Planning for some jungle bedlam...

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

A Holy Week Reading of the Passion with 200 Grade Schoolers... in Chinese!

It's been an amazing Holy Week 2011 so far.

Wednesday seminary class presentation - an  game involving a slippery table, water glasses, and lots of laughter.  Highly educational!

Wednesday afternoon, "e" is for egg with my English phonics classes

Holy Thursday - Wayne went for a Holy Week walk with four of his students.

Tuesday night -- Coloring Easter eggs with adult English students who had never done it before

I forgot to specify that we should use WHITE eggs for Easter egg coloring.  So they improvised with some crayons we had on hand

Thursday morning a highly talented group from my church turned this group of 150+ Primary School students into energetic participants in a reading of the Passion of Christ according to St. Mark.... yup, in Chinese, of course!!!  (My part consisted of telling them this was a good idea in the first place.  They were understandably skeptical!).  The 19 year old son of the school principal made an awesome (last minute) Jesus, the teachers were exceptional at portraying the voices of the "bad guy" high priests, the narrator from our church was amazing, and I think the children GOT the story! Since we can't say "Alleluia" until Sunday morning, let me just say, WOW.  (And thank God THAT's over :)

Dramatic-Linguistic Challenges in Holy Week

The Lutheran Theological Seminary of Hong Kong had their annual sacred concert Friday night.  It was beautiful, as always, singing to a packed house, and this year Wayne accompanied the international students when they sang A Touching Place (sorry I didn't get a picture, but I've copied some of the words below.)


Meanwhile, I've been working hard with the Truth English Bible Club and we've had a break through (I think).

Due to the wise counsel of an experienced teacher from the Netherlands (my new friend and co-volunteer,  "Mrs. Henny") we started the Bible Club hour with snacks and fellowship instead of ending with them. 

What a difference, when we actually took time with the kids at the beginning of the hour instead of rushing right in with my "program". 


And look how they listened when "Mrs. Henny" told them the story of the first Easter.  Wow.

Okay, so we didn't get to sing all the songs I had planned or repeat the Bible verse I wanted them to memorize.  THIS is what it's all about, eating together, wanting to communicate, and learning about the greatest story of all.

This coming Thursday we'll be doing an Easter Program with the whole school.  Those of you who know me will be shaking in their boots with me when I tell you that we're going to attempt a whole Reader's Theatre of the Passion according to Mark with about 200 grade school children.  In Chinese.

"But I didn't think you had learned Chinese," you ask?  That's right.  That's what will make this one of my biggest dramatic-linguistic challenges ever. But isn't that one of the specialties of the Holy Spirit?

 Words to A Touching Place (Scottish traditional, words by John L. Bell)

Christ's is the world in which we move,
Christ's are the folk we're summoned to love,
Christ's is the voice which calls us to care,
And Christ is the one who meets us here.


To the lost Christ shows his face;
to the unloved he gives his embrace;
to those who cry in pain or disgrace,
Christ makes, with his friends, a touching place.*


(Here's a link to a Cathedral choir rendition of this song, the only free sample I could find for you.  I liked the International Choir's version much better :)

Truth English Bible Club takes a nosedive...

After a GREAT start to our Truth English Bible Club three weeks ago, we had a totally out of control "club meeting" last week.

We do the same story two weeks in a row, first with group A, then with Group B.  Group B is, shall we say, a bit challenging?  More than a bit?

The first two meetings (Unit One) we focused on the Palm Sunday story, and while we could tell that Group B was a little feisty, we thought things went pretty well that first week with them.

The second two meetings (Unit Two) were about the Last Supper.  We had some yummy bread and grape juice, and had borrowed the chalice from the church to show them the cup we use in our church services. We did a pretty amazing craft, borrowing from Leonardo DaVinci's "Last Supper", they colored "Da Vinci-esque" pictures and filled in the names of the disciples, and then in a grand finale, I had them put glitter glue on the pictures of the bread and wine: gold glitter for Christ's body in the bread, red glitter for Christ's blood in the wine.  (Ah me, where DO I get these fits of inspiration?!?)


Little did we know these 9 and 10 year olds (of Group B) would race around the room with their full cups of grape juice and practically riot during the jaunty marching music of "We are Marching in the Light of God."  And did they understand even one word of the English Bible story I was trying to share with them?  Methinks not.

Group A sat long enough to enjoy a cup of grape juice. 

Hmmm, We are definitely going to a refine a few of our plans before the next meetings (April 13th & 20th).  May I ask you all to double up on those prayers for me, for all the kind ministry mentors from the church (and now we have an experienced teacher from the Netherlands who's helping us, as well, yippee) , and especially, please pray for those fascinating, complicated, maddening, beautiful kids God is calling us to serve :)


"Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." -- Jesus, quoted in Luke 18:16
(this is the old King James version, and you'll forgive me if I say this past week, we did indeed SUFFER the little children...)

Truth English Bible Club is officially launched!

Last week I told you about the  8 week pilot project some church members and I were launching: the after school Truth English Bible Club for Grade 3 kids.

Well, it happened!  And after all my worrying and fretting, the first seven children came in and were absolutely the quietest, best behaved group of school children I have yet experienced in my first two years of living and teaching in Hong Kong.
Our first Bible story was Jesus' Entrance into Jerusalem.  We:

• welcomed the children and previewed the story in Chinese, then rang a gong and it was "ENGLISH ONLY" time! 
• learned the English words: donkey, king, palm branches, road
• sang "We are Marching in the Light of God" and waved palm branches (actually bamboo branches, which are free since they grow in our yard), 
• made a palm branch craft out of green paper
• recited half of a Bible verse, first in Cantonese, then in English:

"Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!"  -- Mark 11:9b  (NIRV)

Afterward, a yummy snack, prepared by a church member: Beans and corn!  We rang a gong, then the children were free to speak and socialize in Cantonese, again.
The children ate enthusiastically, most of them even asked for seconds.


May they ask for "seconds" for Bible stories, too!

This Thursday we will do the same program with the next 7 or 8 children. 

Ash Wednesday and Ambitions

I'm one of those strange people who sometimes likes flowers best when the petals start to fall.

The cross of ashes I received on my forehead at this morning's chapel service reminds me that all things are destined to crumble and fade away. 

Buds unfurl, petals drop, and is there a Mind of God who remembers the moments, shakes them up, and saves them?

More than a mere "Mind of God" we Christians believe there is a Man of God who does this,  Jesus of Nazareth, in whose footsteps we travel a 40 day Lenten path, strewn with temptations, dropped petals, and huge ambitions to make a better world.

At the church I serve as a sacramental pastor, the evangelist (and day to day, week to week leader of the little parish) resigned his position and just had his last Sunday at the church.  I was invited to a scrumptious dim sum luncheon in his honor, so here's a picture of me with our kind Lutheran School principal, Principal Li, and this very devoted church worker, who will be taking some time off and then maybe pursuing some more academic studies.   I can only believe that all of his hard work with this parish will be redeemed, even though the fruits aren't readily apparent yet.

Tomorrow, church members and I are launching an 8 week pilot project at the Lutheran School, an after school Truth English Bible Club for Grade 3 kids.

First Bible story on the agenda: Jesus' Entrance into Jerusalem.  We will:

• learn the story 
• learn the English words: donkey, king, palm branches, coats
• sing "We are Marching in the Light of God" and wave palm branches (probably bamboo branches, which are free since they grow in our yard)", 
• make a palm branch craft out of green paper
• recite half of a Bible verse:

"Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!"  -- Mark 11:9b  (NIRV)

Afterward, a yummy snack, prepared by a church member.

I am more than a bit nervous about this launch.  It's something new!  Did I tell you that I still don't speak much (ok, hardly any) Chinese??  And they don't speak much English!

May our ambitions be redeemed. May the children be blessed.  May our church blossom. May we learn to walk, these 40 days, with Jesus.

/a/ is for Apple, /k/ is for Cake!

Thursday was Apple Cake Day at the Lutheran Primary School, apples chopped & cake lovingly baked from scratch by yours truly, for primary school kids learning English, and hopefully something about Advent and the Christian understanding of preparing for the birth of Jesus.

Unlike many American kids, these students don't go for super sweet, so I made an easy apple bundt cake recipe I found on the web, substituted whole wheat for some of the flour to make it even healthier, baked it for the THREE hours my oven takes to get anything done... and lugged it over on the metro, then walked through the warren of public housing buildings to get to the school.

I forgot to bring forks so the teacher handed out toothpicks for the kids to eat with (since apparently eating anything with your fingers is verboten in Hong Kong culture). ok.  But toothpicks?  I thought there was maybe some special Chinese technique for eating with toothpicks but the kids struggled with it as much as I did, and I wondered whether some may have thought this is an American way to eat cake, one toothpick crumb at a time. 

I did make a big show of washing my hands before handling the cake to cut it, carefully demonstrating and enunciating, "Now, I am washing my hands", only to be greeted by squeals and hoots as I began drying my hands on the towel placed above the classroom sink.  Turns out that towel is for wiping floors and... whatever else needs wiping in a classroom.  But not hands.

The kind teacher then gave me toilet paper to dry my hands with.  Toilet paper??

There is still lots to be learned about this world of Hong Kong.

 "People look east, the time is near
of the crowning of the year.
Make your house fair as you are able,
trim the hearth and set the table.
People look east, and sing today --
Love, the Guest is on the way."  -- Advent hymn (text: Eleanor Farjeon 1881-1965)

 

 

These are the towels NOT to be used for drying hands.

In Anticipation of Thanksgiving...

One of our students was kind enough to provide us with this photo from one of our recent fiestas.  After nearly two years in Hong Kong, and loads of experiences seeing the sights, dining out,  and meeting all kinds of people, one of our favorite things in life is still just sharing a meal... often yes, served in pots and pans rather than making more dishes for our chief dishwasher (Youngest Son).

In November we are anticipating a LOT of special meals.

Did I mention that I have started yet another new part-time job?   Two nights a week I now go and teach English to adults.  So far so good!  My first lessons included helping people to enunciate clearly the difference between "beach" and, um a similar sounding but very different-in-meaning word.   Ditto with the word "fork" AND the ever present tendency (in religious circles) to interchange "blessed" with "breast".

Tomorrow night I get to do my first "Fun with Christa" night.  Yup, it's really entitled exactly that, so I'm a little nervous.  If anyone has some games using English that's not too adolescent... pass 'em on. (I googled "English games adults" and you might be able to imagine what kind of stuff came up on the screen.  Not very helpful. 

Friday night we are having an outdoor Thanksgiving event on the lawn with about 35 people.  (Thanksgiving Day itself will not be a holiday here in Hong Kong, of course, so we are celebrating early).  I haven't snagged the cans of pumpkin yet, though others have assured me they are to be found in Hong Kong, if you look hard enough and are willing to pay the big bucks!

On Saturday I will be celebrating Holy Communion at the prison.  It is the first time our ministry team is attempting this, and it will be a stretch in every way - practical (I just got word today that we can only bring in "church type white bread" - do you think I can get by with pita bread?) linguistic (half the group speaks Spanish!), theological (these are NOT all Lutherans and have a wide variety of understandings of the Lord's Supper), pastoral (some may not be baptized, or not be ready to receive communion for a variety of reasons) and liturgical (How to best conduct the service in the  cluttered, classroom-closet kind of space we have, filled with long benches...)

So we are anticipating a variety of meals in the coming few weeks.  Stay tuned for the updates.

Guide me ever, great Redeemer, pilgrim through this barren* land. 
I am weak, but you are mighty; hold me with your pow'rful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me now and evermore, 
feed me now and evermore.            -- traditional hymn

*(although Hong Kong is NOT so barren... see below)

On the way home from church on Sunday we chanced upon this lovely bit of creation.

note to self- I will invest in a better camera, I will! And learn how to use it.

We heard there was a party!

Mmm, wonder what's flying by for dinner today?