Team Hong Kong: Starting to say Goodbye

Team Hong Kong Newsletter # 29
Starting to say Goodbye
July 7, 2008
by Ben Herr

As the days pass by, bringing the date of departure nearer, I've been starting to realize how short of a time eight months really is. As our remaining time here has gone from a month to three weeks to eleven days, it has come time to start saying goodbye, or preferably, see you later, to the many people we have learned to know. We got to spend the past weekend with many of the youth from church.

We had known about the weekend for a while. That we were going camping was about all I knew. I was curious to see how they did "camping," but it turned out to be what we would generally call a retreat (no tents, camp fires, or woods involved). It was almost shockingly similar to youth retreats I have been to as far as schedule and activities. Lots of group activities, sessions, free time on Saturday afternoon, and lights out time being followed about as much as a stop sign in Central America.

Despite the lack of sleep and not always knowing what was going on, we all had a good time. It was fun being with the group as a whole for the weekend, because even though we will likely see many of them again before we leave, it probably won't be in the same group setting. Even though I didn't say any goodbyes this weekend, it felt like "one last time" with all of them. I am very thankful for the time I've had with them (and still will have). They are a great group of people.

Praises:
- Our program this past Thursday at a local school went well. Although only a few students came, we had a good time of interaction with them.
- Wednesday was our last day at Crossroads. It was sad, but we made a lot of good memories there.

Prayer Requests:
- We are doing a Bible camp this week (Wednesday through Friday) with several kids from the school.
- For the remainder of our time here.