Andi's Trip to Hong Kong - 8

All my bags are packed and I’m ready to go….

And what will surprise most of you is that it all still fits into one suitcase!  There are no new pairs of shoes, I only have the ones I brought.

Andi's Trip to Hong Kong - 7

I love good food, which is why Ted does most of the cooking in our home!

There are just so many wonderful things to mention about good food.  Good food can bring families together, it can energize a group, and the really chewy kind can be eaten in order to avoid having to put your foot in your mouth.  Yes indeed, good food has kept me from saying more than one thing I would regret.

Andi's Trip to Hong Kong - 6

“No Boys!”

Those two little words were some of the last things both Anna and Megan’s mothers said to them as we left the states.  This final command has been making me think for days.  Because I respect Megan and Anna’s parents I will do my best to help them obey their parents, although there was a little boy on the bus that was flirting with Megan pretty hard!  He was about four and was pretty sure he needed to get to know Megan better. But the moms said, “no boys!” so I had to tell Megan she couldn’t bring home a four year old as a souvenir.

Andi's Trip to Hong Kong - 5

There are many things in the lives of full-time missionaries that I find inspiring.  Their dedication to the culture where they are working is one of the biggest.  Many missionaries give up the “creature comforts” of home and head off to live in places that are very different from their homes.  Although Hong Kong has many Western amenities it’s still different.  The people speak a different language, the signs are different, what is considered polite is different, and the temperature is incredibly different (it’s really hot and humid here!).  Missionaries dive into the culture.  They learn the language, they learn how to eat politely at a table (typically through making funny mistakes), and eventually their bodies get more accustomed to the temperature.

Andi's Trip to Hong Kong - 4

 

Signs, signs, everywhere are signs….

Every time I travel I get a real kick out of signs that are written in English.  In Hong Kong most signs are written in English because Hong Kong was previously under British rule.  Most of these signs are very helpful and I use them often.   

Andi's Trip to Hong Kong - 3

You know that quiet voice in your head, the one that tells you not to do things because they might be dangerous, harmful, or make you miserable?  Well, I’m beginning to think mine is broken.  If it’s not broken then mine is way too easy to ignore!  See what happened is this…

Andi's Trip to Hong Kong - 2

Well we did it!  We stayed awake all day to crash at 9:00pm and sleep through the night!  Well, I say “we” but really Megan and Anna got a little cat nap.  As you can tell from the photo when Megan crashed about 5:00pm Scott’s girls had a little fun!  They covered her in toys, tied her up with a jump rope, and all sorts of other fun.  Megan was too tired to care!  She only got a short little nap before we went out for dinner.  Which was delicious!

Dinner was a send off event for Jim and Betsy, missionaries here in Hong Kong (we’ll be house sitting for them this summer at the church house).  We had all sorts of dishes and had fun eating new things.  In the photo Megan is holding part of the head of the goose we had.  It was tasty!

Today we will spend getting ready to go to camp.  We’ll be gone on Sunday and Monday to camp.  There are over 40 people associated with the church going to camp.  It will be a great time to get to know people. 

Andi's Trip to Hong Kong - 1

For the next two weeks I’ll be hijacking Ted’s blog to keep everyone updated on this trip to Hong Kong.

So far this trip has been pretty uneventful, which when traveling through airports and flying for long hours-uneventful is good!  After a fun lunch with Lyle and Megan’s parents we left Denver on Wednesday and flew to LAX.  At LAX we moved really fast through the airport and were able to make it to our gate with 10 minutes to spare.  After arrival in Hong Kong we were picked up at the airport by Scott and Ken Smyth.  They were so gracious to come pick us up at the airport at 6:00am.  A quick drive brought us to the Smyth’s house and now we begin the game of staying awake as long as we can.  A nap would just keep us awake tonight.  So, the question becomes how to stay awake?  Charades anyone?  How about singing?  A round of “Row, Row, Row, your boat”?

Building Blocks of Christian Character - Faith

copyright 2008 Martin Kimeldorf

2 Peter 1:5, "For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith..."

Certain things in this world re made up of other things. In fact most things are composites of other things. Take water for instance; it is a combination of (Ask what) 2 hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule.  If you take away the oxygen or the hydrogen then you no longer have water, right? Salt is another example; it’s made up of sodium and chlorine, take away either of those elements and you don’t have salt anymore. How about fire, it’s made up of three elements, heat oxygen and fuel. Without all three necessary ingredients, you don’t get fire.

Faith is the same way. I believe that faith consists of three key elements, and if you remove any of them then you don’t have a true Bible based faith.

What is faith?

1. Faith is, in part, belief.

According to the dictionary, faith is: the conviction of something that is true. This is the head part. It involves our thinking and cognitive abilities. This is where we wrestle with pieces data and information in order to make some kind of decision about them. If we believe them, we accept them as true. We store them in our “true” file even though we may not have scientific or empirical proof. We believe, or have been convinced that they are true.

What does the world say about belief? - Seeing is believing.

Jesus turns everything around though. He says, “Believing is seeing.”

In John 11:40 He said this “Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?"

2. Faith is, in part, trust.

We might be mentally persuaded by facts, but until we rely on or put our confidence and trust in what we believe, then our faith is weak. This is the heart part, where we lean on and become dependent on the credibility and reliability of God and what HE says. 

3. Faith is, in part, obedience. This is the will part where we choose to act in accordance with what we believe, and in whom we have places our trust.

Which do you think is easier, belief, trust or obedience? Why?

Faith is more than just an academic exercise. It’s more than accepting a few facts, faith involves action.