teaching abroad | Going the Wong Way HK

2018 … what’s next?

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Going The Wong Way HK

Happy New Year friends!

It’s been quite a while since we have shared with you on our Blog and what better time than now to update you with what’s been going on with Team Wong.

For the past month we have continued with our galavanting around Hong Kong, going to different restaurants, sites and eventually ending up at the Happiest Place on Earth! Yes, Disneyland! We love Disney! It was definitely our happy place.

As we approach New Year’s in a couple of hours, there is much to reflect on. There is much to be thankful for. There is much to consider.

2017 has been a year of change in our family, if you haven’t guessed already! Haha! As I reflect back on what God has done, what He is doing, it’s amazing that we’ve lasted Hong Kong as long as we have.

Our time in Hong Kong has been challenging in many ways. We continue to look for a church that we can call home. I believe that God is working in my heart with regards to this. Not sure what the lesson is at this moment, however, I do know that I need to be in the Word consistently and be praying more fervently. Our Family Worship during this season of life has been way too sporadic, and that’s my fault for not leading better. This indeed is an area of my life that I need to work on in the New Year.

As for fellowship is concerned, our SG is growing closer to one another. We continue to study the book of Colossians and hope to be done soon, however, the time spent digging into the Word together has been meaningful and it’s a joy to lead, even though there are days when I feel so inadequate. I think the fact that we all (with the exception of one member) have a Harvest Bible Chapel connection has bonded us quickly. We actually call ourselves Harvest Hong Kong (unofficially) but our love for the Word and Worship that we have all experienced at Harvest Brampton, York or Durham bring us together like family.

I have appreciated my time teaching at ICS. The faculty, leadership are encouraging and I absolutely love my class. My students are so much fun!! Every year, students have given me a number of different nicknames, ranging from Wong to Wongy to Mr. W and now, Mr. Ping Pong, Mr. Kapong and Mida Wong … haha! There is a family / community feel at ICS which has made the transition so much easier. Thank You ICS.

We are also thankful for our 7th Floor family here at ICS as well. Doing life with friends who are going through exactly the same thing has been a comfort, knowing that we are not the only ones who struggle with life here in HK. God indeed has been faithful.

My reflection of 2017 does not just start and end with our time in Hong Kong. I can still remember the lead up to our departure. Last minute decisions that had to be made, getting together with close friends “one last time”, Malachi running back into our home on July 21 taking a “last look” brought tears to our eyes … and still does when I think about it. Moving on!!

Our ride to the airport with our dear friends, the conversation that I had in my vehicle, and I’m sure Gloria in hers. Our Small Group hosting a farewell party for us, we were super appreciative! We miss our friends. We miss Harvest Durham. We miss good, solid preaching.

More recently, I had the opportunity to touch base with some staff members back at Norman G. Powers. Do I ever miss teaching at NGP! I miss the “off comments, jokes” that we shared, certain staff members who use strong adjectives, the relaxed environment, Friday Treats!! NGP, I do miss all of you dearly!! Let’s Skype in soon!!

Finally, to close out the year 2017, we were thankful for the many visitors that we had from home. It was so special for us to spend time with Vivian, Gabby, Samuel, one of my best friends Dennis and more importantly, my Mom who came to visit and stayed for 6 weeks with us here in Hong Kong. We miss our friends, but definitely miss our family. We were able to create new memories with my Mom, our boys spent valuable time with their Grandmother and it allowed us to have meaningful dialogue with one another. Malachi and Timothy especially miss their Uncle Duncan. We are looking forward to having more visitors in 2018 and to be given the opportunity to grow in our friendships and relationships.

So what’s next? Well, as a family we desire to be in God’s Word more consistently with much regularity. We will continue to seek the Lord with regards to church. Praying for much fruit with my Grade 4 class. We look forward to developing strong relationships with our new friends here in Hong Kong. Praying for our Small Group – to grow in our love for the Lord. Pray that we would use our time wisely as we mentor / disciple others.

2018 will continue to be a year of change, a year of growth, a year of dependence on the Lord.

As a family we just finished looking at Psalm 121. “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth … The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” We learned that God is our helper. He never slumbers nor sleeps. He is our shade. The Lord keeps us. What better way to enter the New Year than this? To be reminded that the Lord loves us. That He is faithful. He will never leave us. May we continue to look to the hills when we find ourselves struggling and to know without any doubt, that our God is there to help, encourage, support, love us. May we continue to lean into God daily. Praying that 2018 would be a year that our love for God would grow.

Friends, we miss you. It was a difficult Christmas season. Thankful for His provision. Thankful for His love. Don’t be strangers … we would love to hear from you. May we all have a desire to Know Him more this upcoming year.

You are loved!

5 months … in Hong Kong

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Going The Wong Way HK

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

“I waited patiently for the Lord, he inclined to me and heard my cry.”

“I delight to do your will, O my God, your law is within my heart.”

“Your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me.”

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way.”

“Wait for the Lord and keep His way.”

Friends, these are words that keep coming to my mind. Depending on when you read this, 5 months ago, our family left our home in Brooklin, Ontario and made the early morning drive to the airport for our family’s relocation to Hong Kong. I can still remember that early morning when dear friends of ours came to pick us up, packed the truck with our belongings, Malachi running back into the house to take a “last look” around. It was difficult. Tears are forming even now as I write this and recall that morning. I think Timothy was in a daze and still trying to figure out what exactly was taking place.

Five months into living in Hong Kong and in some sense, home in Canada seems like a distant memory. We have made some really good friends here in Hong Kong, living in Uncommon Community with others, and we are learning what “Your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me,” really means. God is faithful. This morning with my Grade 4 class, I reminded them that “God is the ultimate promise keeper.”

My mom is currently visiting us in Hong Kong, and we are thankful for that. Our boys are excited to see their Mama (Chinese for Grandmother), and I’m thrilled for them – new memories, time spent with loved ones. Now we need my brother to come and visit as well!

Many of you know that coming to Hong Kong was our response to God’s leading, His prompting and our desire to be obedient to His calling. “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way.” Our desire is to remain faithful, to delight in His ways … even though sometimes we’re not sure what that looks like. We pray, we are seeking. We believe that God is doing something, that He is on the move. God has placed certain people in our lives to be our friends, prayer partners, people to lead, to disciple, to mentor.

Last night, I had the opportunity to have a quick 10 minute conversation with a friend back in Canada, and it was encouraging and refreshing to hear of his story and what God is doing in PEI. It almost seems that we’re living parallel lives, just on different islands!! I’m excited to see how this all unfolds – God’s timing is always perfect.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” In the midst of a busy life, busy country, busy culture, we do our best to be still and remember that He is God. I am continually learning to “Wait for the Lord and keep His way.” My prayer is that I can say, “I waited patiently for the Lord, he inclined to me and heard my cry.” Friends, I’m learning. God is growing something new in me. By nature, I’m not patient … I think I’ve shared this before.

Five months. Wow! It’s been pretty fast. One desire does remain though … “I delight to do your will, O my God, your law is within my heart.” This is our desire.

Pray that this blog entry would be an encouragement to you as well. Trust Him – no matter the circumstance you find yourselves in. God is in control. He will direct your steps … when you delight in His ways. Wait patiently for Him. And remember that God is faithful and He loves you unconditionally.

I wonder what the next 5 months will bring?

Friends,

You are loved!

Thinking out loud …

Posted on August 22, 2017 by Going The Wong Way HK

Friends … well it’s Tuesday night, almost 10pm as I’m writing this blog. Today was / is Gloria’s birthday as she turned 25 again. We went out for dinner at a local restaurant in Tai Wai which is a few MTR stations away from where we are in Shek Mun. As a family, we thankful for Gloria and how she continues to faithfully love, comforts and encourages our family. During this season of our lives, she has tirelessly worked hard at making sure we are all well adjusted, that our boys have enough to eat, and often times than not, goes out multiple times to buy groceries because our boys are eating way too much!

Thank You Gloria … we love you!

It is also the eve of Typhoon Hato. Many of us are hoping that it lands, hits, comes, rains, on Hong Kong. I’m liking it to the equivalent of having a “snow day” in Canada … but that never happens because the Board that I used to work for never really cared for the safety of the teachers. That’s another blog. So … we wait for the rain and the high winds to come. Will blog about the experience if it does come!

Well, as I’m sitting here thinking about what to share with you all, a couple of things do come to mind.

First … we have now been in Hong Kong for a month. Yes … 1 month. Many of us share the same sentiment, which is, it feels like we’ve been here for a year. A lot of things have happened, challenges, new friends, relationships, new colleagues, learning multiple streams of media, cultural differences and adapting to the weather.

Second, and perhaps the most challenging aspect of living in HK … is looking for a new church family. We have not exhausted our search, however, it is becoming more difficult to find a church community that we can call home. The churches that we have visited have sincere people, a love for the Lord from what we see, great worship sets at a couple of churches, but, we have yet to find a strong Bible, Exposition preaching church.

Friends back home, be thankful for what you have. Be thankful for Ian, for his faithfulness in preaching the Word every week! Pray for him. Encourage him.

As for us, it is our prayer that we find a church that preaches the Word of God unapologetically, a church that lifts high the name of Jesus, a church that firmly believes in the power of prayer. We would appreciate your prayers as we continue to seek out a church to call home. Are we concerned? Not at all. In His time, we will be connected to a strong Bible believing church. I’m confident that the Lord did not call us to Hong Kong to see us flounder in our walk.

And so … time for some much needed rest friends. We are enjoying ourselves here in HK. Both Gloria and I have been given the opportunity to encourage many people, inside my class (side note: going through Philippians with my grade 4’s, we pray at the beginning of the day and we also end the day with prayer, we have worship in class, etc.) and with Gloria being able to encourage other women. Thankful for the opportunity to serve at Harvest Durham which has enabled / prepared us for this season of our lives. Also thankful for our time at Harvest York and serving at AWANA which was so timely as we prepped for our time here in Hong Kong.

Stand firm in the faith. Be faithful. Be obedient. God is at work friends.

You are loved!

A Day in the Life of the Wong’s

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Going The Wong Way HK

Friends,

Apologies for not posting yesterday as it passed by pretty quickly! Haha! We are settling in much better, trying to create new routines that work for all of us … but definitely a “work in progress.” So, as I’m writing our blog, our boys are both on some tech doing homework / watching YouTube, Gloria is out doing some discount grocery shopping!! Here’s a glimpse to our daily lives – at least during the week.

6:00 am – Dan tries to wake up

6:15 am – Dan is awake, family still sleeping, Dan tries to get ready for school

6:30 am – Dan is downstairs in his classroom, prepping for the day.

7:35 am – staff devotions; Gloria and boys are probably getting ready to come downstairs. Next year, we will have to wake up even more earlier and take the MTR to school

7:50 am – I have to pick up my class everyday, EVERY day from their line and bring them up 6 flights of stairs to our classroom. No wonder I’ve lost weight!! Haha!!

8:00 am – school starts … not exactly sure what happens in our boy’s classes all day so here’s my day … generally speaking … start the day off with devotions, today we did Worship, other days we are reading Philippians, we had sword drill on Tuesday. After devos, usually have social studies – recess – Chinese class / my prep – or music / still my prep … then we have math. After we all have lunch. This pass week, I’ve been having lunch in the cafeteria with my students. It’s a blast!

*This was my lunch today at school. The school cafeteria does an amazing job each day!*

Once lunch is over, I usually have Writer’s / Reader’s Workshop … PE and Art is mixed in the afternoon schedule.

3:10 – school is over … phew!

3:30 – I’m assisting our U20 Girls Volleyball team (thankful to be back at it!); boys usually go and swim!

5:30 / 6 pm – Volleyball is over, swimming done, and we have dinner (M-Th at home); weekends eating out.

8:00pm – boys in bed … lights out @ 8:30pm

8:30pm and on – catching up with email, working on my class website, responding to student emails – yes my Grade 4’s email me – and yes you are reading this correctly or even WhatsApp- ing students. It’s not Canada folks! This is also my personal time for reading my Bible, watching online sermons, and spending time with Gloria unless she’s out shopping or spending time with other women. Gloria usually does her reading in the mornings when everyone is gone.

We also use this time to FaceTime family and to communicate with dear friends back at home. Our desire is also to start inviting people over for dinner and to get back into some discipleship with the people we are developing relationships with!

Lately, we’ve been going (trying to) be no later than 11pm.

That’s basically our day friends. Malachi is in Grade 5 Instrumental Band, playing the trumpet, just like his dad!! This week, I’m planning for worship at our chapel time! It’s a blessing to be able to sing with my students in class and a privilege to lead worship at ICS for ES (Elementary School).

As for Gloria, watch her Facebook videos! Haha!!

We are thankful for being in Hong Kong. This is where God has called us to be. God is faithful – in His provisions, encouragement, bringing people alongside of us who are likeminded! More to share hopefully in the upcoming months friends. It’s 7:34 pm and almost time for our boys to get some sleep! Till next week!!

You are loved.

First Couple of Days of School

Posted on August 9, 2017 by Going The Wong Way HK

Well friends the first couple of days of school have come and gone and … WOW!!! Thankful for the journey that God has brought us through and He is continuing to grow us into His image more and more. Let’s start from the first official day of school.

The day started with the ES (Elementary School) students in the upper gym. Thank goodness there’s air conditioning. Parents were every where … swarming the kids and it seemed like the paparazzi was there!! Parents taking pictures after pictures, angle after angle. It was crazy!! I have never seen nor experienced anything like this in my life!

After the kids were settled, we had a time of worship … sang a couple of songs. That was sweet!! Once we were done, the parents were asked to make way so that kids / classes could leave the gym. It was like the Red Sea was divided …. again … haha!!

School in Hong Kong is quite different. There’s an expectation from parents and students to excel, be successful, to be the top, number one. Because of this, there is a high level of stress, on our students. If you know me, seen me teach, I’m completely the opposite! One of my new colleagues and friend said, “he’s the most chill teacher on staff.” Haha!!

My class is great! Love the kids already!! Some are eager, others are focused, and the rest seem to be high energy, but lots of fun!! I did do some teaching with them yesterday and today and find that they work at an incredible pace. I asked them to read … they cheered and read 1/2 hour without any issues. Instructed my class to write the definitions to a couple of words (one was schema) and they did so without hesitation. Doing a writing piece about their summer vacation, one student asked “will I be graded on this?” On the same piece of writing, one of my girls wrote so well, with much descriptive words, clarity and organization … I was like “and this is only the second day of school.”

As a teacher, I’m definitely on my “A Game.” No choice and no complaints! It’s super refreshing. Thankful for my experience at NGP which has prepared me for this.

The best part though … being able to teach Bible. I start everyday with Morning Devotions. Decided to start the year by going through Philippians and teaching my class how to do an Inductive Bible Study. This morning, we went through Chapter 2:1-16, highlighting every time they saw Christ, God, Jesus, Savior, etc. in those verses. What a sweet time to be able to open God’s word each day!!

Friends, Hong Kong is where we are meant to be. We are thankful how God has continued to demonstrate His faithfulness. His provision and love for us. We are praying for big things … Why? Because we serve a big God!!

If some of you who are reading this and pondering what the Lord is asking you to do: one word of advice, Obedience. Obey Christ. Follow Him wherever He may be leading you. One thing we know for sure. If we had stayed in Canada, we would have missed out on everything that God has done in our lives during the last 3 weeks here in Hong Kong.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Don’t miss out friends.

Keep in touch. Would love to hear from you.

You are loved!