Dear Friends,
Thank you for praying with us this week for Patrick in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong’s 7.5 million people mostly consider themselves irreligious (54%), though 28% identify as Buddhists or Taoists, 12% as Christians, and 4% as Muslims. After 150+ years under British colonial rule, Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997. A special administrative region, Hong Kong maintains its own political and economic jurisdiction under the “one country, two systems” policy. However, following mass protests in 2019 and 2020, Beijing implemented a national security law that criminalizes dissent and imposed electoral changes to block its critics from political power in Hong Kong. Recently, officials promoted the first National Security Education Day throughout the city.
Patrick is pursuing a PhD in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen. For his dissertation, Patrick seeks to contextualize Pauline understandings of sin, salvation, and moral responsibility in response to Chinese cultural emphases on shame and honor.
Patrick shares the following message:
My Research
My dissertation is on “The Role of the Emotion of Shame and Identity Formation for the People of God in the Book of First Corinthians.” I would like to see how Paul employs the concept of shame in 1 Corinthians to shape the identity of God’s people and promote unity in the church.
My dissertation highlights the historical and cultural peculiarities behind the concept of shame, as well as shame’s distinctive role in moral development. Alternative perspectives on shame invite us to critically rethink how we interpret emotional words cross-culturally.
Hong Kong
The new national security law implemented in Hong Kong last summer has had a severe impact on our ministry. Christian leaders in Hong Kong worry that the new law would restrict their religious freedom. Many missions organizations in Hong Kong have stopped sending people to mainland China, and have also severed financial connections with mainland ministries. Many people in Hong Kong, especially families with young children, are exploring the option of migrating to other places.
Prayer Requests
1) Due to the pandemic, the kids cannot go to school and need to stay home. May God help me to concentrate on my dissertation writing while at home.
2) May God help my family readjust to life in Hong Kong, after spending around seven years in the US.
3) Pray for our children’s applications to primary school, that they would be admitted to the school most suitable for them.
4) Pray that the annual review process for my dissertation chapter on Confucianism will go smoothly.
5) Pray for the writing of my next dissertation chapter on the history of emotion and the interpretation of shame in the ancient context.
Patrick