Advent One of the themes of this Advent season running up to Christmas is to be more open to helping others. As our approaching sense of joy and thanksgiving increases with proximity to Christmas, most people look for channels of generosity and service. So our church is collecting money in order to bring some gifts and goodwill to a children's home in a week or so.
Inspired by this sentiment I did something I don't normally do and don't like to do: I spent an afternoon visiting with long term prisoners at Stanley Prison. Most of the men are sentenced to life for murder; some to somewhat shorter terms for drug offenses. As often is the case when we do something we're not eager to do, a winsome friend, the Rev. Tobias Brandner, encouraged me to accompany him. So I did it.
Tobias is a weekly visitor to Stanley Prison where along with a group of Chinese Christian volunteers he conducts worship for a "gospel fellowship" of about 25 of these long term prisoners. The prisoners are obviously well-educated since they all could read the words from the song book and read out the bible passages. Several spoke to me in English. I suppose it's typical of Hong Kong with its high literacy rate that many of the criminals are literate.
I spent most of my visiting time with international prisoners: an Indian, two Philippinos, and a Colombian who, alas, spoke neither English nor Cantonese. Since I speak a bit of Spanish I was the first person with whom he had had a real talk in many months.
There's nothing like spending two hours in a prison to renew a sense of the limitations of life. Everyone has limits, though, in general, the higher one's income the less aware one is of these inevitable limits. Talking with these believers in jail I was poignantly reminded of how essential to them is the one freedom they can enjoy despite the bars and walls: freedom in Christ.
We all can use heightened awareness of that freedom as Christmas approaches.
P.S. I'm glad that our church has given a small gift of $HK2,000 from our end-of-year money to the Hong Kong Christian Kun Sun Association to which Tobias Brandner is seconded by his Basle Mission. Our president, Jennifer Leung, wants CCHK to consider the Association for a larger support in our l999 budget.
PPS Our member Nury Vitachi recently mentioned Heifer Project China in his SCMP column and I received a check for $HK4,000 made out to Heifer Project China as a result.
Pastor's Pages
The Rev. Gene R.Preston
14th Floor, Blk 36, Lower Baguio Villa Tel : 25516161 Fax: 25512114E-mail : gpreston@netvigator.com
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