This morning I am writing you from a coffee shop called Pacific Coffee. With my Alto Vanilla Cappuccino at my side, I am surrounded by a place that could easily be the setting I would find in Chicago or San Francisco but it instead is on the second floor of a high upscale mall called Festival Walk. It is filled with high end shops with designer names over the door. It has seven floors and is designed with marble floors, chrome and glass. School children from elementary to high school are climbing the steps just outside the entrance of this shop with wearing there school uniforms and making their way to class.
This is a far cry from what I was doing yesterday. Yesterday I was digging in the dirt, carrying cement with a shovel and being chased by monkeys! (Yes I was still in Hong Kong) The main purpose of our group was to come and do a workcamp for the new facilities. While this was our plan it did not seem that it would be a possibility. Russ Jones has his own construction company in Indianapolis. He feels most comfortable when he has a hammer in his hand (he has gone on 72 workcamps so far and his feet have touched every continent except Antarctica). David Brown is an electrical engineer and has worked for GM for 40 years. They wanted to not only get to know people in the church, see sights in Hong Kong, but get their hands dirty and shirts sweaty doing a project. So we checked with the manager who runs the retreat center if they had any work that we could be of help.
Their first response was to be a bit puzzled. Construction work and manual labor is done by the lower class. Why would we pay the money we did and travel as far as we have to do "hard labor." As it began to sink in they were very glad for our offer. Not long they came back with a project. On the property lives a retired pastor and his wife. They are both in their 80's and in good health. Their house is on the side of the mountain and a small steep path is the way they must leave to go anywhere. The edge of the concrete walk and steps the hill drops down steeply. Could we help install a railing for their benefit and safety? The challenge was before us - it was the opportunity our group welcomed.
The first step was to dig holes for the poles that would support the railing. We were given the necessary tools - a pick and a bar, shovels and gloves. Each of us took turns working our way down the steps digging holes five feet apart. Above us was a canopy of trees that provided shade and a breeze made the upper 70's very pleasant. When it was my turn I was handed a pick and "dug in" to the job. As I mentioned the area was very thick with forest and so it was common to hit roots that needed to be broken to make the 18 inch hole we needed for each pole. The ground was loose but rocks were plentiful where we worked. I hit something hard. No problem just put a little more sweat into it. As I did came a big spark and a loud pop. We checked with our Chinese workers who assured us that we hit a rock. No it was something more. A few minutes later Dave was using the bar and had the same experience. No exactly what we were looking forward to having. After careful investigation we discovered that the 2 inch power line to the pastor's house was buried along beside the walk. Hong Kong uses 240 voltage and so we felt very lucky to escape a potentially dangerous situation.
We worked through the morning to prepare the holes, carry the 21 ft. 2" galvanized steel pipe and lug the 90 lbs bags of concrete and 10 lbs. bags of sand which we carried around to the sight. Lunch came at 12:30 and we were glad for the break. The manager invited us to eat with him. I was glad for another chance of a Chinese meal that you could never have back in the States. The dishes of different vegetable and meat were at the center of the table and we enjoyed eating family style with chopsticks as well as western utensils.
I have been waiting to meet Dave Aulfrance who is a long time friend, long term missionary with OMS (over 20 years). I will continue this story later. Stayed tuned.
Drinking my favorite coffee in Hong Kong,
This is a far cry from what I was doing yesterday. Yesterday I was digging in the dirt, carrying cement with a shovel and being chased by monkeys! (Yes I was still in Hong Kong) The main purpose of our group was to come and do a workcamp for the new facilities. While this was our plan it did not seem that it would be a possibility. Russ Jones has his own construction company in Indianapolis. He feels most comfortable when he has a hammer in his hand (he has gone on 72 workcamps so far and his feet have touched every continent except Antarctica). David Brown is an electrical engineer and has worked for GM for 40 years. They wanted to not only get to know people in the church, see sights in Hong Kong, but get their hands dirty and shirts sweaty doing a project. So we checked with the manager who runs the retreat center if they had any work that we could be of help.
Their first response was to be a bit puzzled. Construction work and manual labor is done by the lower class. Why would we pay the money we did and travel as far as we have to do "hard labor." As it began to sink in they were very glad for our offer. Not long they came back with a project. On the property lives a retired pastor and his wife. They are both in their 80's and in good health. Their house is on the side of the mountain and a small steep path is the way they must leave to go anywhere. The edge of the concrete walk and steps the hill drops down steeply. Could we help install a railing for their benefit and safety? The challenge was before us - it was the opportunity our group welcomed.
The first step was to dig holes for the poles that would support the railing. We were given the necessary tools - a pick and a bar, shovels and gloves. Each of us took turns working our way down the steps digging holes five feet apart. Above us was a canopy of trees that provided shade and a breeze made the upper 70's very pleasant. When it was my turn I was handed a pick and "dug in" to the job. As I mentioned the area was very thick with forest and so it was common to hit roots that needed to be broken to make the 18 inch hole we needed for each pole. The ground was loose but rocks were plentiful where we worked. I hit something hard. No problem just put a little more sweat into it. As I did came a big spark and a loud pop. We checked with our Chinese workers who assured us that we hit a rock. No it was something more. A few minutes later Dave was using the bar and had the same experience. No exactly what we were looking forward to having. After careful investigation we discovered that the 2 inch power line to the pastor's house was buried along beside the walk. Hong Kong uses 240 voltage and so we felt very lucky to escape a potentially dangerous situation.
We worked through the morning to prepare the holes, carry the 21 ft. 2" galvanized steel pipe and lug the 90 lbs bags of concrete and 10 lbs. bags of sand which we carried around to the sight. Lunch came at 12:30 and we were glad for the break. The manager invited us to eat with him. I was glad for another chance of a Chinese meal that you could never have back in the States. The dishes of different vegetable and meat were at the center of the table and we enjoyed eating family style with chopsticks as well as western utensils.
I have been waiting to meet Dave Aulfrance who is a long time friend, long term missionary with OMS (over 20 years). I will continue this story later. Stayed tuned.
Drinking my favorite coffee in Hong Kong,
2 comments:
Alan - It is exciting to read about your adventures in Hong Kong. I remember when you were there as missionaries. It would have been great to have this type of communication back then! I am praying for you and your group.
Retha
Hey! Just thought you should know that while you are drinking your favorite coffee in Hong Kong, I've been hitting your favorite french vanilla creamer everyday here at the office! :o)
Fly with Christ!
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