Waiting at the Hong Kong Internationl Airport

A spacious area and nice shopping mall at the airport

Having crossed the Pacific Ocean and travelled almost 13,000 km and  spending fourteen hours on board of a Cathy Airline plane, we landed at the Hong Kong International Airport at around 4:10a.m. local time.

Part of the eating area at the HK Airport

We are here waiting to connect our flight to Cambodia and will be waiting here for a few hours.

Because it was so early ( barely passed 4a.m., only a few shops were open, so we waited.

Some of my team mates working at the Hong Kong Airport

Nobody likes waiting around and wasting time. However, we do not mind waiting a little bit at the Hong Kong Airport at all.

It is a very modern place with lots of places to eat and shops where one can easily spend a few hours looking around.

For my team members, we are busy checking our emails, going over teaching materials for our training programs in Cambodia for the next couple of weeks.

My traveler's voltage converter working really well for me!

As for myself, thanks to my husband who looks after me all the time, I am using the little converter he bought me a the airport so that I could power up my computer and do my blogger.

I am glad I have that little electronic devise so that I will be able to get power whenever I travel and continue blogging.

We waited for our connecting flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for about three hours, enough time for me to send out my first blog for the Cambodia trip.

The Dragon Air flight took off at around 8:45a.m.from the Hong Kong Airport.

Once we were on the flight to Cambodia, we were given four forms to fill in regarding our health, declaration of goods bringing into the Kingdom of Cambodia etc. Lots of paper work to do!

It took a little a little more than 2 hours and we were served breakfast on board.

We got to Phnom Penh at around 10am. The weather  was a sunny and hot at 30  degrees.

I was in Phnom Penh two years ago and am pretty excited at meeting the school staff and the church people there.

I haven’t seen  Carol’s son. He must have grown a lot since I last saw him.

Our van wove through the traffic of Phnom Penh

I will be leading the first meeting and need to get ready.

In a little more than two hours, we landed in the Phnom Penh International Airport.




We did not have to get our visa to enter Cambodia prior to our arrival as we could get it at the airport.

Public transportation in Phnom Penh

After about half an hour waiting at the customs, we got our Cambodia visa on the spot after filling out the application, providing the officer with a passport picture and paying a visa fee of U.S. $30-50 depending on the type of visa one is getting.


We were picked up by two vans sent by the Grave Church and on our way to start our stay in Phnom Penh, Cambodia!







 We drove through the main street of the city and got a brief glimpse of the progress since I was here two years ago.


Looking forward to the next few weeks in Cambodia!

R.T.
Hong Kong Airport/
Phnom Penh International Airport

Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto - A Good Place to See in Toronto

Sculptures around the Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto

Before I head to my oversea trip, E. came back for the weekend to see me.



Since he really tried to spend some time with us, we took advantage of the nice weather and visited the Evergreen Brick Works.

Evergreen Brick Works - a factory where bricks were made years ago

Evergreen Brick Works was a big factory where bricks were made and supplied to the city of Toronto and its surrounding area years ago.

Currently, it has a market, and art programs, display space and a nice restaurant

But it is no longer in use for its original purposes.

A fence around the Evergreen Brickwork Cafe made out of twigs

Instead of demolishing the place, it has been transformed into a place where people can come to hike, bike, shop and dine.

Evergreen Brick Works is a place for everybody, even your four legged friends.

There is even a place for visitors to park your pets!

However, on the weekends, the Evergreen Brickwork has limited hours and it closes quite early.

 By the time we got there, we had only a few minutes therefore could not go into all the buildings to see the exhibits.












We were limited to walking around outside of the buildings.
 We saw a Toddlers' Garden -

A Toddlers' Garden for the little ones!

We saw a Toddlers' Garden - a special place where archways and plants have been designed small and at a lower level for kids to play and run around.

Aspen Garden - designed by the Garden Club of Toronto

 The Evergreen Brick Works has an emphasis on arts, education and being environmental friendly. 

For example, we learned that
 trembling aspen is one of Ontario's best pioneer species which are the first to come back when a forest regenerates.

These pioneer species " thrive in poor growing environments and help create ideal conditions for other plant species to take root and increase biodiversity."

How wonderful nature is!

 Evergreen Brick Works is open to the public with free admission!

There are gardens and trails for visitors to explore.

There is a nice cafe and ample places for people to sit, take a break, enjoy the beautiful scenery and rest their tired feet.

Beautiful fall colours at the Evergreen Brick Works pond

The best part about this visit to the Evergreen Brick Works was that we could introduce  E. to  an interesting walkable place in Toronto.

He has been away from Toronto since 1996!

Trails for hiking and biking

It was a change for us - instead of taking him to a restaurant to eat and talk, we could walk around outdoors and communicate in nature.

A place to rest, reflect and enjoy the fall colours & scenery

That meant a lot to us as both my husband and I love the outdoors and would prefer spending time outside.

A great place to spend time with loved ones and friends!

Anytime we can share our passion for the outdoors with the ones we love, we would not pass the opportunity. 

R.T.
Evergreen Brick Works
Toronto, Ontario
October, 2014

Operation Dawn's 10th Anniversary Gala

It is great to have E. home for the weekend! He took the red eye flight from S.F. and arrived at the Toronto Pearson Airport at 6a.m. on Friday.

We were surprised that he would come home for just the weekend. We were more surprised at his  willingness to attend a celebration and fundraising gala at the Diamond Restaurant in Richmond Hill with us that same evening.

 

Operation Dawn - run by dedicated volunteers

Deborah commits her time & effort to the cause

Operation Dawn

- a charitable organization that runs a program to help drug addicts to kick their habit was established ten years ago in Toronto by a group of dedicated and committed Christian volunteers.

Young people are given their life and dignity back

They have no funding from the government and its only source of income depends on the generosity of donors who share the organization's vision and are willing to contribute to this meaningful cause.
 

It was uplifting to hear the stories from some of the former drug addicts who went through the programs.

Operation Dawn helps drug addicts to get off their addiction not by medication nor by any chemical treatment, but by prayers and a residential program run by staff members and volunteers with tremendous amount of love.

Young people shared their strength from God

 It was moving to see and hear the songs sang by the program participants. From their faces, it was evident that Operation Dawn has given hope, dignity and a new life to those who were mired in a life without hope before.


 It was especially a touching moment for many of us at the banquet when the group sang about how they depended on God as their only defense and strength in their struggles to recovery.

 " My one defense, my righteousness, Oh God, how I Need You." The young people sang with passion and gusto expressing their feelings and sharing their testimonies with us unreservedly and bravely.

God is the defense against the dark force in life!

 I could literally see the pain and struggles these people going through in the Operation Dawn's facility trying to get cleaned and start a drug free life.

Sharing his success story with others

Operation Dawn was originated in Hong Kong more than forty years ago. One of the Pastors, who was a recovered drug addict himself committed his life to the programs and to helping other people after he regained control of his life.

He took the programs to Taiwan thirty years ago  and today, Operation Dawn has centres and programs in numerous countries.

Though unable to understand a lot of the stories, E. was able to appreciate some of the songs shared by the Operation Dawn young people.

I was glad that E. got to see the person who was addicted to drug use for thirty years. But through the Operation Dawn programs, he was able to get off the addiction and became completely cleaned!

What a miracle and what a great testimony of God's power in our lives!

R.T.
Operation Dawn 10th Anniversary Gala
Diamond Restaurant
Richmond Hill, Ontario

Counting Our Blessings on Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Dinner - A happy time to celebrate and count our blessings

This year's Thanksgiving Day was a special one for us. We have so much to be thankful for!

We saw God's blessing and experienced His grace and mercy personally. I was looking through our pictures from last year's Thanksgiving dinner and memories kept flooding back to me.

Celebrating Thanksgiving with our missionary friends

Last year at this time, we were very worried about our younger son who quit his well paying job to pursue his passion of doing documentaries for almost a year and half'.  Later on, he found that he was not getting the results he was hoping for. He became anxious not knowing what he would do in the future.

This year, we had two Thanksgiving dinners at our house, one for two missionary couples who stationed in Japan and later on in Korea. while the other one was for our family members.

At our family Thanksgiving Dinner, Jonathan was not present but we were happy for him. Knowing that he is living happily in South Korea and doing what he does the best - teaching children and helping them, we are extremely grateful and thankful to God for answering our prayers for him!

We have so much to thank God for in our lives!

As parents, the one thing we really want for our children is for them to grow up to become a positive contributing member of society and be happy with their lives.



Jonathan is doing just that and we cannot thank God enough for giving him this fantastic opportunity of experiencing a very different and positive life in a wonderful country such as South Korea.

There was so much joy at our gatherings this Thanksgiving! When we remember God and count our blessings, we are filled with thanks and gratitude which in turn translate into positive energy.

I want to shout from the mountain top to let other people know about God's limitless love and mercy for His people, for anyone who is willing to believe and trust in Him!

R.T.
Extremely grateful,
Toronto, Ontario
Canada  

2014 Toronto CRRS' Fundraising Gala

The gala was held at Premier Ballroom, Richmond Hill, Ont.

This was it!

Having met and planned every month for the past year, members of the CRRS, Toronto Chapter, converged at the Premiere Ball Room before the guests arrived for the annual fundraising gala.

It was a proud moment for all of the Commitee Members!

There were nine hundred plus guests at the 2014 fundraising gala

We were so happy to see each other and saw the beautiful banquet hall all set up for the almost one thousand guests here! 

Angela donated her talents and time to the gala

Our sponsors donated generously and their banners were up; the program books arrived on time and were distributed at each seat; the sound system with nine huge screens were hung above at strategic locations throughout the huge banquet hall to ensure the nine hundred plus guests would see and hear properly regardless where they were seated; the singers and Doulos, our band for the evening had arrived and they sounded great!

It is no small feat planning and organizing for our annual fundraising event. Everyone of our committee members believes passionately about the cause - helping poor children, especially girls in rural China to an have an education. 

While other huge charitable organizations have budgets to hire professional fundraisers and marketing firms to do their fundraising for them, the Toronto CRRS Chapter would rather see its administrative cost reduced to the minimum and relies on dedicated full time volunteers to do the job .

Therefore, the Toronto CRRS pours all its energy and focuses on mainly one fundraising event a year - the annual fundraising gala. 

Esther shared the Project Shine story

 Committee members worked year round on this special event: getting speakers, singers, musicians, finding the right video, pictures, restaurant for the event, approaching companies and individuals for sponsors and advertising, speaking at different functions to promote the charitable work.

 In addition to the planning of the gala, the Toronto Chapter also encourages, works with the Vancouver CRRS Team and takes part in self funded trips to visit our sponsored students in China and recruits Canadian youths to be involved in Project Shine - a summer English teaching project by Canadian volunteers.

Dr. Leung's moving speech stirred many hearts

With nine hundred plus guests attending this gala, the banquet began right on time at 6:30p.m. The evening started with the singing of Canada, then a few dishes were served before the keynote speaker, Dr. Leung,  delivered his speech. His presentation was powerful and touching. Throughout his thirty minute speech, the audience was so memorized that you could hear a pin drop and no one dared to leave his/her seat for fear of missing anything he was saying.

The fundraising event was a smashing success! Everything went very smoothly. Dr. Leung's speech was moving stirring people's hearts; Angela's and the Doulos' singing were heavenly. There were no glitches or technical difficulties at all during the entire evening.| Everything went as planned! We could not ask for more.

We broke the record in the number of people attending, the number of tables sold and the amount of fund raised for the 2014gala! The next day in one of the member's house, we gathered and cheered for the good news. 

Praise God! It is great serving  Him and His people. It was a joy and privilege to serve and play a small part in the 2014 CRRS fundraising event.

R.T.

Toronto

 

Enjoying a Colourful Walk in Edwards Garden, Toronto

       Fall is a beautiful time in Canada!

Fall colour in Edwards Garden, Toronto

With the leaves turning their colour, the trees and the forests and the parks are putting on their new coats preparing for the coming of the winter.

Canadians are very sensitive to warm temperatures and we try to get out as much as possible when it is possible to do so.

We went to Edwards Garden, located at Leslie Street and Don Mills Road, today.

It was a beautiful fall day!

The flowers were at their fullest blooms!

Soon they would be destroyed and bruised by frosts as temperatures dip below zero.

Autumn flowers on display. Edwards Garden

Ornamental cabbages add beautiful colour in the fall

Besides the late summer blooms,  the autumn flowers were out as well at Edwards Garden

Leaves have started to turn their colour everywhere !







 
 Before we reached the pond, not long after we parked our car in the parking lot, someone was calling my name!

Beautiful creek with an old fashion bridge in Edwards Garden - A favorite spot for wedding pictures

Jordon & his Nana

We ran into Jordon, my nephew, who was volunteering for the day in the park with his colleagues from his company!


My mother was happy running into her grandson!
She really enjoyed seeing him and spending a day of walking in the park which is wheel chair accessible as well.

My mother was worried about not able to walk the stairs in the park but pretty well everywhere we went, there was a walk way without stairs!

Taking a break from walking

It was a good day! Anytime I can make my mom happy is a good day for me.

Knowing that Mom can walk in the garden,we would be able to bring her out more often to the park in the future.

R.T.
Edwards Garden
Toronto