Setting me straight..again...

I'm so thankful to God for allowing us to host Gary W for a night before he heads out to Asia for a month of training. The 3  of us talked for a good amount of time, and Jovi and I were very much blessed by his encouragements and wise, godly counsel.

Among other things, he reminded me that my seminary education will be most effective when I'm learning and applying all that knowledge in the midst of my personal ministry context. Serving in my local church will also help motivate me to get through my studies. I needed this reminder. Gotta stay out of that ivory tower.

Thesis Topic

I finally have a tentative thesis topic... This is what I submitted:

So far, my thesis topic (or research question) is: "What role do 2nd and 3rd generation Asian-American Christians have in evangelizing to Asian immigrants in America?" The Asian-American demographic actually consists of many ethnic groups, so I will be focusing on people of Chinese descent. I think this is an important topic because as Asian-Americans continue to grow in affluence and are the fastest growing ethnic group in the US, there is also an increasing number of Asian-American Christians. So the purpose of this research is to consider how this group of Asian-American believers, who are more fluent in Western culture, can participate in bringing the Gospel to Asian immigrants, who may never have heard of Jesus Christ.

In the course of my research, I plan to look at Paul's missionary journeys and the epistles (Biblical Studies) to see how the apostles went about preaching the Gospel to areas where there is a mixture of cultures. It might also be interesting to look at Timothy, whose father was Greek and mother was Jewish. Secondly, I would see what the Bible as a whole says about spreading the Gospel to other cultures (Systematic Theology?). And finally, looking at the Church's history, I will examine if other cultures have had similar situations, and also, how the Gospel has already made inroads into the Asian immigrant population in the past.

Hong Kong. Day 12

Writing this from home.

Our last full day in HK "yesterday" was pretty great. By then we had already basically did all the touristy stuff that we could do without venturing too far out.

We ate dim sum at a real local place. Afterwards we did our last bit of shopping and street food eating in Mong Kok. To kill some time we even watched a Chinese movie. Overheard 3. It was okay. A little too confusing.

For dinner we were to meet up with some of my high school friends. I was particularly looking forward to it because I haven't seen them for so many years; some since high school. And coincidentally it was 10 years since hs graduation. It was really great catching up with them all and just hanging out.

Hong Kong. Day 11

Another long, productive day in Hong Kong!

Actually we slept in a little bit. After breakfast, we took the tram / street car to Causeway Bay. It was our first time riding them. Before today I always felt riding the trams was intimidated. How the heck do you get on and off the thing!? It's pretty simple...

Outside of Times Square there were a couple fake tanks to commemorate the anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre and to protest China's continued restrictions of free speech and non-democratic rule.

After lunch we got (super cheap) massages at Happy Foot. Then visited Mong Kok's  street market to pick up a couple things.

For dinner, Chris and Sherry were so hospitable to invite us over to eat a home-cooked meal! We really enjoyed catching up with them, and we're excited for their little baby to arrive too!

After dinner, we met up with Willson! who just moved to HK almost a week ago. Best of luck with Altitude! When I get back home, I'll have to start looking for job postings in HK...

Hong Kong. Day 10

It feels so good to be back in Hong Kong!

Yesterday by mid day we arrived in HK. After finding our Airbnb accommodations,  we quickly set out to hit up some of the major touristy stuff.

Victoria Peak
Hong Kong Park
Star Ferry
Tsim Sha Tsui light show
Avenue of Stars
Temple St. Night market
"Dun Dan" egg custard dessert
Mango desserts

Most of our meals have been at very ordinary places because that's just what we enjoy in HK. Like comfort food.

Tokyo. Day 9

Today was our last full day in Japan! We spent most of it hitting the last few areas that we haven't seen yet and doing a lot of shopping (for ourselves and for souvenirs/gifts). We're bringing back some good stuff to share!

At one point, I tried a ramen "burger" from Lotteria (a fast food joint much like Burger King). I'll be honest. It was pretty bad. Between two buns they put a ramen patty, a dab of mayo, and some other really salty sauce. No meat at all. Just a lot of carbs. I'm sorry, but in terms of burgers, America does it better. At least they don't forget the meat.

But their tonkatsu from Maisen in Shibuya (next to Omotesando Hills)....oh my gosh....amazing...heaven in my mouth....gahhhhh!!!

For dinner, our last real meal in Tokyo, was Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki from Nabezo in Shibuya.

Tomorrow morning we fly to Hong Kong.

Tokyo. Day 8

This morning we went out to visit Grace in a quiet little town in the outskirts of Tokyo called Higashi-Kurume. From her apartment, we walked what seemed like just several paces to Christian Academy in Japan, which is where Grace teaches. Most of these students were pk's,  missionaries' kids, or kids whose parents are working in Japan for American companies.

And on their campus is where Kurume Bible Fellowship gathers for Sunday worship. Coming from the States, we hear a lot about how Japan's population is less than 1% (I forget the correct figure) Christian. But it was really awesome to see and worship with this community of brothers and sisters here. It is an amazing thing to think of how far the same Gospel has traveled through time and space to this little town in Japan. I got much respect for those people doing ministry here or being witnesses in their workplaces here. Japan is truly an interesting mission field with its own unique hardships. I thank God for them and for Grace, how she has faithfully served her local church and students. :)

Later on that evening, we hit up Akihabara, the center of Otaku culture. The action figures looked awesome. I really wanted to get something, but I didn't want to spend that much...and there's so much more anime than I personally know or keep up with. Oh well...