Back to Hong Kong

…in transit…

Travel consumes hours of time. The Cobalt rolled out of our driveway at 3:31 am early today. An on-time arrival at ATW (Appleton) assured us that we’d be in plenty of time for our 6 am flight to Chicago. While Brogan and I weren’t the first ones to arrive, it wasn’t long before the six of us had checked in at the service counter, said our farewells to family, and headed toward security. No troubles.

In Chicago, we assumed that we’d have to take a bus to a different terminal, but due to gate changes, we arrived within six gates of our departure waiting area. And the wait there was short. Boarding the Boeing 757 for San Francisco went quickly, and soon we were on our way for a 4 hr. and 15 minute flight. Some turbulence and good flight attendant service made for a “quick” trip.

The approach to the San Francisco airport is always exciting. You fly low over the water and suddenly the runway approach is upon you. Arrival time; 11:01 am.

Since the final leg of our trip left before noon, we had to do a bit of fast walking to get to the international terminal. Brehanna was feeling the stress on her shorter legs (she must be about 5’ 2”). Boarding by zones also went quickly and we left with an ontime departure. You’re counting the hours, aren’t you – close to five in the air already.

Our big 747 is packed, mostly Chinese-appearing people, and if one could speak the language, it wouldn’t be hard to figure it out the nationality. To be honest, I’m only hearing foreign languages from where I sit. This flight is 14 and ¼ hours long – much more than I had anticipated. As I write, we’re now under 10 hours to Hong Kong. The sky is darkening because of the setting sun. We’ve eaten a meal and had several beverage rounds, and now all we do is wait.

I don’t think that I’ve ever been in the air for such a long stretch. And I’m not sure that I want to take this route again. We left San Francisco and headed north along the coast all the way to Alaska, passing near Anchorage and then heading west. It is almost exactly the same route that the Detroit/Minneapolis/Chicago flights normally take. While the snow-covered mountains are beautiful to look at, one doesn’t see much indication of any kind of human life.

And so we catnap, watch movies, read, color, or talk, I just don’t think we can make the time go any faster. It will be a mighty long trip.

The Ferry

On the afternoon prior to the New Year, we boarded the ferry to travel to JMen. The bus will work, but the ferry is much quicker. While waiting for the appointed time of departure in the cavernous terminal, a tourism student came up to me with a survey. She happened to be in her second year of college and was doing the survey work to pay her college tuition. Her questions were read from a sheet protected questionnaire and recorded on a hand-held computer. It didn’t take long but for me, it was interesting.

Team members were nervous about seasickness because Brogan had shared his experience from last year and we had just eaten at the food court in the ferry terminal. I thought that my dumplings and wontons were really great – and topping it off with blueberry cheesecake made the meal really gourmet. Tickets were purchased, bags were checked, and at 3 o’clock sharp we were on our way.

You can probably imagine the feeling as we sat at the stationary floating dock. Bobbing, moving side to side, the swells moved us in all manner of directions. And the air conditioning was sooooo cold. So we were glad to get on our way.

Initially we bobbed past tall apartment buildings and shipping docks. All manner of watercraft were busy traveling to somewhere as we set our sights for the Pearl River basin, there to take the ferry up the river to our destination. Huge container ships, small motor boats, hydrofoils, soil carriers, fishing boats, other passenger ferries, all headed in various directions, gave us lots to look at. The shoreline changed from constructed facilities to rugged mushroom looking islands to open water with no land visible.

The movement of the boat changed to regulated swells and a rather sleep inducing monotony. Little catnaps, conversation, bathroom breaks (accompanied by lots of animated talk about conditions) punctuated our three hour journey.

We passed Macau on the way to JMen. Macau, a former Portuguese colony, now a SAR (special autonomous region), is known for its gambling fame. At the horse track, already many years ago, more money passed hands than at all of the horse tracks in the U.S. Today, casinos invite all manner of high rollers from all of Asia.

Finally we arrived. Hilda, sister of Lily our present Chinese coordinator, met us with great exuberance. She’s a real extrovert, a new Christian, and a woman with a servants heart.

Drug Rehab

The van ride to the adjoining city took only 45 minutes, but it took us from solid suburban to thinner populated countryside. Suddenly the van driver took a right on to what looked like a glorified “cow path.” That dirt track led us to a parking spot by a bricked building housing three toilets (all squat of course – much to the dismay of our female team members). We tumbled out of the full van to meet the cold winds – only in the low 40’s today and to top it all off, mighty humid. The humidity later turned into raindrops.

The drug rehab center presently housed three residents. Nine had gone home for a holiday, and, as we later learned, more than likely would not return to the center but return to their drug habit. The facility, four buildings that resembled four stone sheds from a farm-site, were used for this center. Originally operated by a grant from a church in Hong Kong, this site now struggles to exist. The addict’s families need to pay one half of the total cost for each addict’s support. The others come from their meager profits from a nursery and from gifts from donors (now almost non-existent).

We listened to one of their testimonies, sang songs, Emily shared her testimony (touching to Hilda, our translator), and enjoyed some very hot water together.

Team members later expressed appreciation for the new view of addict’s challenges. And we vowed to pray for the men and their leaders in this place.

THE TEAM

This team likes to shop! From guitar parts and tuners to shoes and scarves to different kinds of snack, there’s a lot of interest in looking around for a bargain. And I love the team for having such interest in the culture of this country. Because as they shop, they run into people and ideas that are changing their lives. Poverty, the crowds, smells, pollution, friendship, and many varieties of foods tempt team members to rethink their world view. And that certainly would be one of the purposes of this trip!

At the same time, team members are pouring out their energies and their hearts to serve the people of JMen. They bolt somewhat under my words of admonition to prepare, prepare, prepare, but they perform admirably when asked to serve. Tonight I had to simply compliment them on the way that they interacted as individuals who touched many lives with their touch of love.

The example was when we stood in a big group for our evening activity. No two team members stood near each other, but positioned themselves so that they could support the English learning. While they like to be a group, they intentionally choose to “de-group” so that serving can be done more effectively.

We joke with each other. They’ve seem me in a different light – maybe more of a pastor wearing human clothes – who, by the way, can also screw things up royally. We laugh together and we pray together. In fact, I’ve been blessed by the way that their prayer life has grown; much more freedom in praying out loud.

And no one has complained too loudly. There’s always a comment or two about the food, but magically enough, team members have tried most things (tofu, pigeon, spicy food, coconut, and many other “first time” foods). They’ve been bold to venture into the unknown and uncomfortable. I thank God for that unique blessing.

TRAVEL DAY (January 4)

A one hour trip took us to a country congregation on the outskirts of JMen, perhaps even into another city. We were across the border from Macau. The area gets many visitors both from within the Mainland and from Macau – so there is much opportunity for sharing the faith. The congregation of 68 was represented by their Evangelist Paul and by six older members of the congregation. They meet in a “storefront” and sometimes when they worship 70, they sprawl out on to the front sidewalk and beyond.

We heard the history of the church, begun in the late 1800’s. It visibly disappeared during the Cultural Revolution and returned about 1987. Their church property had been turned into a school. Recently, they regained a portion of their original property from the government, and as funds allow, they plan to build a church facility. We walked to the land as the member’s spoke of a good outlook for the future.

We then traveled another 15 minutes to the second site for the congregation, a house in a small village. About 15 people met us, the majority older, but the welcoming committee also included a 16 year old Christian young man. They were very happy to see us; foreigners are VERY uncommon in their village. I was under the impression that we were the first foreigners that some of them had seen. More conversation and pictures.

At each of the sites we sang and prayed. The students were most gracious In shaking hands and expressing joy at meeting these sisters and brothers.

Way past our scheduled departure time, we headed back into JMen city for a late arrival at the elderly center. We forfeited a lunch to accommodate the excess time we had spent with the two congregational communities.

The Elderly Center houses 11 senior citizens who lack family and a means to support themselves. It seemed that one man had mental issues, a woman perhaps experienced a lack of memory, but several of the men seemed coherent. We sang, gave out warm socks for them, and put together the snowmen that Emily had brought along. Abby shared her personal artwork with them. All to the joy of the residents.

Tonight we eat at some teahouse and afterwards will go to have a foot and back massage (which didn’t happen for Brogan, Abby, and I because we had spent so much time in a tea shop sampling tea – and of course team members made purchases there).

FOOD

There’s never a shortage of food here in China. The organization that we serve with figures that we can eat for about $15 per day – and that is getting much more than we actually need. Each meal has 8-10 different dishes, three or four of which are with meat.

We’ve eaten at Korean, Thai, Chinese (obviously), and Portuguese restaurants.  Hot pots, lunch boxes, carry out, and the morning buffet. Spicy and bland. Noodles and rice. We’ve mealed with staff at the Center, with GEOs, and most often Bryn and our own Lily and Hilda – our special translator friends. It’s no less than a grand adventure.

TEACHING

Today was our last teaching time in JMen, and what a marvelous event it turned out to be.  Yesterday and today, we visited Pei Ying High School (a senior high school with 3000 students). They have never had a team visit there – only now does one of the GEO’s teach there.  We split into groups of two and, with lessons planned, spent three 40 minute periods in English.  That means that we touched about 450 students in those three periods – about 50 students or more in each class.  In between, like rock stars, we were inundated with requests for pictures, autographs, and email addresses.  It was a rare opportunity for them to meet a native speaker, and a marvelous opportunity for us to encourage their English studies.

I do believe that the visit was mostly motivational – and that is important. Within the last few years, China has added an oral English section to their university entrance exam, so what happens in these classes determines much for an individual student.  Additionally, there were many boarding students at this high school who had come from northern China to get a better education.

We ended the day (January 6 – and we did remember Epiphany in our morning devotion) at a hot pot restaurant.  Boiling water and broth was placed in the center of the table.  As we talked over a two hour period, we put meat and vegetables into the boiling water for our dinner.

I hope that the comments give a bit of a flavor of our time here in JMen.  We are well and the team is growing together.