有花米屎: Hong Kong

Hello you rusty old blog ... I've got some news for you: I'm moving to Hong Kong!

Yes, yes, I can hardly believe it myself! It seems quite random, I know. Where have I been all these years, only to show up now and announce this dramatic change? I understand, old blog, you're understandably a bit confused and bewildered .. so I'll try to help you with a little backstory:

You see, for the last, oh, decade or so, God has been preparing a place in my heart for speakers of Cantonese, a dialect group located predominately in south eastern China, which includes the area of Hong Kong. Interestingly enough, a big part of my circle of friends in Vancouver are Cantonese speakers, many with a heart specifically for Hong Kong.

So, over time I made some contacts with various churches and ministries in the Hong Kong area, including this one, International Christian Assembly (ICA). Their website is here: http://www.icahk.org.

But I didn't act on any of these connections, sensing the timing wasn't right, and God had other work for me in Vancouver. In this last stage of time, as things developed, I ended up in Richmond, British Columbia, a predominately Chinese area (so much so that it has been termed 'the most Chinese city outside of Asia'). So I was getting closer, both geographically, and culturally, to a place like Hong Kong. But what actually sparked the move? And wait, are you moving there for good? (These are your questions, probably, dear blog.)

Well, those are good questions, blog, because it could be argued that Richmond has enough Cantonese speakers to fulfill a call from God to that language group. And, for a while, I thought that might be the case .. but, crazily, these kinds of 'calling' thoughts were still way in the back of my mind .. I had hardly acted on them at all ..

Until one fateful day ..

In case you didn't know, within the past year or so I began work in Vancouver with a financial services company, and was positioned nicely to operate, not only in Canada (as a resident), but also across the border, in the US (as a citizen). I had just gotten licensed in Canada, and was all set to open up shop in the US as well. But God had other plans.

I arrived home one night, just after an inspiring session of strategizing and preparation for next steps in the industry to break into the US market, and as soon as I entered my room, something hit me .. though I would not say I often experience such dramatic encounters, I very clearly sensed God speak deep into my spirit, "this is not what I called you for."

I knew something was wrong, and if this was God, I didn’t want to miss what he had for me, so I immediately fired up one of my connections in Hong Kong again, with ICA, and asked if there were still any needs there. I immediately got connected with Pastor Lindy Heung-Shea, who heads up several ministries at ICA. Have you ever experienced an "open door"? Well, this felt like an "open vacuum"—suddenly I felt myself pulled forward powerfully into something it seemed God had prepared me for for a long time.

Random street in the Soho area of Hong Kong

Within the span of a few days I was boarding a plane to Hong Kong for a month-long introduction to ministries, quite literally, waiting for me .. by that, I mean that people had been praying for help and had sensed that someone like me was on the way .. how humbling to meet people who had been interceding for me without ever having met me! But I did seem to be fulfilling the words God had spoken to them! Amazingly, I found my plane ticket, my entire stay, even the income I would have made in Vancouver reimbursed! Not only that, but, (if you know Hong Kong, you know this is huge, space is at a premium here) a place to live was provided for me, a three bedroom flat, all to myself! At first, I thought, Wow, ok, rich church, I guess that’s how they do things here … but later, I heard from Pastor Lindy: "Nathan, you don’t realize the favor here, I mean, flying someone over like this, and everything is paid for, this is completely unheard of, this never happens!"

Part of the one month period was to see if the fit was right, if I was a good match for them, and they for me.

one of my first in person meetings with Pastor Lindy (soon after my arrival)

Long story short, ICA and I got along quite well! I was asked to help Lindy head up three of the ministries she leads.

First, the Hong Kong School of Supernatural Ministry

(http://www.icahk.org/hkssm-overview)

This is a training and equipping center which raises up leaders in all realms of society, so far we've trained up pastors, business leaders, and lay ministers from 40 churches, in Hong Kong and beyond, to bring the kingdom of God into their various spheres of influence, and to inspire a move of God to ignite all of Asia, and the world!

As 'Ministry Coordinator', that's one of the ministries I'm helping to lead. The other two are the Healing Rooms (http://www.icahk.org/the-healing-rooms) ... the first nine testimonies you see there are new (I helped prepare them) and the Encounter Ministry (an inner healing ministry: http://www.icahk.org/encounter)

So there's a lot going on here, and so far, it's all very fun and fulfilling work! More to come! But first, some pictures: