so things are interesting right now...

nei ho ma (how are you). so life has been pretty interesting lately. i'm not even quite sure where to start! don't worry - things are fine. the Lord is sufficient in providing and leading and guiding us in our every needs so there is no fear or worry to be had! wow, it sounds like i'm getting ready to drop a huge bomb in your laps, so i'll just get to the point! how's that? :)

well as you know we had friends come and visit, got to participate in getting some good books to china, got to do a lot of touristy stuff. we walked up to the temple that is literally up a few flights of stairs behind our house. basically - just got to walk around hong kong a lot and it was actually good because it helps you to recognize how lost this country is in so many different ways. from the ancestor worship, money being very important (these people LOVE to shop for things i'm sure they don't need), pressure on the children and a very confucious lifestyle amongst a lot of the older population. for me, the hardest thing is to see how a large majority of women who are pregnant don't look beaming and thrilled. now, i know that with chinese culture, people that walk by you on the streets kind of stick to themselves just getting to their next location. and let me not lead you to believe that all women out here that are pregnant are not happy. there are women who you can tell are just beaming at the very thought that they have a little "them" inside their tummies.

but there is a large amount of women that i see that my heart breaks for. its like the Lord lets me see that they are stressed, working hard and maybe even scared. also, knowing that in the chinese culture if you're pregnant and not married, its disgraceful, it just gives me more and more of a drive for me to start Hope's Refuge. i have come to the idea that it is going to take a bit of time to get this ministry established. that being said, i have spent and am spending a lot of time on research, getting contacts (i.e. Focus on the Family, Care Net, Prolife America) and ideas. when i first got here, i was introduced to 2 separate organizations that do amazing work out here in hong kong. the first is home of loving faithfulness who takes in orphans (children up to adults) with physical and mental handicaps. the other is mother's choice who take in children and pregnant girls who need a place to stay, as well as have a pro-life outlook.

when i first got here, i thought, sweet i'll work at home of loving faithfulness. went and had an amazing time with the people there for a few hours, have had great correspondence with the top people of the organization and was praying about spending my time there. that being said, things have changed for bud and i as well as kristen who lives with us currently and danny who was going to be moving in with us. kristen feels led to move and work on getting our Love Letter to the people of China, full time. danny feels the same. bud and i on the other hand have been given some other ideas that we've been praying about and ask that you keep us in your prayers. he works in sai wan ho, which is nearly 2 hours away from where we live now, in fanling. home of loving faithfulness is in sheung shui/fanling. with the news that kristen and danny are being called elsewhere bud and i think it best to move closer to his work so he does not get burnt out with all the travel and long hours.

i believe that this move is from the Lord. not only will we be closer to bud's job meaning he and i will be able to have more time together (because as of right now, i only see bud 3 hours a day mon-fri and maybe a hour or so on saturdays and then of course all day on sunday and it can be difficult, since we're newly married! this is the normal lifestyle for people out here who work and since we want to live here legally and get ourselves established, he needs his job.) but i then would be nearly 2 hours away from home of loving faithfulness. i think the Lord was preparing me for this move way in advance, as i have not officially dedicated all my time to home of loving faithfulness. i have been quite hesitant. but the funny thing is, the center i want to start, Hope's Refuge, is almost exactly what Mother's Choice is doing. the only difference i believe they have from Hope's Refuge is Hope's Refuge will be entirely Christ-Focused.

mother's choice is on hong kong island. bud's job is on hong kong island. so right now i'm praying that the Lord will move in a mighty way and place me at work in Mother's Choice. i have emailed them and await their reply. i am praying and thinking that this will be a great opportunity for me to see how they run their center's, see how they provide for the children and young women and see how they work together as individuals with a common mind. so as much as it may seem that life is kind of slow right now (because it is), i truly believe the Lord is just taking His time in getting us situated in the life that he has given bud and i. having more time together will allow us to go out in the mornings and get to know people without being stressed for time and be able to invite them over for fellowship, will allow me the time to do more research and if all goes well, work alongside people with almost the exact same vision as i have. this will also allow bud to not feel like all his time is taken up by work, as it has been since we are so far away (which is very discouraging to him).

so with all of this i bring to your attention that this is a foothold the enemy is trying to use to divide friendship and fellowship, to steal the joy of our Lord and Savior and has caused some pretty lame tension around the house. things have been laid out on the table and we are letting the Lord bring peace back to this household. but for a few days (for me a few weeks for me. i had the feeling things were getting sketchy around here for about 2 or so weeks now) things were very stressful, people were getting in their flesh and things were not being dealt with properly. now that things have been dealt with, we can begin healing from the attack the enemy made.

i will end with this, please keep everyone in your prayers as this is a kind of weird time but exciting time because it just gives us more opportunity to praise our Lord and have faith in Him. but here are some specifics:

1) i'm getting my name changed on my passport and getting my dependency visa. please pray that this will go smoothly.
2) the Lord's guidance and that i may hear his voice clearly regarding mother's choice. if i do get involved with them, i will have to go through the work visa process the same as bud did, which will be another hurdle to jump when it comes.
3) guidance for kristen and danny in their relationship as well as their callings from the Lord
4) that bud and i will find a good place to live for not too expensive near his work. we have found a few options and are waiting for a call back from a few, so hopefully i'll be able to tell you an update for that in the next week or so.
5) that moving will be easy and not take up too much of our time and not stress us out.
6) that we'll get through the rest of this month on our limited funds, until bud gets his first full paycheck.
7) full restoration of friendships from the attack from the enemy
8) God's will in everyones lives and that we will be sensitive to the Spirit moving us, move when we need to move and stop when we need to stop and wait when He calls us to wait.
9) the souls and the people of hong kong and china, that the Lord will use us to help them see the need for Jesus in their lives and the way out of the bondage of sin and ancestor worship
10) for the slow but steady research and move towards the start of Hope's Refuge

i think thats it for now. other than that, if you feel lead to donate to HK Missions, let us know and we can let you know how to go about doing that through a non-profit! please let us know how we can pray for you, please comment or email us and let us know how you're doing. we miss you and love you all very much. OH and please pray that our desire to have mexican food will simmer down. haha, we miss mexican food SO much. haha, and well - the mexican food here, if its not extremely expensive its not good. ;-P so thats that. love you all so much. talk to you soon!!

agape,

christin joy.