Mission Journal Day 3

Yesterday was quite the journey. Jon and I woke up and showered with a nice mothball-like shower gel so that we would both be sure to ward off any attractive Chinese girls we encountered. We walked to the nearest bus stop where we caught a double decker bus to the nearest train station. We took some killer curves in that bad boy.

We got to the station and used our octopus cards to scan through the terminal. These cards are like rechargeable debit cards for public transport and somehow even food. Kinda scary, but pretty convenient. We took the beautiful KCR train to the area of the church we were going to. The KCR was like silent and incredibly clean as we rode it.

We got to the church after some train transfers and finally to Heng On. Laughter. But seriously. We ate at McDonalds where we had normal American food. It was there that we met Brian and Lee, the pastor and wife of the Ma On Shan Baptist church. After we had breakfast, we went to the church and had a little time where Brian explained the history of the church and some specifics of what their goal was.

We then went to chuch which was completely in Cantonese. We started with music worship. There was dancing and clapping which was different but liberating as the emotions could be expressed more greatly by physical means. After music, we had corporate prayer for the past year and the years to come. Doug translated behind us so we could join in the prayers.

We were then introduced in front of the church and prayed over by the whole congregation. For some reason, this didn't impact me. However, after we sat down, everyone stood up and looked at us. I was moved at this point. They corporately thanked us in english and welcomed us to China. It was right then that my heart started to feel for the Chinese people. I praise God for that.

The sermon was translated to Jason and I by Dennis, a 26 year old primary school teacher who had an australian accent. We also met Ricky and William who translated a little as well. Marla and Mika's translator was a particularly beautiful Chinese girl named Angel.

I was thrilled at the church's sensitivity and willingness to be guided by the Holy Spirit. I finally saw sincere Christians who believe that the Spirit can work in great ways. This encouraged me in my personal struggles.

After church, Dennis, Angel, her boyfriend Simon, Brian, Lee, and Brian's brother went with us to a Chinese restaurant where we had the traditional breakfast/brunch style of eating called Dim Sum. Many different orders of food are brought and everyone tries it. We had some cool stuff like squid, turnips, pumpkin dessert as well as a really nice red bean dessert. Over the meal we learned more about etiquette as well as the Chinese language from Dennis, Simon, and Angel.

We then headed to Hong Kong Island. We walked along the coast before going to the island and did some prayer walking. We prayed on site within site for whatever the Lord laid on our hearts. We took a ferry across the water to HK island and got on a double decker bus to drive through the city. We went on a tram car up the HK peak. At the top we took some incredible pictures of HK from above and ate at Bubba Gumps for dinner.

After dinner we were pretty tired so we headed down the peak on the tram and took taxis, trains, and a mini bus back to the seminary where we brought in the new year in our sleep.