Trailwalker Update 2

When I woke up this morning, my entire body hurt. I rolled over and looked at my alarm, and it really was time to get up, just 6 hours after going to bed. I begrudgingly rolled over, swung my feet over the side of the bed and got up.

I know what you’re thinking. Why were you so sore? Isn’t 6 hours more than enough sleep for someone your age? What’s so special about this? The answer: yesterday was my longest day of training yet for the Trailwalker (which is a fundraiser for Oxfam). Starting around 11 AM, I hiked about 45 km (slightly longer than a marathon) over the next 13 hours. We did almost the entire second half of the trail which we will be hiking for the Trailwalker. Because the rest of my Trailwalker group is out of Hong Kong for the weekend, I went with a couple other guys from my church. We went slightly slower than my normal training pace, but it was a good day for building endurance and learning certain preparation tips which I would never have realized I needed to know on the shorter training hikes we’ve done so far. After the hike, it took a couple hours to get home (a long bus ride, a short walk, and a stop at McDonalds), and after a long shower, I went to bed around 2:30. While 6 hours of sleep is normally enough for me, it falls desperately short of being adequate when my body is trying to recover from a 45 km hike. Tomorrow (my day off) will be a beautiful day.

In the rest of my life, things are going well. Last week, I read the book Radical by David Platt. It is a book I highly recommend about taking Jesus words as Jesus’ words and obeying them because He said them rather than trying to analyze the reasons why they shouldn’t apply to us. It hurt at points (notice the “s” on the end of the word “point”) because of how close to home a lot of what he was saying hit, but it was an incredible read and a great challenge to take my faith seriously.

Trailwalker/Update

I am sorry it has taken so long for me to update my blog since my last post. I have had a crazy busy couple of weeks, consisting of 3 consecutive days of camp with a local Christian school (where I spoke twice to the eleventh grade boys and hung out with the kids for the whole time I was there), work, teaching at our youth group for the past few weeks, leading two discipleship groups per week, hanging out with the kids, and "networking" with other Hong Kong youth pastors (this largely consisted of us staying up until 4:30 AM at camp playing cards and talking about life, in addition to some basketball in the park and another night discussion at camp which ended at the nice early hour of 1 AM). My ultimate frisbee league has also started, and my team, the Leadbeaters (an Australian possum which was thought to be extinct for many years until one was discovered in the 1960s or so) is 0-1-1. We have become a comeback team, letting our opponents go ahead early and making it exciting late, but so far we haven't had big enough comebacks to turn them into wins.

Another big development in my life the past couple of weeks is that I have been recruited to do something called the "Trailwalker" with some men from my church. The Trailwalker is a charity fundraising hike along a Hong Kong trail called the MacLahose Trail. The MacLehose is 100 km long. All 4 members of the team must do all 100 km (62 or so miles) together. Each team has 48 hours to complete the hike, but my team has set a goal of completing it in 24 hours. We went out last Saturday, which was my first day training with the team, for a hike of about 20 km (12.5 ish miles). This past Thursday night we went on a night hike, where it rained a lot (the rain wasn't part of the plan, but we walked through it anyway), to get used to hiking in the dark, since completing the MacLehose in 24 hours will require us to walk through the night. Yesterday (Saturday), we went on another hike, this one being 27 km (about 16 miles). We did yesterday's hike (on 2 days' rest) in 6.7 hours, which would put us on a 100 km pace of just under 25 hours. We still have a month and a half until the Trailwalker, but we have a lot of training to do in that time.

Psalm 63:1

The past couple of days, I have been spending a lot of time reading and thinking about Psalm 63. It is a great chapter. Tonight, I decided to post some of my thoughts on Psalm 63:1 for your reading pleasure/consideration. Depending on my schedule, I may post my comments on the rest of the chapter later in the week. Whether I finish the project or not, here is the start:

David wrote this Psalm when he was in the wilderness--in a dry and weary land where there is no water. It is a Psalm of desire for communion with God. David starts by expressing his "thirst" for God, then says, "my flesh faints for you." The ESV translates the next part, "as in a dry and weary land where there is no water." This draws up strong pictures of David's desire for God, similar to Psalm 42 (As the deer pants for the water...). The only problem with this is the ESV is the only translation I've seen so far that translates it this way. I don't know which translation is correct, but the NASB, NIV, KJV, and Geneva Bible all translate it as, "in" a dry and weary land (rather than "as in"). I think this gives an even stronger portrayal of David's desire for God in this passage. Instead of saying metaphorically, "I desire you like I would want water if I were stuck in the desert," he is saying concretely, "I am in the desert. My throat is dry, my lips are cracked, and I am probably dehydrated. Most men at this point could focus on nothing but their desire for water. Not me. My desire in this time is for You. I don't thirst for water, I thirst for You, God. I do not faint because of my lack of water, I faint because I desire a closer walk with You. All my human instincts tell me to forget about You for a little while so I can find water, but I cannot forget You." This is not a figurative message of one man's romanticized dreams of a closer walk with God. It is a desperate plea for communion with God, his creator and sustainer. It is the cry of a desperate man for the only thing that will truly satisfy him.

I hope these thoughts encourage you and challenge you to seek God with a greater voracity as they have encouraged and challenged me.

Times of Change

Sorry it’s been a couple weeks since my last post. They have been a crazy 2 weeks. Last Tuesday, August 31, my church’s new pastor, Dr. Dan Williams, and his family arrived from Oklahoma (who could blame them for wanting to get away from there…). This is a very exciting event for the church, as it (hopefully) marks the end of a long period of the church being without a long-term leader. Tomorrow, he preaches in IBC for the first time, and I’m excited to hear him speak. Along with Dr. Dan (our new pastor) came his wife Anita and his son Nathan. They are a very friendly family and it has been exciting getting to know them the past couple of weeks.

Two days after the Williams family arrived, Josh Chee arrived in Hong Kong. Josh is a 20 year old university student from Toronto. He is also now my roommate for the semester. It is very different actually having someone to talk to in my apartment, and it took a couple days to get used to having another person living here. He is doing great adjusting to Hong Kong, and I am excited to get to live with him for the next semester.


Other than the transitions from the past couple weeks, work itself has been keeping me busy. This week, I ended up working close to 50 hours, including speaking at a local Christian school, starting the 2 discipleship groups I’m leading for the semester, teaching at Shillage (our youth group), and planning and running a youth event today.

Another thing I did in the past 2 weeks is sign up for a competitive ultimate Frisbee league. Luckily, I got drafted to the league although none of the people drafting the teams have ever seen me play before. Apparently someone at the draft who knew me mentioned to the captain of the team that drafted me that I’m really tall, and that was enough for them to take a chance on me. The youth pastor from ECC, another church in Hong Kong, is also on my team, and he said he hopes I turn out to be a late round steal. I’ll keep you updated on how that goes.

That should catch you up to most of what’s happened in my life the past 2 weeks. I’ll try to send updates more consistently in the future.

Culture Shock

I knew when I moved to Hong Kong there would be a lot of adjustment in my life that would need to come with my geographic relocation. I knew that aspects of my new culture would be strange to me. They would not make sense. They would leave me confused.

I thought that I would find these areas in places such as the language. I anticipated needing a translator with me everywhere I went. I thought there would be a lot of people here who could not communicate with me. I was wrong. Most people here speak great English, and when I encounter someone whose English is not clear enough to converse, there is generally someone around who can act as a translator for the two of us.

I thought that learning a new place, adjusting to new foods, and learning a new currency would be tough. It is not.

But I have found it. In the last place I ever would have thought to look, I found a part of Chinese culture that is not only different than mine, but it is so different that I am having trouble wrapping my mind around it. And I found it in the last place I ever would have thought to look—a bus in Manila.

No, I was not on this bus. In fact, I probably never would have heard anything about this bus if things had gone as planned. A group of people from Hong Kong were in it for vacation. They were driving down the street when they were pulled over by a man in a police uniform carrying an M-16. The only problem was, this man was no longer a police officer. He lost his job as a police officer last year due to accusations that he was acting corruptly on the job. And he wanted his job back. He proceeded to take the bus hostage, letting a few people go free, and killing eight. The whole situation did not end until police shot the hostage taker, leaving nine dead in the incident. This happened Monday.

While events like this do not happen every day in the USA, hostage takings and murders are not uncommon to us. We hear about them, see them in the news, talk about them for a couple days, feel bad for the families involved in the incident, and move on with our lives.

This is where the trouble comes for me adjusting to Hong Kong’s culture. Instead of moving on, Hong Kong has made more and more of this story since it came out. This man was acting alone. He is dead now. And yet Hong Kong has warned its citizens to avoid travel to the Philippines because of this incident. The city of Hong Kong is having a severe backlash against the nation of the Philippines because of this one man’s actions. Many Hong Kong residents hire Philippino workers as “helpers” in their houses. They basically function as maids. I have heard stories of families firing their Philippino helpers in light of this incident and going out to hire a helper of a different nationality.

Yes, this event was and is a tragedy. Yes, what this man did was wrong. But the way the city of Hong Kong is reacting, it seems as if they blame the whole nation for this one man’s actions. Like I said, I cannot wrap my mind around this reaction. Maybe being raised in the States made me immune to this type of violence. Maybe Hong Kong is over-reacting. Maybe a middle ground is the right approach, where we see it as a tragedy, and yet manage to forgive those who had nothing to do with the attack and move on with our lives.

Whatever the case may be, one thing is sure: I am not yet as “Hong Kongese” as I thought I was.

The Hong Kong Essentials kit—The Top 10 things that go everywhere with me in Hong Kong

10) My Ipod—I walk at least a half hour each day—to get to lunch, to go to the bus stop, to go to the store—and music/podcasts are a great way to fill the time.

9) My glasses—My aging eyes get more and more dependent on them as time goes by. I wear them pretty much whenever I’m not reading.

8) A pen—You never know when you’ll need one. And I like to be prepared.

7) My Bible—Sharper than a double-edged sword.

6) A highlighter—for #4

5) My Hong Kong ID card—From what I’ve heard, you get caught without this thing and the fine can be as high as $4000. That’s Hong Kong dollars, of course.

4) A book—I use public transportation to get everywhere. Rides often take 10+ minutes without traffic, and can be over an hour with traffic. A book is a great companion for these rides. As long as I remember to get off where I need to.

3) My Octopus card—A Hong Kong essential for everyone. It is a Radio Frequency money card used to pay in all types of public transportation. It works similar to a debit card, only there’s no bank account associated with it, and instead of having to slide it into a reader, you can simply hold it up to a scanner without ever taking it out of your wallet. Simply put money on the card and scan the card wherever you want to spend it. The octopus comes in many forms, including cards (which I have), buttons, watches, and more. It can also be used at many restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and many other businesses.

2) A rain jacket—It has averaged about 3 or 4 days a week of rain since I got here, and the weather can change without any notice. I have seen it go from no rain to a downpour in a span of 30 seconds, and a clear sky in the morning is no guarantee of a rain free day.

1) A backpack—I need a way to carry everything, and I don’t have a car to throw it all in. Most people in Hong Kong carry backpacks throughout the day to help transport their Hong Kong essentials kit with them.

Fall is Coming

Well, every day the fall draws nearer and more signs of the changing seasons approach. Shillage, our church’s youth group, had our first meeting of the new school year this past Friday. It was awesome. Nathan (our pastor) spoke on the gospel. There was a great turnout (I think around 40???), and a lot of the people there (about 7 or 8) were at Shillage for their first time ever!!! We are having our official ‘big’ kickoff for the fall this coming Friday night. This fall, we will be studying Hebrews in Shillage, and Nathan and I are now trying to decide how we will split Hebrews up into lessons that will be in-depth and instructive for the students, but that will allow us to be able to (hopefully) get through the book in a semester. Actually, he assigned me to divide it up, then I just need to show him my plans for his approval once I’ve decided the format we’ll use for teaching through Hebrews.

Of course, with the changing of the seasons comes a sad time as well. The university students in IBC (my church) all go to school outside of Hong Kong, and they will all be leaving for school in the next few weeks. This is tough for me because some of the guys I’ve grown closest to this summer at IBC are the college guys, and now they are all leaving me (of course I guess I’ve left home for college enough times that I’ve lost any right to complain about this). In addition to the university students, a few of our high schoolers attend boarding schools outside of Hong Kong, and these students have already begun their seasonal exodus.

Speaking of school, my semester starts next Monday (August 23). I will be taking 2 classes this semester (History of Christianity and American Government) through DBU’s online education program. Up to this point in my education, I have been a full time student and part time worker. Now, I will be switching to a part time student and a full time worker. I am interested to see how I handle this transition and to see how I handle the transition from my job here with no school on the side to now having work and school.

Regardless, I am excited for the coming fall and to see all of the ways that God works in Hong Kong during this coming year.