2009 was a great year, but 2010 has been pretty incredible so far! So incredible in fact that this news-letter is being written a week into February! :)The month began with a team from University of Wisconsin—Stevens Point coming to Hong Kong tominister in LCHKS schools during their interim break.

1/8—1/17:

They worked at LSL and Holy CrossLutheran School during their stay. We had a great time visiting and working with them. It was a bless-ing to watch them interact with our students and share the love of Christ through songs, conversa-tions, and games.

1/15—1/17:

One of the many privileges of serving in Hong Kong is that it is theAsia hub for LCMS World Mission. Some members of the Concordia Welfare & Education Foundation(CWEF) team and St. Louis LCMS World Mission team came into town and we celebrated with a BBQat the LCMS office in Kowloon Tong. It is always a blessing to fellowship and reconnect!

1/15:

At Concordia Lutheran School—North Point, the theme for the school year is “Noah’s Ark”. Thistheme is especially neat this year since last fall a life-sized replica of the Ark opened in Hong Kong!The Ark is located on Ma Wan Island, about 45 minutes from me by subway and a ferry. Lynette and Iaccompanied the form 2 & form 4 (8th grade & 10 grade) students to visit the Ark. The students hadscavenger hunt sheets to fill out and we toured alongside and helped answer questions. While the Arkis fairly massive, the inside includes three separate museum areas, a hotel, multiple restaurants, anda gift shop (not including all the animals two-by-two outside!), it is dwarfed by the towering buildingshere in Hong Kong and yet in Noah’s time it was the biggest thing anyone had every seen. I walkedaway in awe of Noah’s trust in God. The picture on the back side is from our trip to Noah’s Ark.

1/16:

We helped out at Kindergarten Orientation Day at Sharon Lutheran School in Tai KokTsui. The theme of the day was “Wonderful Nature” and so Andrea and I ran a booth to helpthem learn the English names for animals and equate them with the sounds they make. Lynetteheld a workshop to teach an animal song. It was a really fun day that was rounded out by aparade around the school. Photos below of the ‘animals’ are from the parade along with the Chi-nese dance performance at this event.

1/22:

Each of us accompanied a different class from LCK Primary on their annual field trip. Iwent to the Hong Kong History Museum with the 6th grade class. It was a great time to learnmore about Hong Kong and also get to know the 6th graders we don’t always interact with be-cause they are often overwhelmed with their studies.

1/25—1/29:

English Week at CLSNP was awesome! The English department did a great job of planning out games and activities to help students practice their English including a treasurehunt, conversation competition, and a lucky draw.This past week has also been busy but now we are on holiday for Lunar New Year Celebration!Andrea is in India with missionaries from Taiwan and Lynette is in Beijing with her parents whoare visiting from Nebraska! I elected to stay in HK and try to be productive. Thank you for yourcontinued prayers and encouragement.

Blessings on your new year and the Lunar New Year!

Sun nien fai lok!

新年好

! Happy New Year!

“You alone arethe LORD. You madethe heavens, even thehighest heavens, andall their starry host,the earth and allthat is on it, the seasand all that is in them.You give life to every-thing, and the multi-tudes of heaven wor-ship you.”

Nehemiah 9:6

Africa to Asia

An insight into the ministry of LCMS missionaryMegan Birney serving Christ in Hong Kong