due the length of the last post, i have skipped some of things that i wanted to share. so here it goes the other half of what i have learned here in hk.
speaking of meeting the typical family in hk, i was completely shocked with how they have meals and such. every meal, they are able to cook different kind of dishes with fresh ingredients, which is awesome because im able to eat a lot of good food. but the problem lies within post-dinner. because its not too expensive to buy food ingredients and such, and even when you eat out, food is generally pretty cheap, people here usually throw them out after the meal, despite that the food is completely freshly made. it is so wasteful sometimes i would try to eat more so that they wouldnt throw out as much, but regardless, it is very wasteful. maybe i havent been exposed to that kinda culture because i know that the same thing is happening in the states as well, but at those time, i would think about the poor kids somewhere in this world who are starving and would love to eat any of those food, people who are in the midst of war who dont even have a home to stay at, or those who are suffering because of natural disasters, who dont even have enough clean water to drink. what have we as Christians doing in terms of those kinda problems? are we feeding and helping the needy?
couple weeks ago, i went out to have dinner with my older cousin and her boyfriend from my dads side. they helped me with fixing laptop screen and found a repair place. anyways, we went to korean barbecue buffet afterward, and they began to tell me about something that i never knew before. i knew that my aunt and uncle have been having problems in their marriage, and they even wanted to get a divorce at one point, but they are still together as of now. from what i observed and heard from them, my aunt and uncle dont really talk to each other. they always argue, sometimes even talk down to each other in front of others. i can tell that even though they are married on the outside, they are further apart from each others heart and mind. another thing is that i didnt know that my other cousin, which is her younger brother, has been smoking and doing drugs ever since high school. there was even a time when he got arrested for drug possession. recently he got fired from his job because of drugs again and it wasnt the first time he got fired for that reason, but he still doesnt realize that he needs to stay away from that and my older cousin is really worrying yet very tired of those things at home. she has been thinking about moving out but hasnt done so due to financial reasons. looking at that, i just feel like that im so blessed to have a healthy family (well, its healthy compared to that), and im ignorant about the problems of my so-called family. i had no ideas things like these are happening in my relatives lives. but now that i know, what am i doing to help them? it might not be a good idea to directly discuss with them about this matter, but i should at least pray for them...
i have also visited my uncle from my moms side, who is in his early 50s and married a woman who is in her 20s, and his wife recently diagnosed to be in the early stage of cervical cancer. they have a pair of twins, as well as a 3 months old newborn. because of all the young kids at home, they are unable to work and hence receiving social security from the government here, and because of the lack of money, they are reluctant about speeding the process of treating the cancer but rather waiting until the government aid is released, which usually takes a long time. their living condition is pretty bad too, all 5 people has to share a little space in the attic of a village house next to the railroad, its unimaginable how the kids will grow up. they are not socializing with the outside world most of the time because of again the lack of money, they cant join school activities or field trips because of that, they have to stay in the same grade for another year because either of their parents know how to teach them to do homework (they only have elementary education). it aches my heart when i think about such things, it makes me feel ashamed that i want to go travel and use my money that way instead of using it to help the needy, maybe not helping directly for them because my uncle is stubborn about raising his own family by his own power, but what about all those other needy out there? maybe not, but are we realizing and knowing and seeing that they exist? or are we too wrapped up in our own problems, our issues, our tribulations, our lives? theres always something that we can do for them physically, but still, the most important thing is to have Christ. our great commission is not to feed the needy and donate what we have to the poor but rather spread the Gospel to all the nations. pray for salvation of my relatives.....
