be not imprisoned by limitations

So what didn't happen today?

Morning: Started research, took a 10 minute nap, went to Starbucks to do a few hours of reading and research and had printed off every other page (how?!), talked about Proverbs 17 via Skype instead.

Afternoon: Passed what looked like a monk (attire) on my way to work and he was trying to give me a some sort of small trinket. I couldn't understand what he was saying and I was on my way to a meeting so I just said "no thanks." Sometimes people are actually selling you things instead of giving them to you and they will yell at you to give them money after you take it. Not that a monk would do that, but I wasn't sure he was a monk. When we were in Guangzhou over New Years, a man asked Lauren if she wanted a picture with his monkey (it cost money). She said no, but took a picture of the monkey by itself once we walked away (we were in public). The guy freaked out and yelled at Lauren's friend to give him money.

Cora and I had an amazing conversation on money, investing, politics, beliefs, etc. We talked about so many topics today and it was as interesting as ever.

I also went to the prison ministry. 3 of the about 10 people in the room had been to prison or some type of detention center. The 2 that had been to prison were drug addicts and are now full time pastors. We heard a lot of legitimate stories, but I'll have to give more details when I have the time. One of the most powerful stories that I heard was one of a man in Singapore caught with drugs. In Singapore, smuggling drugs gets the death penalty. This man claimed he was innocent, though he was caught red handed, and was given life in prison. This man found a relationship with Christ while he was in prison and went to a lawyer asking for an appeal. The lawyer argued that the man was caught red handed and there was no hope. The man replied that he wanted to make an appeal to claim he was guilty. When the judge saw the case, he told the man that by admitting his guilt he was essentially putting the noose around his neck. The man responded that he knew the consequences, but because he had found this new life in Christ, he felt the need to tell the truth and confess his wrong. The man was hanged. Because of this man's commitment to his faith and honesty, the lawyer that made the appeal quite his work in the legal system and committed his life to full time prison ministry. They say when the inmates who have truly found Christ are hanged, they go in peace. The ones who have not found Christ go out fighting and shaking something horrible. As unfortunate as the hanging is, it's good to know that they found that peace.
All the prison ministry stuff reminded me of my good friend Penny's testimony. I almost forgot she was in prison because I always just saw her as a good friend and great witness of faith, but sure enough she was one of those miracle stories. She found Christ in prison and got out way sooner than she was ever supposed to. I don't know her whole story, all I know is that she came from a bad situation and ended in peace, having blessed the children in our church by ministering to them and having found Christ. Something God keeps ringing home to me these past few weeks is 'never give up on people, never give up.' Never EVER limit someones ability to change with your expectations and assumptions. We are humans, not equations. Quite often, God works in mysterious ways and uses the most unlikely as the most impactful. Never underestimate what He can do through you either.

Evening: I worked back at the office a bit and then headed to Bible study. It was a packed house in there tonight covering Ephesians 4. The biggest thing that I came away with was prayer for a boy. One of the families in our church found out that his 3-5 year contract was ending at 11 months unexpectedly. This family has 2 boys and they just moved here this past year from California. They expected to be here long term so they sold everything in the states. Now they have about 2 weeks before they have to leave the country...and the contract wasn't supposed to end for quite some time. Two of the ladies in our group got texts that the oldest son was crying hysterically in fear that the dad wouldn't be able to find another job. These kids will lose their school, their friends, their home, and will go where? I've learned while living here how truly difficult it can be working internationally. Visas and such are such an interesting game to play out. Not only has he lost his job, but this father may have to buy 4 plane tickets back to America ($6000) and they cannot take their things with them because they'll be leaving on a plane. He doesn't have enough time to sell much of it if he ends up leaving. What a painful reality. So please remember this family in your prayers. From what I've been told, contracts in Macau with casinos aren't super binding. This seems to be happening to a lot of people with different casinos recently.

I'm sure I missed some things that happened or I wanted to cover, but acting out Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" with 5th grade boys comes early in the morning! Night, y'all.