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NEWS

Each month I will keep a running list of news items, including info on my schedule, etc. It's in order from LATEST entry at the top on down to the OLDEST entry at the bottom. I can't promise how often I'll add things, but I'll try as often as I can.

Here are the "News" archives, feel free to browse them for some interesting tidbits:

***This is the archive of the October 2002 news***

31 October 2002

URGENT: Patricia Butler
My dear friend Patricia Butler (wife of my pastor in the States, Jim Butler) had a heart catheterization yesterday which showed she has 4 blockages in the arteries around her heart. Basically, this is the worst possible news we could have heard, and I'm sure I'm not the only person who is shocked beyond belief. She is having quadruple bypass surgery TODAY (31 October), please pray for her and her family. There are a LOT of people who know and love her, join us in praying God is with her in this. 

Morra
My friend Morra from Xi Lin CPC Church, who was sick a few weeks ago until having surgery, has also heard some bad news. Apparently the tissues they removed are not cancerous but "borderline" -- and so she will be under intense watch the next 12 to 18 months (I'm sure) to see if there is anything happening. The word they used was "abnormal" -- as in, "it's not cancer, but it's abnormal"... We were all so relieved that she felt better after being sick for so long., so again, it's just a shock to us all to suddenly hear this bad news. 

Haley
Haley is another friend from Xi Lin, she also has a horrible case of cancer, with a number of problems in her brain. Last night about 8 of us went to her and her husband Ivan's home in Tuen Mun for a special time of communion and prayer, and to officially transfer Haley and her sister Cindy's memberships to Xi Lin Church. It was a great time, I think we all felt really good about it... but of course Haley is REALLY sick. She is taking chemo now, and just on Tuesday she started to lose her hair (again). This is the second time around for her in the last few months, and it is visibly taking a toll on her and her beautiful little family. Physically, she seems "not so bad" -- though she was almost unrecognizable to me, due the effects of the treatments she is undergoing! Her face and limbs are really swollen and bloated, it's so strange to see her like this. Thank Heaven, she is (so far) suffering no OTHER side effects of the medications/treatments other than the swelling and losing her hair -- these chemicals can beat you up, you know, so it's great she's not suffering as much as some others do in this situation. 

Of course the thing that really tears me up is thinking of her son, who is 6 years old. They said that he knows his mother is sick (how could he not?), but of course he has no understanding of what's really going on. They told him his mother "might be going away sometime," but he's never "lost" anyone close, so that probably means very little to him. Someone commented that this must be one of God's gifts to kids, that they are unable to understand what's happening when things so horrible are taking place all around them... 

What can be going on in his little mind right now? I really think about that...

28 October 2002

No, see... The thing you have to remember is that YOU are the one that's weird...

I mean, I don't care how long you've "lived" in Hong Kong, it doesn't matter what you think you've learned, I'm sure you are being genuine and sincere but the fact remains that YOU are the one that's the outsider. And it doesn't really matter how often you have a warm Hallmark Moment and think, "Wow, I love it here" -- none of that can change the basic fact, which (I will say again) is that YOU are the weird one. 

Of COURSE you will misunderstand stuff, and you will think that when someone says something that they mean one thing when really they mean something totally ELSE. Yeah, listen, it's going to happen, okay? A year is a long time, it really is... but it's not THAT long. I mean, it's not long enough for you to be anything more than the weird guy. 

And of COURSE you will screw up, and you're not gonna always be comfortable, or whatever, when you're around "friends" -- and when you have those moments where you feel like you are the biggest dork in the world, and you realize, in a flash, that, "wow, I have totally screwed up and I don't know ANYTHING like I thought I did" -- when you have that moment (and you WILL!), but when you have that moment, you can do one of two things... You can pout about it, or you can just remember me telling you this and then you can GET ON WITH IT...

YOU ARE THE WEIRD ONE.

And YES, that means that you are alone. Now don't go giving me all that whiney crap about "all alone in a big busy world" -- that's garbage. You have lots of friends... they just aren't your friends like your "old" friends. GEEZ, you've only been here a YEAR, doofus! What makes you think you can waltz in here and be everyone's best friend? Dude, it don't work that way! So lighten up... Yeah, I know you keep thinking about how if you left right now no one would care, how you could catch a bus and go to the airport and fly home and no one would even notice for a few days -- and okay, I admit it, you're probably right. So there. Are you happy? 

But dude, you are letting all this stuff bother you WAY too much. These things take TIME. They do! But I'll tell you ONE thing -- if you just give up and go act like a stupid baby about it then you're DEFINITELY not gonna go anywhere. Period. 

I want you to remember -- YOU are the one that's all messed up here, not everyone else. YOU. But it's not the end of the world...

Actually, it's the beginning...

So just suck it up and get over it, okay?!?

26 October 2002

I had a dream. I had an awesome dream...

It was a simple thing, this dream I had. I only wanted to bring joy to the li'l chillenz of Hong Kong, that's all.

You see, Halloween is a comin', and HK kids don't normally get to celebrate it, with the fun and the candy and the fun and all that. So I only wanted to bring them that joy, the joy of eating some candy for no reason whatsoever. 

Like last year, I spent weeks trying to find an afro wig. FINALLY I found the goods down at the so-called "ladies market" in Kowloon, of course I spent too much because I have ZERO interest in bargaining with people, it's against my department-store-pay-the-price-on-the-sticker culture which has been ingrained into me since birth. But no matter, I got the hair (TWO wigs, by the way), I got the candy and bagged it all up (30 bags, one for each class), and I was set for the ultimate Halloween surprise for our kids:

Dancin' Afro Man!

Yep. I got my Chemical Brothers CD (Dig Your Own Hole) and grabbed a boom box and off I went, with 4 or 5 other teachers in tow as assistants. My friend Flora even donned the dreadlocks wig so nothing was wasted. 

It went GREAT, which is to say that we started a riot in the hallways of the school. No joke. A RIOT, I tell you. I mean, 4th grade kids are just way too hyper anyway, they have all this energy and no concept of controlling it, (maybe they CAN'T control it, I don't know), but wow, I'm telling you they went nuts. In fact, they ripped the dreadlocks wig that Flora was wearing into pieces. (I was pretty P.O.'d about that for a while, though the thought of having started a riot in the school did bring me some relief).

ANYWAY, so here we are, just days from Halloween 2002, and I had a dream... an AWESOME dream... I wanted for next Wednesday and Thursday (the 30th and 31st) to set up some games down on the playground for the kids during recess. The beauty of it is that it is their "mid-term" exam week, so I'm not teaching and have more time, PLUS it would give them a GREAT break from their tests to come down and play some games and get some treats during recess.

But they have vetoed it. 

Okay, well, I don't mind them saying, "no" -- it BUGS me, yes, but I don't mind it.... IF THEY HAD A DECENT REASON, that is...

But do you know the reason?!?

"Well, they are taking tests, and what if they come down to recess, play a game, and get so excited that they forget all the stuff they learned? Then they would get a zero on their exam and fail!"

Pardon me, I know this is a cultural difference I'm running up against, because obviously we don't give a banana about "tests" in the U.S., it's more about "what do you really know" instead of "can you cram stuff in your head and puke it out." 

But it seems to me that if these kids' grasp of the material is so tenuous that playing a game where they throw a beanbag into a jack-o-lantern for ten minutes makes them forget everything and get a zero on their test, then I think we need to back up and rethink things a little, mister...

Okay, so whatever, if I sound bugged it's because I am. But no matter, it's the kids that lose, not me, I guess. 

I just wanted to bring them some joy... (sniff)... that's all... (sniff)...

Little Rabbits Revisited
You remember our singing group the Little Rabbits? Well, I've been hard at work on their new project, which is to sing an English folk song with CD accompaniment for a competition in mid-November. 

The song is called "Carry On Till Tomorrow" and I doubt I've ever heard it though it's probably really famous. But I've spent like 15 hours this week trying to get it together, and I mean I just spent 4 hours this morning (from 9am to 1)!

I've got to get the main thing done by Monday morning so the next 36 hours will be a manic rush on my part, I doubt I'll get much sleep the next two nights!

But it's coming together nicely, and I'll post an .mp3 when I get something more like the finished project ready for you to hear...

24 October 2002

Three ministers -- a Presbyterian, a Methodist, and a Southern Baptist -- and their wives were on a cruise. A tidal wave came up and swamped the ship. They all drowned, and next thing you know, they're standing before St. Peter.

First in line was the Presbyterian and his wife. St. Peter shook his head sadly and said, "I can't let you in. You were moral and upright, but you loved money too much. You loved it so much, you even married a woman named Penny." St. Peter waved sadly, and -- poof! -- down the chute to the 'Other Place' they went.

Then came the Methodist. "Sorry, can't let you in either," said Saint Peter. "You abstained from liquor and dancing and cards, but you loved food too much. You loved food so much, you even married a woman named Candy!" Sadly, St. Peter waved again, and -- whang! -- down the chute went the Methodists.

The Southern Baptist turned to his wife, and whispered nervously, "This doesn't look good, Fanny"...

(I know that's an old one, but it still made me laugh pretty hard -- thanks Irene)...

23 October 2002

THANK HEAVENS, it is finally turning a little cooler here. I am terribly relieved. But it's SOOoooo funny because everyone at school tells me how "strong" I am. I'll bet I had 4 or 5 people today tell me, "Grenn, you are so STRONG!" -- what they mean is that they can't believe I'm standing there in the "freezing" cold (about 55 degrees) in a short-sleeve shirt. This isn't new to me, it happened all last year, too, there's just something in HK culture that if you "go around with not enough clothes on," then they think, "wow, he's strong."

Here's the interesting part of this, though, and see if you can catch what I'm saying. You see, I suppose it's natural for me, as an American guy, to sort of think that it sounds like a compliment for someone to tell me, "you're strong"... I mean, it's like, "Oh, me?!? I'm not THAT strong, (blush)"... But on the other hand, I also can't help but wonder if it's their way of saying, "Dude, you are totally WHACK." You know?

I mean, it's like what if a guy came from some country where really TALL people were the coolest people, okay? And so this guy comes and he's TOTALLY huge, like 7-foot-4-inches, and so people go around saying, "Man, you are really TALL!! Look at that guy!!" and they mean it as a sort of insult (like, "Geez, dude, are you some kind of FREAK?!? You look ridiculous!!")... But the guy, see, he actually takes it as a sort of COMPLIMENT, he never "gets" that they mean it simply as an expression of fascination, like what you'd feel seeing a side-show freak at the grocery buying Pop Tarts... 

Whatever, you see what I mean, so the POINT is that I don't care, Hong Kong!! You can call me a "strong man" all you want!!! I'm still gonna go around in a short-sleeve shirt!!!

The Revolutionary Epic
I saw a video box in our computer room at school today, and it caught my eye. It's for a film called "The Revolutionary Epic" which is about the life of Jesus. Now I've never heard of this film, it may be GREAT; but the photos on the box look like one of the B-movie versions of "The Jesus Film," if you can imagine what I mean. It's like the Jesus in the photo looks like he was cast straight from an audition off the streets of San Francisco in 1974. 

Anyway, what REALLY caught my eye was the promotional blurb on the back of the box, which (besides the title) was about the only thing in English on the box. There's just something about the translation from Chinese to English that TOTALLY cracks me up:

 I especially love the second line, it's like asking, "Is Homer Simpson a fictional character, or is he a real cartoon?!?"

Benjamin Hayes
I got an "update" on Benjamin today from his mom (my friend, Michele). Benjamin, who is the little brother of my godson Peter, was born premature and has been through "little guy hell" since Day One. 

Michele explains that Ben has (among other problems) a condition called nephrocalsinosis, which is like tiny little kidney stones (and which, I'm quite sure, is NOT to be confused with Simple Chronic Halitosis). So the deal with these stones is that a little kid can't "pass" them, so they always have these little spots where the kidneys just don't work -- and that ain't good. Part of the problem is that he has to take this medicine for his breathing, and it's this medicine which makes the nephrosnuffeluhpigus (or whatever it's called) worse. It sounds stupid for his "medicine" for one thing to cause other problems, but like Ben's pulminologist said, "Ya gotta breathe." 

More true words I've seldom heard, indeed...

Patricia Butler
My dear friend Patricia sent me an e-mail today that said her procedure on the blood clot in her arm was successful. She still has more serious tests coming up to find out what caused the clot in the first place, but we are ALL thankful she is fine for now. If you've got a mind, to, then please pray for her as there is still more to find out before the "all-clear" can be sounded.

20 October 2002

Thank heavens that room we met in was air conditioned, because it was VERY hot today. I mean, it felt like it was about as hot as it gets in HK -- and it's October 20th!! I was absolutely, completely, totally SOAKED it was so hot. They all thought it was mildly funny how I looked (which was "like someone who has just jumped into a swimming pool with your clothes on"), but I wasn't laughing -- geez, when will Glenn finally be comfortable in HK weather again? 

(answer: not until December)...

Anyway, I played soccer today with some of the guys for about 45 minutes, maybe an hour, and it was just about the most fun I've had for a while. I really, really, REALLY loved it. It just felt great to get out there and run around and play. I've actually only played soccer for like 2 times in my LIFE, once when I first came to HK last August, and then TODAY. Now I'm not suffering from any delusions, (like maybe I got so hot this afternoon that I'm hallucinating or something), but I'm not as bad as I ought to be at soccer. What I mean is, on PAPER I ought to be the biggest loser in the world at soccer, it's totally not a game I ever played as a kid, and now here I am 35 years old, fat and out of shape -- but geez, I can still run around okay, you know? Like I'm no Pele or whatever, I have no "skills" at all, but still, I'm not in the least bit embarrassed by my own playing, and that says a LOT... So whatever, I had a great time and I wonder if we shouldn't try to just do that more often?!? I'd go for it...

Haley
I would like to "update" you a bit on our friend, Haley, who is suffering from the tumors in her brain (read more in my posting below from 13 October). Our small group went out to visit with her yesterday, and they brought me a report this morning.

(I was supposed to go visit her also, but I had totally forgotten about a conflicting meeting I had out at the Australian International School in Kowloon Tong -- a meeting which I had already cancelled once before -- I'll tell more about that situation some time later).

Anyway, Haley had her first treatment and they felt that things almost immediately showed improvement, at least in terms of her memory loss and such. HOWEVER, when the group went to visit yesterday they said it was really clear that Haley's physical situation is deteriorating frighteningly fast. She is very tired and weak, and is having significant coordination problems. They mentioned that she was talking on her mobile phone and couldn't even make her arm hold the phone up to her ear... she also couldn't put on her jacket/sweater. 

So things are NOT GOOD, and I'm telling you it just breaks my heart. I am still praying for a miracle, and ask you to do the same, but I fear that we should be preparing for the worst in case God chooses not to heal her miraculously.

Patricia Butler
I also ask you to remember my good friend Patricia, she is Rev. Jim Butler's wife (he's my pastor in the States), and I just love her to death.

Well, she went in the hospital with a blood clot in her arm, and tomorrow (the 21st) she will have some mumbo-jumbo thing done which in laymen's terms is called a "clot-busting" procedure. She has e-mailed me that it is "generally successful but high-risk" -- reading that REALLY makes me nervous, so I really want to axe you to pray for her and for Jim as well as their kids Evan and Rhonda.

Jim Webb
Another dear person from my life, Jim Webb, died today. Jim was one of those guys that I couldn't help but love. He was quiet, but when he spoke he revealed a gentle-but-sharp-witted character who had seen the world and really was the wiser for it. 

Jim has been sick for a while, but that doesn't make it any easier, you all know that. Please pray for his wife Charlene and their daughter Debbie, who was one of the people who really invested in my life when I was younger. Debbie taught me and my sister piano lessons and she taught our Sunday school classes and geez, she was our "youth director" at times... It seems like "Debbie Webb" was famous in our house -- and it's TRUE! She's only a few years older than me, but geez, it's like she was always taking us kids from church somewhere or otherwise loving on us. So pray for them in this time of loss...

Elias Nollola
Finally, I mention a prayer request from my friend Irene Sanchez, in Phoenix, AZ. Her nephew Elias Nollola (a senior in high school) has a broken vertebrate/herniated disk in his lower back, and will have major surgery on it tomorrow, 21st October. I don't think I've ever met Elias but I know his brother Ben, and I have known Irene and her kids for DECADES (well, okay, quantity ONE decade, but still)... They are a lovely and loving family, as humble and down-to-earth as any I've ever known, and these kids are so sweet it kills me, I just love them (hey Johnny and Liz!!). So if you think about it, pray for ole Elias, too, will you? 

15 October 2002

First, a few "Madelyne" (my niece) tidbits today:

She is 24 inches tall and is therefore taller than 9 out of 10 babies at 2 months of age. However, the doctor was quick to point out that based on my sister and her husband's heights, this kid will probably not even make it to 5'10"... (Okay, so can I return this basketball jersey I just bought her?)...

Oh, and she weighs 11 pounds, 8 ounces. 

She is also already sleeping through the night if they can get her fed and "put down" at the right time -- so that's cool. 

Now, I can say that I've seen more photos of her recently, my cousin Linda e-mailed me some images from her digital camera (thanks!), but I can't access graphics from here at home, and so those photos are still on the computers at school. 

But if you're like ME and want to see this kid, then try her webpage: [ HERE ] 

14 October 2002

Today (Monday) is a holiday (yeah, baby!). Now, you may think this is crazy but I don't actually know what the holiday is, duh, but I'm pretty sure it's the "Double Ninth" Festival, which is the 9th day of the 9th lunar month. A book I have says it's supposed to kind of be a day to "prepare for winter" -- breaking out the winter clothes and stuff, and also burning paper "clothes" for the dead so that they have something warm to "wear" in the afterlife. It's one of the two times a year when people will visit the graves of their ancestors to "tidy things up" and just generally pay them respects. But in practical terms it seems to just mean it's a day when people go hiking or have a picnic or barbeque, which is another Chinese tradition associated with this holiday. 

For ME, it means sitting at home and working on the computer, and maybe going to Outback Steakhouse for supper (if I feel rich enough, not sure, I'll have to check my wallet here in a minute).

Born to Be Hume
I have completely been remiss in not announcing that my friends John Hume and his wife Paige had a son last week! John Kelley Hume (to be called Kelley) was born on October 8th at 1:18am. He was 8 pounds 2 ounces, and was 21 inches long at birth, no doubt he is twice that now, the way kids grow. 

I was in John and Paige's wedding, so they REALLY hold a special place in my heart, though I've been unable to stay in close touch with them in recent years. John and Paige already have a son named Cameron (who I've only met once, I'm sorry to say).

Now, an interesting note is that John is a pastor at a church in Illinois, and a few weeks ago we made an arrangement for him to call me on the speakerphone when his youth group was there. They had been praying for me and for the school, and John had this CRAZY idea to do the speakerphone thing -- and I felt "game" so we did it! It was really cool, though I admit I felt like a total and complete BUTT afterwards. You know, it's because I wanted to be all cool and deep and spiritual and say something profound to the kids in his youth group but really I just sat there and acted like a dork. 

But if YOU or someone you know might be interested in doing something like this, let's TRY IT, it might be cool. We were trying to just sort of put a "voice" to the prayer request, you know? It's like they had been praying for missionaries and then for ME, and John just saw this as a cool way to make it all seem more down to earth and REAL to the kids in his youth group.

SO COME ON, call me! It would be cool with me and it might help get your kids really interested in praying for our school here in HK, and maybe even thinking about how ,"Hey, he's just a dweeb, maybe I could do that!" 

Quality Check
Here are the facts, okay? My friend Bobby Smith and his wife Denise have two adorable girls, Audrey and Lauren, who mean the WORLD to me (actually, I'm quite sure I can't possibly express in words what those little girls mean to me). 

Bobby was laid off from his job (where he was making the company oodles of cash -- their loss!) a few months ago. It was one of those really stupid/gross lay-offs where the company lays everyone off but doesn't tell them until about 4 months later, when they finally come clean and say, "Sorry to bother you, but remember when we were saying we would pay you all the back wages we owed you?"... (This company went from literally HUNDREDS of employees in a massive office complex to 12 people in one week, if that tells you anything).

But instead of being bitter that he just wasted 4 months working for "free" for a company that lied to him and his coworkers, Bobby has started a new company with a partner, and they are calling it Quality Check. 

Now I can tell you one thing that I know -- these guys will get the job done. They specialize in consulting doing audits of computer and telecommunications systems, and they come prepared. They've already been getting some great work and I know Bobby's been traveling all over doing small projects and generally digging up business. "Hoofin' it" is the technical term, I believe.

Problem is, they didn't get much of a head start on getting this thing going, and they are still looking for those big projects and/or investors that can really kick-start this thing. 

Okay, so maybe I'm not telling all this right, but the bottom line is that money is really tight in the Smith household. Well, like more than that -- basically, God is providing the bare necessities but little else, and it's really trying their faith. 

So I want to axe you two things, dearheart:

1) Please pray for Bobby and Denise that they would have faith through this difficult time financially. They feel they are doing what God wants them to do but I know myself that sometimes when you do EXACTLY what you think God is telling you, STILL things seem to go just NUTS for no reason, and it's REALLY hard to stand firm when that happens, and to just trust. So pray that they can do that -- stand firm and TRUST in God, "whose gold and silver it is"... 

2) If you can think of any place, either at your own company or maybe your spouse's place of employment or maybe you have a friend who works at a company, or whatever -- if you can think of ANY place that could use some top-notch telecommunications consultants, PLEASE E-MAIL ME at right away. These guys are the BOMB, I'm telling you they used to find MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in savings for major corporations that are HOUSEHOLD NAMES. I'm serious, they worked for a bank, to just give one example, and found out they were being charged like MILLIONS more per month for their telecommunications services than they should have been. I mean to say that they were able to save their clients MAJOR cash by finding all these phone lines that the company was paying for every month and the phones didn't even exist. Or computer network lines that were being charged for when they weren't even plugged in! So this is not a joke or some light-weight crew, these guys bring big-time corporate experience and expertise to bear against any project, but they just need a break. THINK ABOUT IT, maybe you know someone who can use these guys' services and you don't even realize it... 

13 October 2002

Sorry I've been so "casual" about keeping this news page updated this month. As I said before (see below) I'm really quite busy and just have not found enough time to keep on top of things like I would prefer.

It has gotten hotter again (boo, hiss), so that is just total garbage. I'm not happy about that at all. Glad it's not raining, yes, but having four wonderfully comfortable days earlier this week was like a horrible TEASE.

But I've had a fun few days here -- on Friday night a couple of teachers along with a couple of girls from the school front office went for a HK-style BBQ and it was a BLAST. Man, it's such a mess and basically you just sit and eat cooked meat for like 3 hours, no vegetables, no bread, no chips, NOTHING BUT MEAT, DUDE... but I really do love it, especially when the weather is starting to cool down, it's so much fun! 

Then yesterday I went to Sheung Shui to join a Boys Brigade trip for hiking in the Tai Po Nature Reserve. Boys Brigade is basically like the "Christian" version of Boy Scouts -- BUT BOYS BRIGADE CAME FIRST!!! At least that's what they tell me, that the founder of the Boy Scouts actually got the idea from Boys Brigade but thought it was too "exclusive" to just be about Jesus, I guess he couldn't stand the thought of all those atheists not knowing how to tie a knot. Anyway, we went for a GREAT 2-hour hike, and I had a nice LOOOooong talk with Pastor William Yeung, who is, in my mind, at least, my pastor in Hong Kong (and a good friend). (By the way, I think there were more girls than boys in the Boys Brigade!).

Okay, then last night I joined my friends Barry, Thomas, Michael, and Sing-Sing from the fellowship at the Shatin CP Church to go out to Sai Kung for dinner. Sai Kung is where I went earlier this year for squid fishing, if you remember me talking about that a few months ago, and it is really THE famous place for people to go for seafood in HK. But what's funny is that we went all the way out there -- it's a pretty remote place -- and then didn't eat seafood, but went to a Thai restaurant instead. No matter, IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST MEALS I'VE HAD IN HONG KONG, and that's saying a LOT. I guess maybe I was just really hungry from hiking all afternoon, but DANG that stuff sure tasted good! If you come to visit me I'll take you to this restaurant, don't worry, it's now on my top list of places to check out in HK...

Today I was off to Xi Lin Church as usual, and then, after lunch at a Shanghai-style restaurant, I tried (!) to lead a Bible study in our small group until about 3:45pm, after which I darted off down to Tsim Sha Tsui to take care of some business that's been "bothering" me for a week or so (I still didn't get anything resolved, so I got kind of ticked about that -- "customer service" still isn't the same here as in the States, my friend)... 

So even in my time off I've done nothing but RUN!

Prayer Requests for Jesus People to remember:
1) I saw and spoke to my friend Morra today at church, she goes to the Xi Lin CP Church which I usually attend on Sunday mornings. She told us how happy and grateful she is to finally be healed after her surgery. She had been "mysteriously" ill for months, if I understand correctly, and had been seeing all kinds of specialists, both Chinese and Western, with no results. But the "emergency" situation she had a few weeks ago helped the doctors focus in on the problem and her surgery seems to have fixed it all up. She is still weak and tires easily, but we are hoping that is just temporary. PRAY FOR HER.

2) Next I'll talk about our friend Haley, also from the Xi Lin Church. When first diagnosed with cancer, she was told (as I understand it) that she had about 3 months to live. Well, that was about a year ago, and as of about 1 or 2 months ago we felt (per the doctors' diagnosis) that things were really clearing up -- her cancer was at least in remission, and it was just a brighter outlook all around. We have been COVERING Haley with prayer this whole time, as the whole church has just really fasted and prayed for her healing like nothing I've ever seen. So hearing that things were better made us all feel like our prayers for her were really being answered.

But recently Haley started experiencing some coordination problems, and was being more forgetful than usual, this type of thing -- and a trip to a private hospital for extensive tests confirmed that the cancer has really spread inside her brain. 

WE ARE ALL HEARTBROKEN. 

Of course we are hoping for a miracle -- still it is possible. We are still praying for it! But already she is having trouble just taking care of herself, forgetting what medicines to take, and even how to turn on the hot water in her kitchen, that sort of thing. I don't tell you those grim details to satiate your morbid curiosity, it's because I want you to imagine the beautiful mother of an 6-year-old kid losing her ability to function, and I want that to fill you with enough compassion that you'll remember to pray for her and her family.

She was supposed to come to Xi Lin today to officially transfer her membership to that church, but she was just too tired and felt too sick to make it -- which I think just took even more wind out of our sails... But, on the "brighter" side, it seems she has more peace about the situation this time around, and perhaps God just gave her this extra time so that her husband and family (and us, too) could come to terms with what might happen... ?

We will be going to visit her, God willing, in a few days. We obviously feel some urgency about the matter since we honestly don't know how much longer she will be able to "receive" us. But we also desire greatly to be sensitive to her husband, who is not a believer. So pray for Haley and her family, and also pray for us that we can know the BEST way to serve and comfort them.

3) I also received news that my DEAR friend Patricia Butler (wife of Rev. Jim Butler, my pastor from Louisville Hillview CP Church) has been in the hospital with a blood clot in her arm. They just e-mailed me that she is stable but still dealing with the problem. Obviously pray for her but also pray for Jim and the kids (Evan and Rhonda) who may suffer total collapse without her there to keep them in line!! (ha ha, just kidding)... 

4) More sad news is that a fellow named Brian Vincent from Forest Park Church (the OTHER church I have been involved with in the States) was killed in an automobile accident. He leaves behind a wife, two sons and a daughter. 

5) The last news is that another friend/acquaintance from Forest Park Church named Tony Benson is suffering from a brain tumor. This is a young guy who really has poured his heart into the Portland area of Louisville, and I've been told his connection with the kids there (at the center where he works) is really something special. But he's been suffering horribly recently, with extreme seizures wracking his body for hours (HOURS!) at a time. The outlook is not good, but we're all still praying that he will be healed and be able to return to his work some day. PRAY FOR HIM and of course his family.

7 October 2002

Today was the first COOL day of this school year. Unfortunately I don't mean "cool" like Fonzie, but cool like Alaska, as in temperature (actually, I hear Alaska is cool like Fonzie, too -- but you know what I'm saying).

You just have no idea what it's like to be so hot. I have told a few people this, and I'll say it here now, and I'm sure I'll say it again later -- it is so hot here that I literally bring like 6 or 7 shirts to school. This is not a joke. I wear a t-shirt to walk there, and by the time I'm there I'm dripping wet (it's a 15 minute walk). So right off I change to my undershirt and dress shirt for school. Then, by the time I've taught a few classes, maybe 2 in the morning session, I am soaking wet again, so I change the undershirt to a fresh dry one and put my dress shirt back on (even though it's usually WET). Okay, so that's like 4 shirts there. THEN, after school, if I go ANYWHERE at all other than home, I HAVE to have another fresh t-shirt to wear -- but if I'm going somewhere NICE after school and need another dress shirt then you're talking about another undershirt and dress shirt, which would be 6 shirts and counting... And then there's another "super double secret" extra t-shirt that I ALWAYS carry with me for those "emergency" I-can't-look-like-I've-been-sweating-like-a-pig situations. So YES, I carry 6 or 7 shirts to school EVERY DAY -- it's THAT hot to me.

So to be able to be even REMOTELY comfortable at school is beyond great, you just have to try and understand that. I mean, it's been so nice that last night I didn't even use the air conditioner -- THAT's progress. I doubt it will be as nice tomorrow, probably back to hot and wet, but I can dream, can't I?

My friend Morra is fine after her surgery, in fact she was supposed to go back to work today. It's a great relief for her to finally be getting healed after several months of illness, so we are thankful for that and they told me she is feeling much better (I haven't spoken to her since her surgery, unfortunately).

My friend David Eason left for the U.K. today for about 3 or maybe 4 months. Now is not the time to tell you a lot about David, but the fact is that he is one of my closest friends here in HK, owing to the fact that he's pretty much the ONLY Christian westerner that I see regularly (actually, other than Carolyne, the new British English teacher who comes to our school a few hours a week, he's the only westerner that I talk to PERIOD). He and his wife Dr. Celeste Yuen (who is pregnant with their first child) attend the Xi Lin CP Church where I go on Sundays, and they are both graduates of Seminary in the U.K. (she is Chinese, he's British, if you didn't catch that). Her English is perfect, and she translates the Sunday services for me and David (okay, she does it for DAVID and I just mooch off the translation she does for him). Anyway, he is working on his doctorate, and left today for an extended period of work and study, and Celeste will likely follow him to the U.K. where their kid will be born, probably in December, if I've got all that right. 

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I am REALLY going to miss David. He's a committed man of God and there ain't too many people I'd say that about. He thinks very seriously and deeply about the things of God, and he is EXACTLY the kind of person I like to be around. I might even say I went to seminary a few years ago thinking (hoping?) that I'd be spending my time with people like David with whom I could just sit and talk about God and history and the Bible and the Holy Spirit, and all that... (I didn't get that at seminary, by the way). David also happens to be pretty darn funny, which is another reason I'll miss him. He's the only guy I can get together with here and really laugh hard. 

Okay, so my point is to pray for HIM, and also for Celeste and the baby... and then take note that I'm REALLY Mr. Lonely guy now (ha ha)...

(just kidding)...

(mostly)... 

5 October 2002

I have had trouble connecting and updating the site the last few weeks, but all the time I was unable to update what you see here, I was still adding some things to the news, etc. If you care, you can check out "old" news from the August/September 2002 Archive above. 

Shatin Summer English Class of 2002
I have been WAY remiss in getting this up on the site, but I've FINALLY put up the photos from the summer English class I taught at the Shatin CPC Church. If you're interested check out the page and photos. And if you are a Jesus person then please PRAY for our students -- they had a lot of fun and several of the summer program kids have expressed a strong interest in being involved with other activities of the church. The link to the page is [ HERE ].

Too Busy
Man, I've been really busy these last few weeks, and things are only going to get REALLY worse in the near future. 

First, I teach 27 classes a week, which is to about 700 students -- EVERY WEEK. I could stop right there and it would be too much, but that's not all... 

We have started a new music project, similar to our Little Rabbits CD from last year, where I have to record the backing tracks for some singers. Except THIS time we're doing Christmas music. Like I was telling my friend via e-mail, you have NO IDEA how weird it is to be listening to all these old recordings of Christmas music here in September and October! Really... I've been heavy into Perry Como's O Holy Night, Andy Williams' White Christmas, and Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song -- and like I told my friend, the REALLY freaky thing is that it is putting me into a Christmas mood! I guess you can't help it when you are listening to all this music. Anyway, we will be trying to teach a group of 15 kids from 3rd and 4th grades these Christmas songs, and then (we hope) we will be performing out in the community. We want to spread the word that good things can happen at CPC Yao Dao School!

Then we also are entering a group of singers into an English folk song competition, where -- again -- I will record a backing track for some of our students to sing a folk song in English. I don't know much about this project yet, except that when we finally find out what song they will do I won't have much time to complete the music!

Additionally, we are going to be making a CD of the school's theme song. This song is in Chinese, of course, but like the other projects I will be arranging and providing the backing tracks (so I've been told) which we will then use to record the vocals at a professional studio downtown.

On top of all that we have over 60 kids who will be taking part in the HUGE and important HK English Speech Competition this fall -- and guess who has to help them all?!? Me... Well, I have to be honest, actually each kid (or group of kids -- some are entering the "choral speaking" competition) is being mostly tutored by their normal English teacher -- but still I have to give a hand. I spent about 3 hours on Thursday just making recordings of all the poems and burning CD copies and making cassette dubs for the teachers to use for reference. Now I have to try and find the time to meet with all these kids at least once to check on their pronunciation and presentation, etc. It should be wild.

OH, and I start my "English Corner" sessions this week, which means that for 6 of the 10 recess periods during the week I will have a story-telling time and, well, actually I don't know what else. But SOMETHING. I wanted this to be a chance to tell Bible stories and the like, but I'm not sure that will work out, in fact NOTHING about this little duty has worked out yet to my liking, so I'm kind of bummed about it. They basically are just giving me a corner of the playground, I can't imagine I will be able to "teach" anything with 1000 kids running around screaming all around the spot I'm trying to work. But whatever, we'll see, right?

The Devil In The Gap
I don't know where I saw this quote, exactly, but it was from some protesters somewhere, I think in Washington, D.C. Basically I copied it down from some news report and now I can't remember exactly the details. But at any rate, the article was explaining how at least SOME of the protesters were singling out the Gap clothing stores as particularly evil institutions:

"There are injustices going on all around the world, and the Gap and the IMF and the World Bank are all a part of it," said Anna Gennari, 21, from St. Louis. "It would be worth getting arrested if the message came across."

Would it, Anna? ... WOULD it?!?

My only "complaint" to Anna and her cohorts is that they are only focusing on the Gap, and that they have NOT mentioned some of the other Multinational Corporate People Killers, like Baskin Robbins and The John Denver Fan Club. 

C'mon, Anna, what's the matter? Are you ... (gulp) ... ONE OF THEM?!?!?

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