A change of scenery on the first day of the month was in store for me, all for the better. The last two weeks of last month were busy because I had to help a few coworkers with their messages, so a trip was the best way to forget everything.
The first week's new Gentleland class students were smaller, 22 students, but they were great, absorbing like sponges what I taught them. I was surprised that they learned so fast and so well, better than Hong Kong and North American coworkers and students. Wife said that was probably because they were blank paper ready for me to write on, but Hong Kong seminary students were just as blank but they were slower in development. Maybe because they are experienced preachers waiting for someone to light them up. On average they speak once or twice a week. On day three, they so inspired me when a few of them studied in groups to get ready to plot the grammatical structure of Philemon, which I told them I expected them to come out one by one to do on the board.
Some things are yet to change here. The site is more than respectable, with marble floors and lots of shower, but students still wash their hair from a basin and still spit in the small and modest old kitchen. The internet is slow as a snail. It took me an hour to read 5 minutes of news at worse and internet traffic was jammed at 4:15 minutes listening to church’s internet sermon.
After five days, I was headed to another site for a weekend with 50 students. The class was just as hungry for expository preaching. By the way I was out of loop on the holidays in Hong Kong such as Ching Ming, but I still attended Monday worship at the local Saddleback to compensate for Sunday Easter classes. The hardest thing to do away was to handle all the emergency financial matters relating to a water leak, overdue bills and IRS, but by God's garce all matters were resolved. The food was excellent with no assignment at the ghetto. As a whole I miss the students, and I wonder what would God have me to do for the future. Returning home, Wife and I enjoy swiiming in the afternoon and strolling at night . Two weeks away felt like 2 months this time, for sure.
Moving is in two days (27th) and we have cleaners to help us with the a/c unit and overall cleaning. We have lived in a one-room 488 sq. ft. apartment since August, 2001, but we need more space for Wife since her sickness. The movers won't be here till Sunday, but we decided to sleep overnight at the new place right after the cleaning a day before moving, even if it means having no furniture. Tonight we brought our wedding picture to the new apartment and prayed for the residence. However, the next day I hurt my back trying to do one last laundry before moving. I strained it bending my back but not the kness while picking up the bedsheets.
