Hong Kong - Day Five

Hey Everyone!

I was just able to read the comments section of my blog, and I want to say thank you for those of you that responded! I am trying to be consistent in updating my blogs. The funny thing is in my mind I think I'm late in talking about Day Five but when I post this, it will actually show as Wednesday Night instead of Thursday Morning as it is here. Doesn't that just blow your mind?

For those that have done VBS, you know that the day you present the gospel seems to always be the hardest. The kids may be extra hyper, there may be more distractions, things may go wrong, there's just a lot of spiritual warfare going on in which you need to be aware. For me, I hardly got any sleep the night before (Melatonin can be your best friend or sometimes your worst enemy) and I was nervous about my drama. We did not have the same amount of time to prepare because we went to lunch with Bonnie (one of the heads of the center we are working at with the ICM - Inner City Ministries) so the team's focus was not as good as it could have been.

Now here comes the part where we start VBS. I first made sure everything in the classroom was okay and that Courtney and Lynette were prepared with what they were doing. We prayed as a group, and then when I was working (I must have looked really stressed out) Lynette asked if she could pray for me. That helped a lot. So then in my mind I was going through the four scenes that I was going to play (Jesus telling Peter Satan was going to sift him like wheat, Peter's Denial, Jesus' crucifixion, and Jesus' resurrection), and getting all my props ready. I used two chairs, a sword, a hammer, a railroad spike, and a white garment. Then came time for the drama. I started off by saying something like, "Following Jesus was one of the best decisions I made in my entire life. Because of what he did for me and who he is, I worship him. Now I am about to tell you a story that has to do with me, you, and everyone in this entire world. This is the most important story I will ever tell. I want to start with a conversation I had with Jesus..." Then I went into the drama. I was just playing out the scenes in my head, but the kids eyes were glued to me, there was hardly any if no noise, and it went pretty well. Although for me when I get serious into character, I can't bounce right back. I had to take almost 10-15 minutes to collect myself and come back to reality. But God worked through me, and a lot of people told me that the drama spoke to them. So praise God!

Lynette did the ABC's of becoming a Christian for our group. She has been working with children for many years and she has a way about speaking at their level but not dumbing anything down for them. She seemed perfect to do this (this would be something that I would have done) and Courtney agreed with me. The kids were attentive and responsive. Then the rest of the day happened and....let me just describe it in this one word. CHAOS! When Courtney and I did the closing, it was probably the worse-behaved the kids have ever been this entire week (spiritual warfare). However, we got through it. After everything was said and done, I was exhausted!!!

After we did VBS, we headed to see a Taoist Temple. I had to turn my VBS shirt inside out before I went inside. When I went inside the temple, I saw true idol/misdirected worship. It was very interesting and sad. They worship this certain God in this temple. This God they worship will give them anything that they ask for. They burn incense, and then they have this ritual where they have this sticks in a cup. They shake the cup and they see which stuck comes out first. This stick will have a number or something on it and they take it to be interpreted. The person interprets it, and that it comes up with a phrase that is supposed to have some kind of meaning in your life. However if you don't like the phrase, I believe you can do it again and get a second opinion. We talked with Janice about this and one of the main questions that was asked was, "Why don't they figure out that this isn't working? That they keep asking for this stuff and they don't get it?" Janice told us, "They interpret it as, 'maybe I'm not praying hard enough' or 'maybe I am not coming here as often as I should.' " It was really sad because these people are very sincere. They are praying hard, trying to do everything right in the hopes that something good will happen. Unfortunately, their worship is misdirected. It just went to show all of us that there is a spiritual hunger in China, and the people are ready to hear.

The rest of the night, we had dinner with the owls/howls/haus (I am so sorry, but I am terrible with names). It is a doctor and his wife. The doctor is a professor at the Science and Technology university that Clearwater Church is located. He was also the man who translated the sermon into Chinese while we were there. It was a GREAT dinner. Amazing Chinese food. I was told that I would lose weight on this trip. THESE ARE LIES! I'm going to have to go on a diet or something when I get back. I don't remember what my toes look like anymore. :-)

That's about it. Please continue to pray for our group as we do the next two days of VBS. I ask that you pray for these three things;

1. Biblical Drama: I have two more days of being Peter. Pray that I represent the scriptures accurately and that I make good use of visuals for the kids
2. Bible Study: Courtney is lead teaching today, and I lead teach the next. Pray for the kids to be attentive and that distractions are to a minimum
3. Strength: Even though we do VBS for three hours out of our day, it is pretty exhausting. Pray that we may keep a high energy level and that we get a good amount of sleep.

Thank you!