Wow, I just noticed how long it had been since I last wrote anything here. This fall, my time and attention have definitely been elsewhere. Work and life have been rather time consuming. Last night I gave a teaching for a small gathering of folks. The occasion was the weekly continuous worship meeting. The meeting is held every Monday night. It is held at a different location around Macau, moving every two months or so. This meeting has been going on non-stop for several years now. I shared about people who had invested in my life and how all followers of Jesus need to invest in the lives of others. The one thing that tends to hold us back from this is our use of time. Well, it's really our value of time. Time is the one asset that is of highest value because it is fixed commodity. Each of us only has so much time. There's really no way to "save" time the way we can save money for a rainy day. The best we can do is make the most of the time we have. I encouraged the people last night to find someone to invest their time in, someone outside of their family, someone new. It's not easy as routine and busy schedules often stand in the way. But it is possible. I know, because many wonderful people have invested in my life through the years. For that I am very grateful.

For the past 3 days we have been helping out with this year's English camp. Volunteers from Edmonton, Los Angeles, Blacksburg and Radford have traveled to Macau to serve the youth of Macau through this week long camp experience. Over 150 local students are taking part in the camp. They are playing games, studying English, singing songs and getting hours and hours of exposure to English speakers. Because of the volunteers, the camp has been offered to the students at a very low price - a real help for Macau students.

The kids were having a great time interacting with the volunteers. They were learning English, practicing conversation, having fun and making new friends. But it is more than that. The kids who have joined this week are gaining confidence in their English conversation. But there is more to it than that. These kids and their parents are seeing first hand how the love of Jesus is lived out. They are spending time with other young people who gave up their summer to come to Macau and help with the camp. They are getting to know adults who are using their vacation time to travel half way around the world to share in this time. I'm always humbled and encouraged by the volunteers.

One of the volunteers - Anna - shared that she didn't know she could do so much. She was worried about how she could help. This is a typical situation and a typical experience. Many people worry about a lack of experience or ability or skill. But what they often find is that when they take a chance and go, the rest falls into place.

I hope you'll take a look at the photos on the Recent Photos page. We'll be posting more in the next few days. And keep praying for the rest of the week!

This past Saturday night Sarah, the boys and I traveled out to the Macau Golf & Country Club at the Westin Hotel. We had been invited to share in the celebration of Dr. Kenneth & Betty Siu's 50th wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful evening of remembering the beginning of their relationship and celebrating some of the landmarks along the way. 50 years! I'm only now beginning to get a sense for what 50 years feels like. What a testament of faithfulness and commitment. Such a wonderful example of grace. For 50 years they have been living and serving together. Raising children, managing the business of life and relationship. I can only remember one other time in my life that I participated in a 50th Anniversary celebration. For me, this seems like a remarkable accomplishment. Sarah and I will be celebrating 18 years this coming August 6th. We're not even half way there. But when we do get there, you're all invited to help us celebrate!

On Saturday Nathanael graduated from 6th grade. In 1st World Countries that may not seem like much. But for hundreds of thousands of children around the rest of the world this is a major accomplishment. And even in developed countries it can still be a milestone to celebrate. Through 4th grade he was in a totally Chinese learning enviroment. In 5th grade he moved to the English section of his school. He also started learning Portuguese. Being fluent in Cantonese and English with growing proficiency in Portuguese and some Mandarin he is already way beyond me in language learning. He is becoming a world citizen, and a person of character.

On Sunday, our friend A-Fan received baptism. If you've been following along at this site, you know this has been a while in coming. For her, this marked a graduation of sorts. Baptism also marks an ending and a beginning. At the baptism, she shared that she has thrown away her idols and that time of her life is done. She will only rely on Jesus from here on out. And with the ending of that old life she is beginning in a new life. She has many things to learn but she is on the path and we trust that with the Lord's help she will grow as a Kingdom citizen and a person of character

This weekend we received word that our friend, supporter and advocate Dale Long passed on to Heaven after a years long battle with cancer. Dale is a life-long friend of Sarah's family. She related to him more as an uncle than friend. He had been a tireless advocate for us over the years. His influence runs through an untold number of lives. He was one of those guys who could "Get 'r done" when something needed doing. He was a man I greatly respected. He will be sorely missed by family and friends.

To read more about this servants life, you can visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/dalelong

While we mourn his passing as our loss, we are comforted by his great gain. For now he is cancer free, united with the Lord of all peace and grace for eternity. Please pray for his wife, 2 sons and their familes as they deal with the loss of their husband, father and friend.

On 6 June, 1996 4 weary travelers landed at the Macau International Airport. Nathanael, who was not yet 2 years old started crying while we stood in line at the Immigration counter. We were later teased about pinching him at just the right time so that the Immigration officers, always eager to move screaming kids along as fast as possible, would speed us along. The reality is that he was simply exhausted from the nearly 28 hours we had been in transit.

We hauled about 500 pounds of luggage off the conveyer belts and through customs. You might think 500 pounds is an exaggeration but it may have been more. We had 13 pieces of checked luggage, all packed to the maximum weight. Weary travelers.

As we exited the sliding glass doors we were met by a group of people we had never seen before - the Mission family. They were only the first of many, many people who would become family to us in Macau. We have been richly blessed and helped by scores of people in Macau and in the USA over the years. You can't travel this far without help.

Today we mark the 10th anniversary of our arrival. Here's an interesting thought. These past 10 years are the longest that I have ever lived in one place. And even here I have lived in 3 different apartments. After 10 years, I can honestly say that I couldn't have chosen any better place to live. I'm very grateful for the years we've had in Macau. I look forward to the years we still have in Macau.

Then

Now

As I noted on the Prayer Page, this past week we hosted a fellow named Jay Paul. He is a professional photographer sent to Asia to spend time in various cities and locations to develop a body of photos for C.B.F. This was a great experience for me. In just a few months we will have lived in Macau for 10 years. 10 YEARS! I can hardly believe it.

Over the years that which is unique and special about Macau has become somewhat routine and common to us. There's nothing wrong with this, it is just the way it goes I guess. So when someone comes along and helps us to see the place and the people as if for the first time it is a true gift. Each day we took Jay around to different areas of town. He also joined us as we worked and taught and interacted with people. He took hundreds of photos and gave us copies of them all. As I have been looking through all these photos my heart has really been touched by the people of Macau. There are wonderful, beautiful characters all over Macau. I hope that we can find a way to share some of the best of these photos with you.

As we looked through the photos we were also surprised to see a fair number of faces we know. Jay didn't take the photos of these folks because we know them. It was only later that we recognized the folks. It was a great reminder that our lives are always on display. It also reminds of the rich blessing of having friends and acquaintances all over town.

I feel like I am coming late to this blog thing. Everyone has a blog these days it seems. As I was updating the sight tonight I found myself writing more than usual on the front page. So I thought that maybe I should go ahead and try something new. I don't know how often I'll update this as I'm just getting started. I'm sure I'll have to figure some things out first. So bear with me and check back from time to time.