UPDATE!!!

Saturday evening and Sunday we attended worship services with the kids here at the school. Saturday's is tailored for the kids, kind of a youth meeting and it was so refreshing to see a room full of kids participating in worship, leading the singing, and giving testimony about their faith. Lots of energy and enthusiasm. Part of the service was a discussion of the main points of the sermon. As a group, we got to lead the small groups in the discussion. After providing a few minutes to do that, they played a Bible knowledge game, group against group covering Joseph's life. Then they closed the service. Great experience. Wish kids in our Lutheran churches were as enthusiastic as these.
Because we were here and they wanted to give us a chance to meet the congregation here - Amazing Grace Lutheran Church - there was a more typical Lutheran special occasion service - worship and a pot luck! Great homemade food and fellowship with the congregation and the kids from the school who go to the church. The service again was marked by a lot of participation from the kids in leading singing and taking up the collection.
The trip has been very good so far. A lot of the kids paid their own way to come out to the airport to meet us as we got off the plane. With three members of the team having been here before and two more of us who met the kids who came to South Dakota last summer, there were some built in relationships to build on. The teachers are enthusiastic and it is going to be a great opportunity to be in the classrooms this week.
We had lunch the first day with the President of the Hong Kong Synod and the school Principal. Yesterday was parents' day at the school (much like ours where the parents come in to meet with the teachers and get their children's progress reports) so that was an opportunity for the parents to actually see one of the mission groups over here to help with their children's education. We had dinner yesterday with some of the kids who we met on previous trips or on their US visit. Today we get to do some touring. A couple of the places I haven't been on previous trips to Hong Kong (in the Navy) and some I have seen. There will be students going along with us, so we will all have our little groups of 4 or so to interact with during the day. Tomorrow we start working in the classrooms!
More later!