As a study break, Christina and I went to ShaTin park closeby our school to (attempt to) fly our kite.. Since Beijing, we've been wanting to fly one but never got the chance till now.. It was quite a fun experience, especiallly cuz neither of us had done so before. Okay, so we didn't fly it as HIGH as we would have liked, but it was definitely fun nonetheless... it was also amusing catching a glimpse of the passerbyers as their expressions were either one of confusion, disdain, or intrigue.. all of the responses were entertaining for us =)

Since it was such a cold day today (12 degrees celcius), we decided to stop by and get some hot chinese sweet soup (taro tapioca). it was so yummy and perfect given the weather.. there's us sporting our empty bowls =)

Now at the conclusion of a good, restful, exciting day, I'm now ready to jump head on into finals! My first one is tomorrow late afternoon--econ =( boo, this class has been the "thorn in my flesh" this semester (ive learned I definetely DO NOT have the econ/business mindset!), but hey, in less than 24 hours, it'll all be over!! can't wait!!!

Countdown: 8 more days till Tim arrives! =D

Today felt like a random series of events, but fun nonetheless.. i'll let the pictures explain...

(1) Hole in the wall: This elderly woman owns a "sweet tofu soup" stand in the middle of the SoHo district (in central, HK island).. Our friend, Cherie, told us about it so we decided to try it--it was very yummy and cheap, too! it's such a random lil stand in the middle of a walkway--i love it!! and isnt the old woman so cute!!? i love it!

(2) Post-180: After fellowship tonight, we went out dancing with a few folks from our fellowship.. Nat knows this one club called Jewel so he got us all in for free =) we only could stay for less than an hour (had to catch the train back home) but we were satisfied by the end of it (good music, good dancing, good times)! when we first got in, no one was dancing, so of course, we had to start somethin' up.. by the end of our time, we got a decent crowd goin' ;-) it was fun!

(3) Shake 'r up! McDonalds has this new fries thing where you add flavor to their fries by shaking up the bag of fries with a powdered flavor of your choice.. there's christina shakin' things up! =D im surprised at how good mcDonalds is over here.. their korean flatbread and $2HKD (about 20cents US) ice cream cones are quite tasty!

(4) Subway: I'm gonna miss the transit system here..so convenient!! =) but best of all....???? (scroll down)

THE RANDOM PEOPLE WE FIND THERE... check out the sleeping man.. i couldn't help but take a picture.. there's people that sleep in the most random places and in the most random positions here... it's hilarious! (i hope he doesn't mind me posting a pic of him online!) =D

In our attempt to "bless" our floormates during finals time with cake and hot cocoa (great idea, anita!), bonnie--of course--pulls off one of her bonnie-stunts...While boiling the mexican hot cocoa to serve, I started talking to one of the girls on Anita's floor and a few minutes into the conversation, I turn around and the WHOLE pot of hot cocoa is spilled ALL over the hot plate and the table!!!!! (there's anita trying to wipe up my mess!) =( oh dear.. haha.. but that's okay, some were still able to enjoy it after we made a second round of it.. and the cake seemed to already satisfy their taste buds anyway ;-)

 Tonight's 'ministry' time allowed me to meet some of the girls on my floor for the first time! (yea, it only took me a semester...) one of my neighbors didn't know I could speak chinese (she would just hear me talking on the phone outside in english) so she never really knew what to say around me when she saw me walking around on our floor..haha.. (im glad that cleared up!).. interestingly enough, the girls on anita's floor totally thought I was a local student from Hong Kong... strange how I can appear both local AND foreign at the same time??? interesting. =)

Today was UPaP (United Praise and Prayer)'s last morning intercession time.  It's been such a blessing being a part of this group... these guys are crazy, passionate, and on fire for the Lord!  The language barrier (praying and worshipping in Chinese) was a challenge, but was definitely something I learned and grew from.. God hears our prayers no matter what language we use... =) hey and i got to pick up a few phrases in chinese too ;-)

This is Anthony and Ching enjoying the cake we baked the night before... I never knew chocolate-frosted cake could be so delicious! =D ah yes, american sweetness, can't go wrong with that! hehe..Here's a group pic of us at breakfast after our final prayer meeting. I'll miss those times! =)

It's thanksgiving... in Hong Kong!  Our friends from monday night "English Tea House" (outreach to mainland china students) put on a thanksgiving dinner for those who've never experienced this american holiday before and for those from america who aren't able to celebrate with family this year. We had a great time of fun and FOOD--turkey, candied yams, stuffing, homemade pumpkin pie, tiramisu, cheesecake, etc... mMMm... quite the delicious meal, i must say. I was indeed blessed to have been able to celebrate this american holiday in asian!

Here are some pics from tonight's dinner: (1) Me, Conan, Siu Yuk (my neighbor!), (2) FOOD!, (3) Classmates from mandarin class, (4) Group pic, (5) Conan in line for food, (6) The hostesses: Eva & Melody (whose appt we were in)

Things I'm Thankful for This Semester:
-Finding community (church, small group, ministry, accountability) in HK!
-Finding direction for future (public health, pharmacy school, etc.)
-Travel opportunities (Beijing, mainland China, Thailand, HK)
-Family support (financial & emotional)
-Strong community support back at home!
-My roommate
-Chopsticks
-Chinese desserts
-Good health (and legs that allow me to walk through this hilly campus!)
-Friends in HK
-God's grace
-A deepened relationship with Tim :)

Thanks to all who of you who have, in your own unique way, been a blessing in my life!  I miss you guys back at home~can't wait to see you when I return!!! Til next time, enjoy the 4-day weekend and happy turkey day!

I'm so thankful for the chance I had to spend 5 days in Thailand. Originally, when I was told that my passport needed renewal, I had assumed that by the time I could get a new one, it would already be too late.. but, thankfully, they called me 2 days before the trip was scheduled and told me they could make a special exception for me to have my passport done early (1 week vs. 3 weeks!). So I ended up signing up 1 day before the trip =) it was another one of God's gracious gifts to me this semester!

Hm.. I suppose the pictures will do some justice in describing the trip.. The first pic is one of my all-time pictures... whadya think? it cracks me up everytime! Who knew you would find eskimos in Thailand? well, actually, this was inside one of their amusement parks-- it was a place called "Snow World" where you're given a chance to experience "winter" (for all those tropical inhabitants). We definitely got a kick outta that!

Exotic animals: Taking the pic with the snake was a huge overcoming fear moment for me--im terrified of slithery things (i think I get it from my mom), so I wanted to take a step towards overcoming that fear through some rather close contact :)  The pet tiger was fun to hold--so cute! not nearly as scary!

Pattaya: During our 2 nights in Pattaya (the other 2 were spent in Bangkok), we got chances in the evening to roam around and explore. We found our way to Hard Rock (can't escape those!), to street markets (cheap cheap clothing!), to fruit stands (mangos were soooo delicious), and to any random sites along the way. :-) It was quite the experience for us 4 girls!

Water sports: This was one of the best parts of the trip, I thought. For about $35 US, we got a chance to go parasailing, jet ski-ing, banana boating, and water-ski-ing/boarding!  It was sooo much fun!!!! =D the best part was falling into the water (twice) during banana boating; i don't think we were supposed to fall off but we couldn't help it.. then each time we couldn't get back on again so the driver had to come around and help us on (all four of us, TWICE).. i think by the end he was ready for us to get off! hehehe... good times.. Then, for $5 US, we got our nails painted and got temporary henna tattoos..i felt like a lil kid all over again! =) it was fun.

Elephant Ride: It was quite the bumpy ride! We stopped halfway to let the elephant eat and then the rider of the elephant got off to take some pictures for us... after the ride, I was unexpectedly swept up by a wooly mammoth!!!! hehehe... jk...

Dancing: The first pic is of some traditional Thai dancers who were in front of one of the Buddhist shrines performing.. We also got a chance to do some dancing of our own!!! and with whom..... OUR TOUR GROUP, including our TOUR GUIDE! we all went out one night, hung out at a local club/bar, and danced the night away!!! =) it was soo much fun!! (btw that's me drinking my thai ice tea ;-D don't worry!).. we even got the manager lady of the club to come out and dance with us!!! she was so energetic and willing to take on our dance moves!  It was definitely the unique experience!

Sarah Hanks! YUP! We met up with Sarah the last day both of us were in Thailand. She was visiting as part of her discernment process for Servant Partners. It was so good to see her, to catch up, and pray for each other....and of all places, in THAILAND! =) what a small world..God's lil gifts to us!!

Tour Guide: Here's our cool tour guide, Raymond. Can u believe he's already married and is expecting a kid? Geez, asians do age well!!! lol.

Oh yea, I thought this sign was amusing... I know this fruit smells bad but I didn't know it would be to the extent that it's BANNED from hotels!!! lol... that's just awesome!

Well, that sums up my thailand trip, the last of the trips till after finals!!  I can't believe there's only 6 more officialy days of class (no friday classes). These next few weeks are gonna fly by, which means i gotta soak it all up before it's all over...but can't wait till mid-december (post-finals) when tim arrives!! =) it's gonna be great... miss u, dear...

more to come soon.... gnite!

Okay, it's been a while since i've updated, so here's my attempt to cover the past few weeks...

180 Camping Trip
This weekend was filled with first-time experiences: pitching a tent, rock climbing, hiking through wilderness (quite literally), peeing in the bushes at night (hehe)...

Rock climbing was kerazyy. It was definitely a challenge--I was ready to give up about 70% through but somehow I managed to finally get around the one tough spot and reach the top. Rock climbing's a definitely trust builder.. you have to put your full trust in your belayor (sp?), who's down on the ground supporting you if you slip off the rocks and also letting you down once you've reached the top.. your belayor helps boosts you when you need to that one last inch to reach the next rock, lifts you (literally) if fall off, and lowers you once you've achieved the goal...it was a good picture for me of how I should be putting my full trust in God--the only one I can fully trust in for my life..trust in the sense where my whole being is fully held 'suspended' only by Him--when there's NOTHING else to hold on to.. i feel like i only half-trust in God most of the time--like I still have some control but enough to say God's in control... hmm.. im workin' on what it looks like to fully trust.. like rock climbing, it's a challenge, but once it's accomplished, boy, it's the best feeling ever!

It was a great, relaxing weekend. =) met some really cool people, got a chance to hang out with nature (always a plus, especially in Hong Kong!), and do some crazy new things! =D

Tonight we had our first LONG-AWAITED international student (native english-speaking) small group meeting, led by the young adult minister (Derek) from my church!  Praise God!  We had about a group of 10 students, mostly from California, one from Colorado (yay, Christina!) and Finland (Ilkka!)--apparently, this has been the largest-sized bible study group of international students that has been able to start up (so i was told by one of the woman who has been doing campus ministry at CU for the past 5 years or so).  So, God is definitely AT WORK, doing something EXCITING, preparing us for something BEYOND ourselves.

Looking back..
We mostly discussed WHY (we think) we're in Hong Kong, our purpose for coming to this small group, how we want to grow, etc.  It brought back to mind my whole thought process in deciding to come to Hong Kong in the first place. For me, things at home started to feel a bit too comfortable, too familiar; at home, I had the set labels already--pre-pharmacy, birnkrant, dorm minister, TCF, orange bug, Christian, NewSong, etc...as much as i loved being identified with those things (for the mostpart, at least) it seemed like it was time to be challenged in new ways: by being displaced & being placed into the unfamiliar.  The WORD I got as confirmation was that God wanted to "shake things up" for me; what that meant, I had NO IDEA, but I had His promises to cling onto...what more did I need?

Now what?
Knowing God led me abroad to Hong Kong was the first step...Now, figuring out MY PURPOSE here is the second.  I wish I could spell out exactly what that was right now, but it doesn't come that easy.  God, why am I here...really?  How would you use me here?  How are you growing me?  What new sides of You am I seeing?  These have been the questions and prayers on my heart as of late.  I wish God would answer my questions and doubts in neat little packages (wouldn't that be so convenient?) but unfortunately He doesn't choose that route--after all, this is the guy who taught everything in parables for cryin' out loud! 

Maybe...?
Slowly but surely, however, I'm beginning to see how God is piecing everything together.  Maybe He has me here to help start up this one lil SMALL GROUP?  Maybe He has me here to shatter my roommate's stereotype of exchange students who just go out and party all the time and come back drunk each night?  Maybe He has me here to share Jesus with my uncle? Maybe He has me here to improve my Cantonese so I can have meaningful discussions with locals?  Maybe He has me learning Mandarin in preparation for the future somehow?  Maybe He has me to here to increase communication with my parents?  Maybe He has me here to free me from the structured ministry I would otherwise be doing back at home?  Maybe He has me here to teach me just to BE STILL and KNOW that He is God?  Maybe?

Open-Air Worship
Tonight, after bible study, Anita and I decided to do some worship (with her guitar) outside of our dorm (on our little patio area)--"open-air worship" as we affectionately call it.  Throughout the course of the 2 hours we were there, we had countless people (including my roommate, Anita's floormates, and one of the hired workers from our dorm) stop by and tell us that they love hearing the music and that they would like to learn some of the songs. Another student ended up joining us for worship because He had recognized the songs from when he was on exchange last year at North Carolina (he joined IV over there).  Then near the end, a group of Campus Crusade students came by after doing some dorm evangelism and told us that one of the girls in our dorm just accepted Christ tonight! How cool is that? Praise God!

So God's working, no doubt.  The pieces, like I said, are slowly coming together, but I just gotta sit tight and observe as they form one completed picture...it may not come by the end of this semester, it may take a whole lifetime, but hey, I'm content with getting one piece at a time.:) it makes the final masterpiece so worth the wait!

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Random story of the day:
I dozed off in class today to the point where my teacher full on called me out ("blah blah...BONNIE..blah blah") and then SAT next to me during the second half of the class while we watched a video....sad sad....i felt like I was in high school/junior high all over again!  hehe.. next time, i'll be sure to bring EXTRA bottles of water....you can always depend on your bladder to keep you up!

okay, good night!!!! :-D

            Free
                 Ginny Owens

Turning molehills into mountains,
Making big deals out of small ones,
Bearing gifts as if they're burdens'
This is how it's been.
Fear of coming out of my shell,
Too many things I can't do too well,
Afraid I'll try real hard and I'll fail -
This is how it's been.
Till the day you pounded on my heart's door,
And you shouted joyfully,
"You not a slave anymore"

Chorus:
You're free to dance-
Forget about your two left feet
And you're free to sing-
Even joyful noise is music to me
And you're free to love,
Cause I've given you My love,
and it's made you free
I have set you free.

My mind finds hard to believe
That You became humanity
and changed the course of history,
Because You loved me so.
And my heart cannot understand
Why You'd accept me as I am,
But You say You've always had a plan,
And that's all I need to know.
So when I am consumed by what the world will say,
It's then You're singing to me,
As you remove my chains

Chorus

Free from worry, free from envy and denial
Free to live, free to give, free to smile

Chorus

---

Jesus, only through YOU can I find freedom..from worry, from doubt, from anxiety, from lack of purpose, from confusion, from loneliness, from insecurity, from self-consciousness, from envy, from body-image issues, etc. etc. i admit, i still feel burdened many-a-time but each and every time, You take those burdens from me and call me to "lay them at Your feet"..thank you for setting me free...not just in the long run but in the day-to-day matters that seem to trouble me, the ones no one really knows about, the ones that seem so insignificant...Jesus, you know my every thought, there is no hiding from You...you see my needs & my weakness and yet, you tell me to 'come into Your presence and dance at your feet"...Jesus, I wanna dance...I wanna be free...set my spirit free...

"Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Amen.

             Trip to Beijing: October 7-11, 2005

                                                  Top 10 Lessons I Learned From Beijing

10) Learn Mandarin. It's useful. (as for me, i'm still workin' on it...)
9) Don't puke on the Great Wall. (apparently it happened to someone while we were there)
8) Take pictures with random strangers...it's fun and makes the experience more memorable.
7) When you find a CLEAN bathroom, just go, even if you don't have to at the moment). Clean bathrooms are a rare commodity.
6) Invest in cheap toys.  A 50-cent hacky-sac (asian-style) amounted to 30 minutes of fun as we waited for our delayed flight.
5) Eat Peking Duck.
4) Don't bother using "communal" chopsticks when eating with large groups. Just "dig in."
3) Chinese people eat ANYTHING, literally...Millipedes and scorpions-on-a-stick definitely hit the limit for me.
2) Don't purchase an item until you've cut it AT LEAST 1/3 the price.
1) You can find a USC Trojan ANYWHERE in the world...even when on a boat ride at the Summer Palace in Beijing.

The Forbidden Palace:
  

The Summer Palace:
Here, we met a USC alumni who was currently on a tour with his military veterans' group. What a small world! Fight On!

     

We were taken on a bike ride through the streets of Beijing. It felt like I was on Ghostrider at knotts but the excitement kept me on my toes and excited throughout the time.

I also met another exchange student from CUHK on this trip named Christina (below, right) and we bonded really well on the trip. I had a fun time being both super sarcastic with her as well as serious when it came down to deeper spiritual conversations (she's christian, too). Apparently, her mom had prayed for her before she went on the trip that her roommate (during the trip) would be nice and possibly even Christian--lo and behold, we ended up as roommates during the trip! Funny how that works. Thanks for those little gifts you bestow on us, God =)

The Great Wall:
We had fun climbing the gazillion stairs that made up like 1/10000 of the whole Wall. Can you believe that the Great Wall is 5660 kilometers long? The area we walked was at the 'newest' section of the wall (the last part to be built). It was quite the workout, I must say, but so worth it! The views from up there are amazing =)

Tian'amen Square:
It was neat being able to see Tian'amen Square with my own eyes, not just through a picture in my high school textbook. On our way there, our tourguide warned us not to say anything about politics while we were in the area; security is pretty tight around there--police officers everywhere. There's something about the red arm bands and the green uniforms that make them so intimidating, even though they're pretty young and petite. We wanted to take pictures with the officers, but we got rejected 3 times =(

The Olympics stuff was also set up when we were there, including this huge flower display and the official countdown clock. The official opening ceromy is on 8/8/08 at 8:08pm--soooo Chinese (with the '8's and all), but I guess that's expected =) Anyhow, when we were there, we met this professional athlete (basketball acrobat!?) so I asked to take a picture with him. (hehe) He insisted on doing the "bonnie-style" pose, too! =D

The Wax Museum:
I could say I took a picture with the real Laozi and Jackie Chan, but I guess no one would really fall for it. We had a fun time posing with all the wax figures; somehow all the asian ones looked really good, but all the american/european ones didn't (like Michael Jordan looked chubby and short, but Yao Ming looked pretty accurate).

Peking Duck! A must have in Beijing (a.k.a. Peking). Pretty tasty, I must say!
Tienjin: We spent an evening in a neighboring city called Tienjin, another one of the 4 big cities in China. I liked it for its European-style architecture, its liveliness, and its good food! There's us posing ona horse in the middle of this huge shopping street.

 

Temple of Heaven: This is where the emperors used to carry out their religious activities, like prayer and fasting.  It's interesting how much they invested in building these huge elaborate structures specifically for prayer.  Also, here they have the famous "echo wall" where sound waves travel in a circular fashion (around the wall) so you can hear what one person says from one part of the circle if you're standing at another end. Pretty neat!

  

Symbol of Commemoration: This bell was put up a few years ago in order to commemorate China's long history. I'm not sure about the details but that's what I was told. Unfortunately, you can't sound the bell (trust me, we tried) but I guess it's fun to look at =)

Foot Massage: I had my first foot massage and it was rather enjoyable and relaxing I must say. I guess the only stressful part was being able to communicate with the guy massaging my feet. I kept having to turn to my friend Tahn to have her translate for me. Apparently, they all said I resembled this famous singer, Leo Koon, who is indeed a GUY...so then, they corrected themselves and said that I looked like his sister, if he even has one...oh yes, and the picture below is of my feet, bathing in tea--that's how they ensure your feet are clean before they touch you. =)

Going back home: We played "asian hacky-sac" at the airport and by the end of the game, three others from our tour group joined in. It was so much fun! The hacky-sac is pretty much made of 4 feathers, some aluminum pieces, a spring, and a rubber bottom; a perfect combination that adds together to bring you bundles of fun =)

Tour Guide: Our tour guide, Calvin, was so awesome! Thankfully he spoke English so he helped translate a lot of stuff for us while we were in Beijing. He was also our official group photographer while we were there. We had a fun time guessing how old he was too...i admit i lost that bet, but i sure was close...can u guess how old he is? (hint: asians age well..)

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A Picture of Grace?
All in all, the trip was very worthwhile and memorable. But, I admit, by the end of the 3rd or 4th day, I felt overly spoiled and undeserving of all of the things we did (foot massage, shopping, eating...). However, what came to mind as I was reflecting on this was that this trip was a tangible picture of what God's GRACE looks like--something totally undeserved, given freely, and bestowed abundantly.

I'm still working on fully comprehending God's grace towards me (if that's even possible), but at the moment, I'm taking baby steps towards accepting it and living in it. What does it really look like to know in my heart that "God's grace is sufficient for me?" How would my life be different if I fully took that in?

Overflow:
"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." (Matt 12:33) This verse was really on my mind today.  In whatever I say or do, it has to flow out of what God has poured into me. If I'm not getting my fill, if I'm not accepting or understanding God's love for me, how can I go about loving others? If I go around professing God's love and His saving grace, I need to truly believe in my own heart that that's true. 

Personal Prayer:
"I am the vine; you are the branches....apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:5). Jesus, I want to be intimately connected to you. Forgive me for focusing on 'bearing fruit' rather than working on being connected to 'the vine', the True source.  God, I admit, I want to see "fruit" appear in my life and I get impatient while I have to wait for it; but refocus my mind and my intentions. Draw me closer to you; I want to experience you in a deep and meaningful way. I'm tired of just 'surviving', I want to 'thrive'. You bring Life, You are the Living Water, the Bread of Life. I want to "taste and see that [You] are good." Fill me anew, Jesus. I want more of You.

Lack of Structure:
I realize how much I depend on "structure" for my spiritual life; I'm so used to the weekly prayer meetings, wednesday night fellowship meetings, leaders meetings, etc etc etc. bringing me deep relationships, a chance to minister, a chance to develop my spiritual gifts. So now that that's all gone, it feels difficult to fully engage with God. However, God has a purpose and plan for everything, right? I think the lesson right now for me--admist waiting for a formal 'bible study' to start up--is to surrender this dependency on structure (and how it brings me value in my life) and depend more fully on the Spirit's leading.  In a way, the lack of structure brings me lots of FREEDOM--to open up my schedule for random deep conversations with my floormates, to eat lunch with the cleaning lady on my floor, to sing worship songs and pray with Anita at a random hour at night, etc..I guess I'm still adjusting to this new "spiritual" lifestyle. I need to embrace the circumstances that I'm in, the freedom I've been given, and really take it as a gift, rather than a curse. God's purposes are ALWAYS good and perfect...I just need to trust in that =)

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Thanks for bearing through my random thoughts. It feels like there's so many things flowing through my head right now, I just needed to jot 'em down.

I'm super excited for church this weekend as I've been away for the past 2 weeks. I've also gotta discipline myself to study too cuz I got 4 midterms next week! boo. Pray that I don't stress (the usual bonnie-mode) and I get through them alright. Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment whenever and wherever. =)

p.s. Thanks to those who have kept me updated via email. It's so good to hear from you. I'm encouraged everytime I read your words. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts; it means the world to me!

Last weekend (Sept 23-25), I had the opportunity to go to mainland China and teach English to the local high school students there, along with a team of 5 other CUHK students.  The school we taught at was called Kakwang Academy in Shantou, a city about 5 hours away from HK. It was so much fun!  We were treated so well; everyone was so hospitable and friendly.  They cooked for us each meal and even gave us each gifts at the end--little tea sets with their special "Kung Fu" tea! 

Kakwang Academy of Shantou

Here are some pics of the school. We stayed in one of their dorms/guestrooms on campus. It wasn't the most comfortable and clean place ever, but it did add to the experience. Hey, where else would I get the chance to manually flush the toilet--ie. pour water from a bucket into the toilet boil until the water flushes--crazy, huh?  The dorms that the students live in are even smaller than our rooms; AND they have EIGHT people in each room! It's so crazy! I don't know how they do it, but I guess they manage. They don't use mattresses, either; just a wooden board with a matted covering. Gosh, I guess I can't complain after all about my 3-inch think mattress in my dorm here!

Meals: Here is a picture of us at breakfast on Saturday morning, to start off our long, fun teaching day!  The second is a picture of us trying their famous "kung fu" tea. Cheers!

"Teaching": To increase the communication between us and the students, we played lots of games with them, showed them pictures from our home country, and...shared the Gospel...we pretty much had freedom to do anything with the students, so long as it was helping them improve their english. So, during one of our sessions (beginner Year 1 students), I got a chance to share with them the Gospel story, using pictures, basic words/names, etc. The cool thing is that my partner, who actually isn't Christian, was actually encouraging me to teach Christianity (since America was founded on Christianity) AND he was so helpful by even translating certain crucial words (like God, Jesus, sin, etc.) on the board for the students to understand better.  He's actually from mainland China himself (so he knows mandarin as well as english) and it turns out that he's been the translator for a lot of mission groups in the past who have come to his hometown to 'teach english' and share the Gospel! How crazy!? After I shared to the class, one of the students approached me and told me that she too was Christian and even showed me her cross necklace. It was really neat. =)

Sites: During our break time, some students took us to the nearby sites by the school, including this newly built diving stadium (random, huh?), the buddhist temple next door, and this big pavilion on this hilltop next to their school. Fun stuff!

Dancing: I got a chance to teach some students a simple hip hop dance. They had lots of fun jumping and dancing around, while practicing their ability to count in English as well as say simple, repeated phrases to help them remember the dance. Later that night, they also wanted to learn how to waltz so I taught them what I knew (basic stuff but so fun!). It was cute cuz by the end of the night a handful of the students were dancing with each other...after the girls got over their fear of boys, that is..;)

Our team: The team I went with was composed of all international exchange CUHK students, plus our "escort" (Dragon) who is a local CUHK student. We all meshed very well together and had lots of fun.  Here are some pics with the team (Leo, Dragon, Veronika, Meghan, Kim, Me). Everything went pretty smoothly over the weekend, until Leo lost his entry permit (needed to enter HK) so he had to stay in China for a few days longer (I think) and had to go through the hassle of buying a plane ticket to Cambodia (!) to help get him back in HK. Complicated but thankfully he's now back in HK safe and sound. lol. Good times! =)

This trip really got me excited to make another trip out there sometime in the future for a mission trip or something. The harvest truly IS plentiful; the workers are indeed few. I guess I'll wait on God's leading to see where He's got me going next. You never know with Him; every moment's a surprise. =)

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Consuming Fire (HillSong)

There must be more than this
O breath of God come breathe within
Spirit of God we wait for You
Fill us anew we pray, Fill us anew we pray

Consuming fire, fan into flame
A passion for Your Name
Spirit of God fall in this place
Lord have Your way, Lord have Your way

Come like a rushing wind
Clothe us with power from on high
Now set the captives free
Leave us abandoned to Your praise
Lord let Your glory fall, Lord let Your glory fall

Happy 10 Months, dear! Here's to all the triumphs, struggles, awkward moments, laughs, dance classes, hugs, tears, prayers, letters, packages, trips, etc. etc. etc.  I've treasured every second of 'em. Thanks for being a vessel of God's love towards me. Miss you, dear, but see you soon...in my side of the world :) MUAH!

Last night i got a chance to attend a prayer revival meeting at Poly U, one of the colleges out on HK island (about 30 mins away from CUHK), along with a group of about 12 other CUHK students.  This gathering--which takes place once every 2 months--which started a couple years back consisted of students from all HK campuses who are committed and excited about praying for revival on their campus.  this meeting was pretty crazy in quite a few ways:

(1) passion: ive never seen such a group of people (about 150-200 in all) pray sooo adamently and passionately before..like they full on give all they have into it.. the meeting lasted for like 3.5 hours! i was soo exhausted by the end but it was well worth it!

(2) worship: it was really cool being able to recognize songs (i forget the names now: "you're all i want, you're all i ever needed...", "let it rain," and another fast song--i semi-recorded some of the songs and posted them on jusspress) but that were sung in chinese instead...

(3) testimonies: so they gave some time for each campus to go up on stage and testify to what God has been doing on their campus; the group from polyU was praying for God to raise up 30 people from their campus to commit to prayer so when they asked for the polyU students who were in the crowd to stand, there turned out to be 27 in the audience plus the 3 representatives on the stage; it's always so neat to see how God answers prayers so specifically! it was also encouraing to hear the tesitmonies on our campus, too, like how students already began to accept christ during orientation!

Here are some pics I took:

  pic 1: intercession before revival meeting pic 2: CUHK represent!   pic 3: worship/prayer time

Language Barrier
I think God is still helping me work through the language barrier as everything is in cantonese, but God has helped by providing friends to help translate when needed.  I think it's also been a good way to learn and improve my chinese/christian-ese so that i'll be able to communicate on a deeper level with the chinese students on campus.

Finding My Place
I'm still praying for God to reveal to me where my focus should be during my time here (in addition to being a full-time "student" of course!).  I mean, I feel like God has brought forth a lot of ministries (campus crusade, united prayer & praise, the vine christian fellowship) as well as other ministry opportunities (my dorm, my classes, Dance Society, other international students, etc.) but at this point im not really sure where God wants me to focus on.  And knowing me, i'd wanna do it all... but i know i need to say 'no' somewhere... pray for me in that =)

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Anyhow, dinner time. gotta go.. update more later! =) thanks for reading!

              "As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." --Psalm 42:1

                                                                    (Several nature sites on campus.)

It's easy to define this week as just "another series of events."  In fact, that's probably what I could describe every week here as.  But I wouldn't be doing justice to my experience here if I didn't look at what God was doing in/teaching/showing/challenging me this week through these experiences. 

In Habakkuk 2:2, it says, "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tables so that a herald may run with it." My prayer is that you will be blessed as you read the testimonies of God this week and would be inspired to "run with it" yourself.

TESTIMONIES

God works in spite of my own words...
I felt a lot like Moses this week when he made his excuse before God that he wasn't eloquent enough to lead.  During my spiritual conversations lately, I've just felt so lame and at a loss for words when it came to sharing about Jesus.  Or, I would just mention it timidly, in passing, as though to avoid the subject as much as possible but still sprinkle it in there somehow.  The most blatant time it happened this week was when I invited my neighbor (with whom I've gotten to know since I got here) to a GIG (God-Investigation Group) organized by Campus Crusade this week.  My invitation went something like this: "Hi, do you want to go to this event where you learn about God...and...the Bible...and stuff?" in my slow English, hoping she'd understand my words, seeing as though she wasn't so fluent herself.  I came back to my room feeling soooo lame! I couldn't believe that's what I said. Well, sure enough, as I prayed, God brought this verse to mind (Paul is addressing the Corinthians):

"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom but on God's power." (1 Cor 2:4-5)

Then it clicked. God was stretching my faith to see whether or not I fully believed in His power.  He was taking away any dependency on the self, on the flesh.  I needed to trust in God's power. 

So what happened? She actually came to the GIG the next day!  I was so amazed and floored by God, knowing that it was by His power alone that brought her there.

I need to keep trusting in God's power, and not in my own abilities, words, accomplishment, and titles.  There were countless times this week when I felt at such a loss for words when it came to sharing my faith and the opportunity was so obvious.  I need to trust, though, that God worked in spite of my words; that it's not me but His spirit that moves.  Can't wait to see what else He's got in store next =)

God Protects (in the lil'est ways, too!)
Okay, this is a more personal testimony but I'll share it anyway because it shows how God answered my prayer of protection this week. So, there's this one guy in my class who I felt kind of uncomfortable around because he was being a bit "overly" friendly to me. But at the same time, I didn't know if God wanted me to reach out to him in some way (cross-gender ministry, always a toughie). So, I surrendered the situation to God--that He would somehow take me out of this awkward situation.  (Yes, God even hears those prayers too).

That same day, I go to class and he's not there!  "Funny, God, " I thought, "Way to take me out of this situation!" *phewf* But that didn't last for too long cuz he ended up coming in a bit later to class.  As he came in and sat beside me, the first words out of my mouth were: "I just finished talking with this really cute girl" and proceeded to tell me all about his conversation.  Then throughout the week, I kept seeing him with other girls, talking or hanging out.  I kept seeing how the attention kept shifting off of me and in the process, made me feel less and less uncomfortable and awkward.

The cool part is that Thursday after class we had a semi-spiritual conversation and I was able to hear about where he was at in terms of his beliefs. I feel that now we can develop a not-so-awkward friendship that may potentially allow me to share more of Jesus with him. We'll see what happens. =)

God opening doors @ CUHK?

• International Fesival: In early October, there will be an International Festival held on campus and they're asking exchange students to help out and/or participate in.  I asked the organizers whether or not they could have a band from my church play and they agreed to it.  In fact, they were really eager to have them come in and offered a substantial amount of playing time. Unfortunatley, the main worship leader at church can't make it that day but we're currently trying to see if anyone else from the worship team at church would be up for it. Pray that God would bring a band together so that the students on this campus will be able to have more chances to hear about Jesus.
• Small Group: One of the young adult ministers at my church, Derek, approached us last Friday and told us he wanted to start bible studies on all the Hong Kong campuses, including ours @ CUHK.  All he asks for is 4 committed members so we can get something started. So far it looks like we have 3 for sure. Pray that God would bring together this small group so that we can be in the Word weekly!
• CUCC: God has also given us another resource, a staffworker at campus crusade, who is willing to lead a bible study (in english) for us too.  Not sure what role she will play just yet but maybe something in the area of connecting us to the chinese students at CUHK, teaching us how to share in Chinese, sharing with us specific needs of the campus, etc.

Speaking of my campus, here are a few pics I took last Thursday right outside my dorm area, including the dorm itself and the name of my college (Shaw). Enjoy!

EVENTS

Trip to Macau

Anita, Emily, Vanessa, Patrick, & I went to Macau on Friday-Saturday. Macau is about an hour boat ride away from Hong Kong on the mainland of China.  Luckily, Patrick's uncle lives there so he got to take us around. Here are some pics from the trip:

The Vine
I've been regularly attending The Vine Christian Fellowship and it's been such a blessing :) Each time I feel like I receive what I need to hear and I am able to see and feel how God is moving in Hong Kong. Here are some pics from worship in Sunday:

Teaching @ YMCA
As part of my nutrition course, I got the opportunity to teach a "Healthy Eating" Course to Philippino maids at YMCA of Hong Kong yesterday. It was such a great, fun, memorable experience.  It was neat being able to share some of my knowledge (simple stuff like the Food Pyramid) with them and see how they're so eager and willing to learn. Sundays is their day off during the week for them because the rest of the days they're serving at their respective homes.  Hong Kong's interesting like that--clearly distinguished by class and ethnicity; the Philippinos serving the affluent Chinese families. But, despite their long hours, they are so full of life, energetic, loving, and communal. You can see that evidenced on Sundays as they gather together on the streets, pull out their blankets, eat food together, and just enjoy the day with one another. It's a beautiful thing: a picture of the Sabbath that God calls us to observe.

Anyhow, here are some pictures from the class yesterday:

Mid-Autumn Festival

Yesterday was officially the mid-autumn festival, during which the moon is supposed to be at its fullest.  I went over to my aunt's place for dinner where we had a huge feast of yummy chinese food along with the traditional "fruits and mooncake" for dessert.  (On top of that, my godmother gave me a WHOLE box of mooncake to bring back to my dorm!!! i gotta figure out creative ways to get them eaten.. soon..) Anyhow, I had a fun time with family, who taught me more about the traditions and culture observed during this festival.  
 

More pictures...

If you are interested in viewing more pictures, I will be posting regularly on the following site (this is different than my first one):

www.jusspress.com/bonniehui

You do NOT need to be a member to view. Just simply click on there and you will be able to access them. Enjoy!

Another week ahead...

Who knows what this week will hold for me. God's always got something up his sleeve. All I can do is sit and eagerly expect from Him!

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"Before something can be saved it mnust face the risk of being lost." --Dallas Willard

"Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared.  This day is sacred to our Lord.  Do not grieve, for the JOY of the Lord is your STRENGTH." Nehemiah 8:10