christmas!

wat a couple months it has been! some highlights have been:


the pic above is of SHAM TSENG! our combo masterlife and 180 leadership team went to visit kristy's place all the way out in egypt. it was SO FUN! of course, when one goes to the ST, they gotsta eat the roast duck!



it was so worth the trip just for that! but of course, it was a lot more! we had desserts at this really famous al fresco place... and best of all, hung out at kristy's 58th floor home at the bellagio. that view is awesome!

last weekend we had the one_eighty christmas dinner. this years theme was 1920's around the world - and man - there were some GOOD costumes!!!



nothing much else going on. i'm getting ready to go to shanghai for christmas, and then back again for THIRST on new years eve. i hear it's REALLY cold in shanghai, so guess it'll be another year of freezing my butt off!!!! :P

things in work have kinda shut off now. i'm done w/my meetings for the year, and really enjoying the downtime at work. it's nice when there isnt' so much pressure, and no biggie assignments!

one thing that's upset me lately though... my computer broke down! omg - i never thot it could happen to a mac, but the hard drive finally failed on me. i'm glad i backed everything up for the most part, and will only miss a few things here and there, but nothing important! i thot i lost a bunch of pics, but i think those have been somewhat backed up... *phew*... but still, it feels really naked w/out my baby.

anyway - i'm off sunday, so hope every one has an awesome CHRISTMAS and i be back for the new years party!

(as can be seen, my brain has shut off already...)

..::ipod bliss::..



i recently bot a new ipod - the brand new 80gb video one. it's AWESOME! not sure if i'm just up on mac product (cuz they good), or if i was just in need after my old one broke down just 6 months after the expiry of applecare. anyway, damage is done, and i love it! i loaded the Vine live recording cd - which can be bought here - and finally got a chance to listen to it a couple saturdays ago while lying by the pool at crc. all i gotta say is... it's just an amazing album! the songs, familiar tho they are, put me in a reminiscent mood, wondering at the direction our God has taken us all:

who may ascend: i remember when i first came to the vine, i heard this song, and was like 'this ain't hillsong... vineyard.. maranantha praise..'. but thinking that it was a real awesome song. then i heard that tom wrote it and was like 'cool - this church writes its own stuff too'!

desperation song: can't ever forget this one. i remember the desperation series at chuch in 1Q2004, which culminated in a 30 day churchwide fast for HK, for the vine, for us... and tom unveiled this song, and it was a cry out from all of us for HIM. by end 2Q04 and beg 3Q04, we were signed and into our new place, the VC! God was so faithful to us! (here are my recollection of events)

this is love: i think tom first played this one before a church agm meeting one time, and even though it was an acoustic version, and more or less unfinished, the lyrics floored me. 'this is how i know what love is, though i'm a sinner, christ laid down his life for me' - thems some powerful words

god is good: i remember when mark played this song for linnet and i while we were at his pad for dinner. he was so excited about this worship song that was coming together. i find that the lyrics are so reflective of his faith and attitude towards God...

documentary: i gotta give props to joe for doing the filming, editing, videos, documentary... while definitely this was no individual effort - i'm more encouraged by seeing joe come back HK totally clueless as to where he was going, but knew he needed to reestablish with God, and decided that it wasn't only in his heart, but in his life. so he commits his gifts and talents for serving, and has resulted in him being here at the right place, right time, to have the opportunity to be a key playa in putting this together

you are amazing: listening to this song when i was lying down put a tear in my eye. i was thinking back to the 2nd nite of the recording - and i honestly felt that we weren't really 'singing' the song. we were proclaiming it - as one body - knowing that we had witnessed something amazing happen that night.

i think probably everybody that was there has their own memories of that night. i'm pretty sure that in a few years time, we'll look back, and be like - wow how could we ever have doubted. but i think there are such things as defining moments, and this was probably one of them for us as a church. as the documentary says - it takes us to a new faith level, not only with the worship team, but with the entire church.

now i finally have an ipod again! so it's nice to be able to listen and now watch the vids on the go! :) i also get to show people too... technology really is incredible! anyway - gave a couple cd's to colleagues - i hope they like it and get something out of it...

..::been a while::..

these days, i and a few others, have been spending much of the online time on the 180 forum... perhaps way too much time? anyway - the forum is awesome - and i'm glad it's up and running again. i think all should go there and sign up and get in the mix!

a quick look at what had been going on in my life:

started off in london... there's somewhat of a funny story here, as we're standing under big ben. when we got out, our buddy christian, who lives there, was like 'that's not big ben'. i'm like - of course it is... just look at it! my wife sided with him, of course... so i'm just left standing there, shocked. i'm like 'they why are all these guys taking pics???'... so then we walk around to the front, where the circle is, and westminster abbey, and all - and i'm like 'are there any more big ol' clocks around here??? this is freakin big ben!!! there's parliament!!! aaaarrrgghhhh!!!! anyway, they relented at the end and accepted the fact that big ben is just a big clock attached to a building.

we also went up to cambridge to visit a friend there. christian came to, and we were joined by another 180'er, who just randomly popped up from stanford. that was so weird. cambridge is amazing. it's just a small li'l town, w/these 'colleges' that are like small mansion/estates on beautiful lush grounds. you see these old professor dudes walking in their robes and all... there are these big lawns, and apparently only professors with status can walk on it or something. i think i made that up, but what the heck man, it's britain, and probably like a 500 year old law that they still abide by there.

wat's anywhere without krispy kreme? we went to harrods and ate kk, and they had the world cup kk's - so i bot a rooney kk. it was pretty good, but very sweek. the 3 were the ones i bot - and i ate them all in like 15 mins. it was so gross, but so good.

travelling around london on the tube was eye opening. for one, it's SO EXPENSIVE - like 3 pounds or something for a one way ticket! i was lucky cuz i was there on biz, so i expensed my ticket, so our total cost was cut in half. i don't get it - it's so expensive, but yet it's like a millenia old. i took a sepia pic cuz it was more indicative of the age of the tube. the trains were old fashioned too, w/wooden flooroards on some. anyway - i'm told that they break down at least once a day, and you can be stuck for hours. that didn't happen with us, so praise GOD for that! :)

we came back to HK for a week before leaving for our next destination... LA!

how can one go on a trip outta HK w/out the obligatory bk whopper jr and a popeye's chicken strip meal? even tho BK is now in the peak, i doubt it'll make a difference. i go up to the peak about as often as tom read comes out to ball w/us on mondays. linnet is prepping for the 13 hour ride on china airlines, the former most unsafe airline in the world. for those that care, actually it's VERY cheap, and the planes were very nice. food was ok. and wat's more - you get VIDEO ON DEMAND, which is ultra cool cuz you don't have to wait for the whole series of movies to revert to beginning. and round trip cost like less than HK$5,000 (vs. about $11,000 for CX!).

we were there for linnet's cuz's wedding. t'was a nice time in a cool art gallery in redondo beach. that day, it was like 100 deg (like 35c) but at least it was dry. i'm like in a full-on suit (pictured w/lao lao, the grandma). good thing that i actually have built in a/c in my body's uber efficient internal cooling system.

one day, we drove out to hollywood, and i took linnet over the ming's chinese theater so she could see the walk of fame and the famous hand prints. here, she's w/her fave actor, adam sandler! :) it was pretty fun, and i think she enjoyed this bit cuz she was really looking forward to finally seeing this spot, and the bit hollywood sign too...

needless to say, we ate a lot in LA. i don't have the pics, but linnet's blog has it all. one of the better meals was at the stinking rose in beverly hills/west hollywood. the tagline is 'have a little bit of food with your garlic' or something like that. we went outlet shopping in camarillo springs and santa monica. mostly though, we just spent family time, especially here in this pic. this krispy kreme thing is everywhere! i enjoyed an original glaze w/a cup of black coffee bean java. VERY GOOD stuff!!! :)

i took this one for tom and jacinta. lin and i split up when we got to beverly center, so i walked around for an hour or so. but i happened 'cross this pet store, and it had the cutest li'l pug! he was like a hand high, so don't let the pic fool u. he was tiny and VERY CUTE. anyway - i thought of diesel (tom & jacinta's baby...er, dog), and was thinkin' diesel must have adorable in the early years. they had other dogs in this extremely tiny cages, and i felt so sorry for them. it's sad seeing 4-5 of them crammed in, or even some of the bigger dogs barely even able to fit in their cages. so sad... but i don't think i be buying any pets soon.

anyway, we rushed back to LA in time for brooke and ephraim's wedding. this was awesome to see these 2 get together. i meet brooke when she first came here, and a few of us had dessert buffet at the tiffin lounge in the grand hyatt. seeing a sister grow in her faith, and make an impact in people's lives is encouraging. and seeing her tough it out in her journey to the US when she was essentially kicked outta HK, and then somehow making it back to here, hookin' up, and then getting married, and now working, is just awesome. i wouldn't have missed it for the world!

here are just some random pretty women i found at the wedding. ephraim is a very popular studly guy that isn't afraid to express his femininity. i respect that about him. but he's a good friend, and a brother - so today was a good day. that's three 180 marriages in the past 12 or so months, and one more coming in october!

after all our travels, here we are back in HK. i totally didn't expect to see this here tho. given the lack of 'new' stuff on the island, we went to see this harbin ice sculpture festival in tai koo shing. it was crazy - a HUGE freezer room with these ice sculptures. they had to give us columbia jackets to wear cuz they knew local hk'ers would never have anything for this cold (in fact, many in line were in shorts)... this was pretty fun tho, and something different!

overall - been a pretty eventful summer. we have been super blessed to have been able to travel so much, and see somewhat new things! but really, coming home, and being in HK is what it's all about.

i missed so much of 180, that it was real good just to get back into the flow. i missed doing sound, suprisingly! and especially missed the vibe at 180 and the vine.



guess the last thing is... when we came back, GUESS WHAT WAS OPENING???????

hard to believe, but this chain is following us around EVERYWHERE. they had this free giveaway in times square, where me, linnet and derek took 3 dozen! i didn't eat all of it of course, we shared it w/some special people at 180 :P but yah - this is truly dangerous for us in HK. over indulgence was at its worse when mandy decided to have her bday there, and we witnessed matt cook eat like 10 in that nite! to make it worse, it was a MIX and not just the dinky original glazed! blech.. that's just plain wrong...

well - after celebrating our 1st anniversary on sept. 3 a week and a half ago, we will be off to sanya (hainan island) this weekend. this place has been billed as: the hawaii of china. i don't quite know what that means, but supposedly it's nice... most importantly, it's CHEAP!


currently tho, we're in a typhoon 3 in HK and red rain warning to boot. the storm looks like it'll miss hainan now, but hopefully it won't have too much effect on the weather. maybe it'll blow away tom'w, and give us sunny skies so we can tan over the w/end! i'm so excited. i need a break! :P

last plug... get ON the 180 forum. your life will be changed!

just thought i'd say that i'm being a very hard, diligent worker today... *sigh*

have a red letter day!
_|--|o

..:do you believe?:..

oh man... so nice. i'm home on a monday nite - at 9:30, all showered, relaxed, talking w/God, and blogging w/my mac. no tv, no dvd, no surf, no book, no email, no IM, no work, no nuthin. ok, i lie - the laundry is going on in the background, but aside from that, just taking some well deserved (at least in my mind) rest from 2 weeks of absolute mayhem. i've haven't had an opportunity to sleep past 8am (or maybe even 7am) in the past 2 weeks - just once this past saturday morning, and that was cuz golf was cancelled. praise God for that, cuz i really needed it! and to top it off, i actually managed to play an hour of ball tonite - so my bi-monthly exercise quota is fulfilled!

had an awesome weekend too. 180 was just awesome, and i love giving my all to the ministry. i had a first hand experience this past weekend into the why's of why exactly derek n janice love it as they do. the team is absolutely incredible. from the leadership team, that just gives full support in all areas - from the setting up of the lounge, the tabernacle, to the worship, the prayer and ministry, the hospitality, the sermon, the energy and excitement, the food n beverage, to the cleaning up and shutting down - there is just tremendous support. most of the time, i just kinda do 'my thing', and never really concern myself w/too much else... but this time, i was focused on just everything; not necessarily to see it gets done, but really just to see for real how it gets done. the team gets there early - and amy, julianna and a few others are there to help me set up the tabernacle. nate's there to help lead worship during the prayer time. drew came in (on last minute notice - THANKS!!!!) to do sound. michele's around to do anything (you're so awesome, but u gotta receive!!!). gabby's running around setting up the lamps and banner and stuff. mandy and abbie are mixing it up with people, greeting newcomers. linnet's busy w/her team prepping the ramen. mike lau's available to pray w/christiaan w/me. cece, despite her supposed day off, helps to lead MCing (and me as the wallflower next to her awesome mic skilz!) - AND comes up w/such an awesome fun game too! tom has worship in full gear that nite. and at the end of the nite, everybody pitching in to restore the tabernacle for sunday service.... it was just an awesome vibe. i learned so much about motivational, visionary, managerial leadership that night. to see people who have no other business being there other than to give their ALL to God. i mean - that's wat it's all about at the end of the day.

and THAT, i guess, i why i love the ministry. to serve on the team, to serve the people there. to be used as a vessel to do anything that He calls me to do. to occasionally get up in front of people and make a fool of myself. even sometimes to deliver a Word. and we have a solid core of people that has the buy-in to that vision! imagine now what would happen if we choose to expand it. imagine what would happen if we apply the jabez prayer - to expand the territories. to move beyond what we know in our minds is not possible. to think big. to pray big. but to have full confidence that God will give bigger. that's where i feel that we're headed. yah - it'll be bumpy. things won't always be perfect. nothing ever is. but we have a spiritual army to fight thru that. the enemy can throw anything at us. but you know, as long as the core is faithful, i believe. the bible says "five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight".... if we walk in accordance to His commandmants. is that not powerful? God math cannot be learned in school... it's gotta be birthed in the heart by the holy spirit! so... do you believe?

_|--|o

..::pressured::..

i feel like i was presssured to update... bullied... that's ok - i'm a middle child, and i'm always either bullied (by the older), overshadowed (by the cuteness of the younger), or ignored (by the parents, in favor of "the eldest", or "the cutest")... so life just happens to be one big pressure cooker. and this time, bloggers in the one_eighty forum have all been bullied by tom to update ... *sigh*

i'm fighting thru illness at the moment. sitting in the office at 8am, w/a strep throat, and aching shoulders, and periodic pounding head is not so good. i hate being sick. i think in 9 years of working, i've taken 2 sick days. guess i gotta soldier through.

currently, i'm staring out my office window into the harbor. over the way is tst - a place i rarely visit, but the sites are so familiar. it's so exotic over there, and makes me wonder why i don't venture out there more... then the bout of irrationality leaves and i'm glad to be back on the island! :P but HK is honestly a beautiful city. the skyline, as i look down towards wanchai/cwb, is amazing, and really has no comparable across the globe. i think that we here are pretty fortunate too. guess i'm caught up in the emotion of the middle east. it's so sad to see how that's unfolding. i'm currently doing a study in the book of JUDGES - and time and again, the israelites turn away from God, and God then allows others to come and rule over them... to the point where the Israelites will then have a leader sprout up that will bring them back momentarily, but then they fall back into disobedience.

if you think about it, that pattern has persisted to this day. the atrocities of the holocaust during WWII, during/after which i'm sure the jews were crying out to their God for some kind of salvation (even tho they rejected him some 1940 years ago) - and they were then "given" back their land, even though they didn't deserve a square foot of it. but all that's been going on since then, in the past 60 years, has been war-mongering amongst the leaders. you don't see israeli leaders coming to God, and seeking him... and now - they are again caught in a situation where they're stuck in war. it's so amazing - as this has been the prophecy of israel for the rest of its days - unfaithfulness and war.

is it a harsh assessment? probably, but it's hard for me to be too sympathetic to either side. one of my lesser spiritual gifts was mercy, so i AM working on it!!! but it just really drills down in my own heart how important it is to be spiritually consistent. when israel was on fire for God, they had EVERYTHING... when they turn away, they always have NOTHING. so simple...

maybe the mercy thing IS sorta getting to me - cuz everyday i read the paper, watch the news, my heart really goes out to all the people that are killed/murdered/displaced... it really sucks...

...::2nd half::...

can't believe the 2nd half of the year is already upon us. time flies so fast. pretty soon, it's going to be my 1 year anniversary, and it feels like just yesterday we did the wedding thang and sat on a beach afterwards for 5 days.

i'm pretty excited about the latter half of this year. i had a conversation with one of my senior pastors the other day, and it was nothing short of awe-inspiring! it's not that he's probably one of the most crazy optimists i know in this world, and can be super-charged over just about anything - it's more that he is a person that just refuses to accept status quo and small vision. it's an awesome gift to be able to have that much faith, that you would stake your all on it. it's how i should be more often!

sometimes i tend to be the cautious optimist. i like to keep my bets hedged - but in the past couple years, i've really experienced life otherwise. i looked back at some of my old posts - and i guess one of the glaring ones was way back about 2 and some years ago, and we were all in doubt over the VC bldg, both in finding it and paying for it. my pastors w/the vision kept us all steered in the right direction, and in the end, just visit 135 Des Voeux Rd, 2/F in Central, HK and you'll see what became of that! i remember also posting about asking for a job which frees up time for ministry - and i've been given that many times over. i don't even need to go on about the wife - cuz she's absolutely made in heaven! i also remember the work that GOD did for us at the CD recording. we committed a bunch of resources to those 2 nights, flying in specialists from OZ, and a bunch of crew in HK. living thru the waterfall on stage, with no injuries, and minimal equipment damage, and most of all, being able to proceed with the recording was nothing short of miraculous.. all i know is that the only reason all those events came to pass is that the VISION was given by God, and we just have to have the faith to bring it to pass.

that's the tricky thing i guess. sure - we could have saved a few bux and gone w/the skimpy, toned-down design for the Vine Centre; but would we have what we have now (and MORE???)? we could have decided that one nite to cancel the recording, and do it on early sunday morning instead, before morning service; but would we have had the same testimony of GOD's awesome work, and would we still have the new level of faith that we have now?

there are so many things happening. GOd had given me a vision for the vine a while back, at least a year. i had talked about it to a few people at that time, but then, i had passed it off as another one of my crazy ideas so let it slip. recently, i had really felt more conviction. i had more chats w/more people, and felt that this vision needs to be spread and tested. then i had a chat w/my sr. pastor this past week, and really i was SO PSYCHED after! then as i write this (into my first paragraph) - i just received an email from him, and he fwd me this email from this other dude whom i don't know personally (but i know he's a strong believer, and he's been helping at our alpha course), and never even had so much as a 'hi' with - and he basically had emailed the pastor about the same exact vision that i had. it was exactly what i had been talking about just a few days earlier - down to the nitty details.

now, again - i posted before that i'm not one for coincidence. ex-vine elder, andy G, once told me that 'we don't believe in luck, do we?'... i had bumped into him on my way to my first interview w/fidelity one early morning (like 8:30am!) - i was so nervous - and he gave me a quick word of blessing, and as he left, he said 'good luck... but then again, we don't believe in luck, do we? don't worry - it's a done deal! bless you mate'. and that was that. i was all calm after that, and well - the rest is proverbial history. soooo, if that forwarded email wasn't enough confirmation, i don't know what is...

guess i just wanted to put my thoughts to paper right now. prayer is probably a good place to start, something that's been lacking in life recently. God's put things into my heart before. when i'm faithful - everything that's been shown to me has come to pass. so that's where i'm at now - i'm a bit afraid cuz it's such a big undertaking. but that's the whole problem with this whole God thing. with God and faith, we pray big, we ask big, and we get big - but the only place to go from here is bigger. there's no way i'd settle for anything less!

..:uk rumblings:..

had a great flight over here. i think for the first time in my life, i managed to sleep more than 1 hour on a flight. 12 hr flight, i sleep 9! go figure. i don't even get that kind of rest at home! i have to say though, planes are very uncomfortable. so i woke up in funny positions, and sore all over cuz i was twisted and turned! one cool thing is that cathay biz class has like practically horizontal reclining seats!!! now they just need to put more cushion on it!

well - jetlag has also reared its ugly head. woke up at 4:30 and was just floppin round the room doing nothing in particular cuz i couldn't decide if i was really tired or that it really wasn't 4am cuz it's so freakin light outside. it reminded me of that al pacino flick where he goes to alaska and goes crazy (oh yah -insomnia), cuz obviously he can't sleep and thus the movie name! but man - it's like bright enuf to play golf at 9pm! mark nam's dad, tony, told me they easily play till then in the summer time. i totally believe it. it kinda throws you off if you're not used to it.

yesterday i walked all around picadilly circus, and then all around covent gardens (which is right next to the hotel). very interesting place, this london is. drove by the parliament and big ben yesterday on my way back into the city, and i have to say, the architecture is amazing. to see these places that are centuries old, still preserved and functional. i guess the issue here is that it's all very backward looking. looking into the UK that was, almost denying that the rest of the world has moved on. there are no skyscrapers here, no ultra high-tech smart buildings and malls, no glass & steel buildings (more concrete) - and just overall very different to HK. i think that's what makes this place so nice.

yesterday and this morning, i'm stuck in surrey (which i guess is south of london). we passed by chelsea FC coming here, as well as wimbledon! but it's strange to have an office in the middle of the countryside. it's literally a large 'mansion' in the fields, that's been converted to a big office (which we're outgrowing!). there's no eating establishments nearby, so they have a canteen area where i made myself a BIG salad, had a sandwich, and british CHEESE & ONION chips (or crisps as everyone calls them here!)... all for £3.40! oh man - i love subsidized food. or maybe it's just food at the actual prices and everyone in london just likes to jack up prices on you!

this cornish pasty thing w/steak and potatos and something else in covent garden was SO GOOD!!!!! i think pastries and pies in england are awesome. expensive tho - like £2.50 for a med. size one!!! but watever, i don't pay for anything else here! heheheh i love being on biz travel!

oh wells - i'm just killing time at the office b4 the next meeting. leaving surrey for kent in the afternoon, so lotsa travelling around the countryside. i still can't believe we have offices in the countryside. seriously - you could bring your golf gear and hit across these fields cuz they so big. or maybe bring cricket gear for the locals. or croquet? watevers...

americans...

strange... just chatting w/the sallie mae people (that's the gov't loan agency in the US specifically for school loans!) to make payments on my school loan... and i'm trying to explain that we're FRIDAY MORNING here, but they at Thursday evening over there. the dude was really confused... then in verifying my billing address, i told him my addy, 28G nam fung ct, blah blah blah.. 'hong kong'. then he says, 'that's hong kong, JAPAN, right?'.. HUH??????

bogus.. hmph



the hong kong observatory always gives us false hopes that a typhoon 8 is coming. all this hype yesterday, but when these things see hk - they always turn away!!!! i guess it's a good thing. for one, i get to come to work and go to meetings. for two (???), it's probably better for the safety of everyone in hk, and that, is a blessing!

had a tough 15 hours. last night, just before leaving the office, there was some company-internal issues regarding compliance and clearance of some information before we could disemminate to clients. i had issue w/the 'report' - and basically threw a mild temper tandrum. it wasn't really one of those blow steam out the ears, cuss in 10 languages, arms in the air, foam at the mouth and spit flying everywhere deals. more like the i-don't-wanna-take-any-crap-from-them mentality and if-they-have-issues-they-can-come-to-me [cuz i'm big hairy and ugly and loud> sorta thing]. wasn't quite the righteous flip the tables and kick out the hawkers anger that m'man JC exhibited.

after a nite of prayer with the boys, a conversation w/the wife, and review of my masterlife discipleship book where we were just studying forgiveness, i came in determined to make amends. it'd be funny to stop there and say... 'but i didn't CUZ I WAS RIGHT, HAHAHAHA!!!' (which i still think i AM... HMPF!!). however, the point is: regarding the technicalities of the situation - maybe i was RIGHT. regarding attitude - eh.. could be better?.... no crif, it was just PLAIN WRONG!

so i talked w/the compliance lady this morning, and apologized, which she was like.. 'for what'??? (she wasn't even around when i went postal)... so i told her cuz i am crap at my submissions, and sorry for causing extra work. then i went to the lady in my department and told her that my comments were off based and didn't mean to direct them at her (or anybody), and my attitude was way outta line. she understood, and said no offense taken, and she 'understood'.

wat did i learn? well - not so tuff to actually apologize and ask forgiveness, so why don't i do it more often?? it heals the rifts and actually makes everybody able to be more productive, which was the initial aim of this 'compliance report'... wat's more important is not even elevating the emotional levels to get to that point of disruption! i mean - one thing we learned as a disciple is that in the belt of truth, you have to master your emotions - not to let any circumstance overcome your attitude and witness!

basically, it's like this dumb typhoon. you can see the storm coming - but just bend it like HK!!!!! storms brew up in my life all the time. i just need to deflect the storm so that it doesn't affect my attitude. it doesn't mean completely disregard the situation, but rather see the storm, acknowledge it, but address the issues head on w/the right attitude (and thereby deflecting the powers of the storm!). there will be strong winds and maybe rain, but i'm still a disciple... and a discipler. i could moan, complain, cuss, be angry, be self-righteous... but no - i should choose to be a light, and speak life into situations!

well - i'm still at work. typhoon 3 is a farce. typhoon 8 is a pipedream. and my afternoon meetings are very much reality...

beijing babeeeeeeyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!

AMEN
Originally uploaded by gqmac.

this was really an amazing trip. there were so many challenges, not the least of which was our leader, janice, hurt herself before the trip and was not able to go! but it was also that it was for the most part unfamiliar territory for most of us on the trip. however, we definitely didn't allow that to dampen our spirits!

i arrived thursday nite, a few hours after the main team, and met up with the other 21 at the train station. we were headed straight up to inner mongolia, chifeng to be exact. it was so awesome to see the team that night, and i was so excited to see the birks (mitch and jo) all the way from oz! it was also great to see and talk to everybody - all in the context of missions and what this trip means/will mean for each of them!

day 1 - chifeng
we spent thursday nite on the train going up to chifeng... arriving at like 6:30am on friday. after barely sleeping on the train cuz the conductor dude kept waking me up flashing his flashlight in my face, i didn't even feel the weariness upon arrival. we ate breakfast at this canteen place, and while there, was served up with our first bombshell. no, it wasn't the bathroom scene (which you can get from any of the mission team members). originally we were told that we could teach the classes in pairs. however, because they had a HUGE school (like 2,000 kids and like 40 classrooms), they preferred us to teach one a class! some of us non-teachers (like ME), was a bit taken aback by this - but you know, if God says it's to be so, it's to be so! so teaching a class was fun. handing out WWJD bracelets and letting them know the love - implicitly, never explicitly - was awesome. i had a student-guide named mark, who emailed me later telling me that 'he can see that God loves me, and so does he!!" - SNIFF SNIFF!!!!!!! teaching was awesome, and definitely being able to share parts of my life w/the kids was a true blessing! we were all then taken out to lunch by the students; some to houses and some to restaurants. i went to a restaurant w/about 10 students and ate awesome food. pics are



it was such a huge site... so we did our dramas and dance... and then went to dinner w/some other kids! overall the experience was awesome! i know that some members of my team had an awesome time sharing the Word w/kids or their families. others just spread God's love in other ways. but overall, i'm so proud of everyone, especially those that overcame their phobia of teaching alone! it was a pretty good challenge!!!

we then headed back to the train station to go back to beijing. i know many of the team had developed ties already w/the kids at the school. it's difficult to serve one day, and then leave. but the great thing is... they all remember - just like the kids remembered jason's team that went last year. seeds were planted, and we were just doing our part to nurture those seeds, and possibly even plant some more so that the next team that goes, God will use them to build even more!

day 2 - beijing baby!... WOOOO-ERRRRR
so our saying went! we had a pretty tiring train ride back to beijing... i thought a lot about the kids we 'left behind' - and honestly, thot about the impact we might have had, especially as we were only there a day. but u know, a day is plenty to sow God's love in someone's heart - and i fully believe that we had an opportunity to do just that! the comments mark made to me in the email confirmed it! i would never have guessed a couple of my students would really write back to me!

"by this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" john 13:35


back in beijing, we all ate breakfast at this ghetto place next to the hotel that served up quite the carb fest! i loved the oily-ness of it all - and it was sooo beijing :P

every day, we gathered in tony & dru's room to worship and focus our hearts and minds on God and prep for the day ahead. saturday, after breakfast and our 'meeting' in the read's room, we were off to the university! today was a day to spend with the uni peoples - playing sports with them in the afternoon, and/or just chillin over coffee or something. it was a great way to bond with the group, and some even went bowling!!!! later that night, we went to the restaurant for english corners...

this was something different for all of us, i think. you walk in, and it's somewhat like speed-dating... all the 'members' of the english corner (a group of chinese students who want to improve their... english...) are sitting around the 20 or so tables around, and when the foreign group comes in, they just all go to separate tables and then just start chatting! so we all split up and off we went!!!! so - i talked to this one dude - 'eagle' was his name - and we get into pretty deep conversations.

then the leader of the EC - kar - wants us to perform, as tony mentioned to him that we had this 'show'! anyway - i round up the team, and we're like... 'here?... in the restaurant??" and i'm like why the heck not???? i think we can do something cool! so off we did the dance and 'with arms wide open' - and they loved it!!!



then, betty gave such an AWESOME testimony. before we started, i was scanning the room for someone on the team to share something. when i looked at betty, i just felt the Spirit say that she has something... so i got her attention and asked her if she wanted to share a testimony. then, surprisingly, she looked at me, and said straight up - "uh.. no... i don't think i can..." then looked straight down to the ground. now - betty has always been a ball of excitement and laughter and joy this whole trip, so i was a bit surprised. then i asked her again if she had one prepped - a little more insistently - and she was saying she didn't really feel comfortable and that she doesn't know what to say - and just didn't seem like she wanted to share, and then started looking down again... then all of a sudden, as i was just about to give her some encouragement - she pops up, and says 'ok... i'll do it!'. next comes this amazing testimony - followed by A SONG!!! i mean - she has a GREAT voice, and sang acapella, and suddenly was this bundle of energy and joy and laughter!!!!! i was so amazed, but this time, amazed that God had turned her spirit around of one of defeat at not wanting to share, to one that was just so awe-inspiring!

afterwards - i got into a great conversation with eagle, who was then wondering why we were so optimistic. i told him the source of our joy, and got a great chance to share about our lives, and what we were doing there and what not. although he didn't come to God that night, I know that the team's encouragement that night spoke volumes to him! kar loved our show, and asked us back on monday night!

day 3 - bicf
this was probably the 'challenge day' of the trip. we agreed to stay as a team thru the day, altho half the team wasn't involved in the dance and drama - most of us still ended up sitting at the church for the whole day, going through the rehearsal for the entire program, which was from 1 to about 9!!!! anyway - despite all that, i know that GOd was working wonders! it was an "easter arts festival" - or something to that extent. it wasn't 'church' per se - because the minister of religious affairs (and his family) was there! soooo - we got to perform king of hearts and with arms wide open - 2 dramas that really show the 'easter message' about God's saving grace through His death and resurrection - in front of this type of audience!!! i thought that was awesome - and was real proud of the team for soldiering thru the day! :) it was soooo goood!!!! some of the korean kid's dances was soooo cute - just ask dru to show!!! :)

day 4 - langfeng & english corner

early monday morning, we journeyed out to langfeng to the philip hayden foundation orphanage. kids such as this one were there, abandoned by their parents, and often for as little as a cleft palette. this little boy had a heart problem. at first, i was saddened to see all these li'l kids, but my heart turned as i learnt of the love and commitment of the directors of this place. as we heard of the miracles God worked to get them the 6 acres of land in the nearby industrial park in tianjin, called shephard's field, which includes an 'inn' for visiting missionaries, as well as a medical clinic, i had the feeling that God's going to work even more amazing things through the work of the orphanage.

we spent time eating mcd's with the kids - where we all pretty much had a great time feeding, and playing with the kids! i never seen kids use nuggets as a spoon to get into the sweet n sour sauce and only eat the sauce! it was the cutest thing, but when u see a kid eat a whole box of sauce (and a half!) - you kinda get the feeling that it might not have been the greatest idea to let them do that!

this is tammy precipitating the deed with her fave kid!

in the afternoon, i was on the 'mural team' w/joe, ellein and betty, in charge of touching up this noah's ark scene in one of the houses. one thing i learned was that such a seemingly insignificant task can bring so much joy to people. when we were about finished w/the afternoon's work, one of the directors and his daughter and son walk in, and just exclaimed: 'wow! now we have a full rainbow again!', and 'our tiger looks like a tiger and not a camel now!', and 'the sky is white again!!!'... i really understood how in the context of what God calls you to do, just don't think about it. the smallest of tasks had blessed the people there, which in turn made me feel honored to be of value to them in such a way!

the rest of the team were out at the courts playing w/the kids, reading them stories, teaching them arts and crafts and sing songs with them. others were in the infirmary where the kids in serious condition were, and prayed for them. all in all - i was really blessed serving w/joe, ellein and betty. thanks guys for making that time so awesome!!!!

at night, we went back to the english corner. this time, there were about 10 more people - about 35 in total - who came to watch. as we were prepped beforehand, we brought all our gear. so after an hour or so of getting to know the students, we went into the program. i was a bit apprehensive at first, as kar, the main man, told me he wanted to video tape the show, and put it online! u never know bout these things, but after clearing it w/some of our contacts there, i thought what the heck, just let the show roll! after the whole show, i had a great chat w/2 guys - who really loved the dance, and dramas, and wanted to talk about all the 'stuff' behind it. it was great to share the heart behind the dramas and dance. i closed the program by encouraging the to have the confidence to seek their highest dreams, and that we ALL have that dream, but we've found the key to unlocking those dreams, and if they wanted to also have it, just ask any one of the team... the 2 guys asked - and spoke as well as i could, and can only hope that seeds were planted in their hearts! it was really awesome!

after english corner, a bunch of us went to a CLEAN massage place to wind down! it was our last night, and thot it was time to relax. as i got so little sleep this trip, a massage was just wat the doc ordered! i can't say it was the most relaxing of massages, as nate was laughing non-stop for an hour, which then made joe and i laugh for an hour... well, at least I laughed!! hehe we had a huge feast at yonghe's restaurant (the chinese KFC!! :P ) at like 3am - and then went to bed like 4ish!

i woke up the next day at like 6:30 - 7ish... and just couldn't sleep, despite being physically and mentally exhausted. however, i was still in missions mode, and just didn't want to waste time sleeping! so i got up, showered and went out to starbux - too bad starbux was closed till 8:30!!! this is what wangfujing looks like at 8am! so i just went to mcd's, had a hash brown and OJ, and did some QT. starbux was pretty key this trip (for most of them!)... hehe


anyway - we had lunch w/lynn at a peking duck place - i mean - what's beijing w/out peking duck!!! so i enjoyed the food tremendously (as i LOVE beijing food)!!! then after lunch, and some shopping in the supermarket, we were off to the airport! we check in, and it turned out that they couldn't seat the team together (about 16 of us) which really bummed us out.

on the plane, one of our team, after failing to skooch the lady next to her to swap seats, starting talking to her. soon enough, she learned that this lady led about 40 middle school kids up to beijing on a cultural exchange. on that monday night, they had a horrible accident where one of their buses rolled over cuz the driver was going too fast, and the road was slippery. needless to say, many were physically injured (4 couldn't make it back as they were in serious condition back in beijing), but yet, even more were emotionally scarred. cherie immediately went back into mission mode, and offered to pray for the students, to which the lady agreed after seeking the ok from the kids. turns out this lady also used to go to church as a kid when she was forced to by her parents. cherie had noticed this trip that she had a JESUS pouch around her neck - and that was one of the catalysts to conversation! anyway - cherie called me over, and after about 5 secs of explanation, we rallied the team, and next thing, most of us were running around the plane praying for kids. imagine that - we were all praying in the Spirit, laying hands, and crying w/the kids, while crying out to God! i can only imagine wat the other passengers could have been thinking!

i don't need to go into details - but i can assuredly say that kids we prayed for received healing, if not physically right there, then emotionally. kids who had a listless, faraaway look before, had a smile and a renewed joy as we left the plane. God really had touched lives! i can now report that the other kids in serious condition that hung back in beijing have since flown back. the other guide on the trip, who was in the most serious condition, whereby the docs predicted he would never walk again, reportedly got feeling back in his feet and is able to move them!!! i mean, PRAISE GOD! here we thought our missions was over, but God reminded us that missions are NOT JUST IN SOME FARAWAY PLACE! it's right where we ARE, at any one time, any one place! we just need to be open, spiritually, for His call!!!!!

i think that was probably the biggest learning point of the trip. i'm still digesting all that happened, and all i've learned. taking charge is something i'm not very inclined to do - and being a focal point is also something that has always made me feel uncomfortable. but i was blessed with the team, and how there was support and how awesome God was! it's so hard to put life, work, even church into perspective, but I know that God has even greater plans!!! it was a great trip - and definitely i look forward to going on the next one!!!!!!!!!

click here for the photos!
BEIJING BABEEEYYY!!! >>>> WOOOOOOOOOO-AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

missions baby!

well - i finally found some inspiration to write something. it's funny cuz i was thinking about all the stuff i could rant and rave about, but i don't think i'm going to!

my life right now is so busy (much like 97.8% of all hong kongers over 23). work is increasingly getting more and more challenging, despite me not really picking up anything new. ministry is always challenging. home alone time with the wife is definitely not enough. sleep seems to be a luxury these days. but u know what? PRAISE GOD for it!

i was thinking about wat i was thinking about when i read the prayer of jabez book... and what came out of that was pretty startling for me. here's the prayer:

"Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain."

i mean - here was a guy barely worth mentioning in the bible, only in 1 chron 4:9-10, but yet, this request was honored by God, who granted this request to Jabez. I remember that i really wanted that in my life too, to ask God to bless me and enlarge my territory, to have HIS hand with me to keep me from harm. the bible says that jabez was more honorable than his brothers, implying that in a Godly way. i would assume that to be blessed by God is not necessarily an easy time for us here on earth! God indeed has blessed me! He has given me a purpose to be here in Hk, and he certainly has given me opportunities to serve Him. I have a beautiful wife who loves God just as much as I do. i have a great job that i can only confess to be God-given, if only because it allows me the flexibilty in time to spend on all my other ministry areas, while giving me a great career. He has allowed me to be a servant in 180, my church's young adults ministry, pastored by my younger brother and his wife. back in 1998, november, 24th, i was the only on in my family (direct family) that believed. i prayed, and prayed... i got the prayer of jabez book a couple years later, and prayed and prayed thru that. now - by the grace of God, half my family (direct family) now believes! 7 years ago, if one woulda asked me, i would not have been able to agree to that faithfully. now, however, the territory has been enlarged. i just read thru the pentateuch, and that's exactly what God left for joshua and the israelites - the memory of all His great works - so that when things get tough, they can just look back and read of how GOD has ALWAYS been faithful to those who love Him.

So, despite the busy-ness of business, despite the lack of sleep, the tiring work of ministry, who am i to complain? has not God provided me with manna, that i should then ask for quail? i asked that i can be an effective servant - and has not God honored that? i asked that He start to dominate in the Ma clan -and has he not honored that? i asked for that special someone that will make me complete, and has he not honored that a hundred-fold?

i guess i refuse to have the attitude of complaint. i've asked for much, and i've gotten much more than what i asked for. i've been begging for missions trip to happen again - and now that they're here - it's made life even more busy! poor janabanana ruptured her achilles tendon the w/end before the trip. ironically, she was jumping and dancing around, worship God with the planetshakers band! now she'll have surgery on the day we all leave. so our leader has been held back, but i know that God has full control. i refuse to take satan's bait and be dejected.

but yah - this time has been a good reminder for me about just how good God is. the vine's live worship album recording is coming up in 3 weeks, and i am SO PSYCHED! we'll be back fresh from missions, and lin and i will be off to shanghai the week before to visit her folks. the past 7 months have been pure awesome.

so yeah - i'm tired. i'm physically drained. mentally exhausted. but PRAISE GOD! it's exactly what i asked for, and much more than i could have expected in return!

i'll be back after the trip to beijing/inner mongolia w/more praise reports and pictures!