We just came back from six days of holiday in Shanghai two weeks after the end of wife's two-year chemotherapy treatment. It was an enjoyable trip for the two of us. We stayed at Okura and took the mtr or traveled on foot. The biggest surprise was an impromptu one-day trip Hangzhou. On day two we were caught by the rain at the same time I was sneezing all day. The scenes, sights and sounds that amaze us are the museum, 淮海路， 新天地， 恆龍， 外灘 and a lot of things and places. Peace Hotel napkins were perfect. We were very impressed. I could only find a piece of litter on mtr trains through five days.
In Hangzhou we strolled halfway through Westlake before we came to Shangrila and had high tea for RMB$88. We were just glad we were allowed to eat there. Starbucks was everywhere on the lake but the drinks are not as good. It was one of the best places we traveled.
Food was good at 大吉士 and most eateries, including Napoleon cake. Local street Shanghai food is good for a small budget, like four buns for RMB$5, less than 20% of the price at a fancy restaurant.
At the end fo the trip I had finished the 文法聖經 three months after I started, hoorah!
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
文法聖經 Apr 2015
I am hot at work on my grammatical Bible, which is my labor of love and masterpiece to contribute to the world of Bible exposition. I have just finished the New Testament version, but it is hard work, tedious, detailed and taxing. Instead of teaching more students how to look at the verbs (imperatives, indicatives, infinitives, subjunctives and participles) I have worked it into the Chinese Bible. I started in March, so I am two months into the job. The hardest is to edit, and I have lost a few days of editing error.
Praise God, Doris is in the last month of oral chem. The next thing is deciding what to do, stay in Macau or back to HK. We trust God to open doors for her and tell her what to decide, otherwise she would feel uneasy.
It is the end of the year review for many things at work and I have contributed much but much is required. Next week I am heading to Taiwan to do a two hour lecture on expository sermon, but I am not sure how it will be received. I prefer a whole course rather than a short talk.
Praise God, Doris is in the last month of oral chem. The next thing is deciding what to do, stay in Macau or back to HK. We trust God to open doors for her and tell her what to decide, otherwise she would feel uneasy.
It is the end of the year review for many things at work and I have contributed much but much is required. Next week I am heading to Taiwan to do a two hour lecture on expository sermon, but I am not sure how it will be received. I prefer a whole course rather than a short talk.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Chinese New Year, Mar 2015
We had a quiet but meaningful new year, slowing down enough to rest and relax. The truth is we did not even go out on the first day. On the second day we went to relatives for dinner. On the third day we ate German pork knuckle at home. I went back to work like most people did next week, Tuesday for us.
Yesterday a student from China visited me with his wife and seven months old daughter. It was heart-wrenching to discover that graduates there make less than $3,000 a month and they have to turn to secular jobs. They left Beijing after seven years to return to Shandong with baby's birth but the living there with the husband's family is harsh with problems adjusting to food and in-laws there. They hope to visit Dongguan where her parents are, and see if they can live there, but living with in-laws is not an option for the young family. It is interesting they think HK has hukou.
What I am most happy about is to finish revising all my old sermons, putting in the Hebrew and Greek structure into its place. That would make the sermons timeless and technical. Now I have two more challenges to revise my preaching notes and record it for my students. The second is to put structures into parsing guides and its Chinese translation and upload it on the net with permission. It's a long story but pastors and seminarians would appreciate it. It is durable for the long haul.
Yesterday a student from China visited me with his wife and seven months old daughter. It was heart-wrenching to discover that graduates there make less than $3,000 a month and they have to turn to secular jobs. They left Beijing after seven years to return to Shandong with baby's birth but the living there with the husband's family is harsh with problems adjusting to food and in-laws there. They hope to visit Dongguan where her parents are, and see if they can live there, but living with in-laws is not an option for the young family. It is interesting they think HK has hukou.
What I am most happy about is to finish revising all my old sermons, putting in the Hebrew and Greek structure into its place. That would make the sermons timeless and technical. Now I have two more challenges to revise my preaching notes and record it for my students. The second is to put structures into parsing guides and its Chinese translation and upload it on the net with permission. It's a long story but pastors and seminarians would appreciate it. It is durable for the long haul.
Friday, January 9, 2015
New Year, Jan 2015
The new year has arrived. As usual, I changed a pair of shoes, few pair of socks and some garments, just like old days. For last year I gave thanks for PTH ministry, Couples Fellowship and my brother's immigration to USA. It's been a long six years and four months since we have arrived in HK and we are pretty much settled here.
The last month has been great for wife. She has been happy for a few weeks, no longer bothered by the cancer she has. We have been to mainland twice in the last month, Panyu and Foshan, and we manage to adjust the mishaps much better than we thought. Once we went to the wrong place and another time we went to an old mall.
I was unhappy when a good friend left his job, but life can be unfair especially to those without clout. For the new year I pray for health, stability and friends. May the Lord look after family and friends.
The last month has been great for wife. She has been happy for a few weeks, no longer bothered by the cancer she has. We have been to mainland twice in the last month, Panyu and Foshan, and we manage to adjust the mishaps much better than we thought. Once we went to the wrong place and another time we went to an old mall.
I was unhappy when a good friend left his job, but life can be unfair especially to those without clout. For the new year I pray for health, stability and friends. May the Lord look after family and friends.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Year's End, Dec 2014
It's terrible, the year is slowly coming to an end so fast. At least I have caught up with my lost usb content, which took me half a year. I have not been a good blogger as well, it seems I blogged every two months nowadays.
Hong Kong is caught up with Occupy Central. Let's pray for protesters, police and the public. There is just no good end to the two opposing sides, the officials and the opposition. It should never have happened in the first place, but the city is so divided politically, financially and emotionally presently.
The last year was some sort of weird closure for my siblings. My brother has passed his permanent resident interview to the States. It is my sister's upcoming case that i fear for.
PTH is stable but there could be a change, which is usual for such a big group. It is more important to encourage and empower the next generation.
Hong Kong is caught up with Occupy Central. Let's pray for protesters, police and the public. There is just no good end to the two opposing sides, the officials and the opposition. It should never have happened in the first place, but the city is so divided politically, financially and emotionally presently.
The last year was some sort of weird closure for my siblings. My brother has passed his permanent resident interview to the States. It is my sister's upcoming case that i fear for.
PTH is stable but there could be a change, which is usual for such a big group. It is more important to encourage and empower the next generation.
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Refresh
I trained 64 coworkers abroad over the weekend and, in the process, realized where I am much needed. Over time I have grown into the role of mentor. At first I was reluctant to embrace it, claiming I am more of a teacher and trainer, especially in preaching, than a mentor. Futhermore mentor is such a glorified word that it is better to lie low. Now I realized I am more of a mentor not because I embraced it but that others embrace me. It is now a relationhsip over the role.
As usual my entry point is grammatical studies, teaching students how to do structual diagramming in Chinese with the help of a parsing guide. The students learned in leaps and bounds. They did not want me to leave their app group that I joined temporarily but it is best to leave and not to usurp the influence of their school administrators in the same group. Another thing I am glad to do is to recommend fellow coworkers to the school. Coworkers need to go out for more exposure and experience. Most who do the same thing over and over again need the jolt from meeting others who are more needy. Like I often say, no church is big enough. The four walls are often impenetratable, stifling liberty and suffocating creativity.
As usual my entry point is grammatical studies, teaching students how to do structual diagramming in Chinese with the help of a parsing guide. The students learned in leaps and bounds. They did not want me to leave their app group that I joined temporarily but it is best to leave and not to usurp the influence of their school administrators in the same group. Another thing I am glad to do is to recommend fellow coworkers to the school. Coworkers need to go out for more exposure and experience. Most who do the same thing over and over again need the jolt from meeting others who are more needy. Like I often say, no church is big enough. The four walls are often impenetratable, stifling liberty and suffocating creativity.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Lost Files
I have rewritten most of the stuff I lost from my lost usb. It taught me a lot abut patience and perseverance. Patience is letting things slide, but perseverance making it up. I have actually gone further in inserting the grammatical structure back into my old sermons, all the way to Judges.
Unfortunately just as I have wrapped up and caught up, my wife's usb did not work and so she lost at least four original Bible study lessons she wrote. The frustrations I had experienced were all over her. She managed to rewrite everything over a week. Life has a way of confusing and connecting us.
Work is OK but missions still tops my agenda as I am not getting any younger, turning 54 last month. Two incidents illustrate how I look. A life guard asked me where I was going when I said bye after a morning swim. I said, "Work." He said, "Aren't you retired?" Another lifeguard this week said, "You look young for a man in his 60s." Now I have a thing against life guards.
Unfortunately just as I have wrapped up and caught up, my wife's usb did not work and so she lost at least four original Bible study lessons she wrote. The frustrations I had experienced were all over her. She managed to rewrite everything over a week. Life has a way of confusing and connecting us.
Work is OK but missions still tops my agenda as I am not getting any younger, turning 54 last month. Two incidents illustrate how I look. A life guard asked me where I was going when I said bye after a morning swim. I said, "Work." He said, "Aren't you retired?" Another lifeguard this week said, "You look young for a man in his 60s." Now I have a thing against life guards.
Monday, July 7, 2014
Lost USB, Jul 2014
It's been so busy I just realized I missed last month's blog. I am not surprised because there was a lot of catching up to do these two months. The main reason is I lost my keys along with my attached usb and octopus card. The stick was the biggest loss because I did not save my usb files, so I had lost at least three months work, including two upcoming semidone sermons, all my revised NT sermons with updated grammatical structure and at least one full sermon I had preached. Basically it is a major writing disaster and I have been working hard to restore the revisions.
I had learned a hard lesson that tested me but I think I passed the test. It made me realize those are just things and objects. Second my patience and alertness have grown as a result. Third, God continued to give me strength, discipline and gifts so that i can redo them.
Up to now I have redone the structures again. No wonder the Chinese have a saying to survive the crisis first to continue later. The interesting thing is other matters pale in comparison since.
I had learned a hard lesson that tested me but I think I passed the test. It made me realize those are just things and objects. Second my patience and alertness have grown as a result. Third, God continued to give me strength, discipline and gifts so that i can redo them.
Up to now I have redone the structures again. No wonder the Chinese have a saying to survive the crisis first to continue later. The interesting thing is other matters pale in comparison since.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Retreats, May 2014
I have been so busy that I have not taken a public holiday four straight times, including Ching Ming, Good Friday, Labor Day and Buddha's Birthday. I am not complaining because the last two were enjoyable and spent wisely at retreats, one for Couples and the other for Putonghua fellowship.
Wife and I did a morning session for Couples and they especially praised Wife more than me. At the second Wife was the main leader because she did all the work for the Bible Camp. We find out there is a future for Bible Camps that were sorely neglected in Hong Kong and almost everywhere in the world. I hope to put the materials for others to download her work on Ruth.
Today (7th) was SDR day. It was bittersweet because my work was commendable but the standards were hard for coworkers to meet. There must be something more and something better.
I finally finished revising all my New Testament sermons by Mother's Day (11th), adding the grammatical structure to all my previous sermons. It is hard to describe how fulfilled and relieved I felt, There is the Old Testament to go but I really don't want to do another sermon just yet, gotta unwind for a while.
Wife and I did a morning session for Couples and they especially praised Wife more than me. At the second Wife was the main leader because she did all the work for the Bible Camp. We find out there is a future for Bible Camps that were sorely neglected in Hong Kong and almost everywhere in the world. I hope to put the materials for others to download her work on Ruth.
Today (7th) was SDR day. It was bittersweet because my work was commendable but the standards were hard for coworkers to meet. There must be something more and something better.
I finally finished revising all my New Testament sermons by Mother's Day (11th), adding the grammatical structure to all my previous sermons. It is hard to describe how fulfilled and relieved I felt, There is the Old Testament to go but I really don't want to do another sermon just yet, gotta unwind for a while.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Revived, Apr 2014
I heard Edmund Chan for two days last week and I was greatly encouraged by his talk on discipleship. It's been a while since I listened intently and drank deeply from a speaker. More power to expository preaching!
The only thing that work against Edmund's preaching is that it stirred up discontent in me doing local ministry when overseas ministry is in dire need. Let's pray that I can wait another year before returning to the mission field more regularly.
On the work front life is busy, squeezing much of what I can offer. The meetings, the issues and the personnel are a lot to deal with, definitey not for the young in ministry.
I love my work in my PTH department though. The team is now settled and the coworkers here are effectively doing their part, so I do not have to intervene in disagreements. The worst thing is department politics, of which I am thankfully spared. For three consecutive weeks I have been seeing Wnezhou pastors visiting church while they are here for training and conferences. It really gladdens my heart to see them.
The only thing that work against Edmund's preaching is that it stirred up discontent in me doing local ministry when overseas ministry is in dire need. Let's pray that I can wait another year before returning to the mission field more regularly.
On the work front life is busy, squeezing much of what I can offer. The meetings, the issues and the personnel are a lot to deal with, definitey not for the young in ministry.
I love my work in my PTH department though. The team is now settled and the coworkers here are effectively doing their part, so I do not have to intervene in disagreements. The worst thing is department politics, of which I am thankfully spared. For three consecutive weeks I have been seeing Wnezhou pastors visiting church while they are here for training and conferences. It really gladdens my heart to see them.
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