[warning: long....]
hmm...ok. so I can see that many of us who participated in EAGC have gotten something back with us -- in addition to all the gift and souvenir-- something that moved our life more deeply, inside. So, before I forget, I try to write down my personal reflection after coming back from EAGC, to share with you:
Why I go to EAGC?
Well, I can't really remember the "why". Maybe because I was too bored with my own life? I haven't joined any of these large gathering (or "camp" as the Macau/HK Christian always put it) for a long time (the last time was "Wa Fok" at Macau, if it counts). Plus, I also want to see Korea - the country and the mega church. Heard a lot about the "success" in Korean evangelical movement in recent years. And since I've never been to Korea, why not take this chance and go onto a "holiday trip" with a few young people! :-)
So, more or less, I think I started out as just "Hitchhiking" with the Macau GCF people for a vacation (not vocation!) short trip. Ok, to be honest, since Macau GCF does not have a solid "membership" scheme, I did not identify myself as a GCF member, certainly not before this EAGC trip. But I'm glad I get to know a little more about GCF/FCS and our teammate through this trip!
My expectation for EAGC
Since I was just in a "vacation" mindset to start out with this trip, I didn't put too much thought into what it would be like or what I should get out of it? Although, God always do the unexpected when we least expect it. It turns out to be more than a pleasant holiday trip, or even a regular Christian camp experience for me. It certainly gets me into more deep thoughts about my life in all aspect (career, church life, spiritual life, family life, relationship with others, etc.) and also Macau as a city we call home.
The Conference
People
The most wonderful part of this trip is the people --
1) Prof. Marva Dawn (key speaker) -- an amazing, powerful yet gentle loving mind trapped in a crippled body. I'm sorry to say that, being part of the video-game & fast-food generation, reading is not an attractive option for me. And so I never read Marva's book before. Although I heard that she is a great teacher and book writer. But I think "seeing is believing". Her image of very slowly (and probably very painfully) walk up and down the very short stairs towards the podium still remains in my mind.
2) Korean Christian -- heard so much about them, their amazing growth in quantities (e.g. mega church). But this time, I get to hear the other side of the story: how they get where they are today and the struggles they are facing, especially in the recent kidnapping incident in Afghanistan . One Korean missionary lady use the word "repentance" multiple times during her speech on the topic of Korean cross-culture missions. I can see that during that night, there was no smile on her face through out the event - even while many audiences were laughing in response to the "humorous" presentation of some of the other speakers. If I remember correctly, she is in charge of a missionary institute focusing on Islamic studies. I can imagine that part of her job was to prepare the Korean missionaries and send them out to Islamic countries, those like Afghanistan .
Event
The Cultural Night in the last day was certainly something to remember. Each country/region put their best talent on the stage... well, ok, so some are better than the others :-) (and yes, they kept using the word "country", which is politically incorrect for some of the participating "regions", but why do we care?!)
I was amazed that our Macau team also put up something very creative and certainly very impressive to delegates from other Asian countries. We became famous overnight!! haha!!
[The Tourism Office should pay us for the promotion of Macau! and probably also 咀香園 too! ]
Nation
One thing that hit me is how the Korean brothers and sisters love and pray for their countries. [You can hardly see any non-Korean made cars on the street!] In contrast, at the Cultural Night, when the MC call for the delegates from China to stand up (note: there was no China team), HK & Macau team were still on our seat - waiting for the next call for HK & Macau team. Yup, ten & eight years after the return to motherland, how well do we know China? What is our identity?
What did God say to me through this conference
Wow, this is a tough question. For me there's no simple answer. Since I came back from this conference, I've been doing some rethinking about my life, family, career, church... and GOD? Through the sharing session, I can see that Christian communities around Asia are facing difficulties of their own. Even Marva Dawn has her own sad story... [if one of my small group member did not tell me wrong, I think she said that Marva Dawn was divorced before. And the reason is that her ex-husband run off with a nurse that was taking care of her...?!] So God did not promise blue sky for us always. But He will give us strength to overcome any sadness in our life. Remind me of one of the verse in a recent movie (Evan Almighty): and God said, "Whatever I do, I do because I love you."
Conclusion
All in all, the EAGC experience has been a wonderful gift for me. In short, it left me with a warm feeling of the love and hospitality of Korean brothers & sisters. Also a brief insight of the suffering and struggles in the Christian communities in all these Asian countries. And the encouragement of seeing Marva Dawn in her speech still remains in my heart. If time permits, I think I will very much like to join the next EAGC conference.
Joseph Lai.
ps. did you notice that the ceiling of the newly opened Venetian shopping mall / casino is painted with angels all around?! yup, God is watching us ;-)
阿Jo在日本畢業生代表分享其畢業生工作後便代表澳門上台為日本祈禱。沒錯，要用英文祈呢！看他祈得多懇切。唔知有冇祈埋釣魚台呢？
