|
|
This is a journal of one of our mission teams that went to Hong Kong in July, 2006.
The Hong Kong Team was blessed tremendously and would like to share with you the great things God is doing in Hong Kong!
|
 |
| 07-23-06 |
Greetings from Hong Kong,
I surely am sorry that you haven't heard from us yet. I have tried to email but am hearing that I am the only one to receive the emails. So I am trying again. Would you please return this email to me if you have received it and would like to continue to hear how we are doing in Hong Kong. We surely appreciate your thinking of us. Look for some guidelines from Jodi or Jonathan Thar as I have asked them to give you some suggestions about writing to us here in Hong Kong. I will now resend our first email.
We had great flights and we arrived earlier than scheduled Tuesday night. We are going through the expected jet lag but today is much better than yesterday. Wednesday we had orientation and a tour of the grounds.Today we were given our assignments which may change for some of us. Bob and Jason worked on an apartment - preparing for painting. They worked hard on getting decals off the walls and moving furniture. It sounds like they had much hard work. Danielle worked in the office on computers updating some of their information. I worked with the volunteer coordinator learning her job so I can help out with her work while she is on vacation starting next week for the remainder of our time here. That is a brief idea of what we are doing. We will be writing more soon. We sure appreciate your thinking about us and talking to Daddy for us. We are meeting Him together with the rest of the staff each morning. Thanks for remembering us.
In Hong Kong,
Carolyn Losch for the Hong Kong Team
Bob Losch
Jason Horjus
Danielle Petersen
|
| Return to the top |
| 07-23-06 |
Greetings from Hong Kong,
This week (4 days)surely has flown by. Bob & Jason have been really kept busy doing a variety of jobs. Their main job is to prepare an apartment for painting. They have a ton of scraping to do and there are A LOT of decals on the walls. They spent a day working on an experiential activity where we had a group of 22 attorneys come to learn. The short version is that they learned by living through what it was like to live as a poor person in India. They made bags from newspaper to sell to earn money for rent, food, medical care, and education. If they couldn't pay their bills they were evicted and had to "live under the bridge." They then learned how the poor people could not get out of debt once they got into that situation. They ended with coke and a meal. The coke was served in plastic bags (a can or bottle is divided among many people) as this is how people can get some soft drinks when they don't have enough money to buy a can or bottle. The meal was served on a leaf and eaten with one hand. During the follow up discussion it was clear just what a great impact it made in their lives. It was great!! They were challenged with what they could do to help those in need. Yesterday they helped to pack a sea container to be shipped to Zambia. This was really an exciting day. Jason was able to load the last chair into the truck. It was an all day job.
Danielle is working in the office doing some data entry. This is badly needed as they are finding that to give out the items to the local poor people they need a better tracking system. So she is working on getting this new system up and running. They are so thankful for her help in this area.
I have been working with Deb, the volunteer coordinator. She is leaving on vacation tomorrow and she has been teaching me her job so I can take over for herwhile she is gone. I am very thankful for the others in this office that will help me and carry me through while I am learning and Deb is gone. I will be welcoming the groups that will be coming in for a work day, give them a small beginning tour, help them get their assignments for the day, get them working, do the email, set up new groups that call, check on the various groups throughout the day, and make sure everything is running smoothly. WOW!!! I surely hope that I can get it all right. I think I am the most vervous about Thursday as we will be having about 30 US Navy sailors in for the day. I think I will be challenged as I work with them for the day.
We all need your thoughts and could not make it without your support. We appreciate you very much.
From Hong Kong,
Carolyn for the Team
Bob
Jason
Danielle
|
| Return to the top |
| 07-29-06 |
Greetings from Hong Kong,
We have been really busy this week. We are staying in a flat (apartment) on the grounds of Crossroads. We are right at the gate and not far from where we have to go to our meetings, work and meals. It is very nice. We have three bedrooms, living/dining room, kitchen & bath. The three bedrooms are air conditioned which is VERY nice since it is so hot and humid here.
We eat our noon meal in the dining room which is called Narnia. The food is pretty good. We also eat our Wednesday supper at Narnia and then continue to meet with the staff until about 9:30. I fix the breakfast and some of the suppers. The team really likes to eat out at Chinese restaurants. We are trying a new one tonight which the staff really enjoys. We’ll let you know what we think afterwards.
Across the street is a luxury vacation spot. We are able to shop for food and the essentials there as well. I guess I better go as work is calling.
In Hong Kong,
Carolyn for the Hong Kong Team,
Bob
Jason
Danielle
|
| Return to the top |
| 07-29-06 |
Greetings from Hong Kong,
This will be short but I just wanted to share a bit about our evening meal out. We were told about this restaurant on a hill. There is no name that they know of but many of the staff told us what a great place it was. So we set out with the directions on how to walk there. We realize that we made a mistake when the road we walked on got us back to the main road that goes past here we lived. Oh well, try again. We were happy that we had a mobile (I am to carry the volunteer director’s phone while she is gone) and were able to call for better directions. This time we found it - a small place up on a hill almost unseen from the road. There were no signs or anything that would give us an idea that it was a restaurant. When we finally got there we sat at one of the 2 or 3 tables. One man spoke English which was a great help. We all chose what we wanted and it was made as we waited. It was very good. The servings were huge. Most of us couldn’t eat it all – OK – Danielle and I couldn’t eat it all. Even with the help of the men we had to leave some. It was a very interesting experience. You couldn’t even call it a hole in the wall place because there were no walls only a ceiling extending out from a building. Thanks so very much for your faithfulness in remembering us.
In Hong Kong,
Carolyn for the Hong Kong Team
Bob
Jason
Danielle
|
| Return to the top |
| 07-29-06 |
Greetings from Hong Kong,
Yesterday was quite a day. The US Navy got changed until yesterday. So we ended up with about 26 men and women. I was the one to greet them and take them to get their stuff put away and to Narnia so DJ, the founder’s son, could talk with them. Then I gave out the work assignments. Their day didn’t start so well. The commanders got off the bus to meet and someone (not sure of who he was – bus driver or one of the men) was getting out their 5 gallons of ice water. He made the mistake of carrying it by the lid and right in from of the commander, chaplain and myself had the lid pull off and all the water when flooding down the road. I quickly assured them that we had water. The commander was concerned that it was safe water which I assured him it was. Water in Hong Kong is not safe to drink from the faucet. (I have been boiling all of our water at the apartment for 20 minutes. We also have access to the bottled water during work hours.) DJ gave his talk but when I gave out the assignments there were enough people. They forgot to tell me that the number given to me when they boarded the bus was smaller than the real number. I was happy that not all had left for their work project and was able to relocate come of them. It seemed to work out just fine. Then I turned the day over to Philski and we left for our team banquet. We went to Hong Kong Island and had High Tea with Jodi, Jonathan & children. The day was great – good food and great fellowship as we sat around our tables lounging in our overstuffed arm chairs. We arrived at 1:00 and left early around 5:30. Jason was really looking forward to eating for 5 hours (we could have stayed until 6). I think Bob & I enjoyed the food more that Danielle and Jason as it was more the fancy foods but they had loaded plates. They just loaded them differently that we did. It was a fun time with the grandchildren who were fighting jet lag as they arrived in Hong Kong the night before.
We left early so we could do a bit of shopping. We were able to ride the MTR (subway) for the first time and it was very crowded but not the worst. We enjoyed walking the Hong Kong streets at night. Jason enjoyed taking many pictures of the bright signs, the shops, and the culture. The team really enjoyed the night market at Jordan before we started home. We all fell into bed after our evening team time. It was great to have a day to relax.
Actually, we will have 2 more relaxing days as Crossroads is closed Sunday and Monday. We will be making the most of it and then be ready for our 2 final days of work. We surely appreciate your thoughts for us.
In Hong Kong,
Carolyn for the Hong Kong Team
Bob
Jason
Danielle
|
| Return to the top |
| 08-08-06 |
Greetings as we have returned from Hong Kong,
What a wonderful opportunity to serve in Hong Kong. The team was able to accomplish a lot work while in Hong Kong to help those who continue to help the people around the world. We have a new view of how others live around the world – the poor people who have to struggle to be able to have food to eat and homes to live in. Jason got a view of what it was like to be a cruel loan shark as he kept people “living under the bridge” in an experiential game. Two groups came in to learn through simulation games how the poor live in India and were given the opportunity to make paper bags from newspapers so they could sell them to store owners to earn enough money for food and rent. When they couldn’t pay their bill they were sent to “live under the bridge” and without success to get out of debt. It was a great learning experience not only for those playing but also for us watching. It really helped us to know what the people in India and other poor areas go through.
Our flight home was interesting. We were delayed in boarding the plane as Hong Kong was under a T 3 Typhoon warning. We were finally able to board but as we waited we felt the plane being rocked by the wind. The plane was delayed again on the runway until a heavy downpour passed. We finally were able to take off. We later learned that the airport was finally closed and many were still in the airport the next day sleeping on the floor as they waited to board from a stand-by position. Some were still waiting on Friday. We are thankful for your prayers for our safe travels and that we were able to make it home on time.
We really appreciate your faithful prayers for our team. We also need your prayers as we adjust to life in the USA again. We want to remember those we learned about and continue to be burdened for those who are struggling every day. We at Mission Possible need your prayers as we continue to work on our teams for 2007. If any of you would like to receive our newsletter and future brochures and are not on our mailing list be sure to send your regular mailing address. Thanks again for your vital role in this team.
Back in the USA,
Carolyn for the Hong Kong Team
Bob
Jason
Danielle
|
| Return to the top |
|
