Hong Kong?

Well, I came to Hong Kong for a couple of days over our Labor Day Vacation. Exactly how all that worked out, I'm not entirely sure (well, I guess I do understand how it worked out, but I'm still confused as to the exact reasons why..). Originally, a friend's mom really needed a certain kind of medicine from here that couldn't be found inside China, so that was the original primary motivation for coming. However, a guy was going to be coming back over to Hainan from Hong Kong anyway, so it turned out that he could take the medicine instead. We found this out during the course of the week, and I was kind of already anticipating coming out by then, so I really wanted to still come...Anyway, it turned out to be a really big question whether I should or shouldn't, but in the end, I decided on coming and our Dad has really made it out to be a great time. It's been so encouraging and refreshing to be with some of these people here and to see some of the work they're doing for Dad. A friend took me all around the city as well as to some villages and rural areas outside the city that I never would have imagined as being there. It was nice spending time with her because she has done quite a bit of work in different places of Asia and China, as well as spent time in the place I'm living now. I'll be able to talk more about our journeys through the city after I get those pictures off my friend's camera. All in all, it was a great time, and this time I can post up some pictures of things!......Just not right now. I have a friends camera that I took with me, but I forgot the camera-computer cord so I can't get the pictures off the camera just yet. I'll try to post them within the next couple of days, but for now, I can post up some other pictures of things that have been going on in my life...

So, first....School!

In this picture I'm with our classes' favorite and yet most challenging teacher, Mrs. Cong. She's by far the best teacher I think, and we have her most frequently throughout the week, as her class is the Comprehension Class which covers a little bit of everything. I must admit that at the start of the semester I had a bit of a crush on her, but once we found out she was married, I figured a relationship would be too complicated, so I decided to kill that idea. : ) haha.

Here's where our classroom is located, as well as a shot of the inside of the classroom above. Our classroom is really small, but now that we're about half-way through the semester, we only have about 6 or 7 students coming to classes on any given day, so it's not bad. At the beginning of the semester we were supposed to have like 14, but that soon turned into 12, and the 12 turned into 10 maybe, of which not everyone shows up regularly...so...we have a pretty small class.

And here's our college. I don't really know the name of our college at the University, but it's basically the college of foreign students studying Chinese. The building also contains some dorms for both foreign students and Chinese, so that's why it's kind of big.

This last picture is of our brother Paul. He's been in the hospital now for over a month and will finally be getting out tomorrow the 5th. He originally went in to close up an open wound in his back that was caused by a tree cutting accident 3 years ago and the resulting infections caused by lack of care and real lack of medical knowledge. The surgery went pretty good, but the wound developed another infection about 2 weeks after the surgery, also to be accompanied by some kind of cyst that formed on the left side of his butt. The cyst was a little bigger than a half-dollar coin and came out nearly half an inch. It was a pretty bad situation, and performing all the care for it after the surgery was pretty sketchy. The staff at the hospital do nothing more than doctoral duties and washing of sheets. Everything that a nurse would normally perform or do is expected to be done by an assistant to be hired by the family (who is really just some local person who can buy food or help take out waste). Tim had some bad experiences with hired nurses, and the real hospital nursing staff, the last time Paul was in the hospital, so we've been taking shifts 24-hours a day to do what a nurse would normally do. It's been interesting, and has consisted of things I never would have imagined myself doing before, but it's amazing what we're able to accomplish with the comfort and strength of our Father. The wound in his back is looking good now and I think the infections have been pretty much taken care of. I would ask that anyone reading this would please keep our brother lifted up. He's been going through a lot and another infection would be really bad. But it's such a testimony to the sovereignty of Dad to see the way that through this there have been so many people in the hospital who have heard the good news, and been able to see what His love should look like. We're by no means great vessels for the work, but through us He's done some good stuff as well as been teaching us some very important lessons.

..Well, I have to get going. I have a flight back to Hainan that I really shouldn't miss, so, I need to be on my way. : )

..More to come soon. I really wanted to make some calls from here, but I managed to forget my microphone, so that didn't quite work out. Take care everyone. Thank you everyone who has been keeping me lifted, He's been doing some great things and teaching me lots of good stuff. As I sit in a 16th story apartment of a certain group here, looking out at the evening sky, I am in awe at the way He does all this. Good stuff.