The God of Sojourners

Great. We're just going to take a time to just pray as a church a little more about,

we call this the pastoral prayer, just to really pray for the city, pray for the things that are

also on God's heart. And so even though I'll be leading us, you know, out loud, just feel free to

be praying in your own hearts, to amen to what I'm saying, to be praying under your own breath for

what God is burdening you with. All right? So let's just take a time to really say, God,

we can't do any of this without you. All right? Let's pray. Father, we just confess our need for

you. And even this week, this morning, just the ease in which we are distracted, God, by

honestly trivial things at the end of the day, things that do it with our own comfort,

and our own pleasure, God. But this morning, we just want to come and look at you again, God.

What is on your heart? Who do you care about, God? And we know you love this world. You love the world

so much that you sent your son to die for it, God. And you love this city. And God, Lord, we just,

we just humble ourselves before you this morning and ask you to just change our city, God. We cry,

how long, oh Lord, until you come back in glory, God. But in the meantime, we know, Lord, that you are

in the process of making something new in this city, God. So this morning, we pray over the divisions.

We pray over the hurts. We pray over the fear. We pray over the anger, God, that is gripping our city

right now. Lord, we pray over the elections that are happening as we speak right now. We pray for

every polling station. We pray for all the people who are serving and volunteering. We pray for every

candidate, God. No matter whether we agree with them or not, whether we're voting for them or not,

we pray for them, God, because they were made in your image, Lord Jesus. We pray for everyone who

will be voting, God. Would you just keep them safe? We pray for the police, Lord, who will be watching

over the polling stations. Would you guide them, Lord? Would you watch over them, God? Lord, we need you

in this time. We need you in all times, God. But right now, Lord, we just cry out to you on behalf

of our city, Lord. Lord, would this day just be a day where your people shine? Even as they vote,

as they talk to their friends, would they point them to the greatest hope that we have?

Eternity with you. Hope, joy, eternal joy. Adoption by the King of Kings. God, we give our city to you.

And Father, we also just continue to pray for all the marginalized. In this time of political and

social unrest, God, we also just, Lord, help us not to lose sight of those who are really just hidden,

the minorities, the ethnic minorities. We talked about some today, but there's also the Nepali community,

the South Asian community in Hong Kong, the refugees and asylum seekers, Lord,

those who are trapped in red light districts all over Hong Kong,

young single moms, teen moms who are just struggling to make ends meet and to take care of their

infants, God. We need you, Lord. We need you to open our eyes to them. And Lord, would you just watch

over them? Would you continue to minister to them supernaturally? Would your Holy Spirit

just speak to them to know, to let them know that they are loved? They are known by their creator,

God. And Lord, use us as your people, as your hands and your feet to speak and to touch, Lord,

to hold onto those who are hurting and who are broken, God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

We're going to invite the scripture readers to come up to do our scripture reading and lead us in that.

The scripture reading comes from Revelation and Deuteronomy. Please follow along in your bulletins

or on the screen. From Revelation 7, we read,

After this, I look and behold a great multitude that one could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages,

standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm bronzes in their hands,

and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.

And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures,

and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom

and thanksgiving and honor and power and might to be our God forever and ever. Amen.

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying,

Who are these clothes and white robes, and from where have they come?

I said to him, Sir, you know.

And he said to me, These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.

They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

And from Deuteronomy 10, we read,

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your God,

to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

and to keep the commandments and statues of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good.

Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heavens of heavens,

the earth with all that it is in it.

Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them,

you above all peoples, as you are this day.

Circumcise, therefore, the four skins of your heart and be no longer stubborn.

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,

the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow,

and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

You shall fear the Lord your God.

You shall serve him and hold fast to him,

and by his name you shall swear.

He is your praise.

He is your God,

who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.

This is the word of God.

Amen.

Thank you, Janet.

Thank you, Gary.

If you're new with us,

we've been going through as a church the book of Revelation,

and the closing book of the Bible,

and it's been quite a journey.

And I don't know if you've noticed,

I think one thing that you've,

if you've been following the series with us,

the one thing that I think has kind of struck us,

and has surprised us,

is just how much of the book is actually about mission,

and evangelism,

and being a witness for the Lord Jesus.

We talked about martyrs,

and people just speaking for the Lord,

and prophesying on behalf of the Lord.

And another interesting aspect,

I think,

that we've been hitting,

is this vision of people from every nation,

and tribe,

and tongue,

and language coming together.

And that's the passage from Revelation 7,

that we just read.

That's one really good example,

of this idea,

over and over in Revelation,

we see this idea of people,

uniting around,

worshiping God.

And it's a beautiful image,

isn't it?

Because we all know the racism,

and the division that's just racking,

not even just Hong Kong,

but across the world.

And here God is saying in Revelation,

that actually,

that's not the last word.

History is actually moving in the direction,

and that one day,

everybody,

every tribe,

every tongue,

all of God's people,

no matter what your socioeconomic background is,

no matter what your language is,

no matter what your history is,

that for those who call on Jesus' name,

who worship Him,

everyone will be united

around the throne of God.

So this is kind of just to show you that

Revelation is kind of our framework.

And even though today,

we're not going to be focusing specifically

on Revelation as our base text,

that we're going to see throughout

entire history of the Bible,

that this doesn't just kind of happen

out of the blue.

It's not just like one day,

God wakes up and thinks,

oh,

it's a good idea for me to unite all peoples,

and for me to eliminate racism.

But actually,

when we look at the Bible,

all throughout history,

God is a God who has loved all nations

and all tongues and all tribes and languages.

And He's always wanted His people

to reflect that as well.

And so when we get to today's main passage

in Deuteronomy,

it's one of the foundational books of the Bible.

It's one of the earliest books of the Bible, right?

And we go back to the very establishment

of the people of Israel.

And so you have the leader, Moses.

I think a lot of us know the story.

So he's been raised up to lead the people

out of captivity into Egypt.

And now Moses is at the end of his journey,

at the end of his ministry.

And he's basically giving a final sort of exhortation,

a final call to the people.

And this is what Deuteronomy is really all about.

And so he's kind of just recapping,

giving a summary of all that God has done.

He's chosen you.

He's taken you out of captivity in Egypt.

He's performed these terrifying signs and wonders,

you know, parting the Red Sea,

defeating the Egyptians.

He's brought you faithfully through the wilderness.

And now you are at the cusp of the promised land.

And so he's been raised up to you.

Now you're ready to step in.

And so when we get to this chapter,

chapter 10 that we just read,

this is all kind of wrapped up

and summarized so beautifully.

Just read with me again verse 14.

It says,

Behold, to the Lord your God

belong heaven and the heaven of heavens,

the earth with all that is in it.

This description of God,

he is the creator.

Everything, the cosmos, the universe belongs to him.

Yet, the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers

and chose their offspring after them,

you above all peoples,

as you are this day.

And let's just fast forward to verse 17.

We get this magnificent description of God.

It says,

For the Lord your God is God of gods

and Lord of lords,

the great, the mighty, the awesome God

who is not partial and takes no bribe.

And so you see,

this is kind of God's calling card.

This is him describing,

he is the ultimate creator of the universe.

He is just and fair and mighty and awesome.

And yet he has chosen

this little insignificant people group

in the ancient Near East

to be his treasured possession.

And Israel hasn't done anything

to deserve this favor.

It was simply grace of God.

And you see,

that grace isn't just a New Testament idea.

It's something that just runs through

from the beginning to the end.

You know,

it's like a couple that adopts a child,

an infant,

and what has the infant done

to deserve being adopted?

What did they do

to be so qualified?

Nothing, right?

They chose,

the parents chose

to adopt them.

The kid didn't earn anything.

And so maybe it makes sense

why God would remind the people

of his greatness

and all he's done for him

because God isn't just a loving,

you know,

parent that adopts an orphan,

but God is the creator

of the cosmos.

And he knows what is best

for the people

is for them to recognize that

and to worship him.

But here's where it gets a little,

well, it's been interesting so far,

but this is where it gets

more interesting, I think.

Because immediately after verse 17,

we get to verse 18,

and it says this,

God executes justice

for the fatherless

and the widow,

and he loves the sojourner,

giving him food

and clothing.

And after all this

majestic language

about God's awesomeness

and him being the creator

and how he's chose you,

Israel,

to be his treasured possession,

he kind of just talks

about his sort of particular care

for a few types of people.

And I think that's cause for us

to take us to maybe pause here

because maybe

this is important to God.

And when you read through

the entire Bible,

you'll actually realize

that this isn't

sort of a one-off anomaly.

Deuteronomy 10.18

is not an isolated incident,

and these three groups of people

are mentioned

over and over and over again.

It talks about the widow,

the fatherless,

the sojourner,

and also those

who are generally poor.

And I think most of us

can imagine,

I think instinctively,

okay, I can understand

maybe why widows and orphans,

they deserve special attention.

But what about sojourners?

What's that all about?

I don't even use that word ever.

When's the last time

you said sojourner

before today, right?

I didn't even really know

what it meant

until I looked it up

in the dictionary.

And so what is it?

So we're going to spend

the rest of this time

really zeroing in

on this word

because if Deuteronomy 10.18

is really what it says,

then we need to know

what a sojourner is.

We need to know

why this is close

to God's heart

and what it has to do

with you and me today.

So let's dig in

a little deeper

on this idea.

So in ancient times,

a sojourner was basically

someone who lived

in a different nation.

And you can think

of a sojourner

as someone

who's a non-citizen.

So someone without

the full rights,

the full standing

that a citizen

of a nation would have.

But in the ancient Near East,

more or less,

nations were pretty much

consolidated on ethnic groups.

So if you were a sojourner,

you were very much a foreigner.

You know,

it's not like

an immigrant country

like Canada

where it's like

a melting pot of nations

and ethnicities already.

And so if that's the case,

if you're so foreign,

why would a sojourner

be a sojourner?

Why would you go there?

And I think you can imagine

there are a bunch of reasons.

They could be escaping

war and famine.

Maybe some of them

were just drawn

to the people of Israel.

They were drawn

to the God of Israel.

But you can perhaps imagine

if you're just a sojourner

in this foreign land

with people who are

so different from you,

how sort of ostracized

you might feel,

how different

you might feel.

Some of you guys

perhaps have experienced

a bit of that already.

But it's not only that.

Because more importantly,

as a sojourner

in biblical times,

you would be very vulnerable

from an economic standpoint.

So it's not just

the social things.

It's not just

your cultural

sort of comfort.

But as in,

from a financial

and economic standpoint,

you would be vulnerable.

Because as a sojourner

in these ancient times,

you would have

no land rights.

And that's important

because in an agrarian society,

land is food.

And food is your livelihood.

Right?

Food is your life.

And so maybe you can see

why also the same thing

applied to widows

and the fatherless.

Because the land rights

were attached

to the father,

to the husband.

If the father died

and you had a widower

and you had the fatherless,

they would lose

their livelihood.

They would lose

their right to the land

in that culture.

So the point

I'm trying to make here

is that God

didn't just kind of

pick three random

categories of people.

It's that in this society,

there was very specific

reasons

why he wants

to execute justice

for the fatherless

and why he loves

the widow

and the sojourner.

What he's essentially

saying is that

I have a special concern

for the most vulnerable

in society.

I have a special concern

for the most vulnerable

in society.

And so Deuteronomy 10

basically sums up

who God is.

It's fantastic.

This one passage,

God is the one true God,

the creator of the universe.

The God who loves

his people,

who loves his treasured

possession

and wants them

to worship him.

But he's also

specifically

the God

who loves

and cares for

the most vulnerable

in society.

And so in light

of this,

in light of this,

Moses explains

to the people,

he challenges them

and this is what

the adequate response

to this God is.

You've seen

who God is.

He's shown you

who he is.

This is how we should

respond.

Let's read verse 12

together.

You should fear

the Lord your God.

Seeing all these

wonders and miracles,

fear him.

He's not just your dad.

He's not just your

heavenly father.

He's the king of kings.

Walk in all his ways.

Love him.

Serve the Lord

your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and keep the commandments.

Keep the statutes

of the Lord

which I am commanding

you today

for your good.

And then verse 19,

he commands,

love the sojourner.

Therefore,

for you were sojourners

in the land of Egypt.

So if the people

of Israel

truly received

God's love,

they truly saw him

and for who he really was,

they would love him

in response.

And that would

necessarily include

caring about

what God cares about.

So the blunt truth

that is presented

before Israel right now

is that they could not say,

if I was an Israelite,

I could not say

that I know God

yet at the same time

ignore the needs

of the orphan,

the widow,

the sojourner.

You know,

this wasn't

like a charitable

bonus

at the end of the year,

where you get

your charity in.

You know,

there were no tax receipts

in ancient Israel.

This was simply about

hearing God,

seeing him,

and emulating him,

following him,

obeying him.

And that's why

you have over and over again,

as you know,

the story of the Bible

when Israel falls,

when Israel is disobedient,

you know,

God challenges them.

He's like,

I hate your,

if you read Isaiah,

I've just been reminded

of this this week.

You read Isaiah 1,

God is saying,

I hate your worship.

I despise it.

You can sing all the songs

to me you want.

You can give me

all the money you want.

You can pray all you want.

You can write the most

beautiful sermon

that you want.

But if you don't love

the downtrodden,

if you don't love

the poor,

I hate your worship.

It's meaningless to me.

I despise it.

Some serious language there.

Now,

as a Hong Konger,

21st century,

I think it's easy

for us to kind of

distance ourselves

from Israel,

ancient Israel,

and all the Old Testament

laws,

they seem irrelevant

or distant.

And it is true,

we got to be careful

that we don't just

take Old Testament

things that were written

thousands of years ago

for a different culture

and just kind of like

plop them

into our context

because it is different.

So we always have to look

when we read the Bible,

look for what is

actually timeless.

What is it that really

is about God's character

and who He is?

What is He commanding us

that is timeless?

And I think when we look

at Deuteronomy 10,

we see this description

of who God is,

what He's done,

His love for people,

His love for the vulnerable,

and those things,

I believe,

are entirely unchanging.

And so when I think

about that

and when I look about,

look at our city today,

I think we can see,

even in our church,

modern-day sojourners.

The context is different,

right?

But I think the vulnerabilities

are very much

the same in essence.

And obviously,

Hong Kong is a place

of foreigners

and, you know,

expats, right?

I think a lot of you guys

fit in that category.

And a lot of people

don't have PR,

permanent residency status here.

But I don't think

the sort of,

there's a lot of nuance here.

I don't think

if you're an expat

in a typical sense,

like you've come here

as a iBanker from UK,

I don't think you technically

fit in the sojourner category

that the Bibles talk about.

You know,

we really do come

from a place of privilege

if you're a typical expat.

Not all of you,

but just generally.

And you've come

from a place of wealth

you come here

with a fantastic job.

You know,

you're esteemed

as a wonderful white person.

You know,

I can say that

because my wife is white

and I esteem her greatly.

And let's be honest, right?

You know,

there's a little bit

of that here.

And more importantly,

you have a clear path

to permanent residency, right?

Seven years

and you're good to go.

And so,

I don't think

we're necessarily

talking about you

even though I love you

as an expat.

And then on the opposite

end of the spectrum,

we do have refugees

and asylum seekers

and that's a whole

other issue

and we definitely

as a church

need to be thinking

about them

and thinking about

what our city

is doing

for these people.

But today

is Helper's Appreciation Day

and I believe

God wants us

to really consider

the foreign domestic helpers

in our midst

as sojourners

in a biblical sense.

And so,

did you know,

I was just looking this up

and kind of doing

some research

that 10%

of the working population

in Hong Kong

are actually

foreign domestic helpers.

That comes up

to about 400,000 helpers

and some have been

working here

for decades.

You know,

some have been helpers

here longer

than some of you

have been born.

It's pretty amazing, right?

But let's be honest,

right?

In many ways

they are treated

as sojourners.

In this hierarchical society

they are seen

as different.

They are treated

as different.

Whether it's said

or unsaid,

that's the reality.

And I'm not just talking

about the racism

or the prejudice

or just the,

you know,

just the abuse

even that happens

verbally and physically.

I'm not just talking

about that.

We know that happens.

Just read the news.

Just Google it.

But I'm talking

about legally

as a domestic helper

you are literally

treated as a different

class of people

in Hong Kong.

Some of you know this

but if you don't

let me just kind of

refresh you.

Six years ago

the Court of Final Appeal

ruled definitively

that if you are

a foreign domestic helper

you have,

you will never have

the right of abode

in Hong Kong.

You could stay here

for 70 years

if you want

but you can never

become a PR.

And that was the

policy of the government

all along.

That was the structure

that was set up

but it's a little different

when you have it written

pretty much set in stone

by the highest court

of the land

that you will never

become one of us.

You're a different class

literally.

And there's a lot

of other little things

and we can go into that

but I think another one

that obviously speaks

to us is money

and foreign domestic

helpers

they have literally

a different minimum wage

as everybody else

in Hong Kong

and unfortunately

it's not higher

it's lower.

And so that just also

I think speaks

that there's a difference here

and there's an obvious

socioeconomic

vulnerability there.

but there's a one

big one I think

that really also

underscores

is the fact that

foreign domestic helpers

their legal status

is completely based

on the employer

that recruits them

that brings them over.

So you know

if anything happens

if the contract

is terminated

they need to leave

in two weeks

I think a lot of you guys

know that already.

And so you have

an entire system

where these helpers

these sojourners

come in

and they're completely

at the mercy

of their employer.

And in this entire system

from recruiting

to agencies

and you know

all the lending

and the sort of

the loan sharks

that happen there

and just even

their dependence

on their employer

I think this entire system

just breeds

a sense of vulnerability

for them.

That they are

very

very

I guess

in a place

of vulnerability

they're at the mercy

and they're so vulnerable

to being taken

advantage of

right?

Now I don't

I've said a fair bit

about that

and I don't

I don't think

we need to hear

any more

from like

a middle class

Chinese

Canadian man

so I want to

invite Jonah

to come up

Jonah come on up

and Jonah

is

a

she works

as a foreign

domestic helper

in Hong Kong

but more importantly

Jonah is

a

just a beloved

sister

of

Watermark

and

the

FOF

community group

yes

thank you

and

yeah

it's just been

so good

to see her

get involved

and serve

and so

we're gonna hear

a bit of

Jonah's story

today

and just a heads up

this isn't gonna be

like the worst case

scenario

of everything

that could happen

bad to

you know

a helper

this is just

Jonah

a sister in Christ

she has a story

to tell

she has experience

you know

as a sister in Christ

and also as a helper

in Hong Kong

and so we just

want to hear her story

and she's

gonna tell us

about Jesus

amen

so

let's

let me just pray

for you really quick

and let's dive in

God just thank you

so much for Jonah

and all the ladies

who are in the

FOF group

thank you for her

I just pray that you

would use her right now

speak through her

humble her heart

show her how

beloved

she is

and how much

of a powerful

story

that she has

simply because

the king of kings

loves her

and has anointed her

to do good works

so we pray these

things in Jesus

name

amen

Jonah

tell us a bit

about yourself

tell us about

how you ended up

in Hong Kong

and just your

background

oh

it's working

hi I'm Jonah

I'm

I'm

I'm

I came from

Bagu City

the college place

in Philippines

and

I

became a Christian

I became a Christian

in Philippines

and

after that

I moved to

Kuwait

I work

I go to Kuwait

for a work

just like this

a nanny

and

my work there

is

I enjoy

a lot

I enjoy my work

I enjoy

my work

because I travel

a lot

with my

employer

they treat me

like

like as a part

of their family

because

yeah

they treat me

like that

but

unfortunately

I was involved

with

immorality

in a godly

relationship

so

I decided

to go home

and ask

God forgiveness

ask God

for a second

chance

and that's

why

that's how

I ended up

here in

How did you

come to know

the Lord Jesus

how did you

become a Christian

I became a Christian

I came from

poor family

and

my parents

cannot afford

my

tuition fee

to go to school

and I was so

I was so angry

with my

my parents

and I

I even said

that there is

no God

if there is

God

why

why we are

poor

why

my family

cannot afford

me to go to

school

and

and that

with that

I was so

I invade

my

my family

because some

of my family

usually they are

they are rich

they are

they are

in the political

situation like that

and they are

a leader

of a Catholic

so something

like that

so I really

I feel really

bad

and I

I really

you know

I

I feel useless

useless about

my

who I am

and

yeah

that's

but

one day

some missionaries

went into our

village

and

shared the

word of God

but many times

I ignored them

I even

tore the

the

what they're

giving

and I

ignored them

but one

day my

sister said

why don't

we try

let's try

let's go

entertain them

so

in short

we

my

my sister

go

and we

entertain them

but

the time

that's the time

I accept

Jesus my

Lord and

Savior

but the

time that

I said

my Lord

and Savior

my family

rejected me

they haven't

said

oh

because

they believe

that Catholic

is

it's the

best religion

something like that

they are the one

who is saved

they are the one

who is true

and so

my family

rejected me

and

they even

said

you better

you better

go and

change your

family name

and

I remember

the last word

of my

grandmother

she told me

if you'll not

go back

as a Catholic

you better

change your

family name

so

that's

that's

yeah

that's how

I became

a Catholic

wow

so

how

what happened

afterwards

when you

kind of

as you

grew as a

Christian

as you

found out

more about

what

what

you know

who God

is

how did

how did

that change

you

yeah

yeah

and

actually

yeah I

continue

I continue

as a believer

and

in my

place

I

I

lead a

worship

leader

in

our

church

and

yeah

that's

I

continue

I fight

for the

faith

but

due to

some

circumstance

that happened

in the

church

I feel

like

you know

dry

and

sometimes

there

there

it's

because

something

happened

in a

church

that

I

trust

a lot

the

pastor

is

standing

in front

and

one

day

the

pastor

is

trying

to

rape

me

and

there's

a

time

I

feel

so

down

where

will

I

go

now

my

family

rejected

me

and

the

pastor

that

oh

my

tries

and

the

trying

why

God

so

all

of

my

walk

with

God

is

now

before

is

questioning

God

why

he

allowed

that

to

happen

yet

he

knows

that

I

want

to

serve

him

for

the

rest

of

my

life

something

like

that

so

yeah

that's

crazy

that's

tough

so

you

went

to

Kuwait

and

it

was

it

was

hard

spiritually

you

felt

dry

and

you

but

you

also

knew

you

were

living

immorally

and

you

were

asking

God

for

a

second

chance

how

did

that

unfold

how

did

he

end

up

giving

you

a

second

chance

yeah

I

prayed

and

I

asked

forgiveness

for

a

second

chance

and

I

told

please

give

me

another

chance

and

so

that's

why

I

tried

to

apply

for

another

job

again

and

so

I

came

here

in

Hong

Kong

and

that's

the

time

I

when

yeah

that's

the time

I

came

here

in

Hong

Kong

and

my

sister

invited

me

to

a

church

in

a

Pentecostal

church

so

I

continued

my

walk

with

God

again

there

and

I

guess

I

wanted

you

to

talk

a

little

bit

about

you

just

coming

into

Hong

Kong

as

a

helper

what

was

that

experience

like

what

were

the

challenges

what

were

the

struggles

the

first

time

I

came

here

in

Hong

Kong

my

first

employer

I

struggled

a lot

because

she's

so mean

to me

and she's

so strict

and everything

I'm not

allowed to

use mobile

and I'm

not

if she

asked me

to go

in a

store

in 30

minutes

you must

be home

like that

so strict

and everything

and I'm

not allowed

to talk

to other

nanies

and

she

treat

me

like

she

treat

me

just

like

lower

than

them

you

know

you're

just

a

nanny

you're

just

a

nanny

so

so

you're

just

a

nanny

yeah

and

she

treated

me

I

was

it

was

really

a

struggle

for

me

because

I

came

from

I

compare

the

one

I

came

from

Kuwait

and

my

work

there

is

you

know

we

eat

together

with

my

employer

you

know

it's

because

in

Kuwait

if

they

eat

together

they

put

it

in

one

plate

and

all

of

us

will

eat

together

by

hand

and

and

yet

when

I

came

here

in

Hong

Kong

that

struggled

me

also

eating

by

hand

is

dirty

I'm

sorry

it's

dirty

something

like that

so I

compare

the

place

that I

came

in

in

Kuwait

that

I

came

from

a rich

family

I

have

my

own

room

I

have

everything

food

and

they

treat

you

a lot

they

treat

me

like

a part

of

the

family

and

yet

they

are

rich

family

and

so

I

become

boastful

and

I

compare

my

past

work

to

them

so

I

started

answering

her

back

if

she's

harsh

I

become

harsh

also

sometimes

but I

found

that

it's

not

good

and

how did

you find

that

how did

God

sustain

you

to

respond

to

your

harsh

employer

so

I

just

prayed

and

cried

out

to

God

I

said

Lord

forgive

me

for

doing

this

because

I

know

it's

really

hard

to

deal

also

because

if

I

do

something

that

she

asked

me

and

my

employer

my

mom

goes

to

work

and

popo

will

come

she

will

tell

me

come

on

come

on

so

I

didn't

know

which

one

whom

I

will

obey

if

my

employer

so

when

my

employer

will

come

home

why

didn't

you

do

what

I

said

because

so

I

don't

know

I

don't

really

know

so

what

I

did

is

I

really

prayed

God

but

through

that

situation

God

teach

me

how

to

humble

and

understand

them

and

through

attending

also

the

church

and

yeah

also

that

before

I'm

not

allowed

to

read

the

Bible

so

what

I

did

because

she

doesn't

want me

to switch

on the

light

during

night

time

so

what

I

did

is

I

bought

a

flashlight

so

I

just

flashlight

the

Bible

while

reading

so

that's

how

God

spoke

to

you

through

that

to

learn

how

to

love

even

a

harsh

employer

and

God

reminded

me

also

of

my

sin

my

past

sin

that

we

are

all

sinners

we

all

have

weaknesses

and

so

that's

the

time

let's

take

I

guess

talked

about

your

struggle

with

just

coming

to

Hong

Kong

and

working

here

and

the

society

here

and

the

harshness

what's

your

experience

been

in

becoming

part

of