ASIA DOWNLOAD

Over the next several days, let me share some highlights of my trip to Hong Kong, China and Manila, the Philippines ...

Day 1 - We got kicked out of the Million Mile Northwest Airlines Club in Minneapolis airport. Don't worry - we didn't really do anything wrong (much) - but they kicked us out. Embarrassing. I'm going to keep you guessing on that one because I don't want to implicate one of my fellow travelers, but trust me, it was no biggie. I tried to change clothes in the airplane bathroom (picture it) - and ended up getting thrown around in there by the plane's movement - hit my head on the wall and door -- I think people outside in the cabin thought there were three people in there fighting.

My trip to Tokyo airport was sitting next to a woman who had lived in Cambodia for 15 years - doing ministry to the poor there. She is originally from Wisconsin.

We had 20 hours of flying that first day to get all the way to our final destination, Hong Kong.

Day 2 - We met our fellow travelers first in Tokyo, though - pastors and Christian businessmen from Colorado Springs (Radiant Life Church - executive pastor Paul Kolberg and businessman Ken Driscoll) -- from Charlotte, North Carolina (businessmen Buddy Goforth and Mike Chisholm - and pastor Sam Farina) -- and from Wayne New Jersey (Calvary Temple Internationa - pastor Tom Keinath). And of course, the boys from Kenosha - Don Daniels, Rick Vojtisek and me. A great group of guys.

Day 3 - STATISTICS: Seventy percent of Chinese live in rural areas. Many leave home and family to work and earn money - often up to 11 months of the year. Many times, when they get home, they no longer have a family. In a high percentage of circumstances, BOTH mother and father leave home to work while the children are raised by grandparents. This cycle continues down thru the generations.

China has two kinds of churches. The government supports in theory the THREE-SELF church. This means the church is self-propogating, self-funded and self-governing. However, government is FIRST - church is SECOND. The REAL, but unsupported church, however, is comprised of hundreds (possibly thousands) of HOME CHURCHES, spread all over the country, ministering the love of Christ in very small group settings. But the church is alive in China. Even so, neighborhood 'watchers' report suspicious ongoings to the government, so the church is always in danger. It is unlawful to speak the gospel to anyone under 18 years of age in China.

House churches face problems of their own.
- leaders are untrained - sometimes if you know how to READ, you're automatically the leader.
- a 'king' mentality breeds - leaders sometimes don't want to talk to other leaders because they are skeptical, suspicious, jealous or afraid of getting into trouble.
- heresies abound because of lack of training - (i.e. 'clapping' drives away the Holy Spirit -- Christmas and Easter aren't in the Bible so they don't celebrate them -- Christ came as a man the first time, but the second time He came as a woman -- etc.)

Day 4 - A visit to the RADIO CHINA office. Broadcasts are sent into remote areas of China via Russian towers. The office they work in in Hong Kong is only 400 square feet in area. That translates to the whole of the Gospel being shared to a country of 1.3 billion people - the largest nation on earth - from an office space 20'x20.' This is how we're going to reach China in the 21st century, vs. the age-old way of reaching them one-by-one, face-to-face.

Day 5 - We rode a tram at about a 45 degree upward incline to the top of Victoria Peak, the highest point on Hong Kong Island. Had dinner up there. At about 8 p.m., the whole of downtown HK lights up - buildings and all - they dance with lights to music every night from 8 till 8:15 p.m. Fascinating and beautiful. Hong Kong harbor is one of the most beautiful harbors I've ever seen. The entire city is pristine clean and wonderfully serviced by transportation - subway, train, cab, bus, ferry, moving sidewalks and escalators. Honestly, I have never been on that many escalators in my life while in HK.

Part two of my Asia Download tomorrow, including ministry in China and the Philippines.

And be blessed.