We have now been back in Hong Kong for over a month, while I really enjoyed Malaysia, it is also good to be back in Hong Kong. Though life here has been more difficult than say Macau or Guangzhou, I have always loved HK since I was first indirectly invited to come here on a missions trip back in 2008 by an old classmate during a nightly Bible class. It was a place that for many a years I prayed and made huge sacrifices to live. It just was not in God’s timing back then. I love the city and it will always have a special place in my heart. This is a place where I heard very clearly from the Lord on different expectations or details about my future. I pray that the Lord will forever stay with this amazing city and help it to overcome its challenges.
Cantonese at the YMy Classmates
I took these pictures a couple weeks ago, it was my first class beginning level 2 in Cantonese. While my Putonghua (Mandarin) is pretty useful, I really want to learn/ be more part of the local community. HK has finally given me a space to feel like I’m part of society, even our youngest son was granted PR status just by being born here. I have always said that Hong Kong/ HKers don’t often care where you are from, all they care about is what can you do for the community/ society and how much you love HK. I pray that the Lord will help me become fluent in Cantonese because it was a language that I fell in love with ever since first coming here. I had just never really been given the opportunity to learn Cantonese in the same way I was with studying Putonghua, until now that is. If you are interested in learning Cantonese and you are here in HK, why not check out some continuing education classes at the YMCA in TST. Our classes are every Thursday from 19-21:00, I will be heading there in a few hours for my second class in level 2. I am not a beginner in Cantonese, I probably should have skipped to level 2 in the very beginning, but I had really enjoyed meeting the classmates that I had in level 1.
Screenshot
One day when I was scrolling on IG, I saw that Adidas has this really cool DIY shirt design going on at the moment. They have lots of different iron on patches and vinyl patches that can be ironed onto your shirt. Though I do not have almost any Adidas clothing nowadays, I can remember one of my favorite jackets back when I was in high school was Adidas. It was a light weight jacket that was given to me when I joined our high school soccer team. Unfortunately we had to give that jacket back to the school once we graduated, but I can remember really being proud of wearing that jacket. Several years later I had found one almost identical but it was in green, instead of blue. So I have for a long time had an affinity toward Adidas. Shortly after coming back to Hong Kong, my oldest son Noah and I went down to
Then one last thing that I would like to share concerning our summer was that we attended the Book Festival here in Hong Kong. I had wanted to go to it for a long time, but it was just never in the cards. The boys and I found some really cool books that I will now be trying to get through. I found a book on Macau history, the history of Hong Kong and an Anglican history in Hong Kong. So I am especially looking forward to finish reading all three of them. Well, this post is getting a little long. I just wanted to provide you all an update of whats been going on. God bless you all!
It is now officially summer holiday for us here in Hong Kong, and we made a trip over to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for two weeks. It was my third time in Malaysia and it was the family’s second time going, but for little Daniel and Jonah, it was their first trip to Southeast Asia. Since the family has grown a lot within the last couple of years, we decided to take it really easy while in KL, but we were able to see/ do some pretty interesting things. Though we mostly took it easy and did one or two things each day in KL, there was something that really surprised me this trip to KL. It was something that I had not been so struck by since having traveled to Toronto for the first time back in 2013. Kuala Lumpur is such a culturally diverse and cosmopolitan city, it may even be one of the most culturally diverse cities I’ve visited yet. Everywhere we went, we were surrounded by people from all across the world; even the local population consists of Malays, Chinese, and Indians.
View from our windows
This type of environment is truly a special characteristic; lots of places are considered to be multi-ethnic or culturally diverse, but these people groups often stick with their own. While I am sure that happens a lot too in Kuala Lumpur, it was really interesting to see Indians with Chinese or Malays with Expats, and as a result, I believe that Malaysia has developed some really interesting foods. While we were there, we tried lots of different dishes and different foods that would be significantly harder to find here in Hong Kong. For example, we saw Mexican food around KL and even a Taco Bell! Mexican food or Cali-Mex type restaurants have popped up in Guangzhou and used to be here in Hong Kong, but since the Covid lockdowns, a lot of that variety has left the city. Everywhere we went, we saw so many people in Malaysia trying different ethnic cuisines, especially in the food courts (or hawker centers) that are scattered all across the country. Our personal favorites this time around were Yemeni and Lebanese food.
While we were there, we went to a Kinokuniya Bookstore (popular Japanese franchise) and I found a book on Malaysian history that I have been reading on and off for the past couple of weeks. The first couple of chapters give a brief introduction to the demographics of Malaysia and then go on to discuss the indigenous people groups of Malaysia. There were times early in the morning, I would get up before everyone else and just sit by the pool at our Airbnb. While watching the sunrise, I’d either pray or think about some of the material I was reading. This past year, here in Hong Kong, one of the key themes that was present in the 10th-grade curriculum at my new school was that globalization has existed longer than many are led to believe. It has been interesting reading about the Chinese influence over Malaysia, the Indian expeditions, the motivations of the Dutch/ Portuguese, and lastly the British, who all had imperial interests over the country. It had made me wonder if the Malaysians are so accustomed to different people groups that it has just become part of their identity because of this historical exchange. That being said, we did take a day trip to Malacca (in hindsight, I wouldn’t recommend a day trip, 2-3 days at a minimum). While we drove to Malacca and traveled by train, we did see a very different Malaysia from what we saw within KL. The cultural diversity was not as profound as the capital city, but even then, we would see random Chinese or Indian temples in sparsely populated places in the surrounding states from KL to Malacca. We were able to briefly see the other states in Malaysia on route to Malacca, states like Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, and Melaka. My wife and I commented a few times on how these remote places, where you would imagine it would be predominantly Malays living in the area, would still have Hindu, Buddhist, or even traditional Chinese temples.
Recently, a lot of people have been moving to Malaysia or Singapore. Many people have, unfortunately, left Hong Kong for a multitude of reasons and have thought life would be better or easier in other places throughout Southeast Asia. While KL is not as cheap as we once remembered (mostly because the value of the US dollar has dropped so much within the last 3 months), it is still significantly cheaper than Hong Kong or Singapore, which have been named two of the most expensive city-states in the world. So I believe that Malaysia will continue to grow and become even more diverse.
Cham is Malaysia’s Take on 鴛鴦Thai Claypot CoffeeYemeni Lamb & RiceMalaysian 腸粉Kaya Toast with Peanut ButterShwarmaYemini AppetizerNorth African Couscous
In closing, I should probably mention that when speaking with locals, a topic of discussion that often came up was cultural/racial issues within the country. The locals would often mention that at times it can be very difficult living with so many different people groups, but they try to adhere to a belief of allowing those different communities to operate within their frameworks and leave them to practice how those people groups see fit. One major takeaway I gained from this trip is that diversity can exist within a community, but only with a strong desire to maintain unity. Malaysia is not a perfect country, but its leadership values diversity and strives to maintain unity within society. It is not something that can simply exist without intentionality and persistence. May the Lord continue to bless Malaysia, its people, and, more importantly, allow Christianity to flourish even more within its borders. We hope to travel there again.
HTBB Anglican Church in KLHTBB Anglican Church in KL
Hey guys, very quick post. Little Howard #3 is on the way! Elizabeth’s water broke and we are now in the hospital. Please pray for both her and Jonah! Please ask God for a safe delivery and for little Jonah to be healthy and strong! That God will give Elizabeth supernatural strength and peace. I’ll keep you guys posted.
Happy Tuesday everyone, this was a video that was posted in a group chat that I am part of with Morrison Chapel here in Macau by Reverend Stephen. It tells a brief history/ background of the first women ordained in the Anglican Church. Florence Li 李添嬡 was born in Hong Kong and during the terrible times Hong Kong suffered under Japanese occupation, the Anglican church appointed her to become a priest in the Anglican Communion. Many Chinese do not believe Christianity is an Eastern religion and consider it to be a Western religion. I think it is important to recognize those Chinese brothers and sisters in Christ who have made profound contributions to the Kingdom. I am actually working on another blog post at the moment and a special lesson for my students tomorrow concerning answers to hard questions they have asked about life and the Faith. But I wanted to take a brief pause and post this entry highlighting Florence Li. The Gospel is open to all of humanity. As Paul illustrates for us in the New Testament,
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Ro 1:16–17
Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful day so far. We have some exciting news that we found out Wednesday after school that I would like to share with everyone. But before I do, the doctor said Elizabeth is looking healthy and normal at this stage in her pregnancy, the doctor also said the little one is looking normal at this stage. Perhaps the baby is a little taller based on his estimated leg length. So Praise God for helping Elizabeth and the little one!
First, I would like to also thank all of my colleagues at Macau Anglican College who wore blue and pink this past Thursday for the big news. That meant a lot to me and I wish I could have gotten a picture of all of us together. But it was definitely a busy day. May God bless all of you and it’s been great being part of your team!
We are very grateful to be living in Macau and eventually, Hong Kong, where they are allowed to tell the gender of the baby. It is illegal to find out the gender of your baby in Mainland China due to a traditional Chinese idea that it is better to have a son as your first child and many Chinese used to abort baby girls. I do not think many Chinese hold to this belief anymore, but it is still a law of the land. However apparently, it is not as straightforward in Macau either. We contacted Kiang Wu 鏡湖醫院 and MUST 科大醫院, they apparently do not perform ultrasounds to reveal the baby’s gender. Instead, they have some blood tests that check for several different illnesses or diseases, which will also include the baby’s gender. Though this is not without its own set of problems, since Macau is so small, they do not have the proper facilities that can handle these blood tests. They need to send off the blood tests to Hong Kong and the public hospital said it would probably take around a month to get the results back. That being said, the blood test is also considerably more expensive than an ultrasound.
Thankfully a friend of ours recommended a private clinic that specializes in pregnancies and she was so kind and patient with us. Maya Clinic on Macau side has some of the best bedside manners in Macau in terms of doctors and hospitals. I would highly recommend them if anyone local or blue card holder lives in Macau and is going to have their baby in Macau.
Now, time for the big reveal! We……………………………. are…………………………. having……………………… a……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………baby……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. boy!
Yes, the Howard family will have another baby boy! It was somewhat of a surprise, but we all are still happy! Thankfully we can start narrowing down the name list and I think we have decided on
Greetings everyone, as you might know from the title and pictures, we are preparing for little Howard number 3! We’ve been wanting to inform everyone for a while and thought it would be a good time to share the great news! Elizabeth is quickly approaching 17 weeks into her pregnancy and everything is going well.
Elizabeth has been talking about a Dragon baby since we had little Daniel (he is a tiger). We will make it just in time for our third little one to be born in the year of the dragon (I’m also a dragon). Her due date is the end of September to the beginning of October. While I do not really believe in the whole Chinese zodiac thing, I do believe that when we are born plays a tremendous role in our development. Whether we were born around the Great Depression (like my grandmother) etc, these historical events or circumstances will play a tremendous role in our development. So in that regard, I do think the Chinese are onto something. My wife says she doesn’t believe in the Chinese zodiac either, but she still wanted a tiger baby and a dragon baby… Hmm… LOL! Just teasing you sweetheart.
So I’m sure you are all wondering whether this third little one will be a boy or a girl? Well… At this point we do not know, the doctor has asked us to wait another 1-2 weeks to make sure it’s easier to identify the baby’s gender. In the meantime, we have been thinking of potential baby names and we have narrowed it down to a few possibilities. I thought I’d share some of our ideas with you guys!
Abigail Emilia Howard= We thought this was a rather cute name and thought it would be nice to have a Portuguese-sounding name (like Emilia) since the baby was conceived here in Macau.
Abigail Riley Howard= I’ve always liked the name Riley and it would be a great name considering it can be for a boy or girl.
Abigail Elise Howard= I quite like this one because it’s French (but can also be used in English) for promised to God and is short for Elizabeth.
Nathanial Riley Howard
Jonah — Howard?
As you can tell, we have already decided Abigail will be the first name if it’s a girl, and we haven’t really decided if it’s a boy, though we do like Nathanial a lot. Any suggestions on a middle name for Jonah? Jonah Riley Howard sounds alright, but not the best. Elizabeth is still thinking of Chinese names. The birth certificates will have both an English name and a Chinese name. So both the Chinese and English names will be the baby’s legal names, just like Daniel. Unfortunately, when we had Noah, the Mainland Chinese government didn’t allow us to put two names on his birth certificate… 😦
Please keep us in your prayers, especially for a safe birth and healthy baby. We were denied insurance coverage from the insurance companies we were expecting to use and I am in the process of trying to save up enough for the birth. Here in Macau, the insurance companies told us that Elizabeth needed to get pregnancy insurance after she was pregnant, instead of getting the coverage before her pregnancy. We thought that was strange but rules and laws are different in different places. In Mainland China and the USA, you would need to have coverage before pregnancy, but we thought well that is how they do it here in Macau and apparently Hong Kong. We’ve talked with several insurance companies prior to Elizabeth getting pregnant and they all assured us that this was how it was done in HK and Macau. Well unfortunately she was denied coverage by several different insurance companies because she was diagnosed with pregnancy diabetes, which is a tendency for women to have high blood sugar when they are pregnant. The second thing is that we will be moving soon to Hong Kong, which brings more challenges. While hospital rates are reasonable here in Macau (like Mainland), they are much more expensive in Hong Kong. Then we have the move itself. So needless to say, that has concerned me. But we are putting it in the Lord’s hands and I’m holding onto a Bible verse I recently shared with a student of mine. Philippines 4:6-7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
God bless you all and we will keep you posted about the gender reveal in the next couple of weeks!
Greetings everyone, I just wanted to upload some photos that I have taken around Coloane 路環 from the past 2 years of us living here in Macau. Coloane is easily one of my most favorite places in all of Macau. I love walking down there, it feels like I’ve fallen into a place that has stopped in time. I’ve seen some places like this in other parts of China, but compared to the places on Shamian Island, or Lushunkou, all around Hong Kong or even the Russian quarters in downtown Dalian, here is a fairly well-preserved piece of history in China. This will be a place that I will truly miss.
I love how the clouds cover the landscape of southern China.Hand Beaten CoffeeThis little Daihatsu helped us explore a lot of Macau.
Greetings friends and family, we wanted to provide an update as to what is going on our side of the world. As most of you know, we have been living in Macau, a territory close to Hong Kong, in the South China Sea. It has been two years since we moved here and we have sincerely loved it. That being said, we are leaving Macau for Hong Kong next school year. We will be heading over to Hong Kong around July. While we don’t need to mention why we think we should leave, I think this may be a useful post to spread awareness in Macau and provide insight to people wanting to come to Macau.
I moved to Southern China back in 2016 and since then, I have met my wife, had two little boys, and have made my life over here in China. That being said, during the time of COVID-19 (and after), things got particularly difficult for us raising a family in Mainland China. It mostly had to do with our boys not being permitted to go to church and back in 2022 we began looking at how we could stay in China but have more liberty to raise our boys in our Christian tradition. In the fall of 2022, it was God sent for us to be able to travel, live, and work here in Macau. God completely satisfied our needs. We ultimately were hoping this to be a long-term solution, but quickly found out that we had some common misconceptions about Macau. This is perhaps a bit of a nuanced issue for Americans or people who don’t live outside their home country, but obtaining a VISA can be a difficult thing to do each year. Particularly if you might have plans to live in a place long term, it becomes trickier. If you just want to live somewhere for a few years, it probably wouldn’t be much of a problem, but my family is part Chinese. My wife and I want our boys to speak Mandarin and know Chinese culture. I also of course want them to know about the American side of their heritage, while understanding the international community. We felt Macau or Hong Kong would provide us that option, but things have proved difficult for us to consider Macau a long-term solution.
To acquire residency or permanent residency (which gives us the ability to stay in Macau long-term or forever if we’d like), you need to live in Macau for at least 7 years. We understood that and came to Macau, but while that is true, it’s not the reality for most workers who are from outside of Macau. A majority of workers from outside of Macau are issued what is locally called a “Blue Card” and there is a special clause in the Macau Law dealing with immigration concerning the status of people in Macau under a “Blue Card”. Blue card holders are not entitled to residency status in Macau without additional approval from a government bureau like the PSP or an investment committee such as IPIM. The blue card gives you temporary status in Macau to “stay” but does not lead to a longer-term status or “reside”. So in short, Macau does not grant residency to outside workers just by living and working in a territory like Hong Kong or the USA. You can even see on my fancy blue card (Macau Work Permit) that they have explicitly written this statement on the back of the card, both in Chinese and Portuguese (I highlighted it in yellow).
There are a lot of misconceptions here in Macau about gaining Permanent Residency. Many of the locals and people who have lived here a long time think that it is easy to get residency. We’ve had insurance agents, teachers and colleagues who have mentioned that it is easy and the truth of the matter is that it was, 15-20 years ago. It is only easy nowadays if you make a huge investment or fit into a very very selective criteria. After a lot of jumping through hoops, I finally was able to apply for residency. I was rejected and instead of “trying” to get eligible for residency, this is the major reason we have decided to move on to Hong Kong, where hopefully it’ll be somewhat easier.
Why is residency such a big deal for us? Well as you know, we are a mixed family. The laws in Mainland China are different from the United States in terms of nationality. My wife and I would like for the boys to gain some type of residency status so that when they are older, they can continue participating in China or return to the USA if they’d like.
While residency is not a big deal in the West or the USA, here in Macau, not being a resident prevents you from fully participating in daily life. Things from driving into Mainland China from Macau are restricted to only residents, despite me having a Mainland license, Macau driving license, a Mainland VISA, legally living here in Macau and a car. We do not qualify for our children to get a stipend to help cover education, whereas residents basically can get their tuition fees covered 90-100%. My spouse and children are not covered under the SAR health insurance plan. Even things like making appointments online for getting our fingerprints done at the police station, etc cannot be done unless your a resident. So we need to physically go into the bureaus and make an appointment for a later time. The list goes on… somethings being more signficant than others.
There are other reasons we have decided to leave Macau for Hong Kong, but all that being said, it is a bittersweet time in our lives. We have greatly loved our time in Macau and it will always have a special place in our hearts. I hope that in the near future, I can continue to research the history of this little SAR and publish a book about some of my findings. Whenever I can find the time, I’d love to write about some of these interesting historical facts about this charming city. In the meantime, hopefully, the leaders of Macau will begin to reflect and consider who it is who wants to belong to Macau and will reconsider some of these policies. Macau has such a deep Christian heritage and long history, it has been a pleasure temporarily being part of the Macau story. Our hearts are sadden with the loss of our community, friends, and especially my school. But I hope that we can stay in touch.
Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Chinese New Year everyone! I had sent out an Instagram post a few days ago of my youngest boy Daniel dancing while we were watching the annual CCTV Chinese New Year celebration wishing everyone a Happy CNY. May the Lord greatly bless you all and give you favor in the year of the Dragon!
A special shout-out to my beautiful wife Elizabeth! Happy Valentine’s Day sweetheart! I love you with all of my heart and I am very thankful God brought us together!
Your hubby
I wanted to post this message earlier during the holiday, but this new year has gotten off to a rough start for the International New Year and the CNY. The Howard family got sick with the flu back during Christmas break and it took us some time to get over it, unfortunately, the boys caught the flu again over our CNY break. Our plans have been canceled and we have been a lot less active in Macau because of it. That being said, I am very hopeful for 2024! Especially since it is my animal year!
While we maybe didn’t get to see much in person this year, we have been watching certain events on TV and online. I am hoping that we can make the final Macau CNY parade on the 17th, this event will also be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Macau being returned to Mainland China.
Year of the Pikachu?
My son on the other hand has been more interested in getting some rest because of him catching the flu and collecting more Pokemon cards! I think it is a fun little hobby that we can enjoy together, even though I do not know a majority of the Pokemon now. I only know the originals really well. That being said, I thought it was kind of cool that they released several Promo cards to celebrate the CNY in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Apparently these special edition promo cards were not released in Mainland China. I was a little disappointed that these cards only have a small Pikachu stamp, I think it would have been better if they had a card where Pikachu was dressed up in the New Year clothing like on the package!
The photo above was taken on the last day of school before the Chinese New Year. Noah ventured out with me to try this coffee place that I’ve been wanting to try since we moved to Macau. I grabbed a hot coffee while Noah enjoyed an iced Ovaltine! As you can see, he dressed up in his CNY clothing for school also!
Cute Cartoons Shown During the CCTV CNY Broadcast
Anyway, this New New Year, I only have a few resolutions. I’ve not been keeping up with them as I’d like but thankfully we have a second new year to start over! All jokes aside, I’ve amended most of my resolutions and I’ve tried to make them more realistic. New Year Resolutions for 2024 version 2.0! Hopefully, by sharing them, you guys can help me stay accountable!
Complete the entire Bible for a second time round this year.
Grow closer in my relationships, especially with the Lord, my family, and my friends.
Obtain my Church Worker’s License with the IPHC!
Stay more active and healthy through regular lifestyle changes.
Reach an A1-A2 Level in Portuguese by the end of the year.
Reach an A2 Level in my Cantonese by the end of the year.
Reach a B1-B2 level in my Mandarin by the end of the year (focusing on the Taiwanese Dialect of Putonghua).
I think I will share my Bujo for 2024 to share some more details about the goals mentioned above. Maybe it will even help inspire others!
Anyway, I’ll keep you guys posted on how the New New Year’s Resolutions go throughout the year. There are several exciting announcements we are waiting to share with you all, so please stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I am working on some more entries that revolve around some places/ things here in Macau. I also hope to share that with you guys soon! God bless and again, Happy CNY everyone!
Greetings everyone, we thankfully are officially on Christmas break. This last week of school was extremely busy, several different Christmas projects going on all at the same time. One of those projects was working on the above project, it kind of morphed from a live reading, to a live performance to a recorded dramatization with special effects. Thankfully we found a couple of Christian students and several Christian teachers who were willing to help read out some of the lines. On the last day of school, we played this recording over the PA system and I thought it almost seemed like a radio broadcast. Unfortunately, the audio being played from my computer made it a little difficult to here. I decided to post the recording here on my blog and YouTube. I speak a good 2 hours on this recording, its not perfect, but it was my first attempt at an audio project like this.
A special thanks to those who helped in your contributions to this project. You definitely helped make it more interesting than me just reading it out. May God bless you all for your assistance.
Anyway, this is a short post. Merry Christmas everyone and God bless!
Greetings everyone, today’s entry will a little bit of a change of pace. I often write a reflection on the anniversary of the 9/11 event or at least talk to my students about the memories that have been captured in my mind. It is hard to believe that this tragic event in history took place some 22 years ago now, I still feel like I can so vividly recall many of the details about that moment when I first found out. Today’s reflection on 9/11 will be somewhat different than many I’ve written or stated in the past.
After walking into the school building I commented with a colleague about today’s significance and she actively recalled where she was during the event also. She ended her story with a comment that I have heard before, but it never really hit me before like it did this morning. My colleague mentioned that our students were not even born and many of them do not have any personal connection to 9/11. Many of them did not even know the reason why Al-Qaeda choose today’s date. While this has been true for some time, I have noticed that many no longer reflect on what was lost today 22 years ago.
The lives that were lost, whether it was fathers/ mothers/ sons/ daughters/ loved ones/ friends… It was surreal to listen to those names of those who lost their lives on the news covering today’s anniversary commemorations.
Not only were those lives lost, but a way of life was lost that day. The world in many ways has changed so much that it is barely recognisable.
But the biggest thought that has been lingering with me all day was the fact that I have two students whose birthdays were today. One student who turned 17 and another who turned 18. It might sound silly or even strange to even point this out, but it has stuck with me today how one day can differ for so many people, depending on circumstance, perspective, environment. The only significant difference is time. This day serves as a dark memory for many forever etched in time, but for two, it was a day of new beginnings, of life.
“6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
Romans 5:6 ESV
Despite whatever days we may have had in the past or will have in the future, Christ will remain with us. There may be times where it seems dark and He is not present, but when we least suspect it, He is there. Whether it is to comfort us, restore us, beautifully orchestrate all the necessary pieces behind the scenes to help us out of those low points in life, or even to welcome us home in unity with Him, there He is. These themes have been on my mind today and perhaps they aren’t even articulated well, but I just wanted to share. God bless…
Greetings everyone! I have been meaning to post this entry for a couple of weeks. I usually do not do this, but it’s not very often that I get to speak at church recently. As some of you already knew, one reason we came back to Macau early during the summer because the pastor at our local church here in Macau asked me to cover him while he was out. Thankfully he is doing much better and has recently received an update from his doctor that he no longer has any cancer! He recently shared his testimony and it is an amazing story of God’s divine providence, even in the most difficult times in our lives.
I was privileged to be able to speak at Morrison Chapel, which is the head church of our sister church, which meets at Macau Anglican College. Though Morrison Chapel was only built in the 1900s, the origin story of Morrison Chapel dates further back in Christian Chinese heritage/ history. It was an honor and privilege to be able to speak at one of the oldest protestant churches in Asia.
If you are interested in hearing the sermon for yourselves, I am including the YouTube link.
<Excerpt from the Sermon> Society or culture tells us that we are defined by certain roles and that defines who we are, our purpose in society. But what happens when we loose that position or role in society? What about that sense of calling you just previous contemplated? What if that season eventually passes and God has you move onto something else? What happens to the woman who defined herself as a mother and her children have left the home because they grew up, the salaryman who lost his job that he has been working the past 20 years of his life, the actor who has been diagnosed with cancer and no longer sees the possibility of acting? Too often, we classify ourselves and associate ourselves with these roles, and once that season has passed, we feel as if we lost what it means to be us. We should not rely on how the world’s classifies us or determines our self worth, but we should hold to the worth that Christ has set before us. Our calling in life is not about our occupation, our role as a parent or anything else for that matter. We have two callings in life, a primary calling and a secondary calling. Too often we get confused or led astray by society as to which is more important, we forget our true calling in life, resulting in a distortion of who we are in Christ and what is our purpose in life. Allow me to take a moment and explain what these two callings are in our lives, whether you are saved or not saved.
Primary meaning, “main” or “number one” calling. Os Guinness states that our primary calling is not to somewhere or something… We are actually called by someone to God, for God and by God. No matter what other things we accomplish in life, whether its our role as a husband or father, wife or mother or our occupations, these roles will never be greater than this primary calling to God, for God and by God. Christ coming to dwell with us accomplishes these calling in our lives by giving us the ability to know Him and His Father, to live His way, and to give us the power/ strength to introduce others to become His disciples. It would even appear that Guinness is pulling from what Jesus tells us in
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
“This is the great and foremost commandment.
“The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all of your mind. Listen again to that commandment from Jesus Himself. This heavily relates to the purpose/ meaning of our lives and if others can see the love of Christ emulating through us, then they will be more interested in the Words/ teachings of Christ and potentially become His disciples.
The secondary calling is simply put, all that we do to fulfill the primary calling. Therefore all of these other components/ factors that we define ourselves by are actually secondary and should not be placed higher in terms of importance in our lives. When we do see a shift of importance, this is where problems arise, such as depression, unhappiness, anxiety or loss of meaning to name just a few. So those secondary callings may include: our giftedness (talents), resources (things at our disposal), and spheres of influence (who we encounter or interact with). All of these areas of our lives are to help draw us and others closer to our primary calling to God, by God, for God. These areas of our lives do not define us entirely, they are just a means of helping us to fulfill that calling to have a relationship, to dwell in fellowship with God.
The sermon was heavily inspired by the Bible and Os Guinness’s book entitled “The Call”. If you are interested in reading more on Morrison Chapel or The Call, please refer to the reference list below!
Please help me to pray that God will open up more opportunities that I can share the Gospel with the people of China. That is where our heart is, to see the Chinese come to know the Lord. God bless you all and I hope that this message will draw you closer to the Lord!
References- 1. Guinness, O., 2003. The call: finding and fulfilling the central purpose of your life. Nashville, Tenn: W Pub. Group. 2. Anon. 2023. Morrison Chapel » History of Morrison Chapel. Available at:<https://morrisonchapel.com/history/> [Accessed 8 September 2023]. 3. The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 22:37-40 4. 聖經新譯本（繁體•神字版）, 第二版. (香港: 環球聖經公會, 2005), Mt 22:37–40. 5. 두란노서원, 우리말성경, 3판 ed. (서울시 용산구 서빙고동 95번지: 도서출판 두란노서원, 2014), Mt 22:37–40
Greetings everyone! It’s been a minute since we have last updated everyone. We are adjusting well back in Macau and Noah (and myself) started school back this week! It’s hard to believe Noah is already in K3 (or as we North Americans like to call it, Kindergarten). Elizabeth is studying for the first part of her driving exam (please help pray for her, her test is Friday), so I have been trying to spend more time than usual with the boys giving her time to study. Anyway, today we went to the clubhouse (its like a play area) for the residents in our complex. Needless to say, the boys enjoyed themselves!
Greetings family, friends, wanderers, we are quickly approaching summer and the Howard family will finally be able to travel back to the States! We are very grateful that Macau, Hong Kong and Mainland China have opened their borders again after this pandemic. School is still in session at the moment, but most of our students are now preparing/ taking their final exams. While I normally did not share a lot of Christian related events/ outreaches while living in Mainland China; I think it will be alright to share a brief update of what God is allowing me to participate here in Macau.
You all might be noticing these title slides for different sermons/ talks. After coming to MAC 聖公會中學, God has opened up the doors for me to do ministry inside the school! As many of you already know, I came to China long ago to do ministry because I felt a calling here. To help bring the Gospel to the Chinese people. After coming to China full time to live in 2016, things quickly changed. While not going into details, the types of ministry or involvement with the Church or with fellow Christians in China also changed. Finally last year God opened the door for us to move to Macau and we were extremely excited about this opportunity. And here we are! God has opened the door for me to do ministry with students here at our school. If you can read Chinese, you might have noticed the character 聖, which is often associated with Christian or religious things. Yes, my school is a Christian (Anglican) school here in Macau. That being said, a majority of the staff and students working or studying here are not Christian. Thankfully, God has supplied a small but dedicated group of staff members here that are Christian and are passionate about sharing the Gospel.
Here at MAC, we have a weekly Chapel every Wednesday and recently the school has been asking me to lead the Chapels. Due to some unfortunate circumstances with our full time Pastor, he has not been able to attend for sometime while he recovers from some health issues. Please keep him in your prayers, he is recovering but will require more time. He had an extremely serious health crisis, but as for his updates, he is making a good recovery.
There was a void because of his absence and some other teachers mentioned that I used to do ministry and the administration heard about it. So another teacher here at MAC, Pastor Cristian (who is also a trained pastor) have been helping me to lead worship in the Chapel and he has been of tremendous help during this whole process. He has been giving me advice, preparing those songs we sing at Chapel and just prayerfully supporting this entire endeavour. I wanted to mention this here on the blog because I would like to ask you all for some help. Even though we may not have anymore chapels this year because of examinations, I’d like to ask you all to help stand together in prayer for a couple of points for the upcoming school year. Just as Jesus states in Matthew 18:18-20
Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 18:18–20.
Prayer Requests
May God speak to the hearts and minds of our staff, teachers and students here at MAC.
May God continue to provide opportunities for me to serve the staff/ students at our school.
May God give favor in seeking additional support in understanding Him and further pursuit of a potential degree/ license in ministry or etc.
May God provide my family and I further insight on how to minister to the greater Macau area (even Southern China) and that more residents of Macau will to come to a saving faith in Christ alone.
Lastly, may God give me the patience, persistence, passion, acquisition of learning Cantonese and being able to fully converse with locals to share more of the Gospel with them.
Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. I have missed all of you terribly and we are sooooo excited to be traveling back for the summer! May God bless you all and keep you. Until next time…
Greetings everyone! I have been meaning to write on the blog for sometime but I will not deny, this has been one busy year. As some of you probably already know, that since this past November, China has officially opened its borders again. Since 2020 due to the Pandemic, China had closed its borders and purchasing a plane ticket for those who still wanted to leave the country were averaging around 5-10,000 USD per person. Thankfully with China abandoning the ‘zero covid’ policy, things have begun to get back to some normalcy. Before moving to Macau, we thought things would be a little more like Hong Kong in terms of opening up early, but that was not the case.
I personally have never flown with Turkish Airlines, but apparently right now they are one of the most affordable airlines to travel back to the USA. The journey on the other hand is going to be a rough one, we will be flying westward over Europe back to the USA (this route is around 10 hours longer than crossing the Pacific). We will also not be able to leave from Macau, but we need to take the ferry over to Hong Kong and then board our long flight to Washington DC. Not only could we not fly from Macau to North Carolina, but we could not even fly from Hong Kong to Raleigh. Instead we are flying to DC and then we will be driving from DC to Fayetteville. This troublesome arrangement helped us to save close to $1700 USD.
Either way, we just wanted to provide you guys with an update! Even though I’ve never seen tickets this expensive back to the USA, we are finally coming back for the summer! Tickets are still expensive, but praise God they are manageable, unlike the last three years ago as previously mentioned. We will be traveling back in July and staying about a month. We would love to meet up with family and friends again! We will keep you all posted and again, we are looking forward to seeing you all!
Happy 2023 everyone! This post is more of a reflection than anything, but I do want to provide an update to how we are doing and life here in Macau.
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for praying for us over the past two and a half weeks. As Mainland China and Macau scrap their “zero-covid policy”, the entire Howard family here in Macau caught Omicron after three years of dodging the virus. I was particularly concerned with my wife and two boys who are not vaccinated, but thankfully and prayerfully God has helped us through this endeavor. Fortunately, we no longer are positive. Our youngest one though, little Daniel, still has a pretty terrible cough and we are keeping a close eye on him to make sure it does not turn into something else. But thank you all for your prayers, I have wanted to write an update sooner rather than later but I have been particularly lethargic and preoccupied helping the Howard family recover.
It had been an eventful 2022 to say the least, God has provided in countless ways. 2022 was probably one of the busiest years I have had on record and I am hoping to change pace here in the year of the rabbit. Going into this new year, I wanted to post some goals for myself as to better help keep myself accountable. I plan on providing updates throughout the year regarding some of those goals and adjusting when needed as I go along. The primary areas of focus this year will pertain to my Faith, my family, my career and several hobbies that I hope to take it up a notch. I want to find more of a balance in 2023 because I felt like 2023 was extremely busy in terms of completing my masters degree in Applied Linguistics and TESOL Education, training for Cambridge AS/ A Level History/ IGCSE History, completing all of the requirements to maintain my teaching license from British Columbia in Canada. 2023 was primarily focused on my professional development, but not only am I burned out, I cannot continue to these extremes.
Most of these goals, I have not entirely settled upon how they will be implemented throughout the year. Unlike years in the past, I think it is alright to decide as I go along as opposed to trying to have it all figured out before the new year.
Family Goals– 1. I have sacrificed a lot in 2022 to accomplish all that I have, this year I want to dedicate more to my family. I would like for us to establish more traditions or hobbies geared around all of us. Family nights and hobbies to do with just my wife and with my boys.
My Faith– 2. I finally finished the Bible in its entirety in 2022, but not in the year as I had wanted. It was a check off list that I had started two years ago. That being said, I want to devote more time to my quiet time, evangelism, Biblical history, memorization of Scripture and completing the Bible in one year.
Hobbies– 3. This was a definite area that I lost focus on in the past couple of years. In 2023, I want to pick up the Ukulele again and try to practice it a couple times a week. Perhaps find some personal training to give me a better understanding and then pick up an online course. 4. I also want to pick up photography again because it had brought me so much joy in the past. I plan on combining this in with another interest I want to dedicate to is the Christian heritage of Macau here in on my blog. If you guys have any suggestions on some stories, events or places here in Macau linked with Christian heritage, please let me know.
Language Development– I no longer see language as just a tool for communication, but as part of an identity and a calling on my life. I wish to better hone these language abilities in Mandarin and Cantonese because of the people group that God has placed into my circle of life and made part of my family. I have a strong desire for my boys to have as much of a connection with their Chinese roots as they do with their American roots. 5. My Mandarin is alright, but I always find there is room for improvement. I want to continue on the pursuit of native-like comprehension and try to work on eliminating my accent. I also want to continue dedicating my time to learning written Chinese (Traditional) and reading Simplified. I would like to take the HSK 3 this year for Mandarin Chinese. 6. Another passion of mine is picking up more Cantonese. This was one of the primary reasons for wanting to move to Macau, but since we moved here, I have been getting by with English and Mandarin. So hopefully, I can continue on my Cantonese. I need to learn Jyutping (Cantonese Pinyin) and learn how to read the Portuguese Cantonese pinyin that is in use here in Macau. 7. I am not entirely sure to what level I would like to develop to in terms of Portuguese, but I definitely want to be able to read it. Currently, a lot of my friends tell me I am reading it like Spanish, but that is because I grew up “learning” Spanish. If anything, I would love to have a basic conversational level of understanding in Portuguese just to talk with many of the Portuguese here in Macau.
Career– 8. Being head of the department in history at my new school has come with its own rewards and challenges. As a way of giving back to my current school in providing me with this privilege and working over the colleagues in my care, I want to focus on developing my leadership skills. Instead of focusing entirely on my own professional development, I want to better equip myself to help those under my care develop themselves. I also want to better assist in making my current school a better place, serving God to the best of my abilities. In terms of myself, I want to become an expert in the new content I’ve been instructing in the Cambridge curriculum and better understand different educational laws and requirements here in Macau, particularly those given by the DSEDJ.
Health– 9. Last but not least, my health has been one of the last areas of focus in my day to day life since the pandemic hit. Covid restrictions and lock downs have taken a hit on my emotional well being and physical person. I want to develop a consistent work out schedule on a week to week basis, nothing extreme, but that will promote a better lifestyle for myself. I also want to get more rest and eliminate the need for caffeine. Instead of treating caffeine as a necessity, I would like to use it as a treat. Here in Macau, it is easier to find decaf coffees and other caffeine free alternatives to some drinks that I like.
Anyway, I will keep you guys posted. I have a general idea of how I want to work out these goals, God willing, but I have not committed anything to stone as of yet. I would like to keep a general plan and adjust as needed as I go along. There will be some definite goals, but in terms of logistics, that is opened to some flexible adjustments. In the past few years, I overly planned and became disappointed with the results. Perhaps this semi-structure approach will prove better. Anyway, God bless you all and I wish that God’s providence will guide you throughout this year of the rabbit!
Only 5 Days Quarantine in a Hotel and 3 Days at Home
Greetings everyone! I hope everyone is doing well! I just wanted to provide an update as it’s been a while. It’s been crazy busy and I should be working on something else, but I’m taking a break.
If anyone of you have been wondering how come we haven’t come back home to visit these last couple of years, the picture above is a good summary of why. Unfortunately, China has a very different approach to the “pandemic”, I’m sure you guys are familiar with it, “zero covid”. In short, it restricts people from leaving and coming back to China. We thought that moving to Macau would be a little more like HK in terms of them opening back up to the international community, but they aren’t. It’s been extremely expensive purchasing tickets to visit and we’ve been worried about having a similar situation as the last time we left to visit the USA. That being said, they have now lessened the time needed to quarantine coming back to Mainland China and Macau is adopting this policy themselves. Macau has also mentioned that “blue card” holders will be guaranteed entry back into Macau. So that is some major cause of celebration, the only problem is that flying out of Macau or Mainland is still around $2-3000 USD a ticket. Times that by three and half of a adult ticket cost for Daniel, it’s still crazy expensive to fly at the moment. Please help us pray for these concerns to be addressed and the tickets will decrease in price.
The family is doing good! We have some terrific news, we figured out a way to get back together sooner and God has allowed us to figure out a way to get Elizabeth, Noah and Daniel’s visa paperwork finished much sooner than expected! As of this month, Noah was able to officially start school (K2- basically kindergarten) at Macau Anglican College with me and he absolutely loves it! Daniel is officially 5 months as of this month going on 6 months! It’s hard to keep track of the time…
In terms of Elizabeth though, she will need to leave Macau temporarily with the boys so she can change her VISA over to my VISA arrangement. We never would have imagined Macau would have been so difficult to bring family after receiving a work visa (more on that process in another post). So if you could also help us pray that everything will get situated quickly, though we’ve been assured it’ll be much quicker on the Mainland side of bureaucracy.
Overall, we love Macau despite some of these difficult situations. Once we get Elizabeth situated, there shouldn’t be any other problems. We have found a church that we have been attending and feel like we’ve begun to find a community of friends and believers in Christ here. We would like to also find another church, preferably for a Bible study on another day besides Sunday, where we could directly participate more with the locals here. I’d love for my Cantonese to get better, while learning more about the Word of God and how to evangelize in Cantonese. We also want Noah to continue in his Cantonese language acquisition. His Mandarin is now on par with his English, but we feel that as a “Guangdong ren”, he should learn both.
Anyway, I think that about wraps it up here at this time. I’ll continue to keep you guys posted and write another post on the whole process bringing family to Macau and what we are planning to do for Christmas in terms of ministry! God bless you all!
Greetings, I have been thinking about different directions that I would like to take this blog and what exactly do I feel is important in the world today. It is no secret to most of my friends, but my faith is vital to my life and family. Not only has the Christian faith been of the upmost importance in my life, but the Christian experience in China and Chinese territories or regions around the world. After living in Mainland China (specifically Guangzhou and Dalian) for the past six years, I have been praying and reflecting on my time in China. One of the main reasons we moved to Macau was influenced by witnessing the hardships of the Church in Mainland and its direct impact on our family. As a Christian, lover of history and seeing a need for preserving Christian heritage in China, this is a primary focus I will be moving forward with my blog in the future. Many Chinese believe that Christianity is a western religion, but the Lord has a long history with the people of China and Christianity is a religion for all cultures and people. The way that I can portray this narrative on my blog is yet to be completely decided upon though, please help me pray for guidance and inspiration.
I have shared a few photos from a recent outing with my oldest boy and myself. I hope I can perhaps write about this topic more in the future. One of the iconic historical landmarks of Macau, Guia Hill hosts a beautiful Cathedral, a lighthouse and fortress. It was an intentional effort to take my oldest son to this UNESCO heritage site to inspire my boy with the lasting impact that Christ has manifested Himself through the work of His followers. Though we could not take photos inside the Cathedral and that is it no longer serving as a place of worship, it’s symbolism and serenity continues to serve as a reminder of Macau’s Christian heritage. It was an honor to pray inside such a historical landmark overlooking Macau with my son for the Lord to continue His work in Mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
My family’s identity consists of a biracial identity (American and Chinese) and a Christian heritage. I am seeking a balance between sharing that cultural/ religious understanding with my two boys and even the greater Christian population to some degree. We are increasingly becoming a people detached from our history and believe that antiquity has no place in modernity. As a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, I hope that this blog can inspire Christians (especially Chinese Christians and non Christians alike), that the Word of God is true and God has inspired generations of individuals across two millennia to share His love to the nations.
Greetings family and friends! Since the last message, a lot has happened here in Macau. When we first arrived, we thought Elizabeth and the boys could stay with me no problem until my visa paperwork was completed. Unfortunately the Macau government denied our request and they were forced to return to Zhuhai. We were separated for close to four weeks, but finally we found another way they could come back much sooner than the three months they originally told us.
Us hanging out at the Macau House of Literature
Needless to say I was quite depressed while they were gone and didn’t feel like doing much except my work. Things are quickly on the uptick and God has been taking good care of us. Though getting set up in Macau have been quite slow (it definitely seems Macau is on island time), life is settling down. God has been confirming our move here in several ways and we are really loving Macau. This will just be a quick update, God bless you all! Thank you for your prayers!
Greetings everyone! I just wanted to provide a short update on our family and then get to the meat of this post! Daniel and Elizabeth are doing really good! Daniel is now officially a little over one month old and Elizabeth has recovered. Thank you for all of your prayers and thoughts! They helped us get through that difficult time, but now our family is doing well. Noah is even adjusting really nicely with his newborn little brother.
Last Time We Were in Macau
This is a difficult post for me to write, but there have been a lot of changes recently in China. I do not want to get political or anything, but most of those changes have occurred within the church here in Mainland. It has been extremely discouraging and heartbreaking to see some of these changes, which have begun to greatly impact our family in terms of how we want to live and raise our family.
Though our plans have changed over the past year, God has recently officially opened a new door for us. The second week of August, we will be moving to Macau. Currently we are living in Zhuhai, until the covid situation gets better in Macau. Unfortunately, things have become even more complicated because of Covid. If you all could continue to pray for us, we are going to need it. I need to go to Macau first to apply for my work permit and then I can apply for Elizabeth and the boys to come in attached to my work permit. We have been told that it can take anywhere from 1-2 months for this process to be completed. The good thing is that I should be able to come visit them in Zhuhai on the weekends and then Elizabeth and the boys will be allowed to come visit Macau for up to 7 days each time she comes into Macau. So hopefully this will lessen the blow with being separated from each other. Please pray that the process is faster than they said, my new school also said they are wanting to write a letter to help advocate a faster processing time for my family’s VISA process.
I had messaged a Christian school a back in November- December of 2021 in Macau, Macau Anglican College, and sent them my resume. They had no official openings listed on their website, but I felt that it was worth a shot. I was so excited when I found this school on the internet. Recently they contacted me back and we had scheduled an interview. It turns out, they eventually would be in need of searching for a social studies teacher! The current lead social studies teacher announced his leaving and the school reached out to me. I am extremely grateful that God has led me to this school and I am excited to be teaching at a Christian school! Though the name is Macau Anglican COLLEGE, it is a Pre-K to 12th grade school, that uses the Cambridge curriculum. It was set up by the Anglican Church in Hong Kong. This also means that Noah will be able to attend a Christian school!
Some of you might be a little confused with my opening paragraph and my third paragraph. Since Macau used to be a Portuguese colony, they like Hong Kong, have certain freedoms or abilities that do not exist in the Mainland. So even though Macau is part of China, they enjoy a greater sense of religious freedoms. This means they can have Christian schools, openly proselytize, go to church whenever and where ever they want, etc.
It has been a little difficult getting my head wrapped around the fact that we will be leaving Mainland China, especially since this will be the end of my 6th year since I first moved to Mainland China. These six years have been monumental in my life, so many GOOD things (gifts from God) have come out of coming to China; meeting my wife, having my two boys, working with our church, making new friends, etc. The good thing is that I now have a new VISA to come back into Mainland China, so it is not goodbye to Mainland China (especially Guangzhou), but a see you later. Since Macau is so close to Guangzhou, we prayerfully hope to be able to make the trek here once every few months.
Hey everyone! Here is the only good photo we have of Daniel that’s good. We also have an update, little Daniel is off additional oxygen and he is breathing on his own normally! The doctor also said his jaundice is under control at the moment and it seems the antibiotics are working against the infection in his lungs!!!! He still has 3 days though in NICU… they want to observe him. But we will keep you all posted!
Hey everyone, I just wanted to give a quick update. Thank you so much for your prayers, we definitely need them to continue. Elizabeth is in the back room today and they are trying to induce her contractions. The good news is there are no infections and Daniel and Elizabeth are safe! Please continue to pray and that God will continue to protect Elizabeth and little Daniel! That God will give them strength, mercy, grace, favor and wisdom! And that we will be able to hold little Daniel safe and sound some time today!
These last couple of days we have been hanging out in one of my favorite places in Guangzhou, Shamian Island. Every time we come here, I feel some connection to a time that I could never know. It’s wonderful seeing the historical buildings that were constructed by Europeans who traveled to China for all sorts of reasons, some nobler reasons than others. Eitherway, I especially feel a distant connection with those immigrants who traveled to China so long ago.
It has been a personal dream of mine to travel to China ever since I first came to southern China to do ministry back in 2008 with Manna Church. God revealed so much to me throughout my first trip here to southern China and I dedicated so much of my time/ effort to finally move here to China. Today, as my family were taking an afternoon nap, I went for a walk and spent some time of self reflection while enjoying a latee at a local coffee shop.
As I walked the quiet streets of Shamian, listening to the trees and birds, my mind began to ponder what Shamian Island might have looked liked a century ago. I imagined a missionary living close by in one of the small French inspired flats hearing the church bells ringing throughout the streets and gathering his things as he walked out the door to the church. While the missionary was not attending to the church, he would spend a majority of his effort learning Cantonese so he could teach the locals more about God. As my mind began to drift back to the present, I started thinking about other things.
As I sat in the little coffee shop, sipping on my latee, I began to think of all of the old buildings and the history that they experienced. If only we could ask them of what they have seen over the years. If any of you have ever traveled here to Shamian, you might know that there are many historical buildings, but many of them have been repurposed into other uses. Several of these older buildings are now modern franchises and it seemed such a waste to see such history turned into a tourist attraction. It made me think about something that I have been seeing throughout China. I saw the same thing in Lushun up in Dalian, the same thing in our home of Shawan and here in Shamian. We are increasingly a people who are disconnected to our past, our culture, each other and even ourselves. What will future generations say about us? Will they just be as lost as we are ourselves?
The past seems charming at times, while the present seems cold and lacking personality. As modern creatures, we seem to constantly trade aspects of who we are as people for “comfort”. We seek to embrace the future at all costs and completely disregard the past or tradition because we don’t value what our ancestors accomplished. We are too often ignorant of our roots, often by design.
I have been raised an evangelical all my life, while I don’t really want to go into details about my past, I do want to share some current things that I have been struggling with personally in my evangelical faith. More specifically, the current dilemma I have with American Evangelicalism. Well, some of you might be wondering what exactly is an evangelical or you hear this term being thrown around a lot in the media. I am going to link toward a very interesting discussion done on the 10 minute Bible Hour concerning this very topic of defining evangelicals.
There have been several high profile evangelical Christian pastors who have been found to have had alternative lives, committing such atrocious sins I believe if Paul were still alive, he would refer to these sins in a similar fashion as he does in 1 Corinthians 5… Paul even says in response “Purge the evil person from among you” in the last verse of chapter 5. Just as this fellow YouTuber below describes in the video below.
Brian Houston’s latest scandal definitely hit me hard personally but one that I struggled with for months was concerning Ravi Zacharias, who I grew up listening to on the radio and often thought of as a great Christian apologist. There is something very wrong with the Church in general in our modern society and unfortunately it is just the evangelical church in the USA has taken center stage…
I’m not even sure where to go exactly with this blog post… This has just been a pressing matter on my heart these past fews months and I have been struggling with an overwhelming sense of not belonging or perhaps even a sort of identity crisis. My Faith in the Lord is unshaken but I am struggling with how I personally wish to define myself as an evangelical and I have been rethinking a lot of my Christian framework in general. Please be praying for the Church and praying for those who have been equally disturbed by these horrific actions committed by “men of God”. I don’t know too much about the situation with Brian Houston, but Ravi definitely disturbed me to the point where I couldn’t even stomach much of what was unearthed in his private life.
Greetings family in Christ! God bless you all and your families. I hope this message finds you all in good spirits. This morning I saw a disturbing devotional in which a passage from Scripture was taken out of context to fit a politically motivated message. This message couldn’t be farther from the Truth. It is rather discouraging to see so many “Houses of the Lord” becoming corrupt and politically correct. I also saw another reference to how a mom in the state of Virginia is being demonize for wanting to ban certain books from public school libraries because they are extremely graphic in a sexual nature. I’m not sure if she has any religious affiliations, but her work is of vital importance. It has left me to one conclusion, we should not count on any one else to train our family, other than ourselves. We as heads of our households, or future households need to train our families in the Way.
“The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil”. -1 Timothy 3:1-7 ESV
Now a quick disclaimer, I believe this Scripture can equally be applied to both parents of the Household. If a family doesn’t have a husband/ father or perhaps the husband is not a Believer, it is the job of us as parents to take charge of our families’ education. We should stop relying on the Church or Schools to educate out children.
We are instructed by the Lord to instruct our households in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, to be leaders of our household. If you are not currently married, begin to train yourself deeply in the Word, if you are married and do not feel qualified to led your family spiritually, dive deeper in the Word and find trusted godly mentors that you can share these concerns with.
James 1:5- If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. -James 1:5-6 ESV
5 你們中間若有人缺少智慧，就當向那厚賜眾人，而且不斥責人的 神祈求，他就必得著。6 可是，他應該憑著信心祈求，不要有疑惑；因為疑惑的人，就像被風吹蕩翻騰的海浪。聖經新譯本（繁體•神字版） (第二版, Jas 1:5–6). (2005). 環球聖經公會.
God will provide and embolden you to be that leader or provide a leader of your family. This is the traditional stance from many early Christians and most recently by the Puritans. They saw the influences from outside the family as uncertain and took it upon themselves to train their family members in the Way.
Taking Some Family Time Before School Started Back After Lunar New Year
Greetings everyone! It has been a long while since I had last written a blog post. I just wanted to give an update regarding some events going on at the moment. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. We hope that this pandemic will end soon so we can travel back to the USA.
Year of the Tiger
The primary reason why I have gone dark on my blog and haven’t replied to a lot of you or posted online a lot these last few months is because I have been working on completing my master’s degree dissertation. This was one of the most challenging things I have ever completed, mostly because unlike my college days, I’m a full time teacher and now I’m a full time father. If you have a desire to further your education, it might be beneficial finishing those things prior to marriage, just my personal opinion. But I am very thankful for my wife, Elizabeth, who was very supportive of this entire process. I just wish Noah could have understood what I’ve been doing these last two and a half years.
Sincerely Missed Dimsum; Southerners Just Make Better Food.
I completed my dissertation a couple of weeks ago and now we are just waiting for the results. I spent countless hours and days on this research project. My only prayer is that I passed! My research question related to “How does anti-Asian language influence the development of the Asian identity in North America”; due to recent events and situations we’ve encountered, I was inspired to choose this particular research topic. I wanted a relevant research topic and this topic is of personal interest of mine given the background of my family. I thought that I could learn or gain insight concerning experiences they might have eventually.
Never Thought I’d Be Back in Shawan
It is nice being back in Guangzhou, but it is surreal being back at my old school of Xiangxian. I feel as if Shawan was left in time and I was the only one that moved on. It’s kind of a difficulty feeling to express I guess, hopefully you guys can relate. We love Guangdong and now that I have finished some things, I want to get back to learning Cantonese.
Above the Streets of Shawan
At the moment, we have some big decisions we are making. They are still at the early stages, so we think it might be best to wait to announce them. Life is definitely slower than before, but I still have a lot of additional projects or events that are happening. Our second son will arrive late May or early June, so we are really excited about that. We have even decided on a name already, but I’ll announce that as a surprise when he comes! Then I am currently working on a teaching training course and two courses I need in order to keep my teaching license from British Columbia Canada. I worked really hard to obtain a conditional license and I want to be able to convert it to a non-expiring professional license by completing these two classes. One class I completely agree with them asking me to complete, a Canadian history course, while the other course I’m not in agreement with the education bureau in BC to complete. They told me that I needed to complete an English literature course, but because they asked me to complete it, I’m just going to finish it up before our second little one arrives. Thankfully, a majority of the additional courses I needed were marked as completed with my masters degree.
Christian Blessing in Chinese
As always, please continue to pray for my family in the USA, our family here, American Chinese relations and that the church in China will continue to grow! Thank you all again for your friendship and love/ prayers. God bless you all and I cannot wait to announce some other big things in the near future.
Well everyone it’s official! We are finally back in Guangzhou! My old school asked me to come back and we decided Dalian wasn’t really working out for us. You can take the boy outta the south, but you can’t take the south outta the boy! We will keep you all posted! More to come! It’s good to be back!
I wrote this a few weeks ago but because some students didn’t want to have their pictures posted (which is totally understandable), I procrastinated with editing the photos! Haha
Yesterday was the official last day of school and my last day as a teacher at Maple Leaf Dalian Girls Campus. It’s hard to imagine two years ago we moved here to the northeastern part of China and now this season has come to an end. Despite the challenges of living in Dalian and teaching at Maple Leaf, there are quite a number of friends we’ve made along the way that I will sincerely miss. Two years ago, I know this is where God had called us to come. These last few weeks have been a reminder of the impact that each and every one of us can have on our surroundings; this is often something I forget, especially when life gets so busy as a teacher. The fast pace and in particular here at Maple Leaf often causes us to forget the most important aspects of education (establishing friendships, inspiring others, being a role model, invoking contemplation, self-reflection, and paying it forward) and more specifically why I became a teacher. One of my favorite authors once said,
“People forget their faces when they are busy”
-Natsumi Soseki; And Then.
My faith in God, my family and my students this year in particular have encouraged me to remember my real purpose in life as a Believer, a husband, a father and a teacher. Our season in Dalian has brought us a lot of life experiences and meaningful friendships. Here are just a handful of these memories I’d like to share especially from my time at Maple Leaf. May God bless you all in your endeavors and I hope to stay in touch!
Thank you Jennifer Jo! This was so sweet of you!
Thanks Kara!! Such a cool idea
Yes, even at an international school there is still Chinglish lol
Maple Leaf International High School- Dalian Girls Campus
My students dressed up for their cultural decade project where they had to compare/ contract and showcase music and fashion from a particular decade between China and another country.
Noah has been attending Kindergarten here in Dalian for the past few months and him starting school has got me a lot more interested in getting to know more about life for the average student here in China. I have been privileged to teach at both public schools here in China and private schools, though I have not really sat down to speak with students about their struggles they experience day to day particularly in China. Obviously as a teacher, I have spoken with students about issues they experience, but I have decided to actually sit down with three of my top students and ask them some specific questions. For the sake of this post, I will refer to these high school students as: Student A, Student B, and Student C. These are the opinions of three exceptional young students and provides some insight into just some student’s lives here in China. Thank you girls for taking the time to answer these questions! I wish you all the best in your academic endeavors and life! I know you all can succeed in anything you put your minds toward!
Student A- How long have you been attending an international or private school? Have you ever attended a local public school?
I attend an international school since the second semester of grade 8, so it is been approximately three and a half years. I did attend local public school before I came to the school I am in now.
What is your opinion of the gaokao? Did it impact your parents or your decision to go to a private/ international school?
I think gaokao is a really competitive exam because most students in China will attend this exam and compete together to apply for a good university. Therefore, this causes huge pressure on students because this exam is so decisive. Your future is determined to some extent by the results of gaokao. That is because the university you attend will limit your job placement by what you can choose and apply for. In my perspective, I don’t think it is meaningful to only give students one chance to decide their future. Gaokao cannot represent students’ personal ability (communication skills, cooperation skills…). These are all important factors in judging a students’ ability and is not able to be shown on an exam. I think there are already some changes on the gaokao policy that the final score will be divided to a small exam each year and the combination of them will be the final score. However, the weight of the college entrance examination can still play a decisive role, but I am happy to see the progress and changes that have been made. This teaching program causes students to have to stay up late and study till maybe 1 a.m. everyday, which I think is harmful to teenagers. It is true that gaokao became one of the reason why I choose to change to an international school. I personally will easily get sick and my body cannot support me to stay up that late to study. Also, I don’t like this way of learning as it causes me to loose interest in studying. I like to effectively communicate with my teachers, which I believe is an important way in effective learning. I find myself really adjusting to the way of learning in an international school and although I feel tired each day, I am happy and enjoy life.
What kind of pressures do you think you encounter being a student in China specifically?
First, I think the environment in China is so competitive and this causes many students to have mental pressure. This also can lead to some mental disease in students and mor likely to commit suicide in the future.
Second, some excellent students cannot perform well during this huge exam. A lot of students work poorly under pressure, especially for those excellent students this can cause them to fail at their only chance. They cannot adjust the teaching environment they are currently in, so this can impact students in loosing some talents.
Third, I think the exam rank of students is also stressful for students. I think although some of the schools these days already make changes where they only publicly display the high ranked students name. However, for most schools, the situation still has not changed. This can lead to a blow to a students’ self-esteem and a backlash when parents criticize them.
Fourth, students in public schools need to learn many subjects, and they will receive homework from all those classes. It is extremely difficult to finish up all the homework. Some students are even afraid to attend school, especially for good students because they did not finish all the work.
Why did you choose the country you did to eventually study abroad?
I personally really like Britain, especially London. I love the buildings style there and have always dreamed about living there. However, I had take into serious consideration about the university that I wanted to go attend. There are many top universities in Britian and currently a lot of students in our school applied for those universities. Of course, I have to say that I need to consider about the political situation now so some countries I will not choose to go. However, I always wanted to go to Britain for studying, so this hasn’t influenced me a lot. There are students who changed the country that they choose to study abroad because of this factor, so I wanted to mention about it here.
What do you think is the biggest difference between a Chinese education and a Western education?
I think it must be the way of learning. I think Chinese education focuses on listening during class and always trying to study about knowledge and you must understand it by yourself. However, the western education focuses on practice and group work. I think that these methods will fit different children. Like for me, I would like to have more communications with my teachers during class and have more discussions to share different ideas. Long time of receiving knowledge without practice is not a good way of learning for me. With different study methods and personalities, these two ways will benefit more than the other in different situations.
Student B:
How long have you been attending an international or private school? Have you ever attended a local public school?
I went to a foreign language international school in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, because I am not a Dalian local. It’s similar to this school, which has a primary, middle, and high school. I stayed there for nine years.
What is your opinion of the gaokao? Did it impact your parents or your decision to go to a private/ international school?
Yes, not only because of gaokao, but also because of the student’s final exam in middle school that might determine a students’ future. I wasn’t particularly gifted in math, but I excelled in liberal arts. My parents did not want me to be limited by the Chinese school system or rely on it to determine my future, so they put me in this school.
What kind of pressures do you think you encounter being a student in China specifically?
To begin with, the Chinese school system, particularly in Hebei Province, is rife with restrictions. We must cut our hair because we are not allowed to have long hair. Any form of entertainment is seen as a sin that is unrelated with study. It’s also crucial to have good relationships with peers and teachers. Some of the students enjoy showing off and laughing at someone assomething funny. Poor students may even be subjected to bullying at school. Every student in China has enormous learning constraints. They don’t have time to relax or have fun. Every second counts, and a student’s mind can be broken down by a mountain of homework.
Why did you choose the country you did to eventually study abroad?
I chose Britain, because the requirement of Britain when applying university was easier than others. The British gentleman style and architecture is very attractive to me. Edinburgh is also in the top 10 of the world’s most beautiful cities. So while studying, I can also experience the beautiful scenery.
What do you think is the biggest difference between a Chinese education and a Western education?
I think the difference is an open teaching model, and the focus on practice. Western teaching does not restrict students too much and does not define them. Grades are also relatively confidential and are only available to that student alone. This is very beneficial to students in terms of their personal growth. Chinese teaching is too strict and as a test-based education system, it places too much of a heavy burden on students, leaving them unable to freely develop extracurricular activities and hobbies. In addition, emphasis on practice in Western teaching allows students to learn from practice, rather than simply knowledge from textbooks and memorizing it by rote memorization as in Chinese teaching.
Student C:
How long have you been attending an international or private school? Have you ever attended a local public school?
Till now I have attended an international school for 11years. I started to go to this school in grade one, and I have never attend any local public school before.
What is your opinion of the gaokao? Did it impact your parents or your decision to go to a private/ international school?
I don’t like Gaokao only because I think it is meaningless, and Chinese parents only focus on their children’s grade in the Gaokao, but not the growth or experience of their children. They make Gaokao seems like a child’s only entry of success, for me that is a wrong perspective. My parent never bother me, so I’m super appreciative of their respect. I have a brother who went through Gaokao three years ago. Apparently, my parents knew how hard it was going to be for students who are facing the Gaokao, so they listened to my opinion, and didn’t send me into public.
What kind of pressure do you think you encounter being a student in China specifically?
I think the biggest pressure in being a Chinese student is related to stereotypes and profiling, which I think it’s a common phenomenon, but basically a wrong conclusion. This is the way in judging whether you are a good child or not, just by looking at your score, and nothing else. This idea is such a shame to have.
Why did you choose the country you did to eventually study abroad?
I want to go aboard to the US, UK or Canada because I feel it can open my mind in doing things, and prevents me from being swayed by traditional Chinese thinking. To be honest, I choose go aboard because I like English, it let me feel free. Same with language, the places I choose can also allow me to have freedom, and experience different cultures.
What do you think is the biggest difference between a Chinese education and a Western education?
The biggest difference between Chinese and Western education is that China tends to be theoretical; teaching how to solve problem on test paper. Western education tends to be more practical, and wanting student to solving problems in real life, and how to use it in daily life.
Greetings everyone! I have successfully finished my classes this semester for my masters and now have more time to spend writing again. This post is a little different, I thought I could do something a little more interesting than just writing about my travels, I thought I could start documenting or recording life in China (for myself and others). I decided to interview a local small business owner here in Dalian and wanted to give some insight into local business here. What are some struggles they have in starting a business, what are their expectations, etc. I hope you enjoy it and if you are around the area (Jinshitan- 金石滩), please visit this coffee shop! It’s always better to support local businesses over franchises (like Starbucks).
Lee’s Coffee Shop- Dalian Jinshitan Shuimuhuating Community 4-3-102: 李小姐的咖啡店- 大连金石滩水木华庭4-3-102
What interested you to start a business? (什么激发你的兴趣去创业?)
Response: First of all, I personally like coffee very much. I have been drinking coffee since high school, and I have been drinking coffee for more than 20 years. Secondly, I often visit some cafes. When I drink their coffee, I think the coffee beans in some stores are very good, and some coffee beans are very average. Sometimes the store’s service is just average and I can’t feel a welcoming atmosphere. I wanted to open my own store with a welcoming atmosphere and good quality coffee beans. I want to provide everyone with delicious coffee. Of course, this makes it more convenient to drink coffee every day.
How difficult is it to start a business in Dalian? (在大连创业会遇到什么困难?)
Response: To start a business in Dalian, to be honest, is difficult. The economy of Dalian is not as good now and the development of Dalian is not good as it once was. This has lead to people’s insufficient purchasing power, and coffee is not a necessity for most people in their daily lives. It can be substituted, even considering economic factors, people can drink instant coffee at home or in the company, as long as they have no requirements in quality. In addition, many people’s ideas on consumption and requirements for product quality are not high. Perhaps many people would rather spend less money on regular coffee instead of spending more on good coffee. There are some who will pursue good quality coffee. Many people might spend more money to buy Starbucks or other well-known products instead of going to unknown shops.
Question: What makes your coffee shop unique? (是什么使你的咖啡厅独一无二?)
Response: I think that first of all, my coffee beans are strictly selected and roasted by myself. This means that the freshness and quality of the coffee beans are guaranteed by myself. In addition, it is personally made by myself; I can adjust the coffee ratio, sweetness and or other flavors of each cup of coffee to the customer’s preference. Here, we do not have a fixed standard that needs to be followed like other shops.
Question: How and where do you get your coffee beans? (你在哪里和怎样采购你的咖啡豆?)
回复: 我家的咖啡豆主要来自非洲的埃塞俄比亚产区，100%阿拉比卡
Response: My coffee beans are mainly from Ethiopian in Africa, 100% Arabica.
Question: Do you think Chinese are changing their drinking habits and adopting coffee? (你认为中国人会改变饮食习惯而习惯喝咖啡?)
Response: I think it’s not easy to change people’s eating or drinking habits. It’s not an overnight thing. Cafes can’t easily change people’s preferences. I think coffee shops are becoming more and more a place for people to go for entertainment, rest or even talk with friends. It can be said that going to a coffee shop is a kind of culture. Sometimes people are not even used to drinking fresh brew coffee, but they like to go to a coffee shop.
Question: What do think the demographics are for drinking coffee in China? (在中国有哪些年龄段的人喝咖啡?)
回复: 据我所知，还是以年轻人和中年人为主，老年人比较少。
Response: As far as I know, it is still mainly young and middle-aged people, while the elderly are relatively small market.
Well everyone, I hope you found this entry interesting. While China’s taste in drinks are swiftly moving from tea as a dominant preference, many Chinese are adopting coffee as a go to drink. That being said, many Chinese seems to be price conscience about certain things, especially with convenience store’s offering coffee or other fast foods places. That being said, there can be a lot said for a barista that can really cater to the customer. Overall, I had a nice time chatting with Mrs. Li about her little coffee shop. Mrs. Li is very interested in using the best imported products to make her coffee and doesn’t skimp on the cost in using good quality ingredients for items on her menu. She is currently working on preparing a new set of drinks and sweets/ snacks (all-natural ice cream, Hainan coconut drinks, etc) for the oncoming summer months here in Dalian. Though her shop might be small, it has a peaceful and neighborhood feeling vibe to it. Mrs. Li is a local Dalian woman who has a passion for making friends with people from all around Dalian and to share a good cuppa with anyone interested. As I mentioned earlier, support local businesses and check out her shop.
Greetings everyone! It’s been a while, I have been swamped with the teaching (marking, prep, blah blah blah), working on two projects for my master’s degree and trying to spend the rest of that time with my family. I’m not going to lie, this has probably been the most difficult semester I’ve endured so far with my master’s degree. I cannot wait until I start my dissertation in a few months so I can get done with this part of my life.
I saw the first video pop up in my YouTube feed from the South China Morning Post (SCMP) almost two weeks ago and I remember thinking that these cherry blossoms were so beautiful. I know that a lot of Japanese have a special place in their hearts for this particular flower. I have always thought this flower was very beautiful, along with maple leaves and azaleas. Apparently it is a thing in Japan during this time of year to get together with friends and family under the cherry blossoms to have a hanami party. Anyway, another YouTuber I follow, Asagi’s Life, also ended up doing a very interesting video about the same topic and how these hanami parties look differently this year. Hearing about these Hanami parties from her and the SCMP made me really think about what a shame it is that this year people cannot carry on such a quaint tradition. While I have seen cherry blossoms in Raleigh or Charlotte, North Carolina (I don’t remember which city) and Washington DC, we do not have that tradition of gathering around with friends for a picnic under the cherry blossoms. But I’m somewhat envious about not having such a similar event to spend with family and friends, though we do like to get together with friends and family for a good ole barbeque in the South around this time of year leading into the summer time.
Anyway, this post is just to share some of the cherry blossoms surrounding our school (大连枫叶国际学校/ 大連楓葉國際學校). While I was taking these photos, I realized that I didn’t noticed them this time last year because we were stranded in the USA due to the pandemic. Apparently, cherry blossoms have a very short timespan for blooming. It’s hard to believe it has already been six months since we have been back to China. When I reflect back over that time, it seemed like a dream I was back in the USA after having been gone for so long and now that I am back to China, it seems like the dream continues. Anyway, enjoy some of these photos. I took them at different times, when they were just starting to bloom and after they had bloomed. While you may or may not be able to have a cute little get together with your family or friends in public, just remember to make an effort to keep in touch with them during these restrictive times. May God help end this pandemic very soon all across the world! Until next time, 下次见！
Over the years, I have become quite used to carrying a bag with me everywhere I go. Though the size of those bags have changed over time, lately, I have decided to carry a much smaller bag. Perhaps the size of a liter or half a gallon. The items I carry look quite different here in China than what I carry while back home in the USA. In fact, many of these items I would not carry on me, but I would leave in my car to have access to them if needed. Unfortunately, I have yet to get my Chinese driver’s license. My international driver’s license doesn’t qualify me to drive in Mainland China, only Hong Kong, Taiwan or Macau. Unlike other EDC blog posts or videos you’ll find on YouTube, I want to give a little insight as to why I carry some of these items with me as my EDC. Some of these items might seem strange to westerners who haven’t been to China otherwise.
Before we get started, I just want to remind everyone that their EDC items might be completely different. Please share some of your EDC items in the comment section below. These are just some ideas to help you navigate your stay/ residency in Mainland China. Alright, lets get started.
UniQlo Mini Messenger Bag 優衣庫包
I have decided to go smaller and lighter with my EDC bag because I do a lot of walking on a daily basis. Carrying around a large heavy bag can become tiresome or cumbersome after a long day. On average, I walk around 10,000-20,000 steps daily. I decided to go with this smaller bag from UniQlo that probably is about the size of a liter. As I get older, I am less interested in flashy brands and labels plastered all over myself, I like this minimalistic style bag. I think it also attracts less attention, which is a good deterrent from the occasional pickpocket. This particular bag I can swing around to the front with ease when on public transport to better keep an eye on my belongings. Pickpocketing is becoming less of an issue here in China (in my personal experience), but as living in any major city, I think it’s good to be mindful of these things.
Key Bag, Wallet, Passport, Handkerchief, 2 Fountain Pens (black, blue), a Mechanical Pencil, a 1200ma Battery Pack, Swiss Army Knife, Red Packet, the Gospel of John in Chinese.
Most of these items are self explanatory, but I do want to make a public service announcement. While living in Guangzhou, I went to a seminar conducted by the Guangzhou police concerning expats. We were told by the local authorities that as foreigners living in China, we are required to carry several documents on us at all times living in GZ. We should carry our passport at ALL times (I know some foreigners who carry a photo or printed copy, these types of ID may or may not work depending on the officer you may encounter). Two other documents that you should carry with you at all times are your foreign expert certificate/ 外国人工作许可证/Wàiguó rén gōngzuò xǔkě zhèng (if applicable) and your temporary residence registration/ 境外人员临时住宿登记表/ Jìngwài rényuán línshí zhùsù dēngjì biǎo. We were told at least in Guangzhou (2019), that if you do not carry these documents with you at all times, if you were to be stopped by an officer, you could face a 20,000RMB fine. Now that I am living in Dalian, apparently I do not need to carry my foreign expert certificate, but it is the law in China to carry your passport and temporary residence registration with you at all times. If you are not sure how to obtain these documents, please speak with the HR department at your school/ company to ask them or you can go yourself to the nearest police station to obtain the temporary residence registration. My recommendation would be to ask the local police what additional documents you might need to carry with you as my personal experience is that many schools or companies in China might not know or be up to date with the law (as it often changes) or they do not want to give you these documents because they do not want to be hassled with this responsibility.
Another quick note, I often carry a handkerchief with me around China because most bathrooms do not carry paper towels. Those that do might even make you scan a QR code to trade your personal information for a paper towel or even TP. That being said, I have also seen plenty of studies that have shown that TP or paper towels in public restrooms are the dirtiest objects in the restroom, even more than the toilet seats.
My wallet and key bag I keep in my two front pockets. It is more difficult for a pickpocket to get items out of your front pockets than back pockets. Especially when you can put your hands in your pockets on a crowded subway train.
Wallet, Passport, Traveler’s Notebook, Writing Utensils, Swiss Army Knife, Cetirizine (allergy meds), Portable Charger, Tide to Go Pen, Gospel of John, Tylenol, Seirogan, PM 2.5 Mask, Toilet Paper
As previously stated, most public restrooms usually do not carry toilet paper or paper towels in China. If they do, you might need to pay for them, trade personal information via WeChat to get some. If your lucky, there might be one TP dispenser located outside of the stalls in the bathroom (usually by the entrance/ exit, sinks or trash cans) and you will need to grab some before heading to the stalls. So I always carry with me some TP just for this reason. One time when I first began traveling to China, I was in Dandong China. I remember going to a public restroom with a man standing outside the restroom selling TP. He asked me if I wanted to buy some and I thought, “why, there will be some TP inside the stall”. Well after using the bathroom, I realized that there was no TP in the stall. I called out to the man and asked if I could buy some TP and he raised the price! He went from 1.5 RMB for TP to 3 RMB for some TP. He laughed and said that next time I should listen, I learned my lesson and have never again been caught without TP in Mainland China.
One thing that I often took for granted in the USA was the fact that I could buy allergy medicine or Tylenol almost anywhere. Whether your at a gas station, Walmart, grocery store, it was common and easy to get these if needed. As stated before, I would keep some in my car at all times in the US. Here in China it is a different story, these types of drugs can only be carried by licensed pharmacies. You will not find them in grocery stores or convenience stores like 7eleven, Family Mart or Lawson. I cannot tell you how many times I went to a different city for travel or work while in China and was caught with a terrible migraine, upset stomach or allergy attack and just had to deal with it. Pharmacies in China (especially in smaller districts or cities) will close fairly early and now because of the pandemic, a lot of them will not even sell you Tylenol without an ID because the customer might be using it to lower a fever, which could be related to Covid. There were several times where the only pharmacy close to me were in a local hospital and I would have to get a doctors prescription just to buy some Ibuprofen. Obviously pharmacies outside a hospital wouldn’t need a prescription. So I always carry some traditional Japanese medicine good for food poisoning or upset stomachs (Seirogan), Tylenol or the only allergy medication that seemingly works for me (Cetirizine). I have yet to find Cetirizine in China, so I would often have to go to Hong Kong to purchase it. But if you are alright with a different brand, Claritin is also available in most pharmacies in China.
Air pollution is quite a problem in most of China. Before I started taking air pollution serious, every time I traveled to China back in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012, I would get some kind of upper respiratory infection. While there are times were wearing a mask is not necessary, there are times were especially in Guangzhou, the air quality can deteriorate. During the winter this is especially true when more people are burning coal or using gas to heat their homes and there is less rain to help clean the air. I would highly recommend carrying an extra PM 2.5 mask with you in case you drop yours or the air quality changes when you are outside. Since I have taken a lot of these precautions, I can count how many times I’ve gotten upper respiratory infections in China during the last 5 years.
ESV New Testament, alcohol wipes, Fitbit tracker, Hand Sanitizer, Lightning Cable, Earplugs, Earphones, Medical Mask, Solid Cologne, Fisherman’s Friends, Toilet Seat Sanitizing Wipes, and an ICE Card.
While I do not use these often, there are times were I am grateful to have them. If I am in the office/ library and trying to focus or more riding on the metro, having these earplugs are a life saver. Those people living in Guangzhou know just how noisy the train cars can be at times, especially line 7! Some of the lines are not as noise proof as they should be and especially the newer lines are not built to the same standards as maybe line 1 originally was built.
On the days were the air pollution is high and wearing a mask while teaching seems to not be working, I like to carry around some Fisherman’s Friends to help ease my throat. My good friend Steve got me using these. Lately, I have been enjoying the lemon or blackcurrant flavor.
While this might seem like overkill, PM 2.5 masks are great for fighting air pollution, but not for fighting against viruses. During the flu season at school with my students or protecting against COVID-19, I like to use these imported medical masks that are BFE, VRE and PFE rated from Japan. Supposedly, they also help with PM 2.5, but they don’t offer as tight a fit as most PM 2.5 masks I have worn in the past, therefore I am a little skeptical of how effective they might be in regard to pollution.
Lastly, I want to mention is having an ICE card. ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. I think this is good to have on someone where ever they might be, but especially when you are traveling. I have even seen some people take pictures of this information and leave it as their lock screen wallpaper on their phone. That being said, while this system might be expected for first aid responders to check for in the West, I do not think it is as common in China. Therefore, I have one side in English and the opposite side I have translated into Chinese. That way, whoever happens to find it in case something happens to me in China can understand it or if I am traveling abroad, I can use the English side. Unfortunately, I cannot find the original file I created with the help of geticecard.com, but I am including a PDF copy where you can print out and write in your information.
In Case of Emergency Card (ICE Card) 紧急联系卡 jǐnjí liánxì kǎ.
Are there some items that you carry around with you as your EDC that I did not include but you think would be equally important? Please comment below and share! I would love to hear your EDC or recommendations.
It’s been almost 4 months since we’ve returned back to Dalian, China. It’s hard to believe that this time last year we were being informed that our return flight to China was cancelled because of the pandemic and we were unsure how to get back to Mainland China. In this post, I wanted to show my family and friends how Dalian is handling the pandemic.
Toward the end of December, beginning of January, there were a several cases that broke out here in Dalian/ greater Liaoning province. The local municipalities had required our school to close and we were all back with distance learning. During those few weeks, the local government here tested almost everyone in Dalian three times! Just to give you some better perspective, Dalian according to Wikipedia, as of 2010, had a population of around 6,700,000 people.
In the photos above are an example of what my health QR code looks like. If your code is green then you have not been in contact with anyone with COVID-19 and if the code is red, then you have been around someone who was exposed or you yourself have caught COVID. The rest of the photos consist of the various signs plastered all over the walls, doors of different malls or metro stations in Kaifaqu 開發區. In some of the pictures you can see the people lining up trying to get their codes to load and then a gentlemen standing at the entrance checking people’s temperature. The blue card 通行證 was a physical permit we had to carry around in order to prove that we live in our apartment complex so that we could come and go freely. Thankfully, since the cases have now dropped to none, our apartment complex is no longer requiring us to carry those pieces of paper.
Well here in Dalian, the biggest thing that has been widely adopted to “help prevent” the spread of COVID-19 are QR health codes. All residents here are required to register for a Liaoning health codes, whether through WeChat 微信or Alipay 支付寶. Residents/ visitors are then required to show this health code to most establishments in order to go inside. This is especially true for using public transportation, like the metro or bus system. Most major shopping malls around Dalian are checking people’s temperature.
As of today, February 16, 2021, there have been no new cases of COVID-19 for almost two months. While I’m not sure how accurate these health codes are, the precautions taken by the Dalian municipal government have seemingly worked. I know this is a sensitive topic around many countries with implementing this type of health code or health check passport, but I’ve heard other countries have begun to implement such practices. Several of my friends back home in the USA have wondered about this and to be honest, it really hasn’t affected my daily life that much. That being said, I’m wanting to leave my person opinions out of this post and just share what Dalian has implemented during the pandemic. Do you guys think this type of health check/ COVID prevention scheme would work in your home country or area? Let me know in the comments below and please let’s remember to be civil.
We just wanted to provide you all with a very short update and a prayer request. God has definitely got the ball rolling for us to finally start expecting to go back to China. Two weeks ago, I finally received a new VISA, even though my previous VISA had not yet expired. Apparently, my previous VISA was cancelled since we were outside of the country during this pandemic time. This VISA is only valid until November for my to travel to China, so needless to say we have some time, but not much time. So God has definitely been blessing us.
I recently posted on Facebook saying that my son’s travel document (or 旅行证) would be easy to apply for a new one. Well, at the moment they have been dragging their feet to help us. I know they are definitely swamped during this time and are probably working around the clock to process application and help overseas Chinese or foreigners traveling to China, but we could really use some prayer in this circumstance.
These last three weeks have been difficult, my school has returned back into session in China and I have now been working nights from 8pm-4am Sunday-Thursday. It is hard for me to get motivated to do much these days and I’ve been fairly exhausted. I do not sleep well during the day.
Please be praying that God will grant us favor for my son’s special travel permit, that God will allow the Chinese embassy in DC to see our request, to sympathize with our case, give my son his travel permit and God will allow us to return to China by mid-October.
I just wanted to provide a quick update from us here in Hong Kong. 2025 has been a significantly better year for us, but it has still proved challenging. We have had several health scares within our extended families, but to God be the Glory, He helped prove them out of hardship. There are still long-term difficulties health-wise with those family members, but God is caring for them step by step.
Some other areas that we are thankful for this year were that our youngest boy, Jonah, who was born in Hong Kong, was dedicated at our church here in Hong Kong. It was great to spend that time with our community here. But we also traveled to Macau to have our two youngest boys, who had not been baptized yet, be baptized. While they may be too young to fully understand what happened that day, the Anglican church has another event in adulthood called Confirmation. This is where children or adults who have been baptized make a conscious decision to dedicate and live their lives for the Lord. So, Elizabeth and I will continuously pray for that day for both Jonah and Daniel, while training them in the meantime.
On another note, Hong Kong has also been easier to adjust to in year two than it was in our first year. Little Daniel had finally been accepted into a kindergarten, and now his Cantonese has gotten very good! God has provided for us to stay at my current school here in Hong Kong for another two years, and the balance is getting easier. There is frankly a lot to be thankful for this 2025, but we are extremely excited for 2026. We have a couple of exciting announcements that I will be making in the next couple of months as we get closer to the end of the school year. I cannot wait to tell you all! God bless you all and may the Lord keep you close to His will in 2026!
Today being the anniversary of 9/11, it has been another couple weeks leading up to today of reflection and contemplation on where the world and the US is standing. I like many other years, took time with each class to talk about how 9/11 changed the US and the world. That being said, there was a moment today while showing my students news clips of a 9/11 broadcast, where they showed shots of Americans walking around with US Flags or signs that read, “United We Stand”. I remember that for a few years after 9/11, America felt like a very united country. Today I had the realization of just how much America had changed when I saw a U.S. flag in the news clip being lowered to half mast because of the lives lost during the attack on the Trade Towers. Today, President Trump also ordered that our flag be lowered to half mast in honor of Charlie Kirk who lost his life the day prior. The video clips I showed my students today was a very different America where we lowered the Flag in solidarity as a nation, whereas 25 years later, we now lower the Flag as a divided nation. There is something sincerely wrong with American society and the system in which it pledges to emulate. It breaks my heart and spirit to see the U.S. in a constant state of violence and distrust of one another. Please help pray for the U.S. and for relationships between nation states around the world.
I have spent a lot of time reflecting and contemplating certain aspects of my family; some of these concerns have stemmed from some areas that I have encountered or experienced since doing ministry abroad and eventually moving abroad. But one of the biggest questions I have dealt with in my own adult life is a sense of belonging and identity. There have been seasons in life where the community or sense of belonging was much greater than other times, and now I seem to be in a season of building another sense of community.
My children are equally in a precarious situation where they are caught between two identities, one of which is being an American and the other is being Chinese. I have seen this type of third culture kid not really being accepted by either identity group, and eventually they form another third quasi-like culture of the two cultures they are trying to represent. There were moments in Mainland China were I would hear children call my boys foreigners, even though they were born in China and whose mother is also Chinese. It broke my heart many times that they are not seen as being American and Chinese, whether we were in the USA or living here in China. Since coming to Macau and now Hong Kong, I have seen a greater willingness to accept them for who they are as being biracial kids. That being said, I have been wanting Noah to get more fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese. His English is the stronger of the three languages, but his Mandarin is definitely quite strong also. He does not have a strong competence in Cantonese and is very similar in level with me, mostly knowing a lot of phrases and words. Recently, a colleague of mine reached out and told us about a Cantonese language competition that he could take part in to help him develop more in Cantonese proficiency. While he did not win the competition, he did manage to make it to the final round and received a Certificate of Merit for the outstanding performance that he did. I wanted to share with you all the success and progress that he has had with his Cantonese since coming to Hong Kong, so I have attached the video before for you all to watch if your interested.
Noah did a short rendition of Noah’s Ark from Genesis in Cantonese, and to be honest, he really surprised me. I am tremendously proud of him, and he really is such an amazing young boy. While our journey here in Hong Kong has not been the easiest, compared to Macau, Noah has had more opportunities to grow in these cultural areas that he would not be able to have had in Macau. I know that this season in our lives is to help Daniel and Jonah also develop that language proficiency in Cantonese/ Mandarin. I just pray that the Lord will continue to guide him, grant him grace/ mercy, and give me the wisdom in helping Noah to be shaped more into a mighty man of God.
Happy Easter from Hong Kong! I should really give an update about life here in Hong Kong, but it has been a difficult time adjusting, especially with the new little one who is growing up so fast! These last couple of weeks, I have been thinking about this message a lot that I am about to share with you all. We just received word today that it has made a tremendous difference in the life of an elderly woman.
Throughback Photo of Daniel from Easter ’24
Without getting into a lot of details, recently, an old friend of mine shared a tremendous testimony with me. Many people don’t know this, but I am part of a ministry in India. I am a board member and currently serve as their secretary. Anyway, another board member, Mrs. Sushma, shared an amazing story of several Indians coming to Christ because they were touched by our ministry donating some warm blankets to people in need in India. She mentioned that they have been coming to their local church since shortly after December, and here we are in April; a few of these people who were recipients during this outreach committed their hearts to Christ. As Mrs. Sushma shared this great news during our board meeting, a simple phrase continued to repeat in my head. Afterward, I even shared this story with my wife; something as simple as a blanket could really make the world of a difference in someone’s life. Enough for them to change the path they are currently going in life and turn toward Christ.
Recently, I have also been working with a club inside my current school here in Hong Kong with another type of outreach, but for the people here in Hong Kong. We were able to participate in something called PeaceBox, and it’s something like Samaritan’s Purse that my home church back in the USA used to participate with during Christmas time. It’s basically the same concept of donating everyday items for lower-income families/ individuals that they might need. Our high school managed to donate 700+ boxes, and I recently went with a team to deliver some of the boxes to people in the surrounding area who are in need. The Lord placed it on my heart to place either the Gospel of John/ Matthew in a few dozen boxes, Scripture cards, and or Gospel tracts. The head of this club just messaged us today that someone who received these boxes yesterday saw one of these Scripture cards, and it spoke to them. The Lord was able to touch this older lady’s heart, and she has given her heart to Christ! Again, I was thinking this last hour or two, something as simple and not expensive could literally make all the difference in someone’s life.
I believe this message is particularly more relevant during this holy time of the year.
So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them… 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit…
John chapter 19 and 20 (English Standard Version)
We know that the Lord Jesus would raise himself up from the dead three days later after this most marvelous act of love. The Lord gave up so much for you and me, each and every one of us. He knew the sins we would commit, continue to commit. He knew our hearts and minds way before He even acted out such a compassionate act for mankind.
The message I would like to leave with you is this: no matter how small an act of kindness, it could make a life-changing difference to someone else. Sometimes we fall into a trap of thinking that what we do does not matter. Perhaps the act of kindness will not really make a difference, or we make up other excuses to not share Christ’s love with others. We might think it’s so insignificant, but that one act of kindness might be the spark needed to direct someone’s heart to Christ’s insurmountable act of love that He wants all of us to know about. Over the next few days or weeks, take that small act of kindness and use it as a moment to share the message of Easter. Take that half hour to share time and listen to that friend who is hurting or is lonely. Pay it forward by buying someone else’s meal that you may or may not know. Donate to the homeless shelter or a person in need. But do not forget, doing an act of kindness will not simply turn their hearts to Christ; we need to equally share the love of Christ with them. Otherwise, that act of kindness stops after the act; the real act of kindness that is eternally planted in that person’s life is when they hear that there is Someone who loves them and desires a relationship with them. God bless you all and Happy Easter.
Greetings everyone, I would like this to be a longer post, but unfortunately, I don’t have much time. Over the past week, there have been terrible mass killings or attempted mass killings across southern/ central China. It has been heartbreaking. Mostly women and children are being targeted. I have some ideas on what exactly is motivating these people and I would like to write on that in the future, but at present, please let us pray for the Chinese people. Please help us to pray for God’s hand on the lost here and the love of God reigns over all here. Let us even take the time to pray for peace.
Greetings everyone, I’ve been meaning to write this post for some time but these last couple weeks have been busy with selling things, packing, saying goodbyes and other preparations for our move. Today is finally the day when one season is coming to a closing and another season is beginning. The day the moving company came to collect our stuff for Hong Kong, I saw this rainbow outside our apartment’s window. This view was the reason we decided to choose this apartment and I think it’s a wonderful confirmation from God to give us a rainbow that can be seen from our window the day we had our things shipped out. We are taking it as the future holding good things for us because the Lord will provide just as He does for the flowers and the birds.
I thought of writing up a blog post on our leaving Macau on the last day of school. After selling my car and taking the shuttle bus to school that day, I was walking along the same route I had taken many times before getting the car. I felt it somewhat symbolic that the first day of school I took that route and walked with two colleagues, while the last day of school, I walked alone. Those two colleagues are staying next year while we are moving to Hong Kong today. That being said, that moment walking alone to school reminded me that our paths are different and that many places in life we go alone with only the Lord helping to carry us along the way. I only pray that I made a difference in the lives of some in Macau and that perhaps Macau is still in the future. Macau is close by to HK and we will try to visit often in the meantime.
Our pastor at MAC Fellowship talked on our last Sunday in Macau on identity. For the past few years this has been a question I’ve wrestled with myself and even for my family. The US is becoming less Christian and even my home state of North Carolina seems to no longer be part of the Bible Belt. This shook my identity as an American and North Carolinian to the core a number of years ago. Today, I’ve realized that these other identities are less important, as long as we have our identity in Christ first, all other identities are secondary. Anyways, two years ago we thought Macau could be a place to settle down and plant some roots, but God finally is answering a prayer I asked more than half my life ago today. He is finally fulfilling my desire to live in Hong Kong, even though I had even given up this dream, thinking it was not His plan. We should remember that good things come to those who wait, even if it’s half our life. God is working behind the doors, preparing a path for you. Though there are times you may think you’re all alone, He is there alongside you. He by divine Providence is assisting you along the way, we only need to trust and obey.
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