My first visitor! Sir Nicholas!

Ok, it's been 109 days. Thanks for being patient. Just let that be a testament to how much I'm enjoying life in Hong Kong.

In mid April I had my first visitor, my friend Nick. I met Nick in the arrivals hall at Hong Kong International and then promptly impressed him with my in-depth knowledge of the local bus system by getting on the wrong bus. We were busy chatting and watching the scenery and about an hour went by before I realized we were on the wrong bus. In my defense, the first half of the trip was the same as the correct bus. So, I gave Nick an impromptu tour of Mong Kok. Mong Kok is an area in the middle of the mainland part of Hong Kong. Mong Kok translates into crowded corner, and as one the most densely populated areas in Hong Kong, I'm sure Nick will testify to the fact that it lives up to its name. We managed to find our way onto the MTR (subway) and made our way to my place. After dropping of Nick's luggage and allowing him to wash off all the nastiness from a 15 hour flight we went for a ride on the legendary Star Ferry and watched the evening light show that happens here every night! We timed it perfectly and saw the whole thing from the ferry. After the show we found a local Hong Kong style eatery and had some bake rice.

The next morning, Thursday, we connected with one of my friends from work and church, Damian Pang, for a trip to Lamma Island. Lamma island is an outlying island second in size only to Hong Kong itself. After a 30 min ferry ride we arrived on this island comprised mostly of small fishing and farming villages. We went on a hike around the island and up some of its mountains that took us about two and half hours. After our hike we settled in for a seafood lunch in one of the villages. Everything we ate had been caught in the last 24 hours and was kept alive in tanks at the restaurant, nothing like fresh! I'll leave the photos to explain more of Lamma Island.

On Friday I took Nick out to Cathay City for a tour of the facilities. We sat down for lunch at the gourmet (sarcasm) cafeteria and then he had a face to face with the manager of Second Officer recruitment. I think Nick was impressed with all that is Cathay and we are prayerfully seeking an interview for him. After we left CX city we headed over to Discovery Bay to visit an American couple from my church, Aaron and Heidi Rogers. Aaron is also a B777 captain for Cathay. We had a nice afternoon visiting with them, and playing Wii with their three adorable little girls, Jasmine, Annabelle, and Brianna. Nick really liked Discovery Bay and thinks that's where he would like to live if he were to be brought to Hong Kong by the Lord as well. After our day in DB we caught the ferry back to Hong Kong island and had dinner with Priscilla.

On Saturday morning Nick and I joined a group from my church for an outreach that we do every other Saturday morning. The group is mostly comprised of people from 180, the young adults group. We buy around 50-75 rice boxes (meals that include rice, meat, and vegetables) and go to Yau Ma Tei to meet with some drug addicts and street sleepers. Yau Ma Tei is known as one of the poorest areas in Hong Kong and we got to a park and under bridges in the area that have many people in need of some food and more importantly Jesus. This particular day we were under a Typhoon 8 warning but we still had a group of around 30 turn up to get wet and show Christ's love! A T8 warning means that a typhoon (a hurricane in asia) is in the vicinity of Hong Kong with storm or gale force winds with speeds sustained between 63-117 km/h (39-73 mph) and gusts as high as 180 km/h (112 mph). Most of the people we go see can only speak cantonese so I'm very limited as to what I can say with them, but they are always very astounded that a foreigner will come and share a meal with them. They always just see westerners on vacation or from the so called humanitarian organizations come and take their photos and then leave. So, when we sit down and eat with them, a big deal in biblical custom as well as Chinese, and lay hands on them and pray for them they are very taken back. One guy named Ah Kung is really seeing Jesus in our visits. He accepted Christ as his savior the first time we visited him and he has recently gotten aid from the government to rent a flat. He has linked that with me coming to pray for him, and this last week he asked me to pray that he would now be able to find a place to live that he can afford within his aid. It certainly resets your threshold of suffering to see people that truly have nothing, and yet, manage each day with a smile. Sometimes I wonder who is ministered to more during these times? One thing is for certain, I have been brought to Hong Kong for much more than just flying airplanes!

After the outreach Nick and I went back to my house for an afternoon or resting and then went to 180 for the young adults service that evening. I've attended a couple of adult and college aged ministries but have not experienced anything like this. The Saturday evening meeting is more full than some of our Sunday services and I've made so many great friends there. Nick was quickly sucked into the mix and I think he'll agree that it is very easy to feel at home there. After the service we all went out to Choi Wah, I'd call it the Hong Kong equivalent to Denny's. By this time Nick was reaching his limit on Chinese food and was exteremely disappointed that he never say Chow Mein on the menu at any of the restaurants we frequented.

On Sunday morning we got Nick an American fix with breakfast at McDonalds. He attended the 9:30am service while I taught my Sunday school class. Nick then went to brunch with some 180 folks while Priscilla and I attended the 11:30. I told you that you get sucked in quick at 180, he had been here for two days and didn't even need me to show him around anymore! After the 11:30 service the church had chartered a bunch of buses to take everyone at to Repulse Bay Beach for baptisms. Repulse Bay is on the western shore of Hong Kong Island for those of you who are into Google Earth. This is the first time I've seen baptisms done outside in natural water and it was super cool! There were a couple hundred people from the church there and we had some acoustic praise and worship music the whole time. A rather nice way to spend Sunday afternoon!

After the baptisms Priscilla and I took Nick on a ride up the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak. We took a short walk on the Peak Trail to get a nice downward look at the Hong Kong skyline. Then when we were deciding where to eat Nick confessed he would really like a normal western style meal. I do have to commend him, up to this point he had been very adventurous and had been eating the traditional Chinese food. Which, much to his dismay, was in no way similar to what you get in the States. He knew it'd be different, but not completely different :o) So we took him to Bubba Gump's Shrimp. Which turned out to have a really nice view over looking Hong Kong Central and we got to watch the sunset while we had dinner.

The next day it was time to pack Nick's things and send him back to Hong Kong. I had SO much fun having him here and hope he will be returning soon for an interview! Thanks for coming buddy! Miss you tons!

I now know who loves me the most....who is second in line? HAHA!

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