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!

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.

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