The Character of God
God is love. At the center of what I believe, this is the core. God is love. Not just any love, not a halfhearted love. He is LOVE. The patient, kind, protective love of a true father. The joy, desires and emotions of a true father. This is His love. The entire week has built on what God has already been showing and speaking to me during my quiet times and worship, so it was very powerful for Him to continue on that and make the understanding go deeper. You remember the line of the song, "all we need is love"? I agree with that. We need love. God is love. Therefore we need God. It is not a dependency or independence factor, it is a truth. He is the one who created you, formed you and knows every atom, molecule and cell that makes up your DNA and body. When you hurt, He hurts. When you have joy, He has joy. Why? Because He is a father and that is who He is. We were created for a deeper relationship with Him, as His children. It is an amazing love story of how He walks us through life and good times had times. His love leads, when we let it. We had times in our class that challenged us, challenged how we thought. It was an epic week in that aspect.
Chung King Mansions-Red Light District
My local outreach is located in an ethnically diverse area in Hong Kong Island, with people from India, Nepal, Pakistan and Africa. Just a few blocks and you enter the red light district. It is not what you expect. It is quiet street that has an entrance to the MTR (subway) and a Seven Eleven. If you were not used to the environment, you would not even realize prostitution is taking place. Unless you take a closer look. Stick around long enough and you notice the girls hanging around, the men walking by, and then them leaving. It is heartbreaking. Most have been trafficked in this area, or been made promises based on lies and have no way of returning back home to India, Malaysia or Uganda. About 7 of us women from the base went on that outreach, splitting into two groups- one for prayer walks and the other to talk to the girls. Half way through, we switched so both groups could have a chance to pray or speak sight the girls. We had a chance to speak with four that night, and it was a blessing. They are very sweet and very open to talking with us. One of the women, who appears to be the one who keeps tracks of the other girls and protects them, was very concerned about us "good, Christian" girls being in such an area. "These are bad people. You are too good for them!" It was a great opportunity to share with her the love of Christ and how He loves each of them. She had a cough and allowed us to pray for her, pressing our staff, Arianna, hand against her throat for prayer. It is not so much a dangerous area as it is a dark area. A place where people have lost hope and feel trapped. They need to hear the truth, to hear about hope. So we go there to pray, encourage and hear them. Sometimes they are open to hearing us. Sometimes not. So we pray.
Mandarin Class
Ni hao! That is hello in Mandarin and I must say, Mandarin is difficult. God has greatly blessed us because we have two Cantonese speakers who also speak Mandarin and another girl who speaks Mandarin on our DTS. We worked on tones (there are six tones in Mandarin we must learn) and then basic greetings for a VERY short conversation! Some words and phrases are easier than others, but without memorizing the tones, it is very hard on how to know how to pronounce the other words you don't know. What makes the tones difficult is that when written in Pinyin, Chinese words written in english letters, the letters for the tones are almost completely opposite of the sound we would make in English for it, for example, the 'e' makes more of an 'uh' sound and the 'i' makes an 'ee' sound. Us poor Americans.....
VolleyBall
At least once a week, we play sports. As often as possible, we play sports. Why? Because we love it! Simple, right? Haha, it gives us time to relax, have fun and work as a team off the base at night before bed. Well, this week I had the opportunity to play volleyball. I was very excited because I had not played it in a long time. Once on the court though, I was quickly reminded why I had not played in so long. I am very bad at volleyball. Seriously. I could barely hit the ball and when I did, I did not hit it correctly or over the net. Most often, the ball went down instead of up. I was not the MVP that night. Most of you who know me know that I despise not being good at something. I always put everything I am into everything I do, and if I am. Not good at something, it truly hurts, not just my pride, but an inner struggle. I knew, however, if I walked out of that game, I would never get better. It would have no lasting benefit if I walked away and I would regret it. So I kept pushing. Ducking. Praying the ball would not come to me. I know, still not a good solution. One of my friends on the other team tried to hit the ball to me, but it was very high and I did not think I could get it. "Too high!" I said. He served again and hit it lower. Great. Then one of other friends and also one of my DTS staff started coaching and instructing me on how to play, hit and direct the ball. It was possibly one of the longest nights I have had from playing sports. Once I could finally focus on having fun and not on all my mistakes, I started feeling ok. I did not like the game, but I was happy that I had remained and stays don the court. I was BEYOND grateful for guys who coached me and gave encouragement. Then. The test came two nights later when they were going to play again- would I come? Eh....I was not excited. Obviously. I agreed though, because I knew I have to keep trying in order to get better. I know myself. I have to keep trying. So I went. And had the greatest time. With more coaching and better accuracy, I actually played okay. I made points, passed and hit it over the net. It was group effort and great team work. We all made mistakes. We all laughed. We had fun. And guess what? I like volleyball now. I enjoy playing with my friends. I am far from great and I would not even say I am good. But I can hit the ball. Over the net (and occasionally over the fence into the pond....fun times...). I give all credit to God and my friends, who's patience and encouragement helped me to get from epic fail on Tuesday night to pretty good on Thursday. So you think you cannot do something? Keep trying. If I can do it, you can. Believe me. (Next lesson in volleyball, learn how to serve correctly and pass the ball with open hands above head.)
Well, that is all folks! Oh, wait! I also had a great time yesterday at a birthday BBQ for my friend and former 2012 Christmas Outreach leader, Rebekah. The pics posted are from that. The white substance on our faces is baby powder, a tradition from the Islands we learned over New Years. So. I gave her that gift (she got a real gift too, I am not that terrible, haha). It is also Chinese New Year, and I will tell you more about that next week, hopefully with pictures to share!
Prayer Requests:
Continued Good Health
Unity
Finances
Good Weather
Much love and blessings!
~Ashley
~*~Leave a Legacy that will Make a Difference in the World Around You.~*~
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