding of it, but belief hasn't followed. After a long time of waiting for a baby, this man prayed to God, asking for a baby. God answered his prayer. He shared with us that this was a miracle that came from God, and he said to me, "Now I believe!" We will continue to follow up with him, and to help him grow in the Faith. God has given him a HUGE step forward in faith. Please pray that he would continue to grow, and that this would lead to baptism and salvation!
Saturday was a holiday, which was much needed. My roommate wasn't feeling so well, and I ended up feeling a little sick as well, so we were able to relax a little that day compared to others. In the morning, we went to say goodbye to our 3rd roommate who made her way back to America today. Then, we went to see a movie, and we got some italian for lunch. It was a nice, relaxing day. We then were able to go and get some purchases made for the apartment to make it feel a little more like our home. It was fun to be able to do that!
Today was fun, as after church we went to eat pancakes with some students and friends. It was a lot of fun to go to the pancake house! (No, not IHOP. PHOP. Paddington House of Pancakes). I then wandered over to a charity bazaar that is going on at a place called Nam Wan (south bay). It was fun walking around and seeing everything, and listening to the music. It was interesting sitting by the stage, because it went from watching cartoon characters wave to kids, to a rock band, to 5 year olds dancing to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", to old women dancing, to old men singing! It was a variety show for sure! Then, one of the missionary kids had a badminton match, so my friend and I went to go watch. After badminton, we went to have drinks. The kids had chocolate, and the adults had tea...and yes, I am an adult I guess, so I wasn't allowed to have chocolate haha. Ok, that's a lie. I could have had chocolate, but I didn't. I then came home, and now I am writing the blog! The friend who I spent time with today is not a Christian, and so please pray for him as he is searching!
I am very pumped for tomorrow. Tomorrow my roommate and I will go to meet a friend in the city just north of us to do a few things. We have explored the city a few times, but never with this particular friend. I am so excited to see her view of the city, and to be able to spend some time with her! This particular friend is a relatively young Christian, and my roommate has been able to spend a lot of time with her sharing the struggles and the joys of being a Christian, and helping to give her confidence in our God!
I want to mention that I don't always share if my friends are Christian or not. A few reasons are this: I prefer to keep my students and friends as anonymous as possible. If they are reading my blog, I don't want them to feel uncomfortable that I am sharing personal stories. I also don't want to announce to the world that they aren't Christian. But I share this today with you so that you know how to pray for these friends. I want to mention that most of my friends are not Christian. In America, maybe 95% of my friends are Christian, spurring from the fact that I spent most of my life in Christian circles. Here, about 95% of my friends and contacts are NOT Christian. It is a huge adjustment to make, and these past few days I have been talking about this with my roommate. It's a big struggle to be living in a city where only 1% of the people are Christian. But that is why we are here.
Please pray for us as we live in a city that needs the Gospel, as we are praying for you who are living in America, where the Gospel is becoming more and more of a taboo in society's eyes. It's not only Macau or Africa or China who need the gospel: the people at home need it too! I hope that stories from this blog inspire you to share the Gospel with your friends at home, because there is no time like the present! With some of my friends, I realized that if something happened and they were in a car accident or something else, life is short, and it could be ended in an instant. I sometimes cry knowing that my friends are not yet Christian, and if something were to happen to them, they would not go to heaven. It gives me a HUGE motivation to share with them the Good News.
I found out that when I am down, something that helps me is singing. When I have my guitar, it sounds nicer. Getting new guitar strings for me was a wonderful experience, because I was blessed with the ability to play guitar at home for the first time in many months. This makes me feel good!
It's been a better week than in the past, and I am so thankful for it. I have been ahead on my lesson planning, and quite frankly not having a whole lot to do, because my teaching hours were low. Starting on Tuesday, my hours jump up to almost the maximum. I was so thankful for this break that I had, and I feel refreshed and ready to get back to teaching more students.
On Friday we had a man come who has been attending for a long time. I had heard already, but he officially shared the news with us that he is a first time grandfather! We were delighted to share this joy with him! He was sharing the joy of having a baby in the family, along with the chaos that follows! A story that this man told (without sharing too personal details) goes like this: his daughter had been unsuccessfully trying to have a baby for a long time. He has been exposed to the Bible for a long time, with a good understanding of it, but belief hasn't followed. After a long time of waiting for a baby, this man prayed to God, asking for a baby. God answered his prayer. He shared with us that this was a miracle that came from God, and he said to me, "Now I believe!" We will continue to follow up with him, and to help him grow in the Faith. God has given him a HUGE step forward in faith. Please pray that he would continue to grow, and that this would lead to baptism and salvation!
Saturday was a holiday, which was much needed. My roommate wasn't feeling so well, and I ended up feeling a little sick as well, so we were able to relax a little that day compared to others. In the morning, we went to say goodbye to our 3rd roommate who made her way back to America today. Then, we went to see a movie, and we got some italian for lunch. It was a nice, relaxing day. We then were able to go and get some purchases made for the apartment to make it feel a little more like our home. It was fun to be able to do that!
Today was fun, as after church we went to eat pancakes with some students and friends. It was a lot of fun to go to the pancake house! (No, not IHOP. PHOP. Paddington House of Pancakes). I then wandered over to a charity bazaar that is going on at a place called Nam Wan (south bay). It was fun walking around and seeing everything, and listening to the music. It was interesting sitting by the stage, because it went from watching cartoon characters wave to kids, to a rock band, to 5 year olds dancing to "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", to old women dancing, to old men singing! It was a variety show for sure! Then, one of the missionary kids had a badminton match, so my friend and I went to go watch. After badminton, we went to have drinks. The kids had chocolate, and the adults had tea...and yes, I am an adult I guess, so I wasn't allowed to have chocolate haha. Ok, that's a lie. I could have had chocolate, but I didn't. I then came home, and now I am writing the blog! The friend who I spent time with today is not a Christian, and so please pray for him as he is searching!
I am very pumped for tomorrow. Tomorrow my roommate and I will go to meet a friend in the city just north of us to do a few things. We have explored the city a few times, but never with this particular friend. I am so excited to see her view of the city, and to be able to spend some time with her! This particular friend is a relatively young Christian, and my roommate has been able to spend a lot of time with her sharing the struggles and the joys of being a Christian, and helping to give her confidence in our God!
I want to mention that I don't always share if my friends are Christian or not. A few reasons are this: I prefer to keep my students and friends as anonymous as possible. If they are reading my blog, I don't want them to feel uncomfortable that I am sharing personal stories. I also don't want to announce to the world that they aren't Christian. But I share this today with you so that you know how to pray for these friends. I want to mention that most of my friends are not Christian. In America, maybe 95% of my friends are Christian, spurring from the fact that I spent most of my life in Christian circles. Here, about 95% of my friends and contacts are NOT Christian. It is a huge adjustment to make, and these past few days I have been talking about this with my roommate. It's a big struggle to be living in a city where only 1% of the people are Christian. But that is why we are here.
Please pray for us as we live in a city that needs the Gospel, as we are praying for you who are living in America, where the Gospel is becoming more and more of a taboo in society's eyes. It's not only Macau or Africa or China who need the gospel: the people at home need it too! I hope that stories from this blog inspire you to share the Gospel with your friends at home, because there is no time like the present! With some of my friends, I realized that if something happened and they were in a car accident or something else, life is short, and it could be ended in an instant. I sometimes cry knowing that my friends are not yet Christian, and if something were to happen to them, they would not go to heaven. It gives me a HUGE motivation to share with them the Good News.
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