Psalm 139:9-10

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.
Psalm 139:9-10

Friday, March 18, 2016

HK Pics!

Here is one picture I have taken from FB!


 

In the "rubbish" heap!
 
 

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Update: Hong Kong

We are here!

I have spent three days teaching English at a school in Hong Kong and getting to know the students. They have been so welcoming and some of them have been real gems! We have gotten along well and the door has been opened for some wonderful conversations.

Teaching has been tons of fun and we have been able to teach good values and moral lessons, along with getting the students to practice their English. By using tons of activities and games we have gotten the students excited about learning English and have also had fun with them and helped them to relax right before their major exam times. Exams are a big deal in Hong Kong and one of the social issues the students have talked to us about are the student suicides that happen around this time. The pressure is just so strong from society, their teachers and their parents that it is easier for them to give up. The students and the majority of people we have talked to are upset about it, but they don't know what the solution is, apart from a major academic change.

The weather here has been cold, believe it or not! When we first arrived it felt much colder than Edmonton, and none of us were prepared for it. I have been wearing my hoodie and rain coat together nearly every day!

The crowds weren't quite as bad as I imagined they would be, but over time the amount of people starts to wear on you. We rode the train around rush hour a few times and had to really "shove in" at the doors in order to fit. I think we have spent over 15 hours on the MTR (the subway) since we arrived, but their system is so easy to navigate because it's all in English and it's all color-coded!

Right now we are volunteering at an NGO doing very hard physical labor. It is exhausting but it is a great feeling to help them out a bit. At the end of the day we definitely sleep well! They have recently moved over to an old military base and they have many buildings that need cleaning. We spent the day yesterday moving furniture out of the Guard House and scrubbing it down. The building was very neat and had a prison door in one room with bars on the window and another room with ammunition storage and a gun rack! 

On Sunday we will be grabbing our huge backpacks, our day packs and our team bags and boarding the train to China for Phase 2!

I don't know when I will be able to write next or be able to post pictures, but I am looking forward to it!

I miss you and love you and can't wait to tell you more over the summer!

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Prep: Heading out!

This is it, I'm off soon! By the time you read this, I should be boarding the plane. I'm apologizing in advance if I am not able to blog much while I'm away as we will have limited time and access to internet. But you can check out these links to stay in touch with the the crew while we're away:



https://www.facebook.com/groups/2254693725/


https://www.facebook.com/swdvanguard/ 



http://www.vanguardcollege.com/

Thank you so much for keeping our team in your prayers while you're away. I will miss you!

Monday, March 7, 2016

Tomorrow!

Here it is! in 24 hours I will be at the airport to head off on this big adventure. We've been preparing since September, but it still hasn't solidified for me yet. 

One thing I've been learning about in class and will be able to experience first-hand is the whole process of Culture Stress. It's not the same extent as Culture Shock, and is experienced by many people in many circumstances. Whether you are moving to a new city in Canada, working in a new field, serving in a new church or travelling around the world, you can experience culture stress.

There are four steps to Culture Stress, and they can often repeat! Or you can be stuck on one for longer than the average person:

Honeymoon

 http://wmevents.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Loi-Krathong-Festival-Thailand-Lanterns-WM-Events1.jpg


This is when you are in love with the new culture. There are new, fascinating things and you can't get over how great the people or the new things are. At the moment you feel like you could live in that environment with no problems and nothing bad could happen!

Frustration

http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/ebooks/alex-prager/custom/img/EXHI029440.jpg


Things annoy you about the new culture and you can become grumpy and irritable at the smallest of things. You begin to see people in the new culture as inferior to people from your own culture or their traditions are inferior to your own. All you want is to surround yourself with things from your own culture and go back to the way things were. It is hard to function in everyday life, buying things, eating and getting around and you are often caught offguard with social cues and traditions.

Recovery

http://www.saporedicina.com/english/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/movingtochinarelocationservices.jpg

You've started to get over the problems you've had with a culture and started relaxing again. You can find humor in things again and begin wanting to make relationships. You begin learning many of the cultural cues and it's not as hard to get by in everyday life.

Adaptation


https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/jTUMCEUT3cVVaMC4lL9tdw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9NTQwO2g9MzY5O2lsPXBsYW5l/http://l.yimg.com/cd/resizer/2.0/FIT_TO_WIDTH-w540/cde23e9558496a83f5f6a607676cdbaeaacdfa71.jpg

You are pretty much a local in this stage! There are very few barriers in your communication and you are not often caught off guard anymore by cultural differences. After this point, it may even be harder for you to adapt back into your "old" culture as you will see new flaws in it and things will annoy you about it, causing "Reverse Culture Stress".

Attitudes that Minimize Culture Stress

humble
compassionate
patient
willing to learn
flexible
respectful
brave
servitude

Attitudes that Maximize Culture Stress

ignorance
superiority
pessimisstic
stubborn
sarcastic
unwilling to change

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Brutchko

I have been recommending this book to so many people, so I figured I should just tell you all about it at once at get it over with! 

I read it in December for an assignment and it blew my mind and answered some of my questions about the conflict between culture and evangelism. There are some great gems to find in here and is a testament to just how fantastic God is!

 https://kozhely.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/bruce-e-olson.jpg?w=620&h=467

Why should you read it?


1. It's fantastic! A thrilling story, with so many neat things going on!

2. It's true! Truth is stranger than fiction, and this is a classic example. 

3. God did amazing things in this book, and He still does amazing things today!

4. It's quick and easy! It's not very long and he doesn't waste much time on long unnecesssary paragraphs, which I am so glad about because it is hard for me to get into a book when they do that.

I'm sure you can find this one in any used bookstore, or borrow it from a friend. Or you can always buy it on Amazon here for $16. 

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Prayer: Healing

If you could please mention me when you're talking to God next, I would greatly appreciate it! Yesterday in class we were practicing our stage fighting (for some of the dramas we do) and because I'm a bit older than the other students one of the side effects is that I'm not as limber! As a result, I put out my back :(

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Steven_ho_about.jpg
PS: This is not me, but this is what I feel like in dramas.

It's not too terribly injured, but there's a team bag and my backpack to take care of for the trip so I'm praying I will be fully recovered before our plane touches down.

Also, the team leader for Hong Kong is quite sick with a cold today. Please pray that he will be healed before the trip, and that none of us catch it too.

Thank you so much for your support family!

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Prep: Last To Dos

I have a few things to get done still before we leave. Some are big and some are small, and I also am hoping I haven't forgotten anything! Here's a bit of a summary for you!


1. Write and practice my sermon

I have a passage! Just need to write it now!
(Since I wrote this post, I found out that someone else will be preaching on Sunday! I'm still going to finish writing the sermon in case I ever need one, but it definitely takes a load off my mind!)


2. Pick up some last minute items

Where do you buy nonaerosol bug spray in February??


3. Plan the "God loves animals" lesson

Our 5 day camp turned into a 9 day camp in Thailand, so we all needed to come up with another lesson and craft.


4. File my taxes

It's weird thinking about this in February but we won't be back and functioning before May, and I'm only just finishing getting my T slips in.


5. Pack my house

We return on April 27 and Moving Day is April 30, with full days of debrief and jet lag in between!


6. Set up new email

Many websites in Asia that we regularly use will be blocked, including Facebook and Gmail, my primary forms of communication.