Reflections on a Long and Blessed Life -No. 60: Hong Kong Visions

My years in Hong Kong were certainly among the most enjoyable and rewarding years of my life. One reason for that is that I was a partner in a visioning process. Chinese fellow-workers and missionary cohorts and I had the job and the joy of envisioning what a Lutheran School System could be in Hong Kong.

When in 1950 Missionaries Behling, Holt, Simon and Boss and others were evacuated out of Communist China and landed in Hong Kong they immediately began teaching. Very early they were not only teaching religion but were starting schools and a Bible Institute. By the time I arrived in 1955 they had already secured the land for a large K-12 school to replace the middle school they had started in a storefront. (Concordia Lutheran School) But we had bigger dreams.

We wanted a Lutheran School System. It had to cover grades 1 through 12. It would include a target audience of very poor children and the children of wealthier families. It would in some case utilize the Chinese language and in other situations English. It would, of course be taught primarily by certified Chinese teachers but also by non- Chinese foreigners.

In the midst of the diversity there were to be some common essentials. The schools were to be Christian and specifically Lutheran. By that we meant they would teach that there is one God and that God is good. That God’s goodness was most evident in the reconciling work of Jesus Christ. The goal of Christian education is to set people free in Jesus Christ enabling each student to more nearly become all that God intends each student to be.

We knew, of course, that all o f this would cost a lot of money and that the money would not primarily flow from the USA but would be raised locally through tuition, government assistance, special education grants, etc. etc. We knew that we would need a system of teacher training focused on In-service learning.

The visioning was stimulated and greatly enhanced because of the values and experiences of my Chinese colleagues. They shared with almost all Chinese a great respect for education and for teachers. The refugee population included many persons who had been well trained in a variety of disciplines in China before they were forced out of China by Mao Tze Dung

In those days Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony and the British, too, had a deep commitment to schools. All Hong Kong land was owned by the Government and was leased out long term to businesses, not-for-profit organizations, churches etc.-The British had the tradition of allowing religion to be taught in schools and that practice was continued in Hong Kong.

My job title was Coordinator of Education and so I had the joy of trying to put all this together into a feasible plan and then find and utilize the resources to turn dreams into reality. Many many days were spent in Government offices studying the Colony’s plans for redevelopment. For example we selected one school site which when we selected it was all still under sea water-awaiting future development (Kwun Tong). Another interesting incident was when I found a site for The Hong Kong International School on a lot, which had somehow, or other escaped zoning by the government.

All of this had be done with a view to the time when Hong Kong would lose it status as a Crown Colony and most of the land (and accompanying conditions of lease) would revert to the Communist Party and its Beijing control. Fortunately the Brits negotiated a very good treaty with one provision being that the Communists would honor all leases including those made to Christian Churches-and would allow the teaching of religion in all church-related schools during the next 50 year period.

In a couple months I plan to be in Hong Kong and celebrate how so much of that vision has become reality. What a thrill it will be to meet with colleagues who are daily turning those visions into reality as they operate the following: 6 (six) secondary schools, 2 (two) international schools, 4 (four) night schools, 6 (six) primary schools, 1 (one) private school, 2 (two) special ed schools and 12 (twelve) kindergartens. These schools enroll more than 23,000 students and are staffed by more than 1000 teachers. Visions have become reality!