Baby Almasy

Jen here. It is time--Hallelujah! A time I have looked forward to since I was a young girl (not sure why...maybe God?). A time we have looked forward to eagerly.God has blessed us with a baby!

God is so gracious. He has placed us in an amazing, authentic community of people who need Jesus and who LOVE Jesus and long to serve Him with their lives. Many of these dear friends and acquaintances have children (new babies to teenagers), and Roy and I have had a front row seat to their families, discipline, struggles and general life with kids. Over the past year and a half I have learned so much through the women about being a wife, mother and mother-to-be. Through all of it I have concluded: Wow, having kids really is a huge commitment and sacrifice, yet, I still want to have kids, to the glory of God. :)

So, here are the facts:

Baby is due around May 18th, 2012 (day before my little sis' high school graduation!)

In the photo I am 19 weeks along, but now I am 22 weeks along (40 weeks is the entire typical pregnancy)

Things are going well--no complications or problems this far. Praise Jesus!

I feel the baby moving several times a day--little pokes and prods from the inside. So interesting and fun!!

More updates soon!

MHC | Shoreline Women's Retreat!

Jen here. At the end of October MHC's Shoreline campus put on a women's retreat at Suncadia Spa and Resort, about an hour east of Seattle. Even though Roy and I decided to attend the campus of Mars Hill Church closest to where we live now, I attended our old campus' women's retreat. And boy, I am so glad. :)

First off, look at the scenery!! Who could NOT have an amazing time here?? :) Here in God's beautiful creation...and at a spoiled fancy resort. Ahhh...it was wonderful. Praise to God for providing it; perfect timing.

The retreat wasn't just about relaxing and getting away. Nope. It was about Jesus. AMEN! We had several women who shared where God has them in His story and spoke to us about Identity in Christ. The women were open and real, sharing their struggles and their sins, and then how Jesus saved them and is saving them and calling them to Him even now. Jesus-saturated...one word to describe the weekend. The titles of each session (possible identities we can put on) were real and provoking. Don't think blue-hair convention. Think single women, newly-wed women, young moms, old moms, grandmas, working women, women of God seeking to know their powerful Savior more!

All of the sessions were beneficial. I could identify with each identity. But my true identity is Clothed in Christ as a Child of God.

Jill and I chose to room together, and we were with two other women. I enjoyed getting to know them a little and was able to gain a little perspective when one said, "Oh it will be so nice to take a shower, and not have any kids to worry about or rush through the shower for." Wow. I don't think about that much...not having a moment alone. Perspective.

Here are a few quotes from the weekend:

"But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope, The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. (Lam 3:21-23)"

"I don't have the option to look at others apart from the cross, because God looks at me through the veil of the cross."

"God has written you into His story to say something about Him."

"The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe (Pro 29:25)."

Through the weekend God continued to show me that I need to be proactive about reaching out and being in community in our church. I need to be the one inviting women to come over for tea or go for a walk...and not sit back and complain because no one is inviting me to do anything!

Thank You, Jesus, for continually chasing after me. You are the Giver of life and breath and all things. Amen!

Hospitality of Friends :)

Jen here. God is so gracious and generous. I am continually blown away by His provision, protection and blessing. We arrived in Seattle in the end of July and began searching for housing. Two friends from Mars Hill Church graciously offered their guest bedroom and opened their home to us. It was a huge blessing to be in a home with familiar faces and loving hearts. We treasured time getting to know Mike and Courtney more and LOVED seeing their 11-month old Judson crawl, cruise and learn to walk. Here's Courtney, but this darling baby isn't hers(you'll see a photo of Judson later). This is Eowyn, my niece!! Courtney and Mike are date night babysitters for Dan and Christie, so we got to see our little niece more than planned. She is adorable...and I love spending time with her.Roy and I looked for housing, met up with old friends and continued going to our old church Mars Hill Church | Shoreline. It was a blast to be back and to see our church family again. Oh how we missed them! When we walked into Schirmer Auditorium for the first time, we felt so loved, so cherished. Hugs and tears abounded. :) After leaving the service, Roy and I looked at each other and said, "Can't we just live up here, go to church here and commute to work?Do we really want to do church in the same city where we work?" :)
MHC | Shoreline had their annual BBQ Beach Baptism in the beginning of August and we attended. Pastor Steve preached a great message and several people decided to be baptized. It was a great time of rejoicing! I LOVE Washington's beaches, water and mountains all in one. It is good to be back in Seattle. For a while we double-dipped in regard to church. We attended our old Community Group from Shoreline during the week and on Sundays attended the MH campus near our work (and house to-be) in the morning and our old MHC | Shoreline campus in the evenings. We began searching for a community group at our new church in Bellevue.

Our housing search was long. Long before we left Hong Kong, we were told of a house for rent owned by a former Chess4Life employee who just recently found a job in Washington DC. He and his family were preparing to move there and wanted to rent their house to fellow Christians...they wanted their house to be used for God. We were in contact with them and planned to check out the house. We did and it was awesome. It is a rambler (whatever that means...) 3 bedroom 2 bathroom. The living room, dining room and kitchen are open and spacious. Beautiful. Clean. Spacious. Perfect for entertaining.

To be wise, we continued looking at other places, but none of them compared. Our hearts were set on this house. We prayed for God to provide housemates to share the cost and live in community. Roy began working in the beginning of August and we decided to rent the house.
Courtney did an amazing job taking care of Judson; I was blessed to talk with her and see her interact with Judson. He is so adorable. Roy and I laughed with him, crawled with him, played peek-a-boo with him. He was a true joy to see every morning, so smiley. :) BTW, he was born about a week before we moved to Hong Kong...and he celebrated his first birthday while we were staying with Mike and Courtney. :)

What a blessing our friends and church family are to us. Mike and Courtney's gift of hospitality was vital in a peaceful transition to life in Seattle once again. Thank you!! And praise Jesus for His people!

Religion in HK

Jen here. More footage via the Jen-spy Cam...One day I was chilling in our apartment and I heard something going on outside. I peered out the window and spotted a table with three cooked pigs and some fruit on it. People were dressed up and gathering, but just chatting. Then I saw a few of the men light some (I'm guessing) incense sticks, stand in front of the table, bow three times, and put the sticks in a pot filled with sand on the table. Intriguing. What is happening here? So I looked on...I saw a few more men do the same things...then some of the women...and I decided to grab my camera! Eventually all of them lit the sticks and bowed three times in front of the table with dead pigs on it... This occurred the day after a holiday in Hong Kong...one of my American friends who married a Chinese man told me it is like Memorial Day for the Chinese. They go and visit the graves of people who have died...and apparently offer pigs and fruit to their ancestors. Interesting religion, interesting beliefs. And I mean religion.





Pictured at left is a little shrine on the 2nd floor of our building. Our neighbors in that apartment burn a stick of incense in it every morning and evening. If you look closely, you can see one stick of it burning, and a bunch of old sticks (dark red) chilling in the pot. In the some parts of HK, there are shrines tucked in the sides of buildings, in the middle of stores and even in the evening you may see fruit or other food on the sidewalk with burning sticks stuck into it. Gotta feed the ancestors, I guess.

We all need Jesus. Whether we grow up burning food to our ancestors or going to church every Sunday, we need Jesus. The act of going to church or being raised by Christian parents does not ensure eternity with God. Knowing Jesus, and seeing our need for Jesus, does. Praise God for His glorious grace and gift offered to each one of us!

Silly Israelites

Sunday, a day of rest. I like Sundays. We sleep in, spend time with Jesus, go to church and usually go out to eat with people. Fun.

IECC (the church we attend) is going through a 5-week series on the 5 Pillars of IECC. Let's see if I can name them all: worship, community, growth, service and outreach. Today's sermon was on outreach. Pastor Brett focused on us going "outside the camp", and one of the Bible passages we read caught my heart.

Numbers 13:31-14:4-"Then the [men who were sent to spy out the Promised Land and bring back info] said, 'We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.' So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, 'The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim...and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.'

"Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, 'Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?' And they said to one another, 'Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.' "

Wow. This is a classic Israel moment. I separated it into two physical paragraphs for a reason. Upon reading it, I was reminded of how amazing and powerful God is. He gives a child to a couple who is barren...He heals people...He delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego from the midst of the burning fiery furnace. He is AWESOME. And even to the Israelites...He has been so good to them. He delivered them out of Egypt, gave them manna to eat every morning and quail to eat in the desert. He caused water to pour from a rock and made a bitter stream...not bitter. He protected them when Pharaoh changed his mind and tried to chase them down with his chariots. Come on! Why don't the Israelites remember the awesome things God has done? Why don't they realize how amazing God is?

Rather than freak out and grumble, why didn't they say something like this? "Wow, God will surely deliver this land to us in a mighty way. He promised it to us and He is faithful to his promises. I can't wait to see how he kills off the giants or runs them out...He'll do something because He said He'll give us this land. He can do anything! Just think of the mighty things He's done for us already! We are His chosen people, and He loves us. This will be fun to watch."

But, no, the old Israelites respond with no faith, no trust, no delight in God, no knowledge of who God is (faithful, loving true) or what He's done for them already (mighty, powerful), choosing death instead of life. Don't they get it yet? God is doing all the work! He made them prosper and multiply in Egypt, He raised up Moses, He turned Pharaoh's heart to let the people go, He rescued them from Pharaoh and parted the Red Sea so they could walk through on dry ground, He led them through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night, He protected them from wild animals, He walked them to the edge of the Promised Land and HE will be the One who delivers the land into their hands. Not them. They are but weak and frail humans. They can't do it! God is the One. Not me. Oh sure, I flew on the airplane to Hong Kong, I am living in an apartment, assisting Chess classes, meeting a few people, but God is accomplishing it all...and preparing for His purposes. Not me. Silly Jenny, learn from the Israelites:trust in God, for He is the Everlasting God, Creator of the ends of the earth. Amen.

People.

Hong Kong ranks in the top 25 World's largest cities, with a population over 7 million.
Everywhere you go there are people; shopping, eating, talking, hanging-out, coming and going. Seems like they're always in a hurry in HK - where to...I don't know. Starbucks, when there are no other free tables people will just join your table, happens all the time.

The past two Sundays we checked out a local church. Island Evangelical Community Church. This was one of the first things we wanted to do. Even though we love our church in Seattle, WA - Mars Hill Church. And really hope to share Mars Hill sermons with friends we make here in Hong Kong, and have community gathering around that teaching.

But this isn't something we're going to do alone... There is no such thing as the 'Rambo' Christian. From the beginning God's purpose for mankind as a worshiper, as having authority over the earth - was to be done as a people. In God's words, It's not good for man to be alone. So man and woman were created, as a people, to bring forth a people to image God.

Community isn't something less, as though it's more virtuous to be the lone ranger. This is the very nature of God reflected in us. Eternally God has been one God - three persons. Forever in perfect, loving, communicating, transparent, harmonious community. A people in the Godhead.

So when Christ calls His followers to be a people, He is calling us to be how he is.
In the book of Acts ch 1 we see Jesus has gathered a people together, and though Jesus has bodily left there presence they are still a people, "All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer." Preparing together for the work Jesus had called them to, go to the ends of the earth and make disciples of every nation.

The work they began, that we are still participating in, we are not going to do alone either, we are searching for a church here that will partner with us in this work, hold us accountable, teach us and fellowship with us. We are going to be talking with some of the church leaders about this. Pray that God brings us to the right church. We had a great time at  Island ECC, it really reminded us of Mars Hill - a church on mission to the people of Hong Kong.

After church last Sunday we went to Stanley market hung around and I ate some very delicious smoked salmon pizza. BaySide Brasserrie, you'll have to try it if you make it out this way and like fresh smoked salmon. mmmm.

Witness.

You may be asking...

Why Hong Kong?

Wasn't Washington far enough West?

Why put all our stuff in boxes and move again after only a year and go half way around the world?

In a word: 

Witness.

Most of you know for the past year I have been working for Chess4Life, a company that uses chess to teach valuable life lessons to elementary school students, as a a Head Chess Coach - yes I didn't know you could be paid to teach chess either. :)
  

Several months ago my boss announced that he had been approached with the opportunity to bring Chess4Life Camps to Hong Kong, with the possibility of a setting up a franchise there someday and asked for interest from the coaches.

 

Thanks to a roommate Jenny and I had, Jenny has a heart for China (LiLi would say a stomach too), so I told Elliott(my boss) that we would be interested in going to do the camp in April. We went and had a great time - and shortly after were offered the chance to return for a year to setup a Chess4Life franchise that would be owned and operated by Active Kids (an after school activities organization in Hong Kong), with School Programs, Center Classes, Private Lessons, Quads, Camps, Tournaments, etc…

After lots of prayer, and consideration, and seeking counsel…I still didn’t want to go.
My heart was in WA. Home to me, Mars Hill-my church, community group-my family. I’m so excited about the work Jesus is doing through Mars Hill-the gospel-people are being saved, lives are being transformed, and Christians are being the church. After more prayer we finally made our decision based on one idea.

I'm reading through the book of Acts, Jesus puts it this way,
“And you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Witness - to stand up and bear testimony of the truth of Jesus. This is what we have been redeemed for, this is what we live for and have been called unto; to show forth Jesus’ death & resurrection, his reconciliation offered freely to the ends of the earth. And we want to consider every door possible where we can be just that. And Hong Kong looks like a great door.

So we started packing up all our stuff into boxes. We left the 26th of August 2009 with lots of help from our friends, some who stored our stuff, Scott & Jill & Elliott, and our good buddy Collin who drove us to the airport. Everything went smoothly. No problems with security. The flight was easy. Customs. Baggage. Taxi. Check-in at the hotel. God was in all of it carrying us along.

So let us stand for you Jesus, in our marriage, in work, in our relationships, in everything we do.