we've made it!

so we're here in hong kong and the current time is 6:52am. i keep waking up earlier and earlier. anyone who knows me, knows that i do not like to wake up early and would rather sleep in! the first day i was here, i woke up at 6am, the next day i woke up at 9am, and today i woke up at 5:45am. so this morning i thought to myself, i'm not going to go back to bed - i'll spend some time with the Father and post a little something on here. we've been here a total of 2 days and already i'm amazed at what peace i have so far. i was convinced that i was going to be completely culture shocked, homesick and that i was going to freak out the very moment i got off the plane; but that was not the case at all. don't get me wrong, i'm sure i'll have my moments eventually, but i'm so glad its not now. so what can i tell you all that you would want to know...

we live in a high rise apartment flat on the 25th story (the very top floor)in sheung shui, hong kong. its not a very big town but there are a lot of people here, as there are a lot of people everywhere. we have 2 roommates that are here only for two weeks as they are visiting and bringing bread to china. after that we will most likely get new roomates. its kind of fun to have people coming and going, we get to meet so many new faces and here heaps of stories on top of that. these two men are in their 70's probably and from florida. they are kind of personal and stay to themselves a bit, but they are very sweet. :) we have met a lot of people from the office we work for - mostly from ireland, and they seem very cool. a lively group thats for sure! we've been up and down hong kong. we visited the walk of stars - which is kind of like the hong kong version of the walk of fame in hollywood - only with chinese actors (ex: bruce lee, jackie chan, jason lee, etc.).

we went to fo tan, fanling, kowloon, kwun tung (i think i butchered that - i'll ask bud when he is awake), tsim sha tsui, and a place pronounced but i know i'll butcher the spelling "chui chueng cheun". again, i'll ask bud to clarify and help me with that - as he is MUCH better than i am, i geuss because he's been here before and i have not. hehe, that would make sense to me at least. every town looks a bit different but not drastically, until you get to the village and then it looks more like a rural area, dirt roads, 3 level village houses as opposed to the 25 story high rises, with stray dogs walking freely. i like the village a bit more i think, its the closest thing i will ever get to my white picket fence! haha. :) another thing i've noticed thats a big difference is that just within hong kong - the different towns have different temperatures. don't get me wrong, all of hong kong is very hot and very humid (like walking into a brick wall) but certain towns are not as 'bad' as others. i'm getting used to plastering my hair into a bun and not worrying about it the rest of the day!

i could go on and on about the legistics of hong kong. for example: how all the people are in a hurry to get to where they are going, how they don't stop to apologize if they bump into you (not because they are rude but its just not a big deal to them), they do not have very much of a personal bubble, you come to recognize the smell of the wet market in every town and they all smell the same, you kind of remember peoples faces but its very hard to do so when there are 7.5 million registered people. you notice that there are 7 and 8 year old children walking around with no children, acting as little adults going from school to whatever their next destination is. you also walk by and you will smell a sweet aroma of incense burning; but its not so sweet once you realize that this is apart of their ancestory worship - tying them into the life of their ancestors. you also see people who are very respectful to their elders, very emotional speakers and very personal and to themselves.

you have the difference in culture and people but one thing still remains: these are all people created in the image of our Father, with souls that need to be saved just as i have been saved. last night i had the priveledge of going to a confucious seminar where jackie pullinger, a very amazing, Father filled woman spoke to her congregation about the culture and belief system of the chinese (remember - we are the foreigners) to the chinese. she was very bold in letting them know that the school systems, that the general way of thinking is flawed and unnecessary. i took about 5 pages of notes (granted it was a 7 hour seminar!) that i will probably publish on a personal diary and link it to this page once i've done so. just check back soon with that. this seminar was an amazing gift from our Father, it helped me see even better and even more closely what i'm here for, what bud and i are here for.

at the end of the seminar we had a time of talking to our Father and healing was happening! have you ever been set free from a pattern of thinking that was weighing you down, a demener that was put upon you by years of rituals and 'this is the way of your people'? this is a huge part of the chinese culture. the people of china/hong kong are taught that there is no room for error, that they are bad, that they have to do well in their studies. they start this way of thinking at the age of 1 years old! they have schools for 1 years old. i was thrown back by that. in the states we may have day care for 1 year olds where we may tell them what colors are but i do not believe that there are any full blown schools for the age specific to one years old. and they are taught that they must study their books because they are right - do not ask questions because that is insubordinate, just trust without explanation. i was heart broken.

but again at the end of the night people were being set free, apologizing for things publicly, and i have never once been apart of such free worship in my life! it was amazing. we were singing songs of adoration (yes! i sang in cantonese! - one song everyone started clapping at one part and i was eager to find out what they were saying. after they repeated the song a few times in cantonese they sang it in english and the part they clapped at was that HE rose from the dead! they were celebrating). it was wonderful, i got choked up a bit. to see them just stretching their hands out in adoration and love for their Father without a care in the world was amazing, to see them reach out and pray for one another, to see them crying and pouring themselves out. it was just amazing. again, i'll post everything i learned from last night at a later time. anyway, we're going to church today and i'm eager to learn more of what jackie pullinger has gleaned from the Father and His word. i hope to continue to learn from these wonderful people, and i hope to continue to fall more and more in love with them.

maybe next time i'll tell you what words i learned in cantonese. i'm afraid this blog is already a bit too long so i will end it now. please keep praying for the people of hong kong, china and all of asia (and of course your own neighbors and friends). pray that they will be released from the thumbs of their ancestors, that they will not buy into the lies that if you're not a super student that they are stupid and bad. that they will be released from their bondage and rise with the Father and hold on to the Father of truth. be blessed!

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