Ladies' Night

This year I hope to host or organize a monthly Ladies' Night to allow women to gather for dinner, fellowship, and prayer. By the quick response to the RSVP request, I think most ladies really like this idea.

After a dinner of baked potatoes and salad, we gathered together to pray around one of God's characteristics. I asked one young lady to tell us briefly about one of God's characteristics for us to meditate upon and pray around. She chose God's wisdom and directed our attention to this characteristic by reading a Bible verse and a passage from The Valley of Vision.

May we always know and seek God's wisdom because it forms the basis for all His other attributes.

Trip to Hong Kong With Mark & Diane

This year we plan to make a few trips out of the country. In our first three years Mark & I never traveled to neighboring countries so we hope to see other Asian cultures this year. For our first trip we met up with our good friends Mark & Diane in Hong Kong. We knew them in Beijing in 2013 before his employer relocated them. Now they live in southern China, about 2 hours from Hong Kong.  

After visiting Hong Kong, we decided that we prefer Beijing. Because the British originally owned Hong Kong, we liked the fact that most people spoke English, albeit with a British twist. We saw many more tourists here than in Beijing. But the British influence also dictated how Hong Kong developed. A local person told us that British land development allows a certain percentage (c. 60%) of land to be developed and the remainder stays 'green' or undeveloped. Therefore, Hong Kong's populations density outweighs Beijing's. We like Beijing's quietness and spaciousness. It's all relative. :)

One of many pedestrian bridges

Overlooking a street from a pedestrian bridge

A street
market

I don't know how to turn this picture 90 degrees, but notice how the bamboo scaffolding rests on the ground. Every area of HK had construction zones with bamboo scaffolding.

Steps up to a park

Looking across the bay

We rode the 10-minute ferry to reach the other side of the bay.

Almost every bus was a double-decker bus - another British influence.

Look at this at 90 degrees. Another example of bamboo construction protection.

Mark & Diane really wanted a western steak because they aren't available in their area.

Another example of British influence. I kept looking the opposite direction to cross the street.