August Newsletter 09

Africa to Asia

August 2009

An insight into the ministry of LCM S missionary Megan Birney serving Christ in Hong Kong

A whole new world... Here I am! From living in rural Togo to metropolis Hong Kong in 3 months time! We arrived without a hitch on August 18th and we greeted with joy by our LCMS WM supervisor, Sharon Owens, our LCHKS (Lutheran Church — Hong Kong Synod) supervisor, Ken Cheung, pastor-in-training, Albert Lau, and English teacher, Mary Li. Over the past three weeks, we have been very busy working to arrange our schedules and visiting the schools and churches we will be working with. Our first week encompassed lots of meetings and learning how to get around Hong Kong. I didn’t realize how large Hong Kong was until I traveled from one end to the other and it took over 2 hours! Now that I am over jetlag and educated on the different routes of transportation, I am confident in my ability to navigate through this city of 7 million people! On our first Sunday in HK we were able to attend the Church of All Nations (CAN), an LCMS congregation on Hong Kong Island. After worshipping at CAN, myself, Andrea, Lynette, and Sharon departed for Macau. We spent five days in Macau focusing on TEFL and evangelism training. Along with the three of us who will be working in Hong Kong, ten teachers from two separate English centers also attended orientation. After arriving back in Hong Kong, we had a day to reacclimate before back to work at the schools. The next Sunday we were commissioned as LCHKS missionaries at Holy Word Lutheran Church. This past week we attended a graduation ceremony and two opening ceremonies along with visiting classes at all three of the schools we will be working with this term. We live in the New Terroitories of Hong Kong and our area is called Tuen Mun. Tuen Mun is fairly large but is not overly populated and is a ways away from tourist Hong Kong. The three of us thoroughly enjoy our apartment complete with a view of Butterfly Bay! We are very blessed that the main school, church, and we work with are only a 15 minute walk away! Lutheran Tsing Shing Siu Leun School (LTSSLS) is home to Holy Word Lutheran Church and Concordia English Centre Tuen Mun. Three Sundays a month, we worship at Holy Word and after the church

service lead a praise time and then facilitate an English Sunday School program. Mondays are our holiday! :) Tuesday & Wednesday we work at LTSSLS integrating English into Math and General Studies lessons for the younger grades and co-planning out meaningful English lessons for the older elementary students. Along with classroom teaching, we also plan a lunch program and after school activities centered around Biblical discussion. On Thursdays, Lynette and I head to Hong Kong Island to work at Concordia Lutheran School — North Point (CLSNP). CLSNP is a secondary school with students ranging from 12 to 18 years old. At CLSNP, we sit in on Bible classes to help integrate English discussion into the lesson along with leading a student fellowship at lunch time and an academic English extracurricular after school. On Fridays we work at Lui Cheung Kwong Primary School (LCK). At LCK, our focus is on Gospel sharing and less on the classroom aspect. We have lots of outreach opportunities with children during recesses, lunch, and assemblies. Our Saturdays are still TBD, but there are many great youth and children ministry opportunities for us to be a part of. With all the wonderful people we have met, I am so encouraged! Thank you for your continued prayers! If you want to learn more about the work of the LCHKS, you can visit the website at www.lutheran.org.hk for more information. Blessings to you!

“I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.” John 6:47

August 2009

LCMS World Mission

Prayer Requests •

800-433-3954 www.lcmsworldmission.com [email protected] Learn more about the work of LCMS World Mission in Asia: www.lcmsworldmission.org/asia

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“For this reason, I kneel before the Father…” Eph. 3:14 That God would continue to open eyes and ears for our EFL ministry as the school year begins in HK; the opportunities to speak the Gospel in a meaningful way to the 1500+ students we will interact with each week. Praise for our safe travels and the blessings we have received these past few weeks! As we adapt to living in Hong Kong; strength, courage, and love to serve the Lord out of our cultural comfort zone. That the Lord would continue to be prevalent in the lives of the Fluegge family. For their support raising efforts in USA and their transition to Pretoria, South Africa in November. For the Lutheran Church - Hong Kong Synod (LCHKS); that the Lord would continue blessing the efforts of the LCHKS in growing God’s kingdom. The students & professors at the CLET in Dapaong, Togo; that God would steady their hearts to pursue their calls to leadership training in serving the Lutheran Church bodies in West Africa. For victims of severe flooding in Burkina Faso on Sept. 1st. My CUNE Family Life Ministry graduate program beginning this fall. My fellow LCMS long-term missionaries serving internationally, for the opportunity & strength to live out Christ’s love on the mission field. For the hearts of those needing to know the grace of our great God

Contact Info [email protected] Postal mail can be sent to: Miss Megan Birney c/o Mr Ken Cheung Concordia English Center (Tuen Mun) Tsang Shing Siu Leun Lutheran School P.S. No. 5 Butterfly Estate, Tuen Mun, N.T. Hong Kong

English Teacher or Missionary? This picture was taken at Concordia English Center (Wan Chai) after our meeting with the pastors, deacons, and youth leaders of Abiding Grace Lutheran Church and CLSNP. They greatly encouraged us with the reassurance that though we are teaching English, we are not English teachers but missionaries in Hong Kong to spread the good news of Jesus Christ!

Check out my blog: acrossanoceansizedlove.blogspot.com Visit my project page: www.lcms.org?13343 Download my prayer card: www.lcmsworldmission.org/prayercards Access my photo albums: picasaweb.google.com/megaroonski

If you would like to receive this newsletter electronically, please e-mail me at [email protected]!