God will make a way...

So before I left to HK, many of you know I still had not confirmed any volunteer placement yet. The only thing I knew was that God wanted me to 'BE THERE'.

Once I arrived in HK, He provided the opportunity to serve with immigrant children in HK from China (answered prayer!) at North Point Alliance Church's Family and Education Services Centre. While I had initially wanted to head to the mainland, instead, God lead me to the children who happened to be in HK...

But once I started, I realized how much more abundantly He blessed me through this opportunity.

The two week class with the children was designed to help them adjust to HK - many of them had only been in HK for only 1-3 months. There were a couple of goals to the class:

1. Help improve their English vocabulary since the HK standard was higher compared to the mainland
2. Improve their fluency in cantonese
3. Improve their ability to read and write in traditional chinese characters, as opposed to simplified characters
4. Introduce them to the basics of HK - from geography, to history, to landmarks

Each day lasted from 9:30 am to 5:00... it was INTENSE learning.

God blessed and provided abundantly in several ways:

- Out of the four purposes of the class, I am effective as teacher/volunteer in ONE (#1). The children put me to shame in numbers 2-4. Clearly I needed more adjustment. I asked God WHY I was helping in an 'adjustment class to HK', and He answered, "exactly, YOU need adjustment Lydia... So i'm giving this to YOU as well to learn along with the kids."

- I was partnered with a woman, MANDY, who used to be an elementary school teacher, and was currently studying seminary. She treated me as a peer, and we would share about our spiritual journeys during the lunch period. Understanding my background, she let me take full reigns on the English component - so after discussing together the progress of the class and content that needed to be taught, she let me teach all the lessons.

- I taught the 12-13 year olds, who were at the perfect age for learning. They were not too young that they only came to play, nor were they too old that they thought the classes were boring.

- My cousin, Miriam, who is currently being discipled at her youth fellowship, was able to volunteer and serve officially for the first time with me at NPAC for the second week. And while we took a long time to communicate about our faith because of language barriers, our love for the Lord is one and the same. So it was a joy to serve and pray with her and see her GROW during the three days travelling and serving together.

- 6 out of 8 children accepted Christ (!!!) on our second last day, and Miriam and I prayed the sinners' prayer with half of them! How I longed to use the Evangecube! I wanted so badly to pray with the children, but alas, the language barriers were huge. Nonetheless, I am thankful that I was able to witness it and see 6 new hearts added to His Kingdom!

- I was asked to share at the Graduation Ceremony in front of the parents and children - it was an opportunity to share my testimony about God's faithfulness in answering prayers, and share the lessons I learned during my time there.

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Here is what I shared on the last morning, but with a lot more Cantonese with the help of my cousin's translation... (yes! my cousin was my translator! what an opportunity!)... and most importantly, this was echoed by the sharing of another teacher. We had not talked about our experiences before - so it was clearly the Spirit teaching us the same things through the kids.

The heart of a true teacher

I literally saw Christ's love through the actions of the teachers. They did not merely teach the curriculum, but they taught about values, respect, manners, integrity, even hygeine. Mandy would incorporate the gospel and something about Christ in every lesson she taught. It was incredible. And through her care for the kids' overall well-being and character development, I witnessed a 180-change in attitudes and behaviours in our kids.

Ie. When they teased each other regaring their 'heung ha' accents, the kids were told to help each other, rather than put each other down during this time of adjustment. On the last few days, when one of the classmates spoke a word with improper pronounciation, other kids would say, "no, this is how you say it" and proceed to repeat the word with the struggling student three or four times. WHOA.

Ie. From walking in mobs through the streets during our first trip (the term 'line' seemed nonexistant) to staying in straight, neat lines on the last trip.

Ie. From rather dirty washrooms according to the cleaning lady, to no complaints the second week.

And it all only took a few extra words from these teachers who were committed to helping the students develop good character and core values.

Friendship exemplified through actions

"I have never been hugged so many times by so many kids within two weeks."

When I shared this with the parents and kids, they laughed. I think they must know they are much more physically intimate in their friendships compared to western society.

• The first day - the girls were already hugging me.
• Second day - Candy asked if we could be god-sisters.
• Third day - the girls held my hand as we walked through the museums - I don't even hold hands with my real sister!
• Second trip - Jenny held my hand the entire time while we walked on the Peak, interlocked fingers!
• All pictures above - the kids have nonstop energy and hug each other, making funny faces and caring for each other by patting each others' shoulders, or grabbing each others' arms to pull them into the group, or tapping each others' shoulders to tell them to pay attention.
• "Lau She Zai Zai" - they couldn't decide whether to call me Teacher, or Older Sister, so they put them together... I like how Chinese people refer to each other as if we are all one big family. All adults are uncles and aunties, and peers are brothers and sisters.

The Spirit of Learning

These kids were committed to learning and adjusting to Hong Kong. They asked questions continuously - How do you write this in Chinese? What are the proper strokes? How do you say this in English? This spirit of learning is often found in children, and we lose the interest and ability to blurb out questions one after another as we grow old. While these kids have their weaknesses, they are brave to try new things. Jenny kept talking to me in her limited English as we walked along the Peak. Jacky took on the challenge of reading an English newspaper excerpt. All of them loved learning handwriting and looked forward to each day of class. They also loved playing games of logic (?!). They are one smart smart smart set of brains and have the potential to do great things.

They were certainly a refreshing reminder of my own attitude towards learning as I head into my final year of studies at McMaster.

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"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly" - John 10:10b.

Through the adjustment classes, the children learned about the importance of core values. We discussed about how success is not defined by money or materialistic wealth. We discussed the need for strong interpersonal skills as they adjust. We even discussed how their actions should try to prove the stereotypes of mainland immigrants as false. But most importantly, we discussed about the hope, joy, and eternal life that we can have in Jesus Christ.

Praise God for putting this church at the heart of the community at North Point. It is truly a beacon of light and hope for these children and their families. This is only one of the services provided through the church. My prayer is that every outreach ministry is as saturated with God's blessing as the two weeks I spent there.

I went and tasted.

The Lord is SOOOOO GOOOOOD.