I have given the website a reasonably major reboot. Hopefully it should be more user-friendly now. I have added several pages including one to sign up for our regular email-updates. I’ll fill you in on some of the updates over the next few posts.
Zac in Domino TV commercial
I have now arrived in NZ and spent a day in Christchurch. In between leaving Hong Kong and arriving in New Zealand I have taken three flights (on three different airlines) and spent six hours on a train. I stopped for a night in Melbourne to see my grandfather who lives a three hour train ride west of Melbourne. It was good to see him and his wife. He has been a very successful sheep breeder with some unorthodox ideas, and it was really interesting hearing him talk about his experiences and ideas. It was especially good because it has been seven years since I last saw him.
Here in Christchurch I spent a day at Christchurch Chinese Church and really enjoyed spending time with the people there. They were really friendly and welcoming.
I am staying with the Robsons – who have been friends of mine since I was a student.
Last month we were filmed for TVB’s Sunday Report. They were doing a documentary on children’s sleep routines and found out that our children go to bed at around 8pm and wanted to spotlight our family as an example of one where children go to bed early, because in Hong Kong most primary school aged children go to bed after 10pm, or even as late as midnight!
It was a bit of a buzz for us to be on TV, especially for the kids – they loved seeing themselves on TV, and it was cool that we got to share a bit about our family and why we do what we do with Hong Kong. Apparently they have over a million viewers for that show!
In the week since we have been recognized by a few people in the wet market and on campus, which has been a little weird .But it has also been a good way to start conversations with people.
Yesterday six students and a teacher were killed while canyoning down a river in the central North Island. One of the students was the daughter of the directors of the New Zealand Family Life ministry – Andy and Nikki Bray. When I heard about the tragedy I was reminded how we need to treasure every moment we have with our children. With that in mind it was encouraging to see his response on the nzherald website. Obviously they are dealing with profound grief but I was glad that they could say that they had no regrets. I hope that I can live in such a way that I could also say the same thing if something like that were to happen to our family.
Most of you know that Zac learnt Kung Fu when he was in New Zealand. Well, he has continued to learn here in Hong Kong, but he is learning a different style now. Earlier this year he got a chance to participate in a competition held by one of the local TV stations to imitate a famous person. Zac was chosen to imitate Bruce Lee. Here’s what he did:
He also had a second talent performance where he did one of the routines he learnt at his Kung Fu class here in Hong Kong
It has been a pretty busy month with students finishing their lectures and starting exams. Last week we had a farewell dinner for all the international students at Chinese University before they head back to their home countries. It will be sad to see them go. But it will be encouraging to hear how God uses them in the next chapter of their lives.
We have two staff conferences coming up in the next two weeks here in Hong Kong. The first one is for all the Hong Kong staff and the second one is for the Campus ministry staff. At the second conference I will be helping present the results from a discussion group I have been leading on “Faith and Science”. It has been an enlightening time for me as I have looked at the theological and scientific issues and how they relate to each other, and how we can communicate to students how to deal with apparent contradictions.
Later this month I (Karl) will be starting an English conversation class for our ministry to students from Mainland China. It will be interesting to see how that goes. I have been trying to pull together some material that will be helpful and fun for the students to look at. I’m also hoping to use the material to help point them towards the Bible through discussing some of the English language’s idioms that originate from the Bible.
Our kids have had some exciting times recently. Zac was in a celebrity impersonation competition run by a local TV station a couple of weeks ago. He was pretending to be Bruce Lee. He was selected for the finals but unfortunately didn’t win. But he really enjoyed the experience. Vienna got a chance to be a model for a parenting magazine photo shoot. And Lukas learnt how to walk: the trick now is stopping him getting into things – his reachable height has just doubled!
In the first week of July I (Karl) will be heading to the CM2007 conference in Pusan, Korea. This will be an amazing time as it is the first time there has been an international conference of this magnitude for students in over 30 years. Over 20,000 students from all over the world are registered, 300 of them from Hong Kong. The cost of the conference is HK$4300 (approx NZ$900).
In September we all are planning on going to the Connexions staff conference in Sydney. This is a staff conference for all the Australian staff, and most of the New Zealand staff. We plan to go to one New Zealand staff every three years so we can meet with the New Zealand leadership and catch them up with our ministry and how we’re doing and other pastoral needs. We had originally planned to meet these needs at the New Zealand staff conference next year. After talking with the New Zealand leadership and praying it seems that this conference will better meet these needs. The total cost for our conference (including airfares) will be around NZ$6000 (HK$30000).
I would like to ask you if you would be willing to help us meet these needs of around NZ$7000 (HK$35000).
If you are in New Zealand you can send a cheque made out to “Campus Crusade for Christ” with UDY #193 written on the back to:
Campus Crusade for Christ
PO Box
Auckland
Or you can use internet banking to make a deposit to the account in the NZ file attached. Please remember to specify our name (UDY) to make sure it goes to the right account, and also include your name and address in the details so the office can receipt you for the donation.
If you are in Hong Kong you can send a cheque made out to “Hong Kong Campus Crusade for Christ Ltd” with Udy written on the back to:
Hong Kong Campus Crusade for Christ Ltd
Block B-D, 8th Floor
Unity Commercial Ind. Bldg.
31 Tai Yip St, Kwun Tong
Kowloon, HK
Or you can make an electronic transfer to the account in the HK file attached. Please remember to specify our name (UDY) to make sure it goes to the right account, and also include your name, phone number and address in the details so the office can receipt you for the donation.
We really appreciate all your support of our ministry and trust that you will be as excited about the opportunities we have as we are.
In Christ,
Karl, Amy, Zac, Vienna, and Lukas.
February was quite a busy month for us and the rest of Hong Kong. Chinese New Year fell on February 17 this year and we were all looking forward to it as it was our first Chinese New Year in Hong Kong. We had fun decorating the house and the kids were really excited about getting red pockets (which come with money inside!) On the first day of CNY we went to Amy’s parent’s place for dinner. Usually people spend CNY visiting family and friends starting with immediate family. On the second night we went down to Tsim Sha Tsui to see the fireworks display – probably the best fireworks display I have ever seen – they did smiley faces and even a Chinese character in the fireworks. And on the third day a lion dance team came and visited our apartment complex. We have seen plenty of lion dances in Hong Kong but this one had several new tricks I hadn’t seen before – like jumping up on Shaolin poles.
On campus things have been quite busy as well. As a result of our international student outreach at Chinese University we have two discipleship groups that have started, and there is a possibility that there might be some international students at other campuses that may be interested in getting involved. We hope to bring as many as possible along to CM2007 in July (more on this later). It has been particular exciting seeing three of these students taking responsibility for the movement. It really is about what they do – not abou what I do.
In July Korea Campus Crusade for Christ are hosting a global student conference called Campus Mission 2007. The goal is to have 20,000 students from around come together for a week of equiping and motivation to go back home to see Christ Magnified in Campus Mission, and to Complete the Mission. This will be the first conference of this type or magnitude in over 30 years. (The last one was Explo 74, also in Korea). Korea CCC have generously taken care of all the in-conference costs, save for a US$100 conference fee, which mean that attendees basically only need to pay to get there. This means that a student in Hong Kong needs only HKD4300 (approx NZD900) to attend, and a student from New Zealand would only need about NZD1800 to attend. The hope is that this conference will be the catalyst for thousands of students taking up the challenge of worldwide missions in a similar way to those of the Student Volunteer Movement a hundred years ago. Please pray that many students from Hong Kong and around the world would go. In particular pray for Tim, Colleen, and Robby who are key students among the international students who I am praying will decide to attend.
We will be moving apartments in the next month or two. In short, we have had problems with our landlord form day one. It has taken a lot of effort to get her to simply fix toilets and air conditioners, and now she has told us that we need to leave. We trust that God has a better place with a better landlord lined up. We are planning on staying in the same complex if possible, and we will need to pay more rent, but hopefully not a lot more.
Well, here we are about to experience our first Northern Hemisphere Christmas as a family. So, for once it is winter, but here in Hong Kong winter means not needing to turn your air conditioner on and occasionally not being in T-shirt weather. Actually you usually bring a jersey or jacket because there are places that don’t turn off their air conditioning and you get chilly indoors. Hong Kong must be the only place where mothers remind their children to bring a jacket because it might get cold inside!
I (Karl) have been doing my Cantonese lessons and I am finding that I am growing in confidence in my language. I am finding that I can express myself more and more, and also that I am understanding people more easily. I guess that comes with experience.
One difference between Hong Kong and New Zealand at this time of year is that business continues pretty much as normal here over Christmas and New Year. Chinese New Year is when things close down. So I am going to have quite a busy time with my days pretty full with meetings in between Christmas and New Year.
One of the meetings is with a Christian physics professor named Dr Yu. He grew up in Hong Kong but has been living in California for the last forty years. He has recently returned to Hong Kong and we are exploring how to utilise his expertise to reach out to science students. The type of outreach we are planning is a bit different from what has been done previously in Hong Kong.
Amy is continuing to investigate possibilities for the Mother’s ministry. At the moment one of the possibilities is a partnership between Hong Kong Campus Crusade for Christ and MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers).
Our children have just started their Christmas holidays (which last for 10 days instead of the 6 or so weeks in New Zealand). Zac has really caught on to his Chinese learning. He can read and write better than me now, and hopefully by the end of the academic year he can catch up with the other students. Here is some Chinese that he wrote this morning (from memory).
It says “I have a Mum and Dad”; “I eat fish and children”; “Father God”; “I eat fish and vegetables”; “I have a teacher”. It’s nice to know he still has a sense of humour, even when he writes Chinese. Zac is also getting back to his old outgoing self and making lots of friends. He struggled for a couple of months because of language and also because he missed his old friends in New Zealand. He has also become a fan of ‘Keroro’, a Japanese cartoon that lots of the children in Hong Kong like.
Vienna is also enjoying kindergarten and making lots of friends. At the moment she is planning her Princess Birthday Party for next week. She has invited all of her kindy classmates and we are always hearing stories about what she has been up to with her friends. She knows everyone’s name, and really loves singing the kindy songs.
Zac and Vienna were both in their kindy’s Christmas play. Vienna was a cat (which surprised us because she said she wasn’t getting dressed up but that one of her friends was a rabbit). And Zac had a speaking part in the play.
Lukas has struggled quite a bit with various viruses and the like since we arrived in Hong Kong. It has been quite frustrating as he has seemed to get over one only to pick up another one in a few days. He has changed quite a bit since we left New Zealand. When we arrived he didn’t have any teeth, and now he is cutting his sixth tooth. He is also a tearaway on his bike and loves riding it around the house. It’s his main way of getting around since he’s not walking yet.
This Christmas we are going to have lunch with both of our families at the YMCA. It will be the first time all of our extended families have been together since we got married.
So we wish you all a merry Christmas and trust that you will also have rich times with your families as we remember God’s gift to us of His Son.
Karl, Amy, Zachary, Vienna and Lukas
On Saturday all of the Hong Kong CCC staff had a day at Ocean Park, one of Hong Kong’s theme parks. It was a fun day for our family, and gave us good opportunities to get to know some of the staff better.