A morsel from the chopsticks...

Just for a slice of life... or maybe I should say "a morsel from the chopsticks": Wayne is off in the Mainland of China this week, visiting Christian churches with some of the other seminary professors, I'm getting ready for a conference in Myanmar (Burma) next week... trying to organize hotels, speakers, logistics of flying in Mekong folks from Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand... I'm really excited that among others, we'll have a Jewish rabbi giving a presentation, since few of the Mekong Christians have had (any?) exposure to the faith in which Jesus was raised! But oh, those logistics. Hotel rooms. Speaker bios. Airport pick ups. Will Buddhist vegetarian food fulfil Jewish kosher needs for our Jewish guest? Oops, I haven't gotten my Myanmar visa yet...

Meanwhile here in Hong Kong:

• One day last week we had nearly a foot of rain in 12 hours. 
• We have snails the size of a fist crawling up the walls of our house (thankfully only on the outside walls, so far)
• I have killed not one but two giant tropical cockroaches since my husband is gone, and...
• Two days ago one very large monkey was swinging in the trees outside our home. I closed the door very quickly so he wouldn't get the idea of coming inside. One of our neighbors actually once had a monkey come and grab a banana out of the fruit basket on his dining room table !

At work we got our first set of rejections on all nineteen of the student visas we are hoping to get approved for next fall's incoming students. This dismays me but does not stop me... time to start sending in yet more documentation - proof of employment, proof of previous degrees and certifications, explanations to the Hong Kong government officials of what exactly is theological librarianship or why would a student from Myanmar need a masters degree in diakonia, anyway? So I make copies, scan folders, try to find the right words for the officials... respectful but not too fawning, 

A co-worker invited two of us Americans out for "hotpot". Should I tell you the shrimp were so fresh they literally kept jumping off the plate? That was a little... extremely fresh even for my adventurous tastes.

It's a fascinating, fascinating life.

Next week -- return to Burma. Stay tuned!

Taste and see that the Lord is good;    blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.      -- Psalm 34:8