Have you ever spent time with someone and felt so inspired and encouraged, like your heart was about to burst?

Visionaries, humanitarians, people who are seeking out God’s heart for themselves and others with so much conviction and dreams. This is how I would describe a few of the people I have met here in Hong Kong. These are the people who leave me wanting more… needing more of God and all the hopes, dreams and passions He has placed in my heart.

I feel utterly compelled and convinced that God’s heart is for people: the lost, the underprivileged, the hurting and destitute, and that, in the slogan of Rob Bell ‘Love Wins’ rings true. Absolutely and entirely.

In a place like Hong Kong where it harbors both ends of the spectrum, in a conundrum of the rich and the poor, I have often found it hard to reconcile both worlds. Hong Kong, a financial hub of asia in all its glossy sophisticated efficiency yet if you look hard between the lines there is poverty, hurting and pain.

My friend told me recently that a whole family (A mother and her adult son and daughter) took their lives in suicide in his apartment block because they had so much debt they could not see any option but to take their lives, together. I felt my heart sink. I could not imagine what it would be like for them to feel so utterly hopeless in that situation that the only thing they felt they could do is end their lives. Not only just themselves but together as a family. My mind pains to comprehend that. It makes me wonder about the people I cross paths with in my day to day. The guy in the lift or the woman in front of me on the escalator… they all have a story.

I was telling my aunt over dinner the other day about how lovely and respectful my students are and how the school culture in HK was so different to what I was used to in Australia. She said to me despite that initial impression, a lot of the youth resort to cutting themselves to deal with their lives. My heart broke to hear that, but I did not doubt that this was not true. Even in some of my own students I can sense their pain.

I sense their pain to achieve (often staying up till past 12am doing homework), to be socially accepted and approved… Their pain in having parents who aren’t even there. My heart goes out to these kids. I feel compelled to love on them. Yes, a lot of these are the ones who are privileged, but who said money ever brought happiness? No amount of money could ever heal the wounds of our souls.

I remember the first I was faced with poverty 11 years old in HK. A legless man was laying on the ground face down, covered in old dirty clothes as he tried to bow to everyone as they walked by in hopes that someone might have some pity in their hearts to drop a few coins into the cup he held next to him. I remember not knowing how to react or where to look. I don’t think I even wanted to acknowledge what I was seeing was real. That he was a real person, someone’s son, maybe brother or husband. Who has feelings, a personality, ideas and things that make him smile.

Its easy to walk away from ugliness here, all you have to do is walk into a brightly lit shopping mall and immediately you are converted back into consumerism mode. This is not the person I want to be. The prayer of my heart is that I might have eyes to see the pain of the broken hearted and to let my heart too, be broken and compelled into action.

I am so convinced that love should be the basis of everything we do and operate out of. It is our lifeline as human beings, without it everything seems so meaningless.

I know I need more love.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 2:08 am and is filed under God, Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.