Joy

Being surrounded by tons of shouting children may not seem like fun to some people, but for me, it is pure joy. And if such is the case, then one might consider today to be a small glimpse of heaven for me. At the end of last week, the English Center received a phone call requesting the services of a foreigner to teach English at a public school here in Macau. I hurriedly volunteered only to withdraw the offer as it would require me to forgo teaching a bible study on Wednesday mornings. It turns out no one else wanted to do it, so that left me. The plans were finalized on Monday, I met with the contact person Tuesday afternoon, and by Wednesday morning I was standing in front of 38 giggling children. What fun!!

I love children. I love the fun they have with everything they do, and I love the fact that they are unafraid to express the joy and happiness that they feel. When I first learned of the position, the thought of teaching for an hour and a half was a little troublesome. I did not know how long they could sit and listen. My fears were unfounded. Before I knew it, the other teacher was coming in and signaling to me that my time was up. There is a short ten minute break within the hour and a half, and during that break (since I am the only foreigner in the school) I was the object of much curiosity. Children came from all corners of the building. Apparently the word had gotten around that a foreigner was in the building. I was surrounded by too many children to count all wanting me to shake their hands and say hi. Have I mentioned that I had fun yet?

So it was a fun morning and I get to teach the little angels all year long which includes Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. The perfect time to share Jesus with a group of 8 year olds, dontcha' think?

Story Time

In the past few days, I have had a few "dumb foreigner" moments. They are all humorous enough that the recipients of the stories laugh even though I am the one doing the telling. (FYI, I am terrible at telling stories). Sadly though, the humor apparently does not transfer through the internet too well, as I tried to tell a story to a friend the other day and it fell appalling short of funny. Having said all of that, I am going to attempt to tell another story. I apologize ahead of time.

I first need to explain the bus system in Macau. Many of my fellow teammates have fallen victim to the notorious enemy we call the bus. We will get on the bus thinking we are going to one place and then end up in, well I would say another, but the truth is we do not have a clue where we are when we get off of the bus. It is funny when we will go some place we have yet to go and someone will usually say, "Oh, I have been here before. I missed my stop and ended up here, I just didn't know where 'here' was." So without going into too much detail, I will just say that the buses are confusing and difficult to master. The buses are not our friends.

So today I had a new experience with the bus. I was meeting one of the students that attends our Friday night bible study at the fountain near my apartment. From there we were going to take a bus to a nearby school to go swimming. When we boarded the bus, it was unusually empty, which afforded us the luxury of sitting rather than standing. However, we were unable to sit together. I sat at the front of the bus (right behind the driver), and she sat in the center, more towards the back of the bus. This particular bus had a door at the front through which the passengers boarder, and a door at the back that was used for passengers exiting the bus. As we pulled up to the next bus stop, I think about, oh, I would guess 1000 people, boarder the bus. Ok, maybe not 1000, but I honestly do not think that one more person could have squeezed in the door. At the next bus stop, someone else squeezed in the door. The same thing happened at the next one, and the next one, and well, you get the picture. The bus was crowded. At this point the distance between me and that back door could have been a mile. Molly stands up and tells me that this is where we need to get off. Great. So I begin the struggle of squeezing past people and throwing out an 'm goi' (excuse me in Cantonese) every now and then, in am attempt to get off of the bus. I can no longer see Molly at this point, as she was much closer to the door and had already successfully navigated to maze of people and seats. I finally make it to the back door, only to have it close right in my face. It was like a scene in a movie. Molly and I were both trying to stop the door from closing and when we realize that our attempts are futile, we reach for each other, only to have our clasped hands seperated by the closing door. Meanwhile, the bus begins to slowly inch forward.

By this time some other passengers on the bus have realized that I need to get off here and that, obviously, I do not speak Cantonese. So the Chinese people, being the helpful people that they are, all start yelling. I think they are yelling at the bus driver, telling him to not take off, while simultaneously yelling at me to push the signal button again. While all of this chaos is going on inside the bus, Molly is outside running alongside the bus, banging on the door beside the driver, trying to get his attention. Well, something must have worked because eventually the bus stopped moving, and the door opened. Ahh, Freedom.

After a couple more 'm goi's' (which can also mean thank you), I stepped off of the bus to face Molly laughing hysterically. After we both stopped laughing, she began to give me a few suggestions as to what I should do if ever I were to find myself in that same situation. She taught me how to tell the bus driver in Cantonese that I still needed to get off of the bus. You would think that after such a harrowing experience, those words would be seared in my brain for all time. Nope. Its gone.

So apparently, I did not impress Molly with my bus skills, because she would not take 'no' to her offer to escort me home. She road the bus with me back toward my apartment, which is in the opposite direction from her house, and then transferred buses to go home. It was very sweet and I had a great time with Molly, but, yes, apparently I do still need someone to take care of me occasionally.

My job in Macau is officially a "Relationship Builder". In order to build a relationship with someone, you have to be willing to both give and receive. When I say give, I am referring to giving of one's self, of allowing people to see the real person. I have recently become aware of a difference in how I give and in how some of my new friends give.

Today, I was having lunch with a student that I have become close to over the past couple of weeks. As she is a Christian, I began to ask her for some advice on ways to present the Bible to low-level English speakers so that they would be better able to understand it. As a way to help me understand more of how the Chinese view things she told me the story of how she became a Christian. She began describing her past and the hurt and unforgiveness that she carried around and how through these things she was able to see her need to forgive and also to be forgiven. She was able to see her need for our Savior.

As I listened to her tell me this story in Chinglish, as she calls it, I was struck by the simple honesty of her words. She lacks the sophisticated vocabulary that we native English speakers often hide behind in the guise of expressing ourselves eloquently. She told me how her "heart hurt inside of her" and how when she was unforgiven, she felt like she was "carrying something very heavy on her shoulders". She also spoke of how she had thought that others were "very bad" and then she realized that she was "very bad too". When it came time for a response from me, I tried to express myself in my normal manner. I quickly saw that simple honesty was going to be required from me also. It was a very moving and humbling experience to see such emotions laid bare and to express mine with such simplicity, even if it was out of necessity.

The Lord works through so many things to bring us to a greater awareness of him and our need for him. Having our need for a savior stated so simply and boldly, once again pointed me to the cross of Christ. God used what we label a "barrier", something we see as a hinderance, to show us the power of the Cross and the peace and forgiveness that are found in its shadow. Mighty is the power of the Cross. Thank you Jesus.

Additional Info

Just as a side note to the entry from yesterday. I was given the statistics for the number of people that crossed the boarder yesterday. The official count for the number of boarder crossers was 240,000. There are officially 480,000 people in Macau. You do the math.

Where to Begin, II

The last couple of days, I have participated in many blog-worthy activities. The number of things which I will write about eliminates the possibility of a detailed recreation, however, the accompanying pictures should suffice.

Sharon, our coordinator here in Macau, has been in the process of adopting a Chinese girl, Joanna, for almost two years now. After much prayer and waiting, this hope has become a reality. On Friday, the guardianship papers were signed and Joanna spent her first night with Sharon as her daughter. Sunday afternoon, everyone gathered at St. Paul's to witness the adoption ceremony which honors all of those involved in seeing this dream come to fruition, and, most importantly, praises the Lord for answering this desire of Sharon's heart. The adoption ceremony was followed by Joanna becoming a child of God through the waters of baptism. I have found that in Macau, the solemness that accompanies most ceremonies in the states is conspicuously absent. This observation held true for this ceremony as well. Joanna was so eager to be baptized that she kept pointing the water and then her head. It was truly an example of how we as Christians should eagerly seek the Lord with child-like trust. It was also very humbling to realize that seldom do we do this. It was an emotion filled service that ended in a traditional Lutheran way...with food.

Joel, Joanna, Sharon, Ruth, and Iantha at the baptism ceremony.

Sunday was also the moon festival which is celebrated in Macau with fireworks and food. The fireworks were great! I cannot remember the last time I enjoyed a fire works display with such enthusiasm. Maybe it was the tons of people watching in excitement, or perhaps the "ooh's and ahh's" that were heard throughout the crowd. Either way, it was a fitting end to a great day.

This is the square by my apartment decorated for the moon festival.

The fireworks display. Obviously the actual experience far exceeds the pictures. Sorry.

Today (Monday) is the day when, in celebration of the moon festival, everyone is off of work and they spend the day with their families. Today was also the day that Chris and I had to cross the boader as our visitors visas would soon run out. Although we knew that many people would be traveling Zhu hai today to see their family, we had no other choice but to cross the boarder. It was either that or be deported. Crossing over into China took about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours total. It was a long, crowded wait. Once we were safely on the other side of the boarder and were no longer under the threat of deportation, our team parted company and agreed to meet back at the boarder gate. In the ensuing time period, I had a very nice meal that resembled Mexican cuisine (something that is difficult to find in these parts). I also had a nice massage. So I a feeling pretty relaxed as we head back toward the boarder gate, but the feeling did not last long.

This is me pre-massage. The massages are done a little differently here. As you can see the massagee remains fully clothed.

We made our way to this crowd of people thinking that we could try to go around them to get to the line. Nope this was the line, or as our team is now referring to it, "the crush". It was pandemonium. If ever I wondered what it felt like to be herded like cattle, now I know. I was stepped on, pushed, shoved, had a suit case digging into a very uncomfortable place on my body (i.e. a cow prod), and got very up close and personal with the other team members as we tried to stay together in this sea of people. Children were being lifted up out of the crowd and placed on the other side of the gates by the parents and officials so that they would not be harmed in this mass of rushing people. It was crazy. However, once we made it through the swarm, we actually made it through customs quicker. So it was a trade off. Anyhow we have made it safely back home and can remain in Macau without the fear of deportation for another 30 days. Thankfully it will not be a holiday the next time we have to cross the boarder.

So now I am back home and in the typical fashion of someone that shows tendencies of a blogging addiction, I am now posting an entry to commemorate the harrowing experiece of today. But now I am going to bed. Too much standing in line, massaging, standing in more lines and tons of people tend to tire me out.

Meet the Team

As I read back through some previous posts, I realized that there were a couple of things I have failed to do. The first being that I have failed to properly introduce the other Macau team members. Secondly, I have yet to adequately describe to everyone what it is that I do on a day to day basis. The following post is an attempt to rectify these oversights.
Mary, Charmaigne, and Me

Ruth, Adam (Charmaigne's fiance), Charmaigne, Julie

Mary, Kate, Joel, Chris

A little about the members:

Mary is from Illinois and has already been in Macau for six months and will remain in Asia for another year and a half. While she is still a part of the Macau team, she is currently serving in another city.

Kate is from Minnesota or Wisconsin (sorry I do not know for sure). She is now serving in another city along with Mary. Her term in Asia will last until December.

Ruth has been serving in Macau for three years. Originally she was only going to stay a year, however, it seems that the Lord still has work for her to do here in Macau. Who knows where she will go next and when it will be.

Julie came to Macau a year ago and has recently extended her term. She will be serving an additional 6 months.

Chris, from Colorado, met me on Hong Kong and will be with me throughout the year.

Joel, along with his wife Iantha and daughter Eliada (not pictured), have been in Macau for a year and will be here another year as he is now completing his vicarage.

Sharon is our coordinator at the English Center and I do not have a picture of her. She has been in Macau for three years and plans to make a career of her work here in Macau.

Charmaigne is not associated with LCMS, but works at the center teaching low level English classes. She recently moved here from Austrailia, so she is going through adjusting to Macua along with me and Chris.

There are also two more team members ( I don't have pictures of them either), Jean and Gerry from Michigan. They will be serving for 4 months.

Now about the day to day routine. Just be warned that the following description may not sound like an actual "job" to some people.

My day begins around, oh, we'll just say 9:00. After a leisurely cup of coffee, I make my way to the gym around the corner from the center and have a brisk workout. Our center offers four different types of classes. We offer private tutoring, which is a one to one English session. We also offer classes that range in topics from general chat to baking. A nearby hotel, The Mandarin Oriental, procures our services to teach certain staff members English that is specific to their job. Lastly, we have the free bible classes. These are by far the most fulfilling way to teach English. Included in these classes, is a time to interact with students with the hope of building a relationship with them.

A very interesting and saddening occurrence that I have seem many times with the students in the bible classes is that they possess knowledge of the bible and of what Jesus has done for us, but the key to eveything, Christ, is not real to them. I can ask them many questions about facts from the bible, and the students have a ready answer. But after they have given the answer, they are ready to move on to the next question. It is though learning things about Christ is the same as learning math. How sad it is for me to see them treating such a precious gift as though it is a mundane and everday fact. How frightening it is to know that they possess the knowledge of what God's saving grace is, but lack the true understanding. Please pray for the students here in Macau, that there may be a softening of their hearts. That the Holy Spirit would work in them to give them an understanding of what the cross of Christ truly is. Please pray for me, that I would be vessel of the Holy Spirit and that the words God speaks through me would not return void.

Back to a day at the office. The atmosphere at the English center is pretty relaxed. We operate on the "come and go as you please" format, and as long as we get our work done, all is well. As the title of my job is 'relationship builder', a large portion of my time is spent hanging out with student. So more often than not, I am going to eat, going shopping, going sight seeing. Yeah, I know, it is rough.

As you can see here, Chris is very relaxed.

Spending time with the English students is an very interesting experience. When I first came to Macau, the differences between our culture and theirs were not readily apparent as I had yet to interact with any of the students on a more personal level. Now that I have had an opportunity to do so, many subtle (and not so subltle) differences are emerging. One example of this is that the Chinese people ask, "Have you had your dinner yet?" by way of greeting, whereas we in America might ask one another, "How are you doing?" At first this confused me because, even though I had been told this bit of information previously, I would still assume that they were then going to ask me if I wanted to go eat.

Another difference is that they are very much a culture that takes care of one another... down to the tiniest details. In America, one person telling another person what they should do, may be construed as rude in some situations. Not so here. Someone telling me what I should do about this or that, is pretty much an everyday occurence. There is also a Chinese NO and an American NO. In America, theoretically, No means No, but in China, No does not mean No until it has been said three times. Someone will offer me a drink and I will politely say, "No thank you". They then proceed to ask me two more times, and if I really did want a drink it would be considered rude to accept on the first offer. So this leaves me with a delimma. I am afraid to say Yes to the first offer, but also afraid to say No because what if they do not offer again. And these are just some of the small differences that I have noticed so far. There are probably many more differences that I have not noticed yet and because of that am unknowingly insulting people. Good thing the Chinese are kind people.

I want to end by telling everyone thanks so much for all of the emails and letters that you have been sending. I love to get mail! Plus, I love to hear what is going on in everyone's lives. Thanks also for all of your prayers!

In Christ,

Cassie

Correction

Sorry, it has been brought to my attention that Richard Marx sings "Right Here Waiting For You", not George Micheal. By the way Bryce, it is scary that you know that.

No More Please

Just one more thing for the day. Is anyone else having nightmares with "Right Here Waiting for You" by (oh yeah!) George Michael being the theme song? It is quickly becoming my most hated song, followed by Celine Dion's rendition of the Titanic theme song. Please make it stop!

The latest...

Things have been relatively quiet for me the past few days. There has been less stress, less running to and fro, and less angst. Life is beginning to feel more normal and a routine is starting to emerge. All of these changes are wonderful, but now I have time to think, and think, and think. I think I think too much.

When I first arrived in Macau, most of my energy was focused toward, well... survival. You know things like learning how to cross the street and deciding which street to cross. And finding the answer to important questions like, "Can I eat that?" "Can I drink the water here?". Survival. For those of you who are familiar with Maslow's heirarchy of needs, I was definitely operating at the bottom of the triangle. So now that I have found the answers to these burning questions, I can think about other things. I think I may have reached the stage of focusing on "belongingness". Where do I fit in? How do I continue to be me and be part of the team at the same time? How do I let other people know who "me" is?

At this point, I think I should interject and say that none of these questions are meant to reflect anything of the other team members. They are all great, supportive, loving, fun Christian people. They have been so very helpful, and continue to be very helpful, as I am going through this learning period. However, for fear of talking a lot but not saying anything, I think the issue that I am currently dealing with is that, here, no one knows me yet. Sometimes my humor falls short of being humorous, sometimes my thoughts may seem a little too "out there" and sometimes my questions a little to probing. So to sum it up, I miss people who know me well.

Perhaps I am too impatient. Most of the relationships that I am referring to above took a long time, and a few struggles, to cultivate. But there is that certain sense of comfort in being known, and despite this, being loved. So to any of my friends back at home, who think that I am just having a wonderful time and not missing you at all (Pat:), you would be right in one sense. I am having a wondeful time, but miss you none the less.

Now having said all of that, the Lord is good. While I am growing and learning new things about the Lord, the main reason that I am here is so that others might know him as well. The Lord has placed some people in my life that are definitely searching. They ask me many questions about Jesus and how I live my faith. They ask about me my views on sin, happiness and peace. I know that the Holy Spirit is moving in them to give them this curiosity. Please join me in praying that they would come to know Jesus in their hearts, not just their minds. Please pray that I would be filled with the Holy Spirit as I talk to them. That all of my conversations would be "seasoned with salt".

It is such a rewarding and exciting experience to be able to share with Jesus with others. I could describe it in terms of an adrenaline rush. You know that feeling people are seeking when they do crazy things like bungee jump or sky dive, that is the feeling I get after I have opened myself to the leadings of the Spirit. I get that sense of freedom and excitement and peace all rolled into one. What a blessing! What a great God it is we serve. He rewards us so abundantly for doing the very thing we were asked to do.

I think I am starting to notice a theme to my blogging. I begin with the struggles that I am having as I adjust and learn, and then end with how the Lord is blessing me through these struggles. I guess that is ok, I would not want to end on a bad note:)

Chinese dinner

The other night our team experienced our first dinner outing, Chinese style. The Chinese people dine family style, and as there were 16 of us present for this joyous occassion, we made for a very large and loud group.When dinig family style, a large lazy susan is situated in the middle of the very large table and everyone eats from the variety of dishes that are served. None of this American style eating where everyone gets his or her own dish to eat from. Nope, it is a free for all. The Chinese, however, are very gracious hosts. They always ensure that their guests are served before they see to their needs. Everytime a dish was brought out, more food was placed in my serving bowl regardless of whether I wanted it. There was also an endless stream of food arriving from the kitchen, so my serving bowl was never empty. And yes, the food was GREAT!!!

Another interesting part of the night occurred when the bill arrived. As the students had invited the teachers to eat with them, they insisted on paying and would not allow us to contribute in any way. Splitting the bill and figuring out who owes how much is a difficult task regardless of the culture. However, as the Chinese have a propensity for discussing everything with everyone before a decision is reached, splitting the bill was an interesting experience. Picture 8 Chinese people situated at various positions around the table, all discussing the best method to pay the bill. All of this occurred in Cantonese, of which I know none! So I am sitting at this table listening to a 10 minutes debate about the bill and then once the decision was finally reached the exchange of money took about 5 more minutes. This is in addition to the 1 and a half hours it took to discuss what food we were getting (talk about it), order our food (talk about it), get our food (talk about it), eat our food (talk about it). I think you get the picture. Dining Chinese style is a time consuming event.

Regardless of the above mentioned theatrics, the highlight of the night had to be "the Chicken head". Chicken in China is served with the actual chicken head. So there we were, all of us wasteful Americans who shudder at the thought of eating a chicken's head, taking pictures of this chicken head sitting so proudly amidst all of our food in the middle of the table. I could say that I was too culturally sensitive to take a picture of the chicken head, but that would be a lie. The truth is that only reason it is not on the blog for you to see is because I accidently deleted the picture. Sorry.

Here is a nice group picture of all us.

Here is Chris with some friends from the center.

Here is Gerry with our hosts.

Now, having expounded upon some of the differences that exist between the Chinese culture and the American culture, I wish to say that the most gratifying thing the Lord has shown me thus far is the similarities between us all. I have noticed some of the differences that exist between the two cultures and have had to stretch myself in order to accomodate these differences into my life. However, my understanding has also been stretched by the similarities that I see among us. The Lord has allowed me to see people... just people. And in seeing people, both in happiness and in sadness, I am better able to understand the need we all have for Christ.

Praise be to God!

A Day in the Life

Last night around 3:00 am, I was woken by the sound of Chinese men shouting at one another as they attempted to empty the garbage with what had to be an army tanker. This is apparently the efficient time take care of things of this nature here in Macau. Efficient? Maybe. Considerate? Definitely not! I guess the men were shouting at one another in an attempt to be heard over the roaring of whatever type of machinery they were using to get the job done. But when one is woken from a sound sleep by shouting, immediately thoughts of doom come to mind. I thought the something had fallen on one of them! This jolted me awake rather quickley, but as I lay there, I figured out that nothing bad had happened. They were just talking to one another very loudly.

So as I am laying there, wide-awake at this point, the thought crosses my mind that this would be a funny episode to blog about. Then my next thought was "I can't believe I am laying here at 3:00 am, after being woken up by this stuff and now I am already thinking about blogging this"!
God has definitely provided me with a sense of humor that allows me to deal with things much more graciously than I ever could on my own. Even some of the more unsanitary habits I have witnessed here in Macau, I am beginning to have fun with. If you want to know more about this topic, then email me, because it is probably not a suitable topic for a blog post.

Anyhow, today was my first official day off. I had the entire day to wander around the city at my leisure and do the whole tourist bit. I first visited the Ruins of St. Paul. This was a cathedral that was ravaged by fire and only the steps, the facade, and a bit of the foundation were not destroyed. Several tombs were contained within the foundation and they also survived. There is a crypt that is part of the tourist attraction, and it contains the remains of several martyrs.

The facade and the steps leading up to the ruins.

The crypt and the tombs inside

I also visited the fort which is located next to the ruins. The fort of perced atop a large hill, and offers an incredible view of the city. I sound like a tour guide, huh?

Altar just inside the entrance to the fort.

The garden within the fort.

This is the view from atop the fort.

The next place I visited was a city park. The park itself is beautiful, however it was the people there that were the most interesting. As I walked into the park, there were several people sitting around talking and children playing. This is also the park where many people bring there birds. The people will bring there birds (in their cages) to the park and hand the cages near other bird's cages so that the birds have a chance to socialize. They even swing the cages back and forth in order for the birds to get some exercise. No kidding! Further up into the park, I think I must have unknowingly entered the men's section. There were men gathered in small groups either talking, playing what appeared to be some type of board game, or smoking. This park was further away from the tourist section, so the fact that I was out of place was readily apparent. I received some of the same looks as when I visited mainland. Especially when I was in the men's section. It was an interesting glimpse into the everyday lives of some of the people.

The entrance to Camoes park.

This are the men playing some type of game. It appeared to be a Chinese type of dominoes.

This is the area where the birds can socialize and do a bit of exercising as well.

One last pictue, this is the park that I walk by everyday on my way to work.

My favorite part of the day though would have to be going into all of the small shops. As I would enter the shops, the store owners would immediately approach me and try to sale their wares. Then the bargaining began. Something that is quickly learned in Macau, the price marked is usually negotiable. This whole bargaining game is such fun for me. I do not know how many shops I went into, a wnd as soon as the owner would tell me the price of something, I would immediately begin bargaining with no intention whatsoever of buying it. I just wanted to see how low they would actually go. I would offer this ridicuously low price and watch their reactions. It was so fun!

Every Friday night, the center hosts a Bible study in Chinese for students who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the Bible. Last night, a new English student agreed to stay for the Bible study. After the Bible study was over, Lenny explained that he had never heard of Jesus before. He also said that prior to Friday night, he did not really know what the Bible was and that he thought is was "nothing but a boring book". He has now said that the Bible is very interesting and that he wanted to learn more about it. He has said that he will attend the Tuesday night Bible studies also. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will lead Lenny want to learn more about Jesus and show more interest in reading the Bible.

I know this was a long post, but thanks for reading all the way through. The best part was at the end. Bye for now!

Love,

Cassie