Fantastic Creatures of Hong Kong

 Winter's cold has been lasting unusually long here in Hong Kong. Temps in the 40's and 50's F can be very chilly in unheated apartments, offices and classrooms

The season of Lent continues, with contemplation, prayer, and attempts to be of service in this world, especially for and with the poor and the poor in spirit.

But sometimes you just have to get out! One of the unique and beautiful things about the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Hong Kong is the international Christian community life - pictured are students from Myanmar, USA, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Laos! Once a month the seminary "family groups" go on outings, and Friday was the day!

First order of business -- It's Dr. Wayne's family group, so that means a stop at an Indian buffet!

Yum! This is Trang, one of our two Vietnamese students this year (she's married to the only other Vietnamese student!). She's the mom of the little boy who had the honor of being LTS's youngest student ever... sitting in theology classes with his coloring books and pillow until his parents were able to get him situated in a local pre-school. Some of you will remember from earlier blog posts that it took us over 6 months and a five inch stack of paperwork to get this young family their student visas for Hong Kong.  But God is good! They've finally arrived!!!

The second part of our "family day" outing was a trip to the Hong Kong Art Museum... Fantastic Creatures!  [and so we are!]

There were a lot of dragons, dark and dastardly!

But we had no fear!

 At that time God will unsheathe his sword, 

his merciless, massive, mighty sword.
He'll punish the serpent Leviathan as it flees,
   the serpent Leviathan thrashing in flight.
He'll kill that old dragon
   that lives in the sea. 

 -- The Prophet Isaiah 27:1 (The Message version)

Getting Ready for Chinese New Year Part 2

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.