For a number of years, we have sought to help Restaurant Workers in Macau. Macau has over 1,500 restaurants. Not bad for a city of 500,000 people. Many people in Macau eat out at least once a day. The restaurant industry in Macau is tough, just like in other cities. The people work long hours for not a lot of money. Serving these people who help serve so many others has been a concern of ours for a long time.

This past week we had an opportunity to work with the International Restaurant Ministry. Mainly Chinese who work with Chinese restaurant workers around the world. On Wednesday night about 70 of us spread out around the city giving away cookies and passing out invitations to a free Midnight Meal. The coupons for the meal were only good for restaurant workers. That night about 600 bags of cookies and invitations were passed out.

Thursday night at about 11:30 p.m. I showed up at the place where the meal was to be held. People were already arriving. By midnight there were more than 50 people excitedly talking and waiting to see what would happen. For the next 2 hours we all sang, talked over a buffet, played bingo, heard testimonial sharing and a clear presentation of the Good News. Many of the people communicated that they want to know more about following Jesus. It was a very encouraging experience for me.

During the night I was asked by a number of people about English classes. I had brought some information and now we are looking at beginning a number of small groups for restaurant related English classes. One man I met, Paul, had worked in restaurants in Guam. He asked me to help him improve his English. Then he went around asking his co-workers if they would be interested in a class. Hopefully, we will have many new friends through new English classes this fall.