Beggar in Hong Kong

Wai Jia also posted the experience on her blog.  You can find it here.

Wai Jia and I spent the last few days before the end of 2012 visiting my relatives in Hong Kong.  Hong Kong was also a time of us to get away for a mini-vacation.

On the second day as we headed back to our hotel, we saw a beggar on the street.  He had one leg and lying on the ground faced down.  I passed some money to Wai Jia to give to the beggar.  As we stopped, stooped down and spoke with him, it became apparent that he wasn’t a local.

People from Hong Kong speaks Cantonese (a Chinese dialect) of which I am used to since I grew up there.  Wai Jia, on the other hand, spoke Mandarin, another Chinese dialect which majority of Chinese speak.

I am glad Wai Jia spoke a different dialect because she was about to communicate with this man.  Seeing him on the ground and in the chilly weather, I ordered a BBQ Pork and roasted duck rice for him.  In Toronto, I still remembered those times sharing a meal with the homeless.  To do the same in my home town, it felt surreal.

It was surprising to see people stopping on the street and staring at us.  They were far enough that they were not able to hear our conversation.  It was as if this was the first time they seen someone talking to a beggar.

In a quick conversation, Wai Jia asked the beggar his name, Zhe Bin.  We invited Zhe Bin for dinner tomorrow.   Just as we were leaving, a gentleman, who saw us speaking with the Zhe Bin, spoke to us in Cantonese.

“You are not local. Right?”

He explained to us that in Hong Kong, there are no beggars.  It is illegal to beg.  This gentleman is doing us a favour by informing us that this beggar is cheating us.   They come from Mainland China to make money.  It is illegal.

Wai Jia and I discussed about this.  A lot of thoughts pop up in my head.  What if this Zhe Bin is indeed cheating us?  What does it mean to have compassion and show grace?  Is it wrong to help someone who is out to cheat us of our money?

As my head wrestle with ethics, morals, fairness, compassion and mercy, this encounter revealed to me the discrimination in our society.  There’s always a rift between Hong Kong and China.  This article described an incident in the subway sparked off (or revealed) the dislike of one another.  Wai Jia and I witnessed this first hand.  Zhe Bin, from Mainland China, coming to Hong Kong, to beg for money is illegal.  He has no right to do this.

I was scared.  I wondered what if tomorrow when we take Zhe Bin for a meal, the same gentleman would stop us.  What if more people, those who walked by,  yell at us?  Or even physically attack us?

The next day I took a nap before dinner.  As I was sleeping, I dreamt about John 4.  In John 4, it was Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the well.  John started off the story explaining that the Jews and Samaritans did not get along (John 4:9).  Even the disciples, those who followed Jesus, asked Jesus what was he doing with that woman (John 4:27).  The Jews felt they were superior to the Samaritans because the Samaritans’ bloodlines were not pure descendants from Israelites.  A Jew would NEVER associate with a Samaritan.

Discrimination and racism is nothing new.  It was in Jesus times and it is here today.  Jesus, by speaking to the Samaritan woman, broke these transparent barbed fences in His society.  If I am to follow Jesus today, I have to do the same.

For me, this is hard.  This is hard because I worried what others will think of me.  I worried about what the gentleman, who I never see will look down on me.

“What, why are you hanging out with Mainland Chinese?  He doesn't deserve it.”   This is what he will say. I can already picture this in my head.

Here I am struggling between what as Jesus follower would do and society conformed me to do.  Just as I woke up, Wai Jia informed me the Holy Spirit was guiding her to the same passage as well.  Before we went to find the Zhe Bin for dinner, we prayed hard.  We prayed hard for the Holy Spirit to come upon us.  To guide us. To protect us.  More so, to speak to Zhe Bin.  That he will experience a divine love he never experienced before.

The dinner was divine.  Zhe Bin had a friend on wheel chair and he joined us as well.  We went to a restaurant where there was no one.  Wai Jia shared with them Christ and they both accepted Jesus by praying the sinners’ prayers.  Realizing that we will never see them again, we encouraged them to find a church in Hong Kong and to continue to seek them.

Did they really let Jesus in their hearts?  We can’t say.  Though Wai Jia and I suspected they do as they both realized that they sinned by breaking the law in Hong Kong by begging on the street.  Just as Stephen was taken away by the Holy Spirit after baptizing the Eunuch on the road, we never see them again.

We prayed.  In the restaurant, boy, did I pray hard.  Pray for the Lord to bless them with work so their dignity is restored.  Pray the Lord will bless them so they can support their family.  Pray for them to experience Jesus in a supernatural way and changed their heart.

The discrimination I experienced in Hong Kong is not uncommon.  If our hearts are willing, we can discrimination, injustice and unfairness in every society. In Canada.  In Singapore.  Anywhere.  As Jesus followers, we are to act like Jesus, to redeem society by acting in love, in grace and in truth.

Sometimes loving others is hard work. It is hard work because society goes against us.  Sometimes even followers of Jesus go against us (just as the disciples question Jesus).  When our heart is align with God’s heart.  When His Holy Spirit floods us with love and compassion, we must respond.  We must love as He loves.  This is the key to turning the world and seeking the Kingdom of God.   The dinner we had was not a fancy meal.  It was mere congee, rice with salted fish and a plate of veges.  But the reward was great.  Two souls were saved.  The Gospel was preached.  AMEN!!

PS – One of the conversations I had with Wai Jia is that we need to be on guard from those who cheat us.  But if we are TOO critical at everyone who asks us for help, I worried that I will no longer be compassionate.   It is better to be in the error of grace than in the error of judgement.

Go

The following video is from Jackie Pullinger. She was a missionary that gone to Hong Kong to help the poor and the drug addict.



This is taken from Wiki about Jackie:

At the age of 20 Pullinger graduated from the Royal College of Music having specialized in the oboe. She wanted to be a missionary, so she wrote to various missionary organizations. At first she wanted to go to Africa, but then she had a dream that impressed upon her the idea of going to Hong Kong. Unable to find support from missionary organizations, she sought advice from Richard Thompson, a minister in Shoreditch, who told her that she should buy a ticket for a boat going as far as she could get and to pray to know when to get off the boat. She followed his advice and went to Hong Kong by boat in 1966. However, when she arrived she knew no one there and had only HK$100 on hand. The only reason the immigration officers allowed her in was because her mother's godson was a police officer there. She found work as a primary school teacher in the Kowloon Walled City, which in the 1960s was not policed and consequently had become one of the world's largest opium producing centres ran by Chinese criminal Triad gangs. She established a youth club to help drug addicts and street sleepers.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said....

When Jesus bids a man come and follow him he bids him come and die.

I desire no normal Christian life. I desire be call a Christian not b/c I go to events or church on Sunday. I hope I just don't watch this video, then just feel sad and sit around. Because if I do, it is really a waste of time (for the lack of better words!).

I desire to be a Christian because I was called by a Lord and Saviour. I desire to go because I am privilege to be considered worthy of His service. For I once was lost, and now I am found.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Matthew 13:45-46

What I learn from my fellowship's Bible Study

Matthew 16:15-17

He (Jesus) said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

What does this mean?

By our own strength, we will never discern Christ is the Son of the Living God. So those who might hear who Jesus is, witness His miracles, read about Jesus, unless Father reveal it to them, they will never confess Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

When sharing the Gospel, we should pray for our Father to reveal the truth to those who are lost. May the work of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, open their heart and their eyes.

...

Side thought...often I hear and I found myself saying..."oh I found Christ when I was _____" Perhaps it should be Christ first found me or it was God whom reveal Jesus is when I was _______

A slight difference in focus and it resonates through our thoughts, everyday speech and ultimately...life.

Testimony

Today my church service had three baptisms. It was great. Testimonies alway remind me of Holy Spirit is at work and God's Kingdom is continue to extend.

During lunch time, a sister told me how amazing my testimony is...I know she meant kindly. I reply that it is not my testimony. It is God's. Any testimony is amazing. I don't think there is any dull or boring testimony. I try hard to not think like that. I think if I reach to that point the mentality that 'oh that testimony, that's nothing special', I miss the point.

The mysterious of the universe is the gospel. We say it over and over (and over again)...really, it is Christ coming down on earth and redeem His people. It is people who hear the gospel, their heart is changed by the Holy Spirit, repent of their sinful ways and turn toward Jesus.

The idea that God willing to send His Son to die (let alone on the cross) is amazing.

What more do I need? That there is some spectacular light show or columns of fire coming down from heaven? Sure that will be cool (and very eye appealing). I want to focus on Christ alone and gospel alone.

I think even if I think a testimony is 'bland'. Without all the special gifts, we can insert prophecy, dreams, visions, speaking in tongues, healing....God can still use the, shall we say, vanilla, testimony? This is GOD we are talking about. He is Sovereign and Supreme. He alone predestine who will hear the message, who will accept and who will hear and not understand.

It reminds me of Jonah....God told him to go to Nineveh and tell them to repent. Because Jonah hated them, he tried to run away from God. When he got to to Ninevh, he gave the most pathetic speech...

"Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." (Jonah 3:4b)

Eight words. No spectacular words...nothing fancy...and the whole city believed and fasted. These are wicked people who do not know God and they believed!

AMAZING....so what can I say..all testimonies are good. Even at times, when my human thinking thinks that it is dry....it could be the only thing that God uses to proclaim His message.

AMEN!

Share the Good News!

When it's all said and done..more is said.

That was my response to a friend a while ago over the topic of evangelism and outreach in our local church. We study the passage to death (Matthew 28:18-20). We have events to fire up people to go out and share the Good News. We have group activities, sharing, games to talk about evangelism, Great Commission. Yet all these effort, the proclaiming of the gospel still yet to be seen. (note: this might be a rather negative statement.)

For my own experience, nothing is more convicting than the truth of the Bible. Like a mirror. A glimpse of what I consider 'doing' the work for Christ is not what the Bible points to.

In John 1:41, two disciples of John the Baptist heard Jesus is the Messiah, one of them, immediately told his brother.

In Acts, where Paul traveled, he would go into the synagogue and preaches the Gospel (Acts 17:1, 10, 17, 18:5 etc.)

It is amazing what I learn from reading the Bible :). Page after page. Passage after passage. The gospel is being spread. It is told. It is proclaim. At times during persecution. At times when it is in peace. No matter what season or the circumstance. The Good News ispreach!

This month is Mission Month in my church. The weekend my pastor invited another pastor from NYC to talk about evangelism.

Yesterday we went to pass out gospel tracts in Mississauga. I told my pastor, "I am afraid but I am still going to go."

So yesterday, a bunch of us, in a busy corner passing gospel tracts. To be honest, I rather be doing something else. BUT...a big BUT....when Jesus calls and if I told Him I will follow, I will.

My pastor described evangelism as being obedient to the Lord's work. It wasn't about the result. There were those who took the tracts. Some rejected it. A lady yelled at me screaming, "my arms are full!" (hehe...really both of her hands were holding groceries). A man questioned me and asked me what about Islam.

We will not know where the tracts will lead to. We are just the messenger. God is the One who grows and changes the heart. The saddest part will be standing before Jesus and He asks me, "Cliff, what have you done with the blessings I bestow upon you?"

If all the blessings I spend on myself and my indulgence....I think we are pretty sure we know whether I am cliff-centered of Christ-centered. I just want my faith to be something real. Authentic. If it is puff up with nothing inside...I might as well forgo accepting this faith. It is either all-in or all-out. There is no other way.

Today, I had an opportunity to sit down with Don. We talked about my trip to Australia. A lot of laughs over pho. Before I dropped him off, I gave him a Bible. He told me he got one from me already (OOPS! Forgot about that). I told him this one is easier to read (it is a NLT version). I told him to read Luke and Acts. They are easier to read and give a good story of being a Christian. We prayed at pho and I told him God has been blessing him being able to row at 70 and still win medals.

Lord, I am not worthy to proclaim your message or consider as your children.

Because of your grace through Jesus Christ, my broken life was reconciled.

Might You be pleased with this offering.

Might Your Kingdom come upon Mississauga.

Might those who are your children be filled with the Spirit.

To be bold and courage to proclaim the Truth.

To be compassionated and love those who are lost.

As we were all lost before You reveal Yourself to us.

To not be distracted by many things in life.

Because these things, no matter how fine they are, will not last.

Might we focus on the eternal.

For temporal is second class.

And it is a shame to spend forever to dwell upon things that will pass away.

Sport Ministry

Email I sent last night..

I was just thinking about my triathlon. I was sharing with a brother tonight that I was glad when I was a new Christian, my pastor gave me lots of patience and grace and let me get into this. He could have easily say "Oh Cliff, you know Sunday is a time for church and to worship the Lord. Why are you doing your races then? Don't you love the Lord?"

I remember a while back a brother was joking how that all triathletes are sinners because the race is always on Sun. Looking back, if that's where all the sinners are, they probably need Christ the most...and that's where I should be as well.

I think God made each of us with passion on certain things. Even when they are not like church related....what i slowly discover (or the way the Holy Spirit shown me) is that they can be use to share the gospel by connecting with each other. For me, that's how I take triathlon as...a ministry. And looking at the Transplant Games, I am very excited...i thought about how God not only give me this great sport where I LOVEEEEEE and get to wear spandex and sweat at the same time...and I can use it to talk about Him. I was invited to speak in front of a few group of runners about my experience. I never thought that would happen when I was got into the sport.

If from the beginning I thought about how I could use this sport to share the gospel..i probably would just quit and do something else...like door to door evangelism (not to say this is no good..it is just not my calling). Explore around and see where the Holy Spirit is working..and follow....

Thank you...

Being the hands and feet of Jesus

This is just some rough thoughts in my head. Just throwing some ideas around.

I was at prayer meeting tonight and next week we have a number of people going to Short Term Mission to Jamestown. I never know where Jamestown was until I looked in the map.

My heart sank at the thought of that place. If you like to know more info about Jamestown, please read here.

I am reminded of me going to Ryerson University. I remember one of the corner is call Hooker Harvey because that's where prostituions hang out. The neighbourhood is filled with drug dealers and suffered one of the worst crime rates in Toronto.

....

By the grace of God, I started to notice little difference between being the hands and feed for Jesus than just volunteering or doing good works. Granted, the latter is a noble cause (at least beat doing nothing!).

Allow me to explain...I would say the first and foremost is humility of oneself. When I shared a hot dog with people in Nathan Philip Square or helped out in Open Doors, I tried as hard as I can to treat those who I am serving as equal. I am reminded I am no better than them b/c of my education or my career or the stuff that I have. God simply blessed me more and as such it is my responsiblity to share (stewardship one??). I feel so easy to look at someone distinctly different than you (social status, ethnicity, age, gender etc.) and throw off an arrogance that I have more or I know more or I am better simply I am more 'successful' in life. This is foremost something I pray to God to humble me down. I asked God to crack and break my hard ego and cold heart.

The focus in serving is not for self gratification. I am not here to get praise. Though I am joyful when I know the work I am doing is joyful in His sight. This means that sometimes things might not go as expected. What if the person I am serving is rude to me? Do I go and rebuke that person? Of course not. Who am I to go rebuke them? Even if I do, it usually a sign of my ego-centric and prideful nature. Only when I let that go, do I consider denying myself, take up my cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34-38). So either scrubbing the toilet (where is rarely seen) or doing mundane task (rarely get praise for). It really ain't about me. It is about extending God's Kingdom.

To serve is not simply to use money to resolve a problem. Like buying lots of food for those who are hungry or buy things for those who are homeless. Serving, (I dare to say) is joining those who are oppress and who are suffering. In a way, we serve as Jesus serves. Jesus come to earth, born in a manger, and give up all His throne to dwell among us (in a world full of sin).

I don't go in with all my fancy gadgets and my material goods. First, this attitude hurts those who we are trying to help (take a look at DeYoung's blog post on this topic). Second, it only shows me of my own self indulgence and my own materialistic habit. Third, we are to love those who do not have hope and share the love that Jesus gave to us. This has a missional component to it. If money do really serve all the problem, we can simply donate and community will be restored and people will be free. However, it is neither this simple nor viable. Lastly, God extending His Kingdom not with worldly riches. Often Holy Spirit works among the most 'trying' times.

The last point which I am becoming ever more intrigue is the idea of sacrifice. For example, I can go for a sandwich run and buy the cheapest bread and meat that is about to expire and feed it to the needy. Yet, I will then go to a buffet and stuff myself. Is that serving? Jesus numerous consider that it is good to give the best to those who cannot get it themselves (Luke 14:15-23). Or better yet, those who don't deserve it. It is quite a reminder as we don't deserve the grace that God dwell upon us freely through the blood of His Son. Perhaps another way is to sacrifice the buffet I had and use that money to buy better sandwiches.

When I look at the last point, I asked myself, why am I hoarding all I have for me and nickel and dime for those who need it. Really, where is my heart at? When I ask this question and look at my hands, I feel dirty. I am ashame. I have become the man who see my barn is getting full and ask why not build a bigger one so I can enjoy it (Luke 12:13-21 The parable of the rich fool).

Lastly, and more importantly, we are there to share the Gospel. By living it out (actions and kind deeds [James 2:14-26]) and by words (gotta know the doctrine [1 Peter 3:15-16]). It is only the Gospel that saves. What we do on earth is all but temporary. Everything fades away. As Christian, our treasure lies in heaven (Luke 12:32-34) . If that's the case, we might as well throw everything (including the temproary, kitchen sink) for it. Everything for the Gospel. One focus.

Sharing the Gospel in the Gay Village

Picked this up from Challies.com. It is his pastor friend sharing how he is sharing the Gospel in Toronto's gay community.

He ended with:

I do all this because I love the LGBT community. They are a community comprised of individual eternal souls. Sadly, they are culture that has almost no contact with biblical Christianity in any form. How many drag queens can count a born again Christian amongst their friends? Very few, to our shame.

To our shame indeed.

I know for me, it is often easy to be pious and have a high chin that i am better than anyone (especially those who ain't Christian). It is a humble reflection that we are all sinners and only through Jesus dying on the cross that we have salvation...

The joy of sharing the Gospel

As a deacon of the church, Sunday is a very busy day.

My day usually starts with getting up at 7 or so. I don't stay up late on Sat anymore. I start off the day with ironing my shirts, prepare my Bible, materials. I try to not think about too many things I need to do and reflected on what God wants me to do.

Drive to church. The drive is usually very peaceful. I shut off the radio. There is no distractions. More reflecting on God.

8:45 pre-service prayer meeting.
9:15 some of the pamphlets wasn't folded. Folded with another brother.
9:30 passed pamphlets, set up signs.

I am in charge of the ushering ministry and watched over the service. So pretty much the service, I was on my toe checking for new visitors, making sure people find seats, get pamphlets.

The Sun was first Sun and at my church, we had communion. So I made sure the leaders were ready to pass out bread and wine.

The service ended and I looked for new visitors. Say hi and introduce them to our church. There were a couple from Vancouver and came to my city to work. They are looking for a church. I welcomed them. I hope they are able to see this as their spiritual home.

We also had a guest speaker this Sun. The speaker used a piggy bank as a demonstrate and he broke it on stage. After the service, I took the vacuum cleaner and help clean the stage.

After service, I coach the Bible Quiz. Fun stuff. We played games and picked a team shirt. There were many new faces.

We had lunch at church. A brother (new Christian) wanted to do a Bible Study. I decided to do a quick one after lunch.

So after lunch...we spent 20-30 min on studying Jesus calling Matthew to be His Disciple. It was a quick and simple. Physically I was exhausted. Spiritually I was renewed.

I was glad and the joy of sitting down and share the Gospel (as I say it...Gab about God [GaG]).

The purpose of this post is not to show how much I do...for what I do don't matter much. The most interesting is despite a busy day...the best time is sitting down with another person and shared the Gospel. That is one joy which nothing on world can offer.