Macau Short Term Mission 2006

Abrey, Alex, Benita, Brian, Candace, Kimberly, Mei, and Wing-Kit
Macau Short-term Mission
July 19, 2007 - August 2, 2007

August 5, 2007: Back Home!

August 2, 2007: in Hong Kong

Wednesday night, we had safely arrived in Hong Kong. Losana and Tony came and picked us after we got off the ferry. They took us to the hotel, got us settled down, and then took us to dinner. We really thank them for taking good care of us.

After a good night's rest, we went shopping this day. Please pray for Brian since he has some infection in the arm and leg. Tomorrow on Friday morning we will meet with Allan Smith and his wife. He will visit with him for a little.

Macau team

July 30, 2007: Fundraising, Prayerwalking, and Debriefing

We want to thank you for all your prayers. This is why:

Saturday:
We arrived at Sung Ai Church early in the morning. We helped to set up the World Vision banners which kept falling down due to lack of strong masking tapes. We also set up the santuary to make it look like a cafe with candles and little side tables and chairs. Brian (drums), Benita (keyboard and lead), Wing-Kit (guitar) and Candace (bass) also practiced on 4 songs. We did two rehearsal with the Macau team. This was the rundown, we led Jeopardy (questions related to World Vision), led songs, Macau team did a musical skit, World Vision presentation on African children with AIDS, auction on gifts made by our team and the Macau team, social time, and clean up. We did not have dinner till passed midnight. A big group went to our favorite place, Cafe E.S.KIMO and hanged out. It is all worth it. We fundraised $4500 MOP for World Vision. Everyone's spirit was high by end of the day. We played games with our Macau friends in the restaurant till we were very, very tired.

Sunday
We did a team sharing of the most memorable experience of the trip. Then we went with some of th Sung Ai Church to dim sum. After that, Wing-kit had to return to the apartment to pack his bags and get ready to leave for HK. Jonathan took the rest of us across the border to a shopping mall in Gong Bei. Quite a few Macau team members came to protect us and help us bargain. Some of us got some good buy. May show you if you ask. After 4 hours of outing, including shopping and waiting in lines in customs, we would want to sit down and rest our legs. Instead, we participated a night tour of Macau and prayer walk along the casino strip. We saw firsthand the glamor in casinos, the number of casinos built, sins like greed, idol worship, prostitution, and materialism. We made four stops and walked from around 10:00 pm till passed midnight again. As we walked in the dark streets, some of us began singing worship songs and brought the joy of worship the Lord against a background of gambling and greed. Our legs were tired, but we also learned many lessons. Our prayer walk ended in the Lotus Square with a view of the lighthouse above in the background. This picture echoed with the bible verse we memorized before we started the walk (Matt 5:14). Tired we returned late to the apartment of our dearest friend, Judy, to retrieve the apartment key which Wing-kit had dropped off. She was gracious and kind to us since day 1 and did our laundry for us. In case you do not know Judy, she is a US WorldVenture missionary.

Monday
This is our first sleep in day but some of us still got up early. We had some free time and did some light shopping and shop hopping to take advantage of the air conditioning. Then we met up with the Macau team and did a group debriefing sessions. We shared one positive item. We also passed bookmarks to people we wanted to give an encouragement. Afterwards, the church took us out to "Hei Sha" Beach for an outdoor group BBQ. This was the first Asian style BBQ for most of our team members. We played some football, some group games and cooked our own meat, toasted some bread, and browned some marshmellow. On our way back, the spirit was so high the US and Macau team started singing songs on the bus. Wonder how the bus driver would think? The day wrapped up again pass midnight. We took a number for our turn to shower and then went to bed.

Tuesday
We met up with Jonathan to do more team sharing and evaluation. The team decided to make some cards and little tokens to our friends in Macau. So we have to return to that now. Tonight is the farewell dinner for Jonathan. We plan to leave Macau and go to HK tomorrow afternoon after packing and saying goodbyes to our Macau friends. As a matter of fact, we have invited one girl to go with us. Continuation of the friendship building.

Please pray for safety and health for the rest of the days before we return to your midst.

Short term team

July 28, 2007: Five Colors

Thursday we passed out tracts to casino workers during their shifts. Not many were interested, but we learned some skills in doing so. Friday was a full day. We passed out Chinese Bibles to Chinese tourists at the ruins of St. Paul. We had a great experience since many of them took the Bibles. Some even read them while waiting for the tour bus. Later of the day, we did a survey as a means to share the gospel. We asked teenagers to do a survey with us and used the opportunity to share the gospel with the 5 colors. We did a great sharing afterwards. We also met with a few Pui Ching students and played some games. Saturday we will take part in a fund-raising event for children with AIDS organized by Sung Ai Church and World Vision.

Please pray for us:

(1) A caring heart for those in suffering, such as children with AIDS in Africa
(2) Wing-Kit's back not hurting
(3) Candace's insect bites will heal quickly
(4) Benita's right eye will stop troubling her
(5) Good team spirit and trust for one another US and Macau team
(6) Learn to appreciate the culture in Macau
(7) Build up friendship with local students and believers here that will be have impacts down the road
(8) The team will be opened to mission and the need to share Christ with others.
(9) Work well with the Sung Ai Church
(10) Fund raise event goes well and funds raised for children with AIDS
(11) Good health for the team

Macau team

July 25, 2007: Need Sleep

We were busy preparing for the gifts to be used for an evangelistic events. So, not much to tell you. Pray for courage and Spirit's work on Thur and Fri when we partner with the Macau students to pass out tracts and Bibles.

We are all doing well. We are more or less adjusted to the weather and humidity though that does not mean we like it. This morning we saw another bug and a bee in the bedrooms. Some of us have a few mosquito bites. Annie, a sister from Sung Ai Church, provided a very effective remedy. The teenagers met many more Macau students and got to know them more. We still do not catch as much sleep as we would like but God gave us energy to move on. Pray that the team will continue to learn more about what mission is all about.

mei

July 24, 2007: First Cockroach!

We thank the Lord that we are more or less adjusted to the heat and humidity. The teenagers had already encountered and killed the first cockroach in the apartment.

On Sunday, some of us presented a worship song. Benita shared her testimony.

On Monday morning we had devotion about Paul's ministry together with some Macau students. After that, the Macau students played tour guides and introduced Macau and its history and spiritual needs with the team. Each team member was paired up with a Chinese student to begin friendship building. So far, I had heard many of them speaking in almost fluent or broken Chinese. Quite impressive.

On Tuesday, we again had morning devotion. Then we broke into two teams and joined the Macau short term team members to do English conversation and VBS. Later tonight we are in two groups again, one to visit the president of the Macau Bible Institute and the other to visit Diana Mayhugh.

Sung Ai Church has also called up a short term team of teenagers. So we partner with the team and minister together. The minister of Sung Ai hopes both the US and Macau teenagers will become bold in reaching out to others. It is a pleasure to see the young people mingling and sharing.

We are enjoying the local food except we are so filled with water sometimes and lose the appetite. Right now, AC is our friend. We are wet when are outdoors and dried up when we are indoors. In the apartment, only cold shower is available but it sure feels good. We walked a lot too, so we suspect we may lose a pound or two when we head back to Portland.

Please continue to pray for us that we are willing to adapt to the local culture and learn from them. May the teenagers encourage one another and become God's warriors to reach out to those who do not know God. Also, please pray for Uncle Wing-Kit for his back is hurting.

Have to go but we write again when we have computer access.

meikuen

July 21, 2007: First Full Report

After a long flight to HK airport, we took an express ferry to Macau. Jonathan, Tina, Naboue, and Tiger were at the pier to receive us. Brave Kimberly learned how to say the address and got on a cab with a few who did not speak Chinese. Later the same night, James brought Candace over. It turns out her great uncle and aunt live in the same block as we. The apartment has two bedrooms, a few fans, some beds, mattresses, water and other beverages, but NO air conditioning. It is 30 degree C (86 degree F) and 70 percent humidity. We slept some last night, but it was warm. Please pray for our endurance. We had also bought a shower curtain and a floor mat to avoid flooding in the bathroom.

Today we explored our neighborhood in the early morning and found a quiet public place with air conditioning, table and chairs. Great to stay away from the heat. We met the Macau short-term team and the student group. Benita, Brian, Candace and Abrey taught the group some English worship songs and we did a skit. Since Wing-kit was still on his way, Jonathan had to fill in as Brian's dad. The skit went well. From now on, our team and the Macau team will serve together. More to come including children's program, teaching English, leading worship, touring, street evangelism...etc. We went to dinner with some young people and now we are playing games together. The teenagers have many opportunities to try out their Chinese. Watch out for what they will say when they are back.

We hope you are all doing well.

The Macau team

July 20, 2007: STM team arrived safely..and are sleeping =)

Hi Everyone,
Tina, Nobue (our Japanese missionary teammate), another student, and I met the team at the ferry terminal at 8:15pm HK time. We got them settled in their apartment and then took them out to a local, lively, loud place for dinner we affectionately refer to as fatman's (see attached). You can pray for them, the place they're living is clean and livable but is sparse and doesn't have air-conditioning installed. We moved a lot of fans and a portable ac in there, so don't worry, we are going to give them a couple days to live there and it will be a good test for them. If necessary, some can come live in my place. Any questions or concerns, feel free to email or call. Excited to have them here :)
Jonathan