Friday, February 27, 2004

*iamo espana!*



You're Spain!

You like rain on the plain, as well as interesting architecture and
a diverse number of races and religions.  You like to explore a lot, but sailing,
especially in large groups, never really seems to work out for you.  Beware of pirates
and dictators bearing bombs.  And for heavens' sake, stop running around bulls!
 It's just not safe!

Take
the Country Quiz at the href="http://bluepyramid.org">Blue Pyramid



who would've thought? spain is actually one of those places at the top of my "must go to" list. anyway, much to say, but must let these thoughts be properly mulled and stewed over in heart and mind before presenting to the world... now only a psalm of lamentation:

though the pirate's plank i blindly walk,
yet your mighty hands are my guide and comfort;

though these unrelenting voices and noises surround me,
yet your call - "you are my betrothed" - echoes clear in my core;

though narrow are the horizons of my mind,
yet yours neither time nor space can bound;

it is your will that must prevail.

Sunday, February 22, 2004

*desperate prayer*
if My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer offered in this place. for i have chosen and sanctified (set apart for holy use) this house, that My Name may be here forever, and My eyes and My heart will be here perpetually. ~ 2 chronicles 7:14-16



this was the topic of conversation this morning at church. i believe the audio stream will be available shortly. in the meantime, you can listen to last week's sermon by tony 'rhyme master' read and tom read's new song.

after church, we had the first preparation meeting for our easter bohol/cebu mission trip (april 5-11). as of today, 35 people, aged 14 to 60+, first-timers and seasoned missionaries alike, are about to embark on another life-changing week. easter in the philippines is always intense, since it is santa semana, or holy week, where some really serious catholics actually personally reinact the crucifixion in hopes of atoning for their sins. a first for us this time is that we are also going into a new place, bohol, where we'll be visiting some muslim tribes, among others. so, exciting to say the least.

and while we're on the topic of prayer, if anyone could spare a moment...
~ please pray for my poor stomach which has been wretching all day yesterday. i think i'm recovering (after marking my territory with my digestive matter all around central) but my stomach is still feeling the effects. i do have to get back to work tomorrow so it'd be nice to not smell of throw-up...
~ also pray for my flight to the philippines. we are trying to go a day earlier than planned, and i have been put on the waiting list. since we are planning to fly into cebu sunday night, then take a ferry to bohol first thing monday morning, if i don't make the sunday flight, i'm going to have to make my way to bohol on my own a day later.

i should get to bed early tonight, but i'll leave you with tom's desperation song:

i have prayed so many prayers
i have sung so many songs
my heart has found its home in you
it's not about me anymore
oh it's so much more

this is a desperation song
this is a desperation cry
we are your people called by your name
and we humble ourselves and pray
come and heal our land


lord let my heart burn for you
lord let my soul yearn for you
ignite a fire deep within
now i'm coming back, coming back for more

this is a desperation song
this is a desperation cry
'cause we are your people called by your name
and we humble ourselves and pray
come and heal our land

come and heal our land

Thursday, February 19, 2004

*today's lesson*
5 hours spent at a five-star hotel doing social studies (that's canadian for 'history'. today we studied how the british bullied the french into giving canada to them...), a bit of art, solving some math problems even i couldn't figure out, and the last hour spent on "physical education" (read: him playing in the pool with his brother and me lounging deckside, overlooking all of victoria harbour).

oh, and even little film stars fart. a lot. and in very interesting patterns too.
first, the lack of noise from here certainly does not mean lack of activity.

lots has been going on, and that is exactly why i haven't found the time to update. now where shall we start?

let's backtrack 5 days... valentine's day. this day has never really meant much to me. as a teenager i hated it becuase i never had a real valentines. then as i grew up, became my own person, found my security in the unseen rather than the seen, it just became another day. don't get me wrong, i'm not bitter about it. it just never really meant anything to me. now after 3 years (admittedly with a wee break in the middle) with derek, we finally got to celebrate our first valentine's day. we got to celebrate together a lot of things we never got to before this past year: both our birthdays, christmas, new year's... and now v-day.

let me just say that our God is very good. and cheeky. last summer, the organization i work for held a fundraiser at a bar with lots of prizes. but no one came except for our friends, and so we all won the prizes ourselves. one of them was a $400 gift voucher for scirocco, a quaint little mediterranean restaurant in soho (the cool cafe area in hong kong). since the fundraiser, derek moved house, and in the process lost the voucher. pooh. but then he found it months later! yay! so with valentine's day coming up, and both of us (at the time) with a combined income of exactly $0, we felt totally blessed to be able to have an amazing 5 course dinner that we otherwise would never be able to have. and we had so much fun that night too... i will spare the mush, but it was definately a very very good night. :)

actually, i lied. that was on friday the 13th. on the 14th, sna had one of the best coffee houses to date. we sold candy-grams (secret valentines) and jacinta and i had a lot of fun with them... hahaha. everyone's got a secret admirer!

yonks, it's getting late. i have to get to work... which is another topic all together. just a quick update: the boy i'm tutoring will be starting on set this saturday, so i'll be working 9 hour days in boonie places like yuen long and sai kung... but it'll be fun :) i'll write more later....

Tuesday, February 10, 2004

*check it*
more friends in the weblog community: jo ng is a friend working in shanghai right now. davina a good friend here in hk doing her thang with the movie stars. more tales of lives on the path.
*a quickie*
i only have time for a quick update... well, yes things are a bit different than i had anticipated at the beginning of the year, but it's even better than i anticipated. amazing? yes.

i recall a 'conversation' (on msn) with a good friend back home in vancouver a few months ago, just as i was getting ready to quit my job at KELY. i was explaining to her how i felt it was time to move on, and although i had no idea what exactly i would be doing, i trusted that God had a plan and He would also be a source of provision in every way. and she asked the typical question that i think most people at least think, if not ask out loud: "but how will you live? i mean, faith is one thing, but doesn't it also say in the bible that we should take on our share of work?" yes, we should. i never said i wouldn't work. at the time, i just thought i would be heading into "full-time volunteer" mode. i didn't KNOW how God was going to provide, i just KNEW that He would if this is the road He has called me to. this still left her a bit flabbergasted, confused about the lack of evidence of the necessary details of survival in a city like hong kong.

well, as it turns out, God did have a plan for me to continue working for pay, for the time being. and He's provided even more than i could ever hope or imagine. so, i guess there was nothing to worry about after all. don't you love it when He surprises us like this? the way i see it, the only way we can witness God's miraculous power in our lives is if we give Him room to, if we live with the expectation of it. because the One we serve is GOOD.

i know what i'm doing. i have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. ~ jeremiah 29:11 (msg)

Friday, February 06, 2004

*yes it's new*
"i do not do something again today because it seemed to me to be good yesterday, but because the will of God points out this way to me today." ~ dietrich bonhoeffer from no rusty swords

sometimes, what we once thought was what we wanted is not at all. i read in my devotional today that the past, even what we have experienced as good, cannot sustain the present. for the present we need new grace, new inspiration, new direction. that's the beauty of following the risen Messiah. every new day is exactly that: new. it is different than the day before and it brings new blessings, new mercies, new hope. i love it. i love that we have a God who is alive, and who interacts with us and gives us surprises. i learnt this lesson again today.

at the end of last year i felt that i was being led to volunteer at mother's choice. i contacted them about 5 weeks ago, and it took this long to finally meet, despite the fact that both parties were trying everything we can to meet. i guess God had other plans eh? i was getting so frustrated with not being able to meet with them asap - lunar new year and holidays got in the way. in my mind, if i was to work at the orphanage, the sooner things got settled the better, becuase i was getting down to the last of my savings and couldn't afford another month's rent. the orphanage would provide free housing. but things kept getting delayed, and i couldn't understand it.

then, out of the blue, i was offered a tutoring job which sounded like a great deal. $250/hour is not anything to brag about for a tutoring rate, but when you get to work 4-6 hours a day, five days a week... you do the math. i thought i could do this for a few weeks just to get by another month... but the kid turns out to be great, the job is great, and they want me to stay on until june. but what about mother's choice God??

i finally met with them today to discuss the possibility of me volunteering there. by now my excitement about the whole prospect had waned and i wasn't even sure if they needed anyone. but as it turns out they think i'm an answer to prayer! gretchen, the managing director, was so lovely. i had met her about 3 years ago, when i was first looking for a job here. we had talked for a long time and she was a great encouragement to me. we would run into each other at times and she would just smile and be so encouraging. anyway, God totally blessed the meeting. they are very flexible, and i will most likely start doing some part-time volunteering for now, until the tutoring is over in june, and then start full-time there. they are in the process of expanding their services and launching the third phase of their public awareness campaign (which has been a huge controversy in hong kong. go to their website and follow the link to the media center to get a taste).

so, not everything turns out the way we think. thank God for that, for His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts my thoughts. during the most confusing times of the past month, my Provider provided, unexpectedly. i'm feeling so incredibly blessed with a job that will help ease my financial burden, and with an opportunity which excites me so much.

grace grace indeed.
zechariah 4:7

Monday, February 02, 2004

*simple joys*
i really have nothing to say, other than that life is good. not that anything in particularly amazing has happened, but i just want to express to the world that i still find every moment of life amazing, as mundane as it might be sometimes. i love seeing God in the little things. in the warmth of sitting down for hours and chatting with friends, in the yummyness of cheese and crackers, in beauty of a cool night breeze, in the myriad of different people that makes up my church...

so that's it. that's all i wanted to say. i've got some new pics up (as you can see below) so go check out my imagestation for more....

grace grace to all ~