My Update Letter

Hey Everyone!
Pasted below is my Update Letter that I just wrote. If you want to be put on my mailing list, leave me a comment w/ your e-mail or get it to me some other way!

Dear Family, Friends, and Supporters: December 2006

Merry Christmas! The advent season has officially begun. Hong Kong is in full swing and has pulled out all the stops for Christmas. Every mall (which is about every 5 miles), every train station, and every street is decorated in winter and Christmas gear. It makes quite a festive atmosphere and it’s pretty impressive for a place where most people actually don’t believe in or celebrate Christmas.

I have officially been away from home over three months now, and what a time it has been. I am sorry that I haven’t been consistent with these update letters. I promise to be better at keeping everyone posted. So much has happened that I don’t really know where to start.

September was really just a month full of new things and introductions. I was introduced into the country, life here, the church, the youth ministry, and into this new season of my life. October was more of a jumping in and learning from experiences and making mistakes. I learned so much about being a leader and stepping out. Not to say that I’m not still being introduced to new things, making mistakes, or learning about leadership, I definitely am, and it would be dumb to only categorize those things by month. I will be doing these things until I leave Hong Kong, and after as well.

A lot of October was planning and preparing for two youth conferences, Love Actually, held over Halloween weekend, and Sanctuary, in the first weekend of November. Love Actually is an annual purity conference, focusing on living a pure life--sexually and spiritually--in a world that doesn’t foster or encourage those things. This was my first experience in helping to plan a large event and having responsibilities in it. I was able to have my first teaching experience. Thankfully, it was more of a group discussion with the girls. The other female leaders would interject as well and help the girls to carry the thoughts through. It was so good to have that support! I only thought it had gone OK, and was so encouraged afterward when two of the girls came up to me and told me it was exactly what they had needed to hear. Proof that God is still working, and amazingly, using me! I had my first cabin of girls, and kept an eye on a few other girls’ cabins as well. It was really good to get to know girls from all over the area, and get to know one of my girls a lot better too. I think the kids thought and learned about some important subjects, and hopefully had a great time too!

November started off with the Sanctuary Conference. Pastor Mike went to the states for a youth pastors’ convention. It was good for him to get away for a little bit, and it was good for me to experience the ministry without depending on him. Believe me, I was scared out of my mind. But thankfully, I didn’t sink the ministry, wreck any kids’ spiritual lives, and the world didn’t fall apart. (Silly me, thinking that I could actually have the power to do any of those things.) I learned how to do some valuable things, like making decisions and not doubting them, and know where and when to ask for help.

The second week in November, Mike and I helped out at a middle school camp for three days. Our church is closely associated with Christian Alliance Int’l School (CAIS), and we help them with some events. Middle School camp was one of them. It was at a beautiful camp in Sai Kung National Park. It was one of the most beautiful places I have seen in Hong Kong so far. I learned a lot about middle schoolers that week, and I think learning the differences between the age groups and how they relate to each other and me is a valuable thing to learn in youth ministry.

Over Thanksgiving I had a wonderful opportunity to go to Bangkok, Thailand. The Intercultural Studies Majors (my major) from Northwestern are doing there internship, which is a two month missions trip all over Asia, and were in Bangkok over Thanksgiving. If I wasn’t doing this internship, I would be on that trip. My advising professor also happens to be on that trip, and he invited me to spend a few days over Thanksgiving with them. That was a great short holiday to reconnect with my advisor and discuss the ministry and life in Hong Kong with him, to see old friends from NWC, and to spend Thanksgiving with some familiar faces. November was a month of settling into life and more new experiences. Toward the end of November, I felt maybe a little too settled in, and I started feeling a little “blah” about life.

December has started off very well, and I have gotten a new sense of joy and excitement for life and for the ministry. I can honestly say that I am looking forward to the next six months, and I don’t want them to go by quickly! As I flew in from Bangkok, I looked over Hong Kong and felt happy to be back. It’s always a good thing when you are excited to come back to a place. This is exactly where I know where I should be, and exactly where I want to be. I have been thinking for the last three months about Christ’s sufficiency for me. It has been an ongoing process, with many questions, frustrations, and also encouragements and hope. As I continue to learn about this, I have been actually struck with a new revelation about it just tonight. While sometimes I want a girl to just watch a chick flick with me =), Christ is so much more sufficient for me and His love is so arching over all the small petty things. He has also blessed me by showing this love through people. I have been blessed so much by getting to know Melissa better. She is such a Godly woman and always gentle and encouraging, and I love hanging out with her. Mike has been a constant source of encouragement and wisdom. They always welcome me into their flat, and I have become sort of an extension of their family. Little Isabella is growing so fast, and I am happy to report that she now loves me! It is such a warm feeling to see a little blond kid holding her arms out to you or opening her mouth to give a sloppy, wet kiss! Another one of those blessings comes in the form of the Enns family. They are the family that I have been living with since September. They have been so gracious, hospitable, generous, and kind to me. They have made me so welcome, and have truly been God’s love in the form of a family to me. No one could ever take the place of my family, but I have been blessed with this temporary family while I am away from mine.

In the last month and a half I have really seen my relationships with the kids growing. I have been able to get to know some of the girls so much better, and I love them so much! One thing that I am really excited about, and that you can be praying for, is a girl’s Bible study that I am about to start. Mike leads one with a few of the boys, and I am supposed to start one at some point in the year, once my relationships with the girls has grown. But last night, one of the girls came up to me and asked if we were going to have one. So that will start after Christmas. I am so excited to lead a group of girls and get to know one another better as we seek God together. I seriously have the best “job” in the world right now!

Before I end this letter, I have a few prayer requests that you can pray for:

*The Girl’s Bible Study that I am going to start.

*Pastor Mike-he is really sick, and has been ill for about a month now, pray also that Melissa and Isabella will stay healthy.

*I have quite a few papers that I have to write for school, that I will be able to get them done by the end of the semester.

*I will be starting Distance Education courses through Northwestern online next semester, pray that I will be able to balance and manage my time well.

*Wisdom and discernment as I continue to grow and learn.

*I am starting a new approach to leading the youth worship team, pray that I will know how to lead that well.

*My relationships with the students and that they would continue to grow.

Thank you so much for all your support, prayers, and love!

In Christ,

Hannah