Hong Kong and Macau (4)
Macau: Pioneering
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March 1996
On Wednesday morning, four of us boarded a hydrofoil for the 40-mile trip to Macau. Kyle needed to complete some more travel arrangements, so he and MarLouise would join us in Macau the next day.
A map in the terminal showed hydrofoils going to many different places, all with Chinese names. Ours was a big boat, 14 seats across, and practically nothing but seats. I had envisioned hydrofoils as being open all around, and maybe an open deck on top. I'd seen pictures of hydrofoils like that. But this one was just one level and totally enclosed. Every seat was the same, like riding in coach. Lifejackets were stashed beneath the seats.
After chugging through the surf for about an hour, we came to a rocky reef and then passed under the whitest, prettiest bridge you've ever see. Lots of big buildings loomed ahead.
Macau.
I had always pictured Macau as merely a smaller version of Hong Kong, but both of them packed with people and tall buildings. In fact, having heard Macau described as the most densely-populated "country" on earth, I envisioned it as the more crowded, the more bustling, of the two cities.
But that's not the case at all. Macau is more laid-back. The streets lack the masses of people which are routine for Hong Kong. Sure, the pace of life is still fast enough to make a Chicagoan dizzy, but that just tells you how crazy things are in Hong Kong.
"I'd much rather live here than in Hong Kong," Lance Clark told me as we walked along a Macau street. "It's not overpowering. I don't feel threatened by it, like I did in Hong Kong."
Macau, we all quickly realized, was more our speed.
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Macau is located on the east coast of China, 40 miles from Hong Kong. It consists of a peninsula and two islands. Most of the 500,000 people live on the peninsula, which covers just two square miles. About 95% of the people are Chinese. There's also a good number of Portuguese, this being a Portuguese colony. Since 1974, the government has been considered to be a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration. In 1999, when Portugal's 100-year lease ends, China will assume complete control, though they've promised not to make changes for 50 years.
Protestant missionary work began around 1800, and it's been slow going. After 180 years, Luke told us, there were still less than 3000 Christians in Macau--about half of one percent of the city's population.
A few hours after we arrived in Macau, Luke and Paul Coy, who had arrived in Macau just a few weeks before as the newest member of the missionary team, took us to one of the city's ten casinos. It seemed small by Las Vegas standards. Yet half of Macau's economy is based on gambling and tourism. Much prostitution is associated with the casinos, as well as with the city's numerous Karaoke clubs.
"Macau has a strong mission history," Luke said, "but it currently has such a strong sinful influence that the work of the gospel is pretty tough going. Macau is a tough nut to crack."
One time at a missions conference in Hong Kong, a speaker pointed to Luke and his Chinese coworker, Carol Chan, and said, "These two guys--they've got it tough. They're in Macau."
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"God gave us the best beginning we could have imagined," Luke said.
In 1987, Luke and Audrey Fetters joined Phil and Darlene Burkett as the two couples appointed to pioneer missionary work in Macau. They were joined by Carol Chan, from Hong Kong Conference.
They printed 10,000 flyers about the English Language Program, but didn't know how they would get them all distributed. Then, out of the blue, a group of young people with Youth With a Mission showed up and said, "What can we do to help?" They passed out all 10,000 flyers in just two days.
Over 100 people came to their first sample class. They found much interest in learning English, and little competition, back then. They had 120 students the first term, and it grew from there, even passing the 200 mark within a few years. Then things leveled off. One possible reason, Luke says, is that some nonChristian groups had begun teaching English, and some students drifted off to check them out. But many of them drifted back.
"We've got teachers with enthusiasm, and we have teachers who are all university graduates, teachers who are all native English speakers. And we are cheap. We're cheap and good."
One reason they can keep costs low is that the Department of Missions pays missionary salaries and living expenses. It doesn't come out of tuition. All other expenses to, though. Except for missionary salaries and living expenses, the ELP has been self-funding since 1988.
Also, Hong Kong Conference comes to their aide every once in a while. They take seriously their role as partners in the Macau ministry.
In the early years, they held big events--concerts, cookouts, parties--every month. Those provided good opportunities for relationship building with students.
"You can do that for four years, but you can't do that for ten," Luke says. Now, they're focusing more on building relationships on an individual basis. They still do some big events, but not very often.
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As more and more missionaries came, including retired volunteers--a total of 19 people at one time, when you include the Fetters children--the Living Water Church, where English classes are held, became way too crowded. So, in 1993, they relocated the offices to the second floor of a building on a pleasant side street not far from the casinos.
It's not big, but it's cozy and comfortable and does the job. They remodeled the place for $12,000. The missionaries teach on Thursday mornings at Pui Ching, a 3000-student Christian school. The money they receive pays the rent on the ELP office.
There's a little reception area, a computer station, a tiny alcove containing a photocopier, a small conference room with a white board and six chairs around a table. Luke has a small, enclosed office. In the back is a larger room (about half the size of my office in the UB Headquarters Building, just to keep it in perspective) with desks for Paul, Stacey Provencher, and Jana.
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Next: Part 5
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