They called it Hong Kong because in those days no-one could pronounce "Awesome"...

Since I joined Global Challenge in 2010, I always hear about these couple of places that ex-Global Challengers always speak about, those places that have been visited by many of our teams over the years.  You hear stories of God’s provision, challenges, teams sleeping on the streets, people turning their lives around etc.  Hong Kong is one of those places.  Though, what separates Hong Kong from places like India or Guatemala, is that there isn’t an established ministry point that all teams visit. There isn’t a foundation in place for teams to build upon.  Instead, teams tend to do their own thing each year. 

Since the birth of the vision of Distant Islands, I knew that Hong Kong is one of the places we have to visit, even though it doesn’t sound that “distant” to most and even though it’s only partially island...

The desire was stirred in my heart for our team to go and establish something that will last longer than the week that we’re in Hong Kong. My dream is to see a foundation being laid in Hong Kong so that future teams can go and build upon it and so that we can one day hear of all the fruit that’s being reaped over there.

Albie’s uncle and aunt have been residing in Hong Kong for the past 9 years after his uncle accepted a job as a pilot for Cathay Pacific.  They offered to host us for the week we were going to spend there, and luckily for us they live on an island called Lantau.  This came as an answer to a lot of prayer for accommodation to suit our budget.  The hospitality we experienced from Wim and Juanita, their kids and even Stella, the lady that works for them in the house, just blew my mind!  Never did we think on a Global journey we’ll be having rusks, boerewors, koeksisters, biltong and all sorts of other little huge blessings! Furthermore, we had the opportunity of spending real quality fellowship time with each of them and really got absorbed into their world.

In the area of ministry we reached a couple of dead-ends which raised a couple of questions within myself, especially after I felt so certain about coming to Hong Kong.  In the end we found an open door at 2 very well established ministries with a lot of international acclaim. They invited us to become a part of what they’re doing in Hong Kong and most importantly, what God is doing there.  It turns out that in the future our teams might have the opportunity to get involved in outreaches to muslim minority groups, prostitutes, drug-addicts and the poor and destitute living in the city.  What an awesome provision from God!!  Our prayer is that these contacts will be fruitful and that our involvement in their ministry will bear much fruit in the future.

After Hong Kong, all I can tell you is that we serve a Living God.  We serve a God that longs for fellowship with us.  We serve a forgiving but just God.  Jesus is Lord, and that’s all I know and that’s all there is to it...