Life at HKAC

Hello la! That's the newest addition to my vocabulary. They say "la" after everything here. "Okay la." "No need la." "Can la." I may not go back to the U.S. speaking fluent cantonese but I'm pretty excited about using "la". It just rolls off your tongue so nicely!

Anyway, Praise God! I've started to settle into the rhythm of things around here. These past few weeks, I've mainly been trying to get know the students. It's harder to get to know the day students because so many commute 1-2 hours to the school and leave as soon as class is over. But it's been really nice, connecting with the dorm students.

Here students have the option of staying in the dorms for five days (local students) or seven days (international students who are mainly SDA) per week. There are around 10-15 girls on the college floor during the week but a little less than half go home at the end of the week which means things get a lot quieter on the weekends.

On campus, I work with three main institutions: Hong Kong Adventist College (HKAC), Hong Kong Adventist Academy (HKAA), and Bayview Church (BVC). Which is a lot to juggle and can be a little confusing because there's a lot of overlap when it comes to events and responsibilities. For example, Connections is the youth worship that they have here which is run by the church but the target audience is mainly the college students.

I've really enjoyed working with the dorm deans for dorm worships sometimes with song service, speaking, or games. They also plan events. Last week, we threw a beach party to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival which was awesome! A group of us walked there. They got to swim and walk along the beach and the food was amazing (I ate so much fruit and mooncake)!

The Mid-Autumn festival is a lot like our American thanksgiving. Families gather together for food and celebrate unity. Traditionally, they go out with lanterns and look at the moon, remembering those who couldn't make it. They share mooncake and fruits. It sounds really meaningful. I loved learning about it.

We also run a care group for college students with the church. We gather every Tuesday night for snacks and a discussion. It's cool because the students get the opportunity to cook something to share. The church supplies the ingredients. The deans open their homes for us to meet in. It's a chance for us to hang out and get to know each other. For the discussion, we're watching the Alpha Youth Series which is designed for non-believers and believers. It opens with an icebreaker question like "What would your ideal 24 hours look like?", then goes a little deeper with questions like "What makes you happy?", and then asks about spiritual things like "If God was real and you could ask Him one question, what would it be?" I'm praying that our discussions will become more meaningful as we continue to meet.

Something I'm excited about is the College Choir Mission Trip. The choir director runs it every year during the Chinese New Year break which falls in February this year. We're recruiting students this month and we'll spend the rest of the year fundraising. We'll be working with a school in one of the more remote parts of Thailand near a refugee camp. We don't know too many details but I've heard that it's been a life-changing experience for students who've gone in the past.

This past weekend I went to a Cantonese Youth Camp that a few of the other churches in Hong Kong were hosting. I brought my roommate with me and she invited one of her friends from High School. They were the only non-SDA people there and I was the only one there who couldn't speak Cantonese so we made an excellent trio but God really blessed because those people were so kind and they went out of their way to welcome us. I praise God because my roommate said she had fun. Here on campus, Chapel and dorm worships are mandatory which can be hard for students like her who don't understand English very well and have little background with religion. It is extremely boring to them and that's what they associate with God and Christianity so I'm grateful that she got to see that Christianity can be fun too.

One of the highlights of camp was the scavenger hunt they did around HK. We went to so many places that morning and I loved being able to see HK. We were also asked to visit church members. We visited a doctor and his wife and we thought we were going there to bless them with the gift we brought but in the end they blessed us with the testimonies they shared and the snacks they prepared. Another task was to find some elderly to show kindness to by sharing fruit with them and just taking the time to listen to them. It was a really cool and creative activity that I am definitely saving for the future!

- Scavenger Hunt Pictures -