Goodbye

Jen here. Moving is bittersweet. I could feel the end of our time in HK coming to a close...and I was excited and sad. The lasts began happening in June: last Chess classes, last Chess tournament, last youth group meeting...

At our last "Encounter" (youth group meeting) Marcus asked students to share testimonies of God's grace and work in their lives. Students got up and shared for the next 90 minutes! Wow! God is at work in these kids' hearts; they are learning from their leader's, friends and on their own. Praise God! After testimonies, we had a fun dance party. Those who didn't want to dance could play video games, foosball, ping pong, Chess or just chill and chat. Dancing was a blast, everyone having a great time. Another leader and I brought our cameras and let students shoot photos. Enjoy.


During my last week in Hong Kong I hung out with a few of my small group girls from youth. We met in Times Square (not NYC...Hong Kong has a smaller Times Square) where there were tons on Toy Story aliens, and of course we had to take some photos with them! Next we went to get some Bubble Tea, which I've only had a few times. I wanted to have it one last time before moving back to the US. One of my girls taught me how to order my own, so I did and we walked around Causeway Bay, talking and drinking our bubble tea(see photo at top). We found a place to sit down and thought about what was ahead. I was sad to be leaving and the girls were sad to see me leave. One of them kept offering to help me unpack (in HK). :) We cried and prayed together and it was time to head home.

Youth at Church

Jen here. In the middle of December I decided to volunteer in youth ministry at our church. The youth program had recently (I believe) switched to a small-group model, but had many students and few leaders. They cried out to God and asked the church for volunteers and many people stepped up! Praise God! We started newly-made groups in January and have been meeting weekly ever since.

The first student pictured is the photographer. I took my camera to youth one night and she excitedly asked if she could run around and take photos, and I agreed. She loves taking photos...and enjoyed the added element of the on-camera flash and surprising people. She's a bit eccentric and goofy, as you can tell from the photo. She is wonderful and I'm so glad to know her! Enjoy. :)


I'm in a group with high school girls and it's been great. I love getting to know them and seeing their hearts for God. I was there...at all stages of the stages they are at. From not-sure-about-this-Jesus-thing all the way to totally-sure, the girls are a wide range, and I love it. I love them.

Our church is english-speaking, so all our youth are fluent in english, whether their backgrounds are 100% Chinese, 50%Chinese or 0% Chinese. Two of my girls are from the states, with both parents from the USA as well. One girl is all Chinese, but is from New Zealand. Another girl's parents are Chinese, but from Canada (I have met WAY more Canadians here than I ever met while living in the states). One girl's dad is Chinese and mom is American and I believe one of my girls is from Central America (or one of her parents). And my last girl's parents are from Wales, so she speaks with a distinct British accent. :)

Every time we get together, we hang out and eat pizza for the first 30-45 minutes. Then our youth and sometimes youth staff lead us in praising Jesus in song. Loud music, guitars, keyboard, drum set, and great songs. At first I didn't know many of the songs, but now I know them well and they are near and dear to me. I haven't been keeping up with contemporary Christian music recently, but am realizing the songs we sing are new David Crowder Band songs, Chris Tomlin, etc...Sweet! In the photo at right is one of our middle school students chowing down on a piece of pizza and a shy volunteer. :)






We have students age 11 (I believe) to age 18 there for youth on the same evening. After praise, we split up into small groups and head to different areas to study God's word. Each small group is age and gender specific and has about two leaders (my group has three, others may have one, depending on volunteer commitments). In the photo at left are two youth volunteers and one youth staff.

It's a great time and we see God at work in the hearts of these students. Yay!