MarathonAngel

Back from Burma

2012-02-04T01:53:00.000-08:00

I'm back from beautiful Burma! Also known as Myanmar, it was my first time visiting this exotic, gorgeous, and deeply troubled country. But things are changing, and there's intense optimism in the air and lots of building and beautification projects going on in the streets. The big question is whether it is all just a new facade, or real, true and positive changes which will empower the people of Myanmar to reclaim their rich heritage(s). The word heritage has to be plural in the Myanmar context because of the complicated, lovely, but wounded folds and layers of cultural, religious & lingual diversity in this country. There are at least eight major different cultures/nationalities in this land of about 50 million people, and sub-sets of dialects and cultures number into the hundreds. It's an incredible mosaic, and I was only in one city, Yangon, the former capital. Just a few of the hundreds of photos I took:

The view from my room, The Sweet Hotel

workers busy in the streets

I just can't help but smile at this guy


The incredible Shwedagon Paya... those are real people in the foreground... and real gold on the temple. Is it sacrilegious to say it reminded me of a gold-foil wrapped giant chocolate kiss?

A magical, mystical experience, walking barefoot on the marble floors. The monks are dressed in reds and oranges, the nuns in passionate pink.

And now for the real treasures of Myanmar - the children..

the beauty of grace in old age...

A Burmese bug!

Lovers in the park...

Pastor Martin, at the Hope Education Center, a ministry of the Lutheran Church of Myanmar. Pastor Martin is hoping to raise funds for more permanent facilities for this education center, serving and empowering the children...

Children at Hope Education Center, shepherded by a dedicated young leader.

Eager to learn and grow and become.

"Do your best to improve your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, self-control, patience, devotion to God, concern for others, and love." - 2 Peter 1:5-7

Getting Ready for Chinese New Year Part 2

2012-01-23T02:19:00.000-08:00

The Year has just turned! It's the Year of the Dragon in China now.

So our dear London-raised English teacher (aptly named "Rose", she's the one in red just right of center) invited the international students at LTS Hong Kong to a Chinese New Year's celebration.

See the dragon motif everywhere? The year of the Dragon is supposed to be a good year! Dragons are strong, outgoing, and the local newspaper tells us the birthrates in Hong Kong and the mainland of China go up dramatically (more than 5%) as everyone wants their child to have a dragon year birthday.

We started the celebrations with... well, FOOD of course, including a large roasted pig, artfully carved by one of our mainland Chinese students (sorry to my tenderhearted vegetarian friends).

The international students then celebrated by singing a very robust version of "This is the day that the Lord has made," in 10+ different languages of the people who were present, including:

This is the year the Lord has made--
Mainland Chinese students sing in Mandarin

This is the year the Lord has made-- Laos

This is the year the Lord has made-- sung in Vietnamese,
with help from a Cambodian Uncle

This is the year the Lord has made-- one single American exchange student -
can you guess which one?!

This is the year the Lord has made-- sung in Thai

This is the year the Lord has made-- sung in the Karen language
by students from Myanmar (Burma)

This is the year the Lord has made--
sung in Danish by the Danish volunteers

This is the year the Lord has made--sung in Cantonese by our Hong Kong professor of Old Testament

This is the year the Lord has made-- Cambodian students sing in Khmer

This is the year the Lord has made- in the Chin language by more students from Myanmar (Burma)

This is the year the Lord has made -- sung by some who actually know how to sing -- Indonesian students

The evening ended with the distribution of red Lai-see packets to the youngest & cutest among us:

Scripture thoughts and a Christian Prayer for the Year of the Dragon:

"This is the [year] the Lord has made" -- Psalm 118:24

A characteristic of dragons: courage

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” -- Joshua 1:9

A characteristic of dragons: boldness

"Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold." -- Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians 3:12

A characteristic of dragons: ambition

"Whether we are at home or away from home, we make it our ambition to please Him [the Lord]" -- Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians 5:9

Prayer:

Creator of all creatures great and small, including the mind of humans who have in turn created dragons,
This New Year of the Dragon, may your Holy Spirit
--fill us with courage to carry current projects through to completion, courage to tell the truth and stand up for what is right and fair.
--Give us boldness to begin new plans and projects for your purposes.
--Make your ambitions our ambitions, and let us move forward with the strength of a dragon to make those ambitions come true.

In Christ's strong name we pray, AMEN.

Getting Ready for the New Year of the Dragon, Part I

2012-01-22T06:34:00.000-08:00

Flower market in Mongkok

Bright blossoms of all kinds - New Year means springtime in China!

Youngest son adores getting schlepped to the Flower Market each year.

The busiest shopping night of the year.

Cambodia -Views from a Tuk Tuk

2012-01-13T06:13:00.001-08:00

Cambodia -Views from a Tuk Tuk, a set on Flickr.

Finally, a set of pictures from my first visit to Cambodia New Year 2012. In 2012 you will be hearing more about my new job as Mekong Mission Forum Assistant Coordinator. Our family trip to Cambodia was my first trip to Cambodia... and my first chance to actually see the Mekong River (from whence comes my fancy new job title). Cambodia was beautiful. We landed in Phnom Penh, saw some LTS graduates... took a river boat down to Siem Reap, visited the amazing temples of Angkor Wat... Later in the year I will visit again (I think) and one of our LTS alumni has promised me a motorcycle ride to her home and a home cooked meal which will include home-grown snails from her family's pond... I love my life and can't wait to see what else the New Year 2012 will bring! I do know I have an upcoming trip to Myanmar a.k.a. Burma very soon... and what hopeful news we are hearing from that country lately....

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. -- God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah

Youtube Video of my workplace in Hong Kong

2012-01-06T22:48:00.000-08:00

Dear Marathonangel readers... in case any of you are still out there... I thought I'd start out the New Year 2012 with a youtube video lifted from my good friend Dieter Mitternacht (is that not a great name?) about life at the Lutheran seminary in Hong Kong, China (where I now work as the Coordinator of International Student Affairs).
A film in English with Swedish sub-titles, made by a German, about life in Hong Kong. I don't think it gets a whole lot more international than this!

(Coming up in my next blog post: A visit to the one of the top ten wonders of the world, Ankhor Wat in Cambodia. Stay tuned!)

Waiting for Christmas....

2011-12-17T03:38:00.000-08:00

Five weeks of Truth English Bible Club, count them FIVE long weeks.

We went from this in October to

these in November

So here's the grand finale in December

Almost all of the kids came back every week. They LOVED the crafts and didn't want to leave. In fact I think we might be in trouble with the school because they were late for their bus back to China so often. I think. I don't actually know. Sometimes it's good not to know.


You can't help but love these kids but they are ROWDY!!! Maybe, for just a moment, they contemplated the God of the universe who created jewels of all colors, and children with all kinds of interests, curiosities, and capabilities... maybe, maybe.

So that's what I did on Thursdays these past coupla months. We had twenty-four kids enrolled, six adults, and bedlam. It makes me appreciate my "real" job (or my paying one, anyway :) which is now with international seminary students, who are calm! interested! glad to be at school! and they don't jump on the chairs and tables (or at least not as much)!

from L to R: an American visitor from California, two grad students from Myanmar and one from Mainland China.

The 2 students from Cambodia have finally gotten their student visas after waiting and wondering for more than three months and have arrived!

bringing our Cambodian student population up to three!

Lao students huddled against the cold (55F) which seems very cold indeed when you've just arrived from Laos. But they're happy to be here anyway!

Who knows which of the things we work for are worthwhile, which are of lasting significance, which are worth our time and talents and treasures? I love the season of Advent (Yes, we've got another whole week of it, folks!) because it reminds me, in the midst of the world's frenzy, that there's power and strength in toughing things out (for a season), waiting them out, watch and see, which things show signs of fruition...

"Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God."
-- I Corinthians 4:5

And on a very personal note, did I mention the BOYS are arriving next week!!!!!!! Waiting.... waiting..... oooh it's hard to wait!!!!!!!!!!

My job is fun except when it's not.

2011-12-06T04:29:00.001-08:00

My Coordinator of International Student affairs job AND my Mekong Mission Assistant Coordinator job is a lot of fun... except when it's not.

The not fun parts include excel spread sheets.

I'm terrible at them.

Last week I was preparing in a frenzy for my first ever meeting with the Mekong Area "Network Implementation Committee" people who were flying in from Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and... Germany this week. My duties included counting the number of Mekong area students at the seminary (28!), and reimbursing everybody for their airline tickets.

So I was running around calculating exchange rates, converting Thai baht, Euros, and Hong Kong dollars into US dollars, ever so carefully counting out those greenbacks ... reminded me of my first job as a grocery store check out clerk. Hmmmm. Some things don't change as much as one might have hoped....

Part of my nervousness is that I'm dealing with a whole host of expectations and different cultures in this job. (For Saturday I was in charge of dealing with everything from giving reports on the academic presentations of faculty members who went to Myanmar to deciding what size bananas should be served for the afternoon snack- seriously, I got a phone call on Friday afternoon from the seminary President's secretary asking me about the bananas!!!!! Big ones or small ones?????....!!!!!!!! There is NOT a tradition of delegating decisions around here.)

But then I get to sit down with the students. I talk with Rodion from Indonesia who's the first pastor getting a doctorate in something like thirty years. I talk with Sondang, also from Indonesia, dressed in a gorgeous beadwork dress. Last week her church in Indonesia celebrated its 150th anniversary.... and over 100,000 people showed up for the event!

And then there's Mnai from Myanmar who has nine daughters to support at home. Nine. Daughters. Today one of the scholarship donors asked me if it was all right to give him a small extra gift for Christmas, because of his nine daughters. Yes, I said. By all means.

And there's the bishop from Thailand who was the first in his family to become a Christian. And he told the story of a witch doctor in the hill country of the Mekong, who is at the brink of converting. And if he converts, then there are 300 of his tribes people who will be converting, too. And the bishop and his Church are scrambling to come up with some catechesis for these folks. (This is a novel challenge for the Lutheran Church to face... it's not the Lutheran Church as we usually know it from Germany, Scandinavia, or the USA!)

So it's amazing. And maddening (when I'm dealing with those Excel spread sheets). Occasionally, for a moment here and there, wonderful.

Wayne with a group from Myanmar. Can you spot the American?

Stripes, zigzags, smiles

The Indonesians!

Can you tell where he's from?

Add caption

A future student... homegrown in Hong Kong!

I survived Saturday's meeting, by the way. But I'm still not totally finished with the accounting for it...

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."

-- Mother Teresa

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones..." -- Jesus in Luke 16:10

A Hong Kong Wedding and What we did NOT eat for Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T05:09:00.001-08:00

Sunday we went to the first wedding I've been to in Hong Kong. One of the members of the Cantonese speaking church where I am the sacramental pastor was getting married. Luckily for me, marriage is not considered a sacrament in the Lutheran Church, so I got to sit and enjoy the ceremony. The bride was beautiful, the church choir sang, and some of the children from the Ma-On-Shan grade school where I lead the Truth English Bible Club were present (the bride is one of our volunteers for this ministry)

A couple of other things that made this wedding different -- at the reception the bride changed her dress a whopping five times! Turns out these dresses are rented for the occasion. She was totally gorgeous, and the hoots and hollers were fun to listen to.

And then there was the thirteen course banquet. Thirteen. Courses. We bravely tackled the first 5. Slowed down on 6 & 7. Slowed way down on #8 which is featured here:

Webbed goose foot.

Which is what we did NOT eat for Thanksgiving this year.

   She
¹ I am a roseof Sharon,
   a lily of the valleys.
   He
² Like a lily among thorns
   is my darling among the young women.
   She
³ Like an appletree among the trees of the forest
   is my beloved among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
   and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

-- From the Song of Songs, a popular wedding text from the Bible

I thought about quitting

2011-11-19T21:43:00.001-08:00

No reason for this picture except that I like it. The view from a boat out in Sai Kung last week. Give me some of that inner peace which this picture conveys!

This week I thought about quitting.

After hours of trying to straighten out scholarship documents, hours of trying to scan, copy and file documents, hours of figuring out unfamiliar office equipment

[like hole punchers. hole punchers are different here. notebooks are different here. filing system are really different here. or maybe they don't exist. i'm not sure.]

hours of trying to decipher the notes and notebooks left by my predecessor [don't get me wrong, he knew what he was doing. he did a great job. but there was a several month gap between his moving on and my taking over. Also, this is such a unique job I'm not sure anybody ANYBODY could possibly explain it to somebody else. Or maybe they could. Maybe it IS just me.

For example, most people would probably not need three hours to merge two lists of students only to discover that the carefully merged master list now alphabetizes people by first names.

So this week I thought about quitting.

I've been dealing with nine student visa applications: 2 from Myanmar, 2 from Cambodia, 2 from Laos, 1 from Indonesia, and 2 from Vietnam. Other years, apparently things ran ever so smoothly, but THIS year, now that it's me doing this job, the HK government does not seem to be keen on allowing these students into HK for studies.

I now have a file about 8 inches thick (no exaggeration, I swear) of documents faxed back and forth exploring such fascinating issues as:

letters of proof regarding financial support
discrepancy in the spelling of the name Soumphayana Okomenokhe on one document and Soumpayana Okomenokhe on the other document.
reference numbers in all documentation, such as: PT056000789721-11osd, formerly PT16270977312-270nso
discrepancy in birth dates: 10-03-1978 and 03-10-1978.
photographs which measure no larger than 55mm x 45mm and no smaller than 50mmx40mm [yes, on that last one I was squinting thru my I-need-a-new-prescription-bifocals to measure the picture with my little plastic ruler, then running down to the lower floor to locate the paper cutter, which is also unlike any paper cutter I've used in my ahem 50+ years on this earth]

I really thought about quitting. And it's not like dealing with these student visas is the only part of my job. Oh no, no indeed. There are also... lets just say LOADS of other things I should, could, need to do.

This week I got an actual phone call from an actual real live immigration officer. It was a nice change of pace after all the faxes. He wanted to know why the student couple from Vietnam, who have a 2 year old, needed to bring their kid WITH them for the three years they will be studying in Hong Kong. Can't they just leave him with a relative?

As a Mom myself, an American mom, that one kind of threw me. Why not just leave the two year old behind for three years??????

But I contained myself. I assembled letters of documentation from the scholarship donor and the young couple themselves, carefully explaining that they had no close relatives who could care for their child, and yes, the scholarship money provides for housing and food for the whole family for their three years of study. And by the way, (I found this out myself through their letter) yes they had an older child, and that child died. So this is their only child and they are both pushing 40. Is that a good enough a reason to explain why they want to bring their two year old with them for their study program?

Stories and real people are behind all this paperwork.

I dutifully faxed it all in.

We're still waiting on those last two applications, but seven out of the nine students have now been approved to enter Hong Kong, and they are beginning to arrive.

2 from Myanmar, 2 from Cambodia, 2 from Laos, 1 from Indonesia, and hopefully soon, 2 from Vietnam.

Can't quit now. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

Two of the newest arrivals (on the right) from Myanmar, with their student guides. SO happy student visas have finally been granted!!!


A glimpse of the global church: here conferring with a visitor from Germany, LTS students from Myanmar, China, Indonesia, Cameroon, Norway 1 Corinthians 9:23-25 ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Flat Stanley in Hong Kong

2011-11-13T04:51:00.001-08:00

I've got a little interlude on this blog... an enterprising kid from my church in Hartland, Wisconsin sent us a Flat Stanley. Flat Stanley, for the uninitiated, is a school project based on a book about a kid who gets flattened through an accident but makes the best of the situation when he discovers this enables him to travel the world cheaply and easily by being mailed in a regular postal envelope.

Generations of 3rd and 4th graders now draw "Flat Stanleys" to send to distant friends and relatives for recording adventures. This makes learning geography a little more fun as the kids then make a school presentation of the photos taken with their own Flat Stanley.

What follows is Flat Stanley's adventures with us in Hong Kong.

Flat Stanley arrives in pretty good shape after ten days of traveling in his envelope. He then slept for a couple of weeks working off his jet lag. The time difference between Hong Kong and Hartland, Wisconsin in the U.S.A. is 14 hours.

Last week, finally emerging from his jet lag, Flat Stanley took a trip on a Hong Kong bus to pick up friends from the Hong Kong airport. Most people living in Hong Kong (including Flat Stanley's host family) don't have their own cars, so it's good for Flat Stanley to learn to use mass transportation.

Flat Stanley arrives at the Hong Kong airport to pick up his friends.

Flat Stanley makes his first Hong Kong friend. It's mutual admiration at first sight.

Our friends have arrived from Wisconsin and Flat Stanley explains the Hong Kong subway system map to them. The light blue line goes to his Hong Kong host's home.

Flat Stanley makes friends with German friends in Hong Kong. He wonders if they will take him to the German Octoberfest a.k.a. BierFest held in Hong Kong every October-November. They tell him, Sorry, he's a little too late.

Flat Stanley tries to make friends with the monkeys on "Monkey Hill" near Lion's Rock in Hong Kong. They are not interested.

There are a lot of tall buildings in Hong Kong. Flat Stanley tries to pose with the Hong Kong flag but the wind isn't cooperating today. The Hong Kong flag is red with a white flower on it.

Flat Stanley in Hong Kong Park.

Trying to make friends with the long-tailed birds in Hong Kong Park's aviary. The birds aren't interested.

Flat Stanley gets caught in a Hong Kong rain. Good thing his friends have umbrellas. It rains a lot in Hong Kong so people carry their umbrellas everywhere they go.

OOh, Flat Stanley takes an excursion to Macau. He goes to the biggest casino in the world (the Venetian) but his host makes him stay in the backpack because nobody under the age of 18 is admitted into the casinos.


On his last night in Hong Kong, Flat Stanley goes for a pleasant boat ride in Sai Kung. He also checks out the sea food but after he takes a good look at today's selection, he decides he isn't hungry after all.

whoops I can't add the video just now... check back in a day or two and I'll try to get it attached here. GOT IT! click and watch to see why Flat Stanley did NOT order seafood tonight:

Scenes from ISF at LTS up on TFS

2011-11-04T06:31:00.000-07:00

One of the crazy things about my new job is all the acronyms. Here are just some of the ones I deal with on a daily basis:
MMF/NIC/ LTS / GM / ELCA/ FELM / HK/ IMM/ LWF/ DMS/ TFS/ ATEM/ MIT/ NMS/ CAN

but one of my favorites is the

LTS-ISF

(Lutheran Theological Seminary - International Student Fellowship)

Here are some scenes from recent LTS-ISF activities:

This is actually just a scene from the celebration for the ground breaking for the LTS expansion project, but I wanted to tell you about it as one result will be a bigger cafeteria, with some outdoor seating. yay!

LTS-ISF sponsors a monthly birthday bash! Those with birthdays are supposed to share some words of wisdom from the vast treasure house of knowledge they are accumulating as they age.


The approach of winter means some colder temperatures than some of our international students have ever experienced before. Thanks to a very kind anonymous donation, Chaplain Po Chu was able to arrange for jackets for all the international students to help them weather near freezing temperatures soon to come (kinda humorous for us snow & ice habituated northern Europeans and Americans, but seriously affecting the health of some of the students from Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, or Indonesia)

LTS-ISF president Frans (from Indonesia) hunts for the XL size. What, no XXL? Diminutive Chaplain Po Chu (from Hong Kong) found him the biggest jacket they make!

Mmmmm, apples, Asian pears and dragonfruit. No fellowship event is complete without food for sharing.


Ooh, we can just feel all that vitamin C at work...

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. -- Acts 2:42

Planning for some jungle bedlam...

2011-10-31T06:14:00.000-07:00

The posters are up, the kids are primed, and Thursday will be the start of our

Big Jungle Adventure Truth English Bible Club

with local Hong Kong kids and some Chinese Mainland kids

at Ma On Shan Lutheran Primary School.

Some of them come from Christian homes, but many don't,

and their English is, let's just say, minimal.

The question is, can fun, games, a good deal of chaos, songs, snacks, art projects, and those basic Bible Stories from the Old and New Testaments, somehow convey the essential truth that

the God of the Universe

wants to be in relationship with kids of every nation, culture, and tribe,

including very specifically, these kids,

as well as you and me?

They are loved. We are loved.

Can we believe it?

This should be interesting. Last spring we did it with two separate groups of six or seven children at a time. This year we have FIFTEEN P3 kids and SIX P4 "helpers".
(We had decided as a leadership group that we wouldn't have helpers, given their pretty terrible behavior last spring, and lo and behold I was just given the list of participants from the official school list and it includes... six "helpers".)

So, who wants to sing a big round of:

"Who's the King of the Jungle? WHO? WHO?
Who's the King of the sea (bubble, bubble, bubble)
Who's the King of the universe and
Who's the King of me???????

Stay tuned, I'm gonna try making some videos. Only maybe not the first week.

"...there is that great beast, which you have made

as a plaything. "-- Psalm 104:26 Bible in Basic English

Is daily chapel too much or not enough?

2011-10-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

Always an exotic, fresh flower arrangement, many with distinct symbolism. Not sure what the symbolism of this one is, but we're in the "liturgical growing" season right now, so I'm guessing... bloom and grow?! And swirl and dance in the Spirit?!

Beauty in the leaves, to and from chapel. This butterfly was as big as my hand.

Evening Prayer.

One of the things that's different for me in my new job at the seminary is the chance to attend daily chapel. DAILY chapel? Yup, and I'm enjoying it. Full disclosure -- 30 years ago when I was in seminary myself, I did NOT attend daily chapel! I thought that was for über-religious and/or those students who wanted to impress their worship professors.

Now, it's a break in my day... it's a chance to get out of my office and see the community. It's a chance to sing a familiar hymn with old, deeply poetic words, or hear a new song sung.

It's almost always a chance to hear the Word. And to pray.

Sometimes the short homilies are in English and sometimes they're in Chinese. And sometimes they're in English but it might as well be in Chinese (ha, something my former parishioners may have experienced from time to time) but there are Bibles available, and if the translation on the headphones isn't so great, then it's a few extra moments to look at the Biblical texts for the week (we follow a fairly standard liturgical lectionary).

It's beautiful!

I go to the day chapels at ten o'clock. There's also evening chapel at five-thirty, but I just glance in as I start the 15 minute "descent" down the mountain to our home. Maybe in another 30 years I'll be attending evening chapel too.

I was glad when they said to me,

"Let us go to the house of the LORD."

-- Psalm 122:1

The view from my new office

2011-10-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

The view from my (still new) office. (As of September I'm the Coordinator of International Student Affairs at LTS)
Yesterday monkeys were scampering across the roof but I wasn't quick enough with my camera

LTS, where Wayne teaches and I work (!). From the balcony outside my office, I look down on the fishponds!
It's enormously cool to have a balcony outside one's office!

Rain, rain, and more rain this month. But it's still beautiful, even in the rain.

A rainy day is a good day for a baptism. Michael's Mom is in failing health and had been unable to even eat for several days... then she rallied for her Baptism Day! What a day of joy at Truth Church in Ma On Shan! This is part of what it's all about, our work, studies, teaching at the Lutheran School of Theology in Hong Kong.

As I said in an earlier post - the best thing about my new job is the students! This student, from Indonesia, is finishing up a doctorate in Old Testament. He's on a scholarship from one of the German Mission organizations, and eager to return home after three long years of study at LTS. He looks mild-mannered, but if you put a saxophone in his hands, look out! (I believe the same is true of his passion for God's Word!)

Let my teaching fall like rain

and my words descend like dew,

like showers on new grass,

like abundant rain on tender plants.

(Deuteronomy 32:2)

Memorial Service for Two Mothers in Myanmar

2011-10-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

Monday we held a Memorial service for two Moms of students from Myanmar. Our students don't have the money to fly home for the funerals, and in any case burial would have been almost immediate, they wouldn't have made it back in time. So the International Student Fellowship of our Lutheran School of Theology held a Memorial service in our chapel, as evening fell. Our Chinese chaplains led the service and the prayers. Our American English teacher read the scripture. And each of the two now motherless students rose up and paid tribute to their Moms, struggling in poignantly broken English to express their love and honor for them, as well as their heartfelt gratitude for the "mothers, sisters, brothers" who surrounded them on this sad occasion.

Both the Indonesian students (above... be sure to click on the video to listen to it!) and the Myanmar students sang songs of comfort, and together we remembered the words from Scripture:

Isaiah66:13

As a mothercomforts her child,
sowill I comfort you;
and

from Matthew 12:49-50

“Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister andmother.” (words of Jesus)

and

from I Corinthians 13:13

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

What I like least and best about my new job...

2011-09-28T21:22:00.000-07:00

Today's a Typhoon Day (heavy winds in Hong Kong from Typhoon Nesat, wind forces measured up to 121 KM per hour!) so I thought it's a good time to update my blog after my first two weeks on the new job as International Students' Coordinator at the Lutheran School of Theology in Hong Kong.

Above you can see a few of the beautiful faces I get to see each and every day that I am at the seminary. (Shout-out to the congregations of the Indiana-Kentucky synod of the ELCA -- do you recognize one of these faces??? You should, because one of these wonderful new students is able to study here in Hong Kong because of a scholarship generously sponsored by YOU!)

This week I"m discovering that this job entails all I love to do best... and least!

I'll tell you about the least, first.

I get to push pencils. Fill out forms. Figure out where documents are filed on the computer. Make sure money has transferred into the correct accounts. Convert euros and U.S. dollars into Hong Kong dollars (whoa, for those who are interested... the euro really is worth a lot less than it was just a few months ago). I get to send (what seems like) endless documents to the Immigration Office (for visas) and make sure they bear the correct reference numbers (Ref. 0001732096754 S0155, formerly ref. 0001697043226 S11432) for one made-up-but-not-exaggerated example! And I get to write elaborate letters thanking the immigration office for the opportunity to send in yet more documents for their perusal! And, when sending to Cambodia for another document to send - immediately - to the Hong Kong office, I get a letter back stating that there is a national festival in Cambodia which means that all governmental offices are closed down... for the week! AND when I DO get all the documents together for the students from Laos, I zip them off to the Hong Kong Immigration office (Ok, I don't actually zip them anywhere, because the fax machine clogs up on me at least 3 times) but I finally get them -- slowly - chug chug -- sent off so they will be there first thing in the morning... when ta ta! A typhoon comes cycling close enough to HK that ALL HK governmental offices are closed today.

That's what I like least about my new job.

What I like best is....

International students. From Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia... and more.
That's what I like best about my new job.

"Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” Revelation 15:4

New Jobs

2011-09-22T06:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted lately because I've been a wee bit busy... I have a new job! Actually TWO of them! I am now (Job #1) the International Students' Coordinator at the Lutheran Theological Seminary of Hong Kong (same place - at the top of the hill here in Shatin -- where my husband, "Dr. Wayne" teaches) AND (Job #2) I'm the Associate Coordinator of the Mekong Mission Forum Network Implementation Committee.

I've spent the first week on the job just trying to learn my title(s)! And getting acquainted with the map of the Mekong River (helpfully lifted from the internet).

After less than a week on Job #1 I've already fielded inquiries from India, Pakistan, Myanmar, Malaysia, Ghana, Canada, and the USA.

After less than a week on Job #2 I've done a bit of editing on an MMF-NIC publication but mostly am wondering whether I ever actually be able to be of help to anyone. (I did learn how to use the copier, the scanner, and after much fumbling, successfully unlocked my own office door).

Stay tuned!

Oh, and I've still reserved Thursdays for Job #3, (volunteer church work, continuing for my third year already!) which is working with the primary school kids at the Ma On Shan Lutheran School in Heng On... we're going to be doing the Big Jungle Adventure later on this fall in our Truth English Bible Club. One of our sponsoring churches in Wisconsin sent us a bunch of fun crafts, posters, and prizes to use, since they used the same program this summer.

It's amazing what a big world it is, and how interconnected.

And now it's time for me to go to bed (yes, I'm pretty much over jet lag except that I'm going to bed at 9:30 and getting up at 5!) and time for many of you to be getting up for the day's journey. Reminds me of one of my favorite hymns, stanzas 1 & 4 of "The Day You Gave Us, Lord, Has Ended":

The day you gave us, Lord, has ended, the darkness falls at your behest,
To you our morning hymns ascended; your praise shall hallow now our rest.

The sun, here having set, is waking your children under western skies,
and hour by hour as day is breaking, fresh hymns of thankful praise arise.

Return to Hong Kong - Moon Festival - New Beginnings

2011-09-13T04:15:00.000-07:00

Flowers awaited me upon my return to Hong Kong.

I'm back in Hong Kong! This week I start a new job as International Student Coordinator at the Lutheran School of Theology... and as the Mekong Mission Forum Network Implementation Committee Assistant Coordinator... whew, that's a mouthful! Do I know what I'm getting myself into? Not really!

I do know that I get to help serve students coming from Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, who are studying at LTS in Hong Kong, in order to be better equipped to serve their growing churches in countries where few people know who Jesus Christ is, and the people who carry his name are often persecuted.

I start on Thursday. The learning curve for me will be steep.

Last night we attended a brief memorial service for the Mom of one of the students from Myanmar. The Mom had died while her daughter was far from home (here in Hong Kong), reminding us of the sacrifices so many families are willing to make in order to help these LTS students follow their calling to study here. But the students reminded each other (and us!) of the hope of the Gospel we share, which make these present sacrifices so worthwhile.

Near the end of the little service, one of the LTS professors stood up to recite, by heart, this scripture passage:

⁹ However, as it is written:
   “What no eye has seen,
   what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
   the things God has prepared for those who love him—
¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
   The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
                                                                         -- II Corinthians, 2:9-10

Watching the full moon from our roof on Moon Festival (Monday night). Today (Tuesday) is a public holiday here in Hong Kong. "Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars" - Psalm 148:3 The deep things of God, indeed!

Too Many Goodbyes.

2011-09-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Youngest Kid said it last Sunday:
Too many goodbyes.

Good bye to Eldest Son who's off in Korea teaching (I am waiting for his blog updates!!!)

Good bye to Middle Son who is happily applying for what he hopes will be lucrative internships in finance (he's a university senior and the world is his oyster.)

Goodbye to the season of "hands on" parenting. Wayne and I are now officially empty-nesters. That Youngest Kid who bravely went off with us to Asia as a 15 year old is now an 18 year old University of Wisconsin freshman. I said good bye to him and cried like I haven't cried in years.

Good bye to Eldest Sister, the gardener, who revamped our yard, helped cook, savored some lovely glasses of wine with us, even though-- or maybe because she's wrestling with the pains and aches and hard decisions of Stage 4 breast cancer.

Goodbye to my eighty-seven year old Mutti who is still interested in every aspect of our lives. Who has finally agreed to start using a cane when she goes for her walks.

Oh yes, I almost forgot, good bye to that cat, Wilson, who terrorized the chipmunks in our back yard, but magically came when I, only I called him.

Sometimes good-byes are a good thing. We said goodbye to Wilson the cat - he's staying with friends. This chipmunk is enjoying raiding our bird feeder in peace.

Good bye to cherry trees and fall colors and crisp evening air. Good bye to those chipmunks and the deer and the bluebirds. Goodbye to Door County ice-cream, tubs of Amish blue cheese, fresh salmon on the grill. Goodbye to the good Lutheran churches and kind, caring individuals who support us so graciously.

Now it's back to Hong Kong, where my husband is already at work and where a new job awaits me.

The Daily Text and prayer are especially helpful for me today:

Friday, September 9

I will say, "They are my people"; and they will say, "The Lord is our
God." Zechariah 13:9

Be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do
this, you will never stumble. 2 Peter 1:10

Lord, our God, help us to follow in the path you have set before us.
Keep our steps sure and prevent us from stumbling. We are your people.
Thank you for being our Lord and God. Amen.

Hoarders, throwing stuff out, and more goodbyes...

2011-08-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

Eldest Son with his mom and his Omi, on the eve of his leaving for S. Korea.

This week it was time to say good-bye to Eldest Son who is off on a year's adventure in South Korea, teaching English to Korean primary school kids. (Check out his blog: worldofsoren.blogspot.com) He and Youngest Son have had a tempestuous relationship over the years, so I am pleased to report we three got along pretty well in the two weeks we spent together. While Y.S. was working at his summer job, E.S. and I did a lot of house cleaning in anticipation of having renters (I hope I hope)... throwing out LOTS of stuff and taking at least three big van loads to the local charity resale shop, intermittently watching HOURS of a tv show called "Hoarders" to motivate us to clear up even more stuff.

This photo captures the brothers' relationship rather nicely. Ah, siblings.

The interesting thing about the show "Hoarders" (besides making us feel, well at least we're not THAT bad!) is how people continually choose stuff over relationships. In the tv show, hoarders fill every nook and cranny in their house with stuff, because "someday" they'll need it.
Meanwhile, there's less and less space for actually living life.
I'm happy to say we had several nice meals together, enjoyed each other's company, helped each other out, and "the boys" got along with each other, not perfectly, but pretty well!!!!

^" Finally, brothers, farewell! Put things in order, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. "

-- St. Paul, 2nd letter to the Corinthians (13:11)

Leaving home for home...

2011-08-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

Wayne should be landing in Hong Kong just about.... NOW.

So is he leaving home, or going home?

My friend talks with her 5 year old about transition from Hong Kong to their new Ohio home on a blogpost called Where We are Right Now

She talks about loving two places... and it's true. I love Wisconsin, the cool night temperatures, Lake Michigan, cherry pie, trees, trees, trees. Wisconsin is where my sons are attending university, where my 87 year old mom lives, where friends and relatives are (or come to visit), where people still go to church on Sundays and stay for coffee and conversation.

But I also love Hong Kong. I love the dim sum and the hotpot, the hustle and bustle, the international friendships, hikes in the mountains, the cheap mass transportation (see my previous blogpost for more on that!) and my work at the Lutheran Seminary and the Primary School.

I love Wisconsin and I love Hong Kong, but right now Hong Kong is winning out, because that's where my husband is and that's where my work is, so in three more weeks, after getting eldest son off to the airport for South Korea (yup, Korea!) and youngest son off to his first year at University of Wisconsin - Osh Kosh, I'll be coming home to Hong Kong.

As this great song by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's puts it: (click on the link)

Home! Let me go home!Home is wherever I'm with you!

or, as the Bible puts it:

"...whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God..." -- Ruth's words to Naomi in the Book of Ruth

8 churches and the CFH (Car From H...) - the life of a missionary on "home assignment"

2011-08-06T06:59:00.000-07:00

It's enough to make you believe in demon possession. (Well, I did anyway, just didn't realize that demons could inhabit cars as well as people)

17 sermons, 9 children's messages, 8 churches, 7 slideshows, and 5 cars later, we have a couple of weeks of actual R & R before we return to our work in Hong Kong, China. We loved visiting the different churches in Wisconsin and Iowa; we did not love our car experiences.

This car was loaned to us by someone who met us for the first time out in the church parking lot!

Our main car, the CFH, 1995 Plymouth Neon, was (graciously?) loaned to us by a well meaning neighbor of my mom's. No air-conditioning, a failing electrical system, leaky radiator, broken tail light, a broken window (okay, that one was our fault... long story!) and at the bitter end, a dangling serpentine belt.

Family and friends were fantastically generous about loaning us cars between repairs of the CFH. My mother, sister, mother's pastor's wife, friends, and in one remarkable case, a complete stranger all loaned us their cars to get us to all our churches on time!

We've been having a wonderful summer. People are incredibly hospitable, generous, really interested by the life of the Church in Hong Kong, China, and the Mekong River nations.

We love the life, the people, and the churches in the USA. But we are REALLY looking forward to getting back to public buses & dependable subway system of Hong Kong, and leaving this CFH far, far behind.

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely,
who conduct their affairs with justice. -- Psalm 112:5

I love Wisconsin... home from Hong Kong, summer scenes 2011

2011-07-03T08:45:00.000-07:00

The week begins with worship at Gloria Dei in Menomonee Falls, where we were welcomed with open arms... and a scrumptious brat cookout after the service! I'll post a picture of our "missionary special" car that almost didn't get us to the church on time in a later blog. :)

On Monday we welcomed our middle son back to the good ol' USA from his semester abroad in Beijing, China. Was he happiest about seeing us again... or his car?

Gracious friends with a home on a lake let us stay at their place for several nights. Did I mention that I love Wisconsin?

A trip to our state capital in Madison... and to see our eldest son who just graduated from the University of Wisconsin.

Toothless in Wisconsin... my 87 year old Mom had a tooth pulled and gamely poses to show her new smile (false teeth are coming next week)

Our other home in Hong Kong is never far away... we just met some young women from China through a church "Bridges" program and we're looking forward to introducing them to some Wisconsin pastimes -- eating ice cream... bowling... mini-golf... eating ice cream... cookouts... boating... eating ice cream...

A dollar a minute, so youngest son and his cousin got five minutes each, and mastered the art of riding Segways!

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

(Psalm 90:14)