Taiwan to Hong Kong to Cambodia July 12, 2009
Apparently I have an inability to update in a timely fashion. Sorry about that. So obviously lots has happened since I last updated. Namely, Hong Kong and a five day voyage to Cambodia. We left Taiwan (which I was sad to see go) and a few days later arrived in Hong Kong. The ship was docked right in view of the building from Batman and the gangways exited directly into a mall. Not a mall I would shop in as the stores were mostly Gucci, Burberry, Calvin Klein, and other high-name stores I couldn’t afford if I WASN’T on a missionary salary. Though I will say I gazed longingly at the Burberry trench coats on more than one occassion. The ship was in a great location and we got to see the famous Hong Kong light show every night at 8pm. It was a weird port, however. There seemed to be a lot of spiritual attacks with a few crewmembers being hurt (even one who was in the hospital for two weeks because of a fall and hit to the head). We were also hit with the swine flu panic and a hurricane as well. Many crewmembers also had to go home because of family illnesses. Everything just seemed to happen at once. And Hong Kong was an interesting place to do ministry. There are many foreigners there so they weren’t impressed to see our faces. In some countries it’s a big draw to the ship but not there. Also, as in many big cities, everyone was in a hurry and suspicious of your bottom line when we really just wanted to show love. Needless to say, I wasn’t too terribly sad to see Hong Kong go, though I did enjoy my time. I got to go to a local amusement park one day with a few friends and ride some roller coasters. In fact, Carola had never ridden a roller coaster in her life so I got to be there with her as she had that experience. The park (Ocean Park) was very beautiful. It was on a mountainside with the ocean beside it. They had impossibly steep escalators so you could get from one section of the park to another. They also had amazing cable cars that you could take from the part of the park at the top of the mountain to the section that was further down the mountain. We got amazing pictures of the gorgeous scenery from that ride. The cable car operator that day was CW Chan, according to the posted sign so somehow that became the joke of the day. Anytime anything would go go wrong we would just shake our fist in the air and yell “Darn you, CW Chan.” One of those…why is this funny but it seriously is making us laugh…moments.
My A-Team is still determined to hang out. We planned an outing for our group while in Hong Kong. From what I hear, this is very abnormal and the A-Teams don’t usually get back together after they come back from their trip. But our group was so blessed by each other. We went out to dinner at…Subway. That’s right! It can be so funny to find American restaurants in other countries. Then we went bowling afterwards. And I would like to say that…I won. Just needed to state that. We took a walk in the rain to a Starbucks and just sat around chatting and enjoying each other’s company. There are some of the greatest people in the world on this ship!
Also in Hong Kong I had the opportunity to change cabins. Now I have a porthole and our own bathroom! It is really nice. Elly (one of my previous roommates) moved with me and then Carola joined us as well. So I went from a tiny 4-person cabin to a larger 3-person cabin. Yay. It makes such a difference to have light filtering in your room in the morning. Another reason I moved…bedbugs! I was being eaten alive by them in my previous cabin. In fact, one morning I woke up, and walked straight to the bathroom but thought, “what is wrong with my eye?” One glance at the mirror confirmed something WAS wrong. My eyelid was swollen to Quazimoto proportions. I couldn’t help but laugh. A trip to the clinic confirmed that it was some kind of bug bite but they thought maybe cockroach. How sick is that? I didn’t even know cockroaches bit! So yeah, I was glad to be out of that room. And so far, no swollen eyelids to be found in room #2.
One of my favorite things about Hong Kong was going to a local grocery store and finding…DR. PEPPER!!! I have not seen this heaven-sent beverage since leaving home in january so I was pumped to see it! In fact, I was just walking past, not even looking for it when I saw the can and started squealing and jumping up and down. My friend, James, just stood there laughing at me making a fool of myself in the middle of the grocery store. But I didn’t care. It was worth it! As was the $1 a can price. Speaking of James, he had is 21st birthday while in Hong Kong. He wanted some of us to go out on the town and just spend time together so we all dressed up (which was nice since there are few to no opportunities to do that on board) and piled into Mercedes that James had rented to pick us up. He also got two hotel rooms at the Hong Kong Marriott. One room for the boys, one for the girls. We went out on the town and finally fell into bed around 4am after just hanging out. The next morning brought the most glorious breakfast bar I’ve ever seen. BACON! Oh, it was such a nice, short break.
I finally got some packages my parents sent back in February. The sad thing is, a few other friends sent a package at the end of April that got here at the same time. But I was so happy to get things from home (mostly food). It makes me feel more connected to the people that I love. As does email…so don’t feel shy about sending me hello emails. I’m really good about responding 
Fourth of July was very different than what I am used to back home. We actually sailed out of Hong Kong that day so half of my day was sent packing down the bookshop and getting ready to sail. No fireworks. No day at the lake. No cookout. But the galley did make burgers and fries for all of the ships company and the Americans ate together while listening to good, classic American music. I wasn’t too bummed to miss out on the festivities back home. It’s always so worth it to be where God wants me to be and doing work for Him.
Our voyage to Cambodia was five days! The longest one yet…and the smoothest. In fact, the ship is moving more here in port than it did the whole time we were sailing. I was happy for those who so easily get seasick because they were able to actually enjoy the peacefulness and beauty of sailing. Those of us in the bookshop were assigned to work for two days in a different department while sailing. I was put into accommodation….which meant doing a lot of cleaning. I scrubbed some bathrooms (including the ones in the engine room that were soooooo hot), cleaned some rooms for incoming guests, folded laundry, and got down on my hands and knees to scrub baseboards on the stairs. It wasn’t necessarily fun work but it was nice to do something different for a change. One night they had a coffee house set up and the whole ships company came and chatted while soothing music played in the background. It was a great way for everyone to unwind. One of my favorite things about sailing is going up to the top of the ship on what we call the sun deck and listening to music and just appreciating the beauty of God’s creation. Nighttime is especially a favorite of mine.
Speaking of God, he’s been doing a lot of speaking to me lately. Read the first chapter of Haggai. This is where I was in my read through the Bible plan a few days ago. I was reading but secretly (not that there are secrets from God…who was I trying to fool?) not expecting to see a whole lot that was applicable to my life. Then God slapped me and woke me up. If you read my latest newsletter you will see where I was talking about how so much of what we do is seed planting on the Doulos but not a lot of harvesting. Well, this chapter revers to God’s house being in ruins. There being food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. This was my quiet time. The house of God in me was not being cared for as it should. Yes, I was doing some quiet time and getting some spiritual food but not enough to fill me up. Then it talks about planting vs. harvesting. I could be harvesting more if I was fully connected to God and letting Him work through me. God was asking me in this chapter to rebuild His house. And not because I feel I need to but because I love Him and desire a relationship with Him. Though I wasn’t expecting to hear from Him and especially not in a “girl, get your act together way”, it was so encouraging to hear God speak to me…even if my heart wasn’t in a place to fully listen. He is such a faithful Father. Man, He’s awesome. We should stand in awe and wonder more frequently. The God who created all the stars in space and keeps them from plummeting to destroy our small planet, the creative God who designed all the fish in the sea and controls the winds and waves, the huge God who has always been and will always be loves us. Loves me. Loves you. Desires to teach us new things daily and has designed wonderful things for our lives. It’s the same God. He’s huge. I’m nothing. And yet He cares enough to see me sitting on this tiny speck of a ship, opening my Bible with only a half-hearted effort, and takes the time to reveal something to me. How blessed are we? There are no words.
I look forward to seeing how He is going to work here in Cambodia. We have only been here a few days and I haven’t gotten to walk around yet but the scenery is absolutely gorgeous! There is a lot of corruption here and, I believe, lots of opportunities for God to work. Please pray that He will and that those of us here on the ship will be willing to do whatever He asks of us. And I promise to update again soon!