Team Hong Kong Newsletter # 24
More China
June 2, 2008
by Maria Sensenig

"But it's so dangerous!" "It's really dirty and nobody pays attention to traffic rules!" "You have to watch your wallets so carefully, there are pick-pockets everywhere!" These were the responses we recieved from several of our friends here in Hong Kong when we asked them if they'd like to accompany us to China. I think they really were unable to understand our excitement in going, but we had visas (for which we paid a pretty penny) that were about to expire and there was no chance we were going to forego our last oppurtunity to get into this country. After much persuasion and the added offer of them spending the night and enjoying a Ben and Josh created breakfast, they finally consented.

The next morning, our stomachs quite satisfied by pancakes and shakes, we headed off full of energy and enthusiasm. Our main destination was a park in Shenzhen. The purpose of half of the park was to represent many different people groups from all over China through replicas of their homes, people dressed up in costumes, performances, etc. The other half of the park had miniature versions of all the highlights in China such as the Great Wall, the king's palace, etc. Unfortunately our enthusiasm was a bit short-lived, as the heat of the sun combined with the ridiculous level of humidity absolutely drained us. By mid-afternoon we were all sunburnt and irritable. I think by this time our friends began to regret their decision to join us, not because of the dirt or the danger, but because we are not nearly as much fun after spending so many hours in the heat.

Eventually we'd seen enough of the park and headed to another part of the city where we wandered crowded streets and paid close attention to the whereabouts of our money and passports. We ended our time in China with dinner and then happily headed home, relishing the thought of air-conditioning and not doing any more walking.

After we arrived home, we were reflecting on the day and discussing whether or not we had fun. Our friend Flora put it this way, "It will be a special memory." I think we could all agree. It was incredibly exhausting, but in retrospect we had some really fun moments and no one regretted their decision to go.

We discovered we had a huge interest in this cave-dwelling people group. In order to make their home more realistic it housed one of the only air-conditioners in the park. A few of us may have actually fallen asleep in this exhibit.

Praises:
- We really haven't had any health issues. Sometimes I take this huge blessing for granted!
- We've had some times of worship and also times of prayer for the city recently that have been really meaningful to us as a team.

Prayer Requests:
- We are planning an Enlglish Bible Camp for the students we used to meet with at the school. We were looking forward to inviting them personally but our last time with them was cancelled, so please pray that we will still get a good response!
- That we can remained focused during our remaining time here.