Death of a four year old student

Just before Christmas,  a 4 year old student of mine (from my "Hoppy Palace" paying-job as an English tutor)... a beautiful, bright Chinese little girl who knew an amazing amount of English already .... died.  Just died.

We had been restarting the "Letter of the Week" Alphabet vocabulary games, and she was there for the letters A and B, and when we got to the letter C she was gone.

"Nova has gone up to... gone up to... God", her six year old friend, Samuel,  from the same small "Oral English" class reported to me, struggling to communicate in his limited English.

I thought maybe he meant she was at the hospital on the hill.

Or, I hoped, maybe he meant that she had moved away.

Or started at a different, higher class tutoring school.

No, she had died. Apparently an infection had traveled to her heart, and stopped it.

It was a week after her 4th birthday, which was on December first.

The memorial services were held just last week.  I attended together with Sandy, the receptionist from the "Hoppy Palace", who had seen Nova as often as I had (once a week, nearly every week, for nearly two years).

We clung to each other -- I clung to Sandy because I had little idea what to expect at a Hong Kong funeral.  I didn't know what faith (if any) Nova's family had.  I was not worried about Nova... I know that six year old Samuel was right, she is with God because of Jesus' clear promise that the kingdom of heaven belongs to children.  

But I was worried about Nova's parents.  I had been told that many times, Chinese parents will not attend the funerals of their children, and in fact, will condemn themselves for having done something wrong in order to merit this untimely death. 

Sandy clung to me because she had been to the same funeral parlour for the funeral of her grandfather, and the memories were frightening. Also, according to her traditional Chinese beliefs, it's unlucky to see the body of the deceased.  "I'm not going into the room with the body," she said to me.

The funeral was on a Friday night.  We met at the MTR station and took a taxi to the imposing looking high-rise funeral parlour, where funerals were taking place on a number of different floors.  We weren't sure where to go at first, and found ourselves getting off at one wrong floor, then another.  I only caught glimpses of the goings-on -- wailing, gonging, large paper constructions of homes, cars, even rather macabre (to me) paper people, which were about to be burned as an offering for the dead (if I understand this correctly).

Finally we found the correct room for Nova's memorial service, and I wept tears of sadness, but also relief, as I caught sight of a beautiful, enlarged photo of her, with a cross placed in front of it.

Nova's family was Christian.  Her mother and father were very much present, and greeted us warmly as we bowed towards the photo, in a traditional sign of respect.

Soon after we arrived, the service began.  As far as I could see, I was the only westerner present among the hundreds of participants. A pastor prayed.  Scripture was read. A poignant collage of video clips from Nova's brief life was played.  Nova's father spoke. The pastor spoke.  And a church choir, including a dozen adults and four or five small children, just Nova's own age, led us in singing several songs in Cantonese and then an old, familiar one to me, in English, a song  I remember singing at dawn on many Easter mornings:

Sing Alleluia to the Lord!/ Sing alleluia to the Lord! Sing alleluia, sing alleluia, sing alleluia to the Lord.
Jesus is risen from the dead. Jesus is risen from the dead.  Jesus is risen, Jesus is risen, Jesus is risen from the dead.
Jesus is King and Lord of all.  Jesus is King and Lord of all.  Jesus is King, Jesus is King, Jesus is King and Lord of all.


The memorial service was a worship service, to honor the God who had created Nova, to honor Nova's brief, beautiful life, to repeat the hope that we Christians dare to insist is the truth:

  "... I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand..."     -- Jesus    

                                                               (quoted in the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 28)

marked with the cross of Christ... forever.

Happy New Year 2011 from Thailand!

My four men in Thailand

view from our hotel near Hua Hin

eldest son touring the temples of Bangkok

troops of long eared cattle

a dusky langur! Never even knew these guys existed.

Yes! An elephant on the road. (Please understand I am referring to the pachyderm not to the lady in purple.)

We tried out the fish spa treatment.  Eldest son's toes were most popular among the flesh-eating fish.

Dr. Wayne checking out the map in Thailand.

Dr. Wayne talking with the locals in Thailand.

Dr. Wayne checking out the wild life in Thailand.

pink taxis in Bangkok.

Distinguishing between massages and massages is not difficult when we opt for massages as a family, out in the open, on the beach, with most of our clothes on.  We can tell you more stories on that subject in person.

Bangkok is beautiful in many ways.

Bursts of Joy - Christmas in Hong Kong Part II

Christmas Day - 4 adult baptisms and an 81- year old man making his affirmation of faith;
beautiful church choir, adorned with voices of the youngest among this growing congregation...

The Christ Child is a gift for all ages!

Sunday -after-Christmas, a full house at Wayne's church, where the very talented minister, Daphne, had prepared eleven people for baptism, including one baby, four people in wheel chairs, and several young people who gave very moving testimonies of coming to faith.  One of them even shared her experience of having a father who committed suicide when she was a child of ten, the grief and turmoil this caused, and the comfort and hope she received from the cell group at this church.

Who knew a Lutheran Church could have so many adult baptisms, such a depth of outreach, and cell groups in Asia!!!??!

The Christ Child is a gift for all nations, all peoples, all backgrounds, all abilities.

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning; 
Jesus, to thee be-- glory giv'n!
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; 
O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, 
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord! -- O Come All Ye Faithful vs.4

Bursts of Joy - Christmas in Hong Kong Part I

 Bursts of joy:

I. This is the second Christmas that I got to tell the REAL Christmas story to Hong Kong first & second graders. They listened wide eyed as if they'd never heard it before. For some of them it WAS the first time hearing it. 

II.  At the prison, we watched the film version of The Nativity Story with the prisoners, and they seemed fascinated as well.  Even though it got mixed reviews from the critics, I like this 2006 version of the story & I highly recommend it to families everywhere.   It was terrific joining in with the prisoners to belt out "Joy to the World" from the ugly yellow cement walls of our meeting room. We aren't allowed to give gifts or bring in any special snacks, so the Christmas story was really "stripped" down to the bare essentials.  And it still works!  It's Good News!
III.  And our personal good news is that the boys are on their way!  As I write, the older two are en route over the ocean somewhere, ready to join the third "wise guy" brother for our family Christmas celebration.  Last year their flight was delayed because of snow in Chicago and Wayne and I missed Christmas Eve services for what may have been the first time in our lives.  This year we are looking forward to worship at Union Church  at 8 p.m. (what a civilized time for a Christmas Eve Candlelight service :) and on the following 2 days of Christmas Wayne and I are participating in Lutheran Church services... and between us we will be doing 16 baptisms!  (Baptisms on Christmas are a tradition here in Hong Kong, as they were in Africa... who knew?)

Come back for more reports soon on Christmas 2010 in Hong Kong!

Very Merry & Rowdy third-graders at the Ma On Shan Lutheran School with their St. Nicholas and angel tree gifts in hand.

Angels announce with shouts of mirth /  him who brings new life to earth.

Set every peak and valley humming /  with the word, the Lord is coming,

People look east and sing today/  Love, the Lord, is on the way.

                   -- ("People Look East" French Advent Carol, verse 4)

 

Advent 4 - Peace!

I woke up this morning -- no water!
I went for a quick run -- still no water when I got back!
I have to go to work this afternoon, so I guess our bottles of drinking water will have to be used up for an alternative purpose.
 Informal poll... if you had to make do without running water or without electricity, which would you choose?  Me? This morning?   No electricity would be fine if I had running water.  Well, if I had WARM running water :)

 Mary & Joseph had neither of course;  neither on that dusty road to Bethlehem, nor in that stable where they had to spend the night. Maybe the star of Bethlehem shone brightly enough for light, but there's no mention of who did the washing up in preparation for the birth, not to mention after the baby was born!

Some of Wayne's seminary students here in Hong Kong will be going back to their home countries, and serving in places where electricity & running water are not available, or sporadic. 

It kind of makes us think, this last week of Advent, as I wait for the water to flow again!

Here are a couple of end-of-the-semester photos of "Dr. Wayne" with the students from his "Post-Modern Therapies" and "Pastoral Care in dealing with addictions & abuse" courses.

One more quick note... I'm considering making an Advent donation to a water project such as the one mentioned on this Advent Conspiracy site, which someone told me about recently.  What do you think?

Advent Peace!

“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”  Jesus, as quoted in John 4:10

Advent 3 in Hong Kong - Joy!

 I don't think the road to Bethlehem is quite this hilly, but I did think of the pregnant Mary and (presumably) worried Joseph walking their weary way to the manger this week.

Wayne & I started among the monkeys of Monkey Hill, climbed up the 1,284 steps to Needle Point (yup, we counted them!), paused often enough to breathe deeply (well, to breath at all actually, and to quiet our pounding hearts) and admire the view.  Unfortunately we took a few too many stops so that our last 20 minutes were literally in the dark.  Good thing the path was paved with white rocks and had a railing for the more treacherous parts.

Next time, we'll get an earlier start.

(I wonder if that's what Mary and Joseph said, too?)

"The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.


Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come..."  -- the prophet Isaiah 35:1-4

/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.