View From a Taxi Cab

Being an English teacher, I thought it would be hypocritical to not use what i learned in my high school English classes.  So, i've spent the last 45 minutes off and on trying to think of an opening sentence to "capture the reader's attention."  It's now close to 2 AM and i'm ready to go to bed.  I hope your attention is captured.

I have now been in Hong Kong for 3 days and have enjoyed my time in the city.  Although the view from the taxi's window is about as much as i can see of the city, i can assure you that the food is good and the hospital's are much better than in Changchun.  Other than the clinic and the hostel we are staying at, there isn't much else i have seen.  The city is much cleaner when comparing the trash on the streets and the streaks on the windows, but it is pretty overwhelming as well.  Billboards and advertisements mar the sides of buildings, buses, and anything else that can be seen by the human eye.  Overpriced watches, designer clothing, and body toning companies are all using sex to sell their products.  Pictures of near naked models with products that have nothing in common seem to be on everything.  I'm sure there is much, much more but again, this is my view from the taxi.  It's disgusting to think how much 'image' is emphasized.  That people would be so concerned with the few years they have here on this earth with watches and clothes and nice fancy things that eventually lose their shine and rust and rot away.

Thankfully not everything in this city is as discouraging.  It seems there are quite a few people who have set their priorities straight and are unafraid to show it.  Please lift up Hong Kong that He would use this city to be a beacon of light in China and the rest of Asia.

The real reason i am writing this blog is to update everyone on my medical condition.  As stated before, i have sustained an injury to my left foot from long jumping in a sports meet at my school.  After 2 Dr. appointments and 2 MRI's the verdict is that i have a complete rupture of my achilles tendon.  The tendon has torn away from the bone completely and surgery is necessary.  At 11 pm on Thursday (9 hours from now) i will be in surgery.

I would be lying if i said i wasn't completely worried or completely unafraid of the procedure.  I don't want to hide that i am nervous about this and don't know what the future has in store.  I know that the next few weeks and few months are going to be difficult with everything going on, but, i am completely confident that His grace is sufficient.  That He won't give me anything i can't handle.  I have been completely blessed and humbled by those who have committed to praying for me.  I am proud to be part of the body of Christ and to have the support that i do.  I am sharing this because i feel it necessary and part of my duty to share what is going on with my friends, family, and supporters.  I don't want to share this so i can evoke a certain emotion or a pity from the reader.  This is not some unfathomable tragedy or anything of the sort, but part of the path that He has laid before me.  Things happen that we can't explain.  I hope i can react to it with a joy that the world can't explain.


The uncertainty in how to start this post was the same as my uncertainty in how to end it.  But as i began writing i could see a sort of symbolism in it.  As cliche as it may sound, i feel that the picture of the taxi is quite accurate in my current spiritual life.  From where i sit right now, all i can see is what is outside my window.  I don't know where i am going or what route the Driver will take, but i do know my Driver, and i trust Him with my life.  It's a ride filled with uncertainty, discomfort, and sometimes pain, but i know the final destination and from what i've been told, it's worth it all...



Count it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of various kinds, knowing that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  And let perseverance have its perfect effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.        -James 1:2-4

Picture of the Post

Unfortunately its a poor quality picture taken out of a cab, but it is a sign of hope here in Hong Kong.

-jo

The Familiar Unfamiliar

Things had been going really well here at Hua Qiao.  I was finally able to run after 8 months, i had been building relationships with some Chinese students, and i was finally going to see my freshmen right before i had a week of vacation.  But there were some difficult things that began to occur.  My foot began to become increasingly painful, and i began identifying that i was easily angered, a sign of culture shock (thank you Abram for making that known to me).  I also had a difficult schedule crammed into two days before the big sports meet for our school.

There was a lot of stress going into this past week, but one of the things i was most worried about was this sports meet.  This event is a school wide competition where students and teachers are encouraged to participate and represent their departments.  It begins with a parade at 7:30 in the morning and ends around 4 in the afternoon.  The stadium surrounding the track is packed with 5,000 students and faculty watching the day's events.  Many of these events are the same as in track and field, but there are some that are relays like the 12 legged race.  All foreigners are expected to play a big part in these events and bring face to their department.  Since i love competition, i jumped at the opportunity to compete.  However, i began to experience more and more pain in my foot as the competition neared and i wrestled with other issues.  Would i be doing this for His glory, or would i quickly revert back to my own self-seeking desires?  These questions compounded the stress of the week, but i continued on and hoped that He would be magnified in my efforts.


The day of the competition finally came and we paraded around the track with students cheering and yelling for their teachers' attention.  The events soon followed and i found a seat next to some fellow office mates and students.  My first event was the long jump and i left the stands with ample time to warm up and relive those glory days of high school track.  After a decent warm up i headed to the long jump pit and began taking practice jumps, some of which i was quite pleased with.  It was finally time to start and i was the first competitor.  I began accelerating down the runway hoping to get a good mark.  Right before i planted with my right foot (my jumping foot) i planted my left (my bad foot).  As i was pushing off i felt a snap in my left foot and plowed into the sand.  I checked my Achilles and it seemed that the other major structures were accounted for, but my foot began to quickly swell.  A teammate and Chinese friend helped carry me off the field in an overly dramatic situation and into the nurse's station. 

Though painful, slightly discouraging, and frustrating, i was at peace knowing that He was in control of this situation.  I began to see that He could still be glorified, if not more, in this circumstance.  My Chinese friend who i had been cultivating a relationship with and even attended his birthday the night before was right by my side the whole time.  Since seeing my foot at the gym, he always asked how i was and kept saying how he was worried for me.  He was there to carry me out of the pit, wait by my side in the nurse's station, apply ice and medicine to my foot, and even hold up my leg so that i could elevate it.  It opened up opportunities to share.  I told him about the history of my foot and how i shouldn't even be doing what i'm doing.  "You're a miracle then."  "Yes, God has been gracious to me.  But even if i can't run or walk again, i'm ok with that because i'm only on this earth for 70 more years.  I won't be taking this injury with me." "You're very positive."  "Well Tim, He never gives us more than we can't handle.  I know i can walk through this with Him by my side."  From a past conversation he told me that his dad taught him money was his god because it provides security.  He later texted me and told me "God be with you," and even told one of my teammates that he was praying for me.  I do not say this in arrogance or to exaggerate a conversation, but rather to show how He works.  Since then he has texted me multiple times a day checking on me, bringing me food, movies to watch, and even coming across campus to walk me to the dining hall and hold his umbrella for me in the rain.  He has been a huge blessing and i am so excited to see where God takes this relationship.


On my way to the hospital scriptures began filling my head.  "His ways are not our ways..." Isaiah 55:8.  How could i put God in a box and expect Him to be magnified according to my own expectations? "Naked I came from the womb, naked I will return.  The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.  May the name of the Lord be praised!"  Job 1:21.  Who am i to call athleticism or health my own?  It should not and cannot be my identity because none of it even belongs to me.  And finally 2 Timothy 2:9, "And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the Word of God cannot be chained."  Even though i am a broken vessel, His word is not broken yet can still be used through me.

These were all things going through my head and were of great comfort to me knowing that this is how i am to glorify Him during this time.  We made a frustrating trip to a Dr. at a hospital of which i will not elaborate on except for the fact that i miss western medicine.  Days passed and the swelling increased.  After a long and arduous process of flipping back and forth between locations, both my organization and insurance agree that it is best that i fly to Hong Kong to see an expert.  I leave Monday morning at 8 AM, exactly 6.5 hours from now.  I have been prayed for and seen Him improve my condition before my eyes.  Please continue to keep me in your prayers and believe that He will complete the work He started in me.  Also, please lift up my attitude so that my focus may remain on Him as well as for the hearts of those who are searching and that opportunities would be presented.


I am sorry for the incredibly long post, but i feel it is necessary to update those who have sacrificed so greatly to send me here.  I am so appreciative of your prayers and support and look forward to keeping you updated throughout this amazing trip here.  I plan on taking my camera with me to Hong Kong and will take pictures of the halls of the hospital if nothing else.  Not the way i had imagined i'd spend my holiday, but this reoccurring, unfamiliar setting is becoming more and more familiar.  I'm getting the hint that God likes to take us out of our comfort zones...




"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."       -2 Corinthians 12:9-10




-jo

Star Performers

It's 11:30 on this Sunday night in my apartment and I am trying to think of how I am going to summarize everything that has happened between now and my last post.  I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I just want to be able to share everything that has been going on.  To make it easier, I will break it up into 2 separate posts.

After Mid-Autumn Festival our group was preparing to put together a performance for the Federation of the Women of Changchun, or something of that nature.  As foreigners, we were of course asked (and basically expected) to put together a performance by our Foreign Affairs Office at Hua Qiao (our school).  They committed to helping us and even picked out the songs we were to perform, one of which was "Jambalaya" with lyrics like "settle down far from town to get a pirogue, and he'll catch all the fish in the bayou, swap his mom to buy yvonne what she need-o, son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou."  It's scary what some people's perceptions of Americans are.  As bad as we wanted to sing that old American favorite, we decided to switch it for another Billboard buster "A Whole New World" from Aladdin.

The day finally came when we were to perform.  As we entered through the backdoor of the theatre, we found many other performers in costumes, rehearsing and applying make up in the dressing rooms.  As we peered out from behind the stage we were surprised to find that this was actually an event to be taken seriously.  It was too late to change anything but i was sure we were going to make fools of ourselves, representing the U.S. in the process.

The event finally began and we took our seats in the audience and watched the other performers until it was our turn.  There were a few performances that were... well, interesting to say the least, but i can attest that i did find it enjoyable.  There were a couple of performances that were very well put together and executed.  Soon it was our turn to take the stage and in my mind i had already placed us in last.  After all the stellar performances were finished 9 Amerian teachers took the stage and began to sing "A Whole New World."  I will note, however that we did sing it quite convincingly and with an 'above average' level of charisma.  The second and final song was "Auld Lang Syne," chosen by our FAO's.  We sang the verse twice in English and then to everybody's surprise, the American's began singing in Chinese.  I didn't spot any tears from where i was on the stage, but we did get the crowd clapping.  To top it off, we unfurled a banner with Chinese characters on it that translated "We love China, We love Changchun."  Had we not dropped it mid-song we may have added a point to our total, but what we lacked in professionalism we made up for in... i guess just being tall and white.  We earned the loudest applause and gained much 'face' for the school we were representing.  Of course there were others that were more deserving of this, everybody else in fact, but we embraced the praise and were thankful for it to finally be over.

Afterwards, we were taken to a delicious lunch with nearly everything on the table being edible, courtesy of our appreciative FAO's.  They thanked us for our performance and said that we could expect more of these in the future.... goodie.  Well, at least we had that behind us and could now focus on school the next day and the upcoming sports meet before National Holiday.  It's days like these that seem to fit the appropriate acronym "WIC," "When in China..."


-jo