Japan Excursion

Nov. 11-13 Sunday - Tuesday, While Alan flew home, Russ, David, and I took advantage of our connecting flight in Osaka and spent two days to see my good friend Takako. We stayed in and toured Kyoto, one of the world's "cultural treasures". It was a fast excursion and a crash course in Buddhism, Shintoism, and "Japanism". We toured many of the best known temples and shrines and took in a very touristy but helpful show on historical Japan, (I was a recipient of the famous tea ceremony.) Tuesday was a full day of transportation starting out on a bicycle tour of Kyoto; then 3 trains, 3 planes, and of course automobiles. Glad to hit my bed about 12:30am Indy time!

Life is Beautiful

11/10/07, Saturday.
--This is the 3rd day this week that I have had morning coffee with my senior friend, Mr. Wong after he has hiked up the mountain and as we sit and watch life wake up all around us. (see 11/7/07 "The Mountain Trail"). I've taken to his gentle spirit and youthful eyes. Our language-challenged conversation has some light moments of banter and awkward small talk... and yet we both seem to want to go deeper and to get to know each other and our experiences. We talk of our travels, our families, and of the people who come and go from the mountain. We respect each other's belief system (or lack of) and he turns down my offer for a Chinese Bible. We take a picture and exchange email addresses. We smile and both say "Goodbye and God Bless You" and I say a prayer as I watch him and his wife of 50 years hike on down the trail.

Our team spent most of the day touring Stanley Bay, a beach resort area about an hour's drive along the coast. Beautiful sunny day for driving; perfect weather. I enjoy this get-away to Stanley Bay and its' great shopping and coastal beauty.

The highlight of the day, of course, was the Saturday church service with about 60 young people; mostly Jr./Sr. High students. What fun and what energy. Their worship is sincere and their vitality for life is energizing to me. It took me back to my youth ministry days and reminds me of the HOPE that we can have in young adults. I love this part of the trip; mixing it up with the youth, asking each other questions and learning each other's stories. Most of these conversations were just introductory, but a few of them got deeper quickly. Here are 2 quick 'more serious' interactions, and 1 quirky one:

--Serious #1. 3 girls discussed baptism with me; one was recently baptized and the other two are eager to do so. All are teens . Awesome!
--Serious #2. I noticed a group of 4-5 youth trying to literally 'drag' their friend over to talk with me. He was too shy to approach because of his English, so I went over and introduced myself to him. He said that his Cantonese name means "Happy". When I asked if he was happy and he replied that he is happy "some "of the time, it was obvious that he carried a lot of stress. He told me how much pressure he has always felt to get the best grades. Wow, I felt for him. As his 5 friends listened to us, I shared with him about my favorite "life verse", "Rejoice in the Lord... Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God...and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guards your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-6 After that 'deep' moment, someone else ran up and grabbed him to leave for cell group. Moment gone; that's how it is sometimes.
-Quirky. After posing for a picture with Pastor Edmund, we started to take a 2nd one just as a young woman jumped in front of us to pose in the picture, exclaiming "I'm in this picture!". We said "Sure" and they snapped the picture. After the picture, she said "You are so handsome. Are you married?" I QUICKLY replied, "I sure am!" and showed her a picture of Donna and Luke. The fire left her eyes and she said, "So, there is no chance for me?" Chuckling to myself, I affirmed, "That's right. No chance. " After I shared with this ~20 yr old that I am 46 years old and not the 35 that she thought, I think she was actually relieved!

As we end our time in Hong Kong, there is a group of a dozen women sitting behind me here in the Retreat House's all-purpose room. They are here for a retreat and are singing some beautiful harmonious worship and praise songs. I don't understand a word, but will remember the worship in their voices as a fitting closure to a week of serving God in a culture with much need spiritually, but one with a strong core of some beautiful and dedicated followers of our Lord Jesus!

Tomorrow, we take a short excursion trip to Osaka & Kyoto, Japan to visit and tour with a close friend. More on that later!

Life: Starting well & Ending well

11/9/07 Friday. LIFE: Starting well. This morning, we visited "International Christian School" with 1,000 students pre-k through high school. They just moved into their brand-new location on Wednesday! Wow, it is so sharp with the most impressive facilities. Much of it felt like our new schools in Carmel, but they had even more funding to make it the best quality. How exciting to see such an excellent Christian institution here. How exciting, too, because Alan on our team was on the original founding board that had the vision for and launched this school 15 years ago! The students and faculty we met were all so eager and optimistic about their future, as they should.

LIFE: Ending well. As we have completed our work projects today, we took opportunity to visit with the retired pastor and his wife, for whom we built the first railing. They invited us into their home and were so appreciative of our efforts. She couldn't have been more hospitable; making us comfortable, providing tea and the best of their cookies and chocolates. He is deaf and their English is poor, but our translator helped us understand that he was a Buddhist monk that converted to Christianity over 60 years ago and that he had served at this mission post for 60 years. He has been retired for 10 years and they will likely live out their days on this mountainside on the property where they had served so faithfully. We told them that we respected his years of outreach to Buddhists and pastoral ministry to the Church.. and that like Jesus modeled service by washing feet, we were honored to serve them in this project. What a blessing!

"Mixing It Up" With Friends

11/8/07 Thursday (This is a long entry... keep reading!) I spent most of the 'work' part of my day mixing-up concrete with hand tools and carrying it by 5 gallon bucket down the steep 120' trail. Over and over again... 6 bags of sand, 100 pounds of cement, 3 bags of stone, water: turn and mix.. turn and mix. Sometimes I did this alone, sometimes with others (with others is better!) As I reflected throughout the day, it occurred to me what a great day it has been for "mixing-it-up" with others. What a blessing! Here are the highlights of mixing-it-up today:
--There were the tourists from Washington State who walked by on the path and were so impressed to see the Church of God-Anderson serving in Hong Kong.
--There was Florence and Sherry, two young Hong Kong woman who walked by on the path and stopped to visit. "Are you a Christian?", they asked. "Why do you volunteer?" They were at the Retreat House for a day of rest and Retreat and were so pleased that we were volunteering here. When they learned that I was a Pastor, they looked over at the concrete that I was mixing and said with surprise "...and YOU know a SKILL?"
--Working with the 3 men from Retreat House staff; Barry, Bond, and So. (Just think of Barry Bonds.) We've had fun working together; especially as they tease how I mix concrete!
--Bond invited me into a circle of 7 other young men as we mixed-it-up playing hackeysack during a break. Too fun!
--We went to meet a missionary from New Zealand who is here focusing efforts on supporting HK churches and ministries with construction projects. What an encouraging visit!
--Near 'quittin time' during our work day, the assistant to the General Manager walked all the way out to our work site with some coffee cake that another volunteer had 'mixed-up' just for us because of our faithful efforts. That little blessing was the single best highlight of the day.
--Our team had some good honest discussions about our expectations of the trip, our frustrations over not getting to do the project we intended, and our flexibility over the situation. I realized today that it was evidently MY attitude that was poorest; that my own expectations in leading and in providing the best experience robbed some of my joy in serving.
--We had dinner with a new friend, someone who I had heard was on an extended work project here from the States. We had a great visit about HK, ministry, family, etc. and were all encouraged from the visit. What a great day!

One thing I learned today is that all 4 elements are needed for concrete, and that people are a lot like those elements. Some of us are hard like stone, some bond people together like the cement powder, some contribute to solid foundations like the sand, and some -like the water- provide the fluidity and serve as a catalyst to "mix-it-up" so we can get along together. And, maybe, just maybe... while I think I may be like the water, I might be just a little bit like the rocks, from time to time.

PS I dedicate today's work and these thoughts to my father, Mendel Broyles who would have turned 90 years old today. Dad was a General Contractor and among other work often poured his own basements, curbs & streets, driveways & sidewalks, and foundations & floors. One of my special & funny memories of Dad is him coming home on days he poured cement; he would be wearing these huge buckled-boots that were covered in hardening cement. I used to put my little feet in them and could hardly lift them off the floor. Thanks, Dad, for pouring a solid foundation in my life. :)

The Mountain Trail

Wed. 11/7/07 We worked on another railing at the Retreat House today; down to a group lodge. This is a much more complicated rail of a steeper and curving path. There are a number of pathways up and down this mountainside. I met a man today who hikes these paths daily. While drinking my morning coffee outside today and watching some folks do their Tai Chi (Spelling?) exercises, Wong sat down beside me. Wong has lived on this mountain all his life; at the bottom along the river. He is retired now and says that he walks up the mountain every morning for exercise...a one hour journey. Then, he walks back down. He was curious about me and about the people who come and go at this place. While he says he has attended the church service in the chapel here, he is not Buddhist, not Christian; says he has no faith system. Wow! How can a person walk this journey of life with all its' ups and downs, and not desire the God of Creation? How can they not understand that Life is not just a journey of exercise, but a journey with a most important purpose and destination?!

Email from an Angel

11/6/07 eve, Tuesday. This evening's focus was to attend a cell group at the church. EVERYONE at HKCOG is in a cell group. All the groups meet at the church because homes are too small to host them. 3 different groups met tonight; each in one of the 3 small rooms of their temporary church location. There was lots of laughter and singing throughout the church. The 4 of us attended a group which was largely the same group that I had visited in Jan. 06. It was great to be reunited. For me, the highlight of tonight's meeting was a comment that Janette made to me right away. She shared that after we were there in Jan. 06, it was a lonely time for her... she was away at seminary and her father faced difficult heart surgery. She felt little support from friends during this time and it was quite difficult. One of the members of our team simply sent Janette a supportive email; never even haven met her! Janette shared tonight that it was like a message from an angel! --that it greatly encouraged her that someone she didn't know across the world would reach out to and care for her. She was even emotional sharing about it tonight. Wow... you never know the power of an encouragement, even over email!

Working with Monkeys

11/6/07 am, Tuesday. Today, the 4 of us stayed at the Retreat House and tried to be a blessing here. The Director was thrilled of our offer to help; that they have several projects for us and eager for us to do them. After we first talked with the Buildings and Grounds manager, he literally ran up the path to get tools and equipment arranged, he was so excited. There is a retired pastor and his wife living on the grounds of the Retreat house... on a little path down the side of the mountain. This pastor was a Buddhist living in mainland China. Over 60 years ago, he came to Hong Kong, met the founder of this mission and converted to Christianity. For 60 years he pastored here at the mission. They are now in their 80's and having difficulty walking the path's rugged steps. Today, we installed a metal handrail the length of the 93' private path to their home. The B&G's man and another worked with us. He says they have been wanting to install this rail for 6 months but lacked manpower. It was a beautiful day to work.. sunny but we worked in mostly shade and breeze. Wild monkeys are very common and we had to first chase them off the pathway before we could work! We all feel good about the hard work we did and for the relationships we have made at the Retreat House. Tonight, we are going to a cell group at the HKCOG. Tomorrow, we will likely do final touches on the rail, paint it, and do a similar rail on another pathway.

10,000 Buddhas and 10,000 Bright Lights

11/5/07, Monday afternoon. This afternoon, we visited a Buddhist cemetery and it's accompanying temple called "The Temple of 10,000 Buddhas". There are literally thousands (10,000.. who knows?) of statues of Buddha around the cemetery; along with incense, offerings, fire pits for prayers/gifts, etc. I have visited this place before and find it intriguing, yet cold and empty. It is a good location for us 'westerners' to learn about and understand Buddhism, and the cultural mindset here. After some rest, we did the 'tourist' thing and took a tram to the highest peak to look out over Hong Kong harbor and the overwhelming view of the skyline of Hong Kong. We had dinner there and got to see the same view at night....then took a quick taxi down the mountain and ferry across the harbor to catch the daily 8pm "Largest Permanent Light Show on Earth" in which the buildings of Hong Kong island are a virtual Disneyland of laser lights and sounds. It is not just lasers ON the buildings.. entire perimeters of the tallest buildings are covered in light shows, screens that wrap around buidling completely with images and words. It is just incredible.... extends from far to your left and far to the right... you can't take it all in in one view. This city is so advanced in technology and in wealth and in celebrating their accomplishments. Just incredible.

The Taste of Incense

11/5/07 am, Monday morning. Today was a 'vision day', of getting to understand the culture and people of Hong Kong. The highlight of the morning was visiting an area that has three temples on one location... the largest Buddhist temple in HK, a Confucianism temple, and a Taoist temple. They are all together in one place b/c so often the people want to take the best of each of the faiths, to combine them to whatever works best for their situation. We saw numerous of the faithful who carried their bundles of burning incense from one temple to the others, kowtowing to Buddha, whispering prayers, laying out fruit and gifts for the deceased, tossing out fortune-telling reeds. Patrick is an excellent tour guide for understanding eastern religions. He knows the details and sees the big picture (BTW, I recommend his book, "Passage to Faith"). In these belief systems, the human is such a small and insignificant nothing.. and the concept of a God who could love us and have grace to want a relationship with us is unheard of... this is why it can be such Good News to these people! I've been in temples before, but not one with as many worshippers as today, and with as much activity and ritual. I have smelled like incense all day and have had the taste on my tongue even after two meals and even now at 1am. It has reminded me all day of this experience and of these belief systems. I am thankful that my God CARES for me... and that the Word says that the prayers of the ones who call him Lord are as of a sweet fragrance unto Him!

The Weeping Woman

11/4/07, Sunday. "The Weeping Woman" is a new visual snapshot for me of the need here in HK. You have to first understand traffic flow here. Mass transit is incredible. Virtually everyone travels by train, subway, bus, boat, and taxi here.. (We have traveled all of these several/numerous times in the last 3 days.) Between the connection points of all these hubs are shopping malls and stores EVERYWHERE! The HK people walk & shop, shop & walk.. they are out and about in the midst of all the hustle and bustle. Sunday afternoon, while we were walking through one of the key mall intersections that we often cross (what I've come to call '82nd & Allisonville'), I spotted a woman standing out in crowd of hundreds of people passing by. She was leaning over the 2nd floor mezzanine, hand over her eye, head lowered...and she was just sobbing away. She was alone... truly alone in this sea of people passing by. I felt for her hurt and was drawn to speak to her in compassion; but between language, age, gender and cultural barriers, it just wasn't appropriate. The sad thing was that in my brief observation, NO ONE comforted her. She sums up for me some of my other observations of life in HK.. the people here are largely successful professionally and economically... they are are in one of the most affluent and powerful World class cities, and yet many have no faith heritage or have a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, or atheism. So, when they are found hurting and alone like this woman, many are truly alone and empty. Over-generalizing, perhaps.. but it is my impression and one of the snapshots that motivates me to care for these people with the love of Christ.

Between 3 Church Locations

11/4/07, Sunday. This was the first Sunday HKCOG was not in their old location. They have not moved into the new location yet.. maybe Jan. 08. Today, they worshipped in their after-school reading center; a much smaller location. Worship was good and it was great to see old friends and make new ones. We went out to lunch ('local' Chinese) with some of the elders, staff, and their families; got caught up. We also visited the old location (already gutted), and the new one, which is in the renovation phase. While we won't be able to do any of the physical interior work while on this trip, we will engage in some other local projects, through the church's networks. We are also attending small groups during the week to observe, to share our stories and to encourage others in their spiritual growth. We are all pretty tired this evening and are turning-in earlier.

Mountain Blogging

11/4/07 am, Sunday. I didn't sleep more than 5-6 hours... so got up and learned how to blog a site; created one for my son's movie production... and one for this trip! The sun is coming up over the mountains and it promises to be a beautiful view at the Retreat House today. We chose this spot over hotels b/c it is so beautiful here... a getaway from the city.. AND because it is ~$35 a night (including breakfast) compared to $130-$180 with the other hotels we considered. It is a little harder to get here as the taxis have to climb the mountain and don't even come all the way to the gate. We have to walk down the mountain road about 7 minutes to the closest apartment complex to catch taxis down. No problem. It is worth it for this location. This place was designed as a Lutheran mission to local Buddhists. See http://www.tfscc.org/firstindexeng.htm

Flying Into Tomorrow

11/3/07 pm, Saturday. We (Tim Broyles, Russ Jones, David Brown, Alan Reed) left Chicago Friday about noon. After 14 hours in the air and losing 12 hours to time zones, we arrived safely in Hong Kong Saturday afternoon. The Nachtigalls met us at the gate and we traveled to our lodging at the Lutheran Retreat Center high on a mountain overlooking the valley where the church is located. Had a nice 'western' meal at Ruby Tuesday and all turned in relatively early. Glad to be here safely!