Hey Everyone - sorry for the late update. Yesterday was a really full day. We started the day with classes at the PE college where we are contacting students left and right. The Lord has opened doors for us that we never imagined and our students and adults have been able to meet, connect and have conversations centered around the Lord without hindrance. Your prayers are effective and the Lord is answering them. The Beituen group left the College group at lunch and headed to the church. After a long and fun walk over to the church we joined up with Philip and Sara (pastor and wife) and their team and went to a local middle school where they will soon plant a church. They are working with four other churches to perform good works in this community to lay the groundwork for this new church plant. We were part of a "good work" in this school with the children there. We sang in the program for about 200 7th- 9th graders that were involved in a program that is led by these church leaders and then helped with a game. The principal of the school then treated us to a tour of the school and some tea which further cemented the relatinoship of the pastors and the school. After this, four of us stayed to tutor some of their students in English and math. The rest of us headed back to the church to get ready for the evening program. We were able to minister to Sara and her two kids which was a great way to encourage this little church in the middle of a pagan culture.
The evening program was for a group of students - middle, high & college students that Phillip and Sarah open their home to each week for dinner and school help and evangelism. We sang and then shared the Gospel. It was a really awesome time for the students and then we were able to have some small groups with the Christian students who attend the church and encourage them in their walk.
The college group also had a great time and worked at the campus in the fencing class and other english classes.
You do not want to miss our mission report when we return home.
From the far side.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Day 8 - Monday
Today, we had a pick up softball game with some kids the girls met last week, or at least we thought it was going to be, but when we showed up, the entire girls and boys softball class was waiting for us on the field ready to play along with the coach! We had a blast for about an hour and a half playing softball first us vs. them and then with mixed teams.
Afterwards, we walked onto the campus and the school has arranged three lunches this week (we should actually call them feasts) for the freshmen class and we are the honored guests. Each one of us sat at one table and the freshmen sit with us 6 or 7 to a table to talk during lunch. The food was amazing and the number of dishes was more than we could count. Needless to say, there were some pretty interesting dishes.
After lunch, we went to two english classes before dinner and spent time talking and sharing our testimonies and the Gospel with the students. After a quick dinner in the square, there was a small class, so Jeff's group along with Nathan, Corey & Daniel stayed at the campus to work with that class while Henry, Landon & Travis went to play basketball with some of the guys they met earlier. Holly, Bethany, Sally & Jed went walking around town with some of their new friends. It was a full day and we are all really tired, but very thankful that we are being used fully.
From the far side.
Afterwards, we walked onto the campus and the school has arranged three lunches this week (we should actually call them feasts) for the freshmen class and we are the honored guests. Each one of us sat at one table and the freshmen sit with us 6 or 7 to a table to talk during lunch. The food was amazing and the number of dishes was more than we could count. Needless to say, there were some pretty interesting dishes.
After lunch, we went to two english classes before dinner and spent time talking and sharing our testimonies and the Gospel with the students. After a quick dinner in the square, there was a small class, so Jeff's group along with Nathan, Corey & Daniel stayed at the campus to work with that class while Henry, Landon & Travis went to play basketball with some of the guys they met earlier. Holly, Bethany, Sally & Jed went walking around town with some of their new friends. It was a full day and we are all really tired, but very thankful that we are being used fully.
From the far side.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Day 7 - Sunday
We split up this morning for our two different churches at 8:30 a.m. with one group going to the Beituen church and the other going to the GanEn church. The group at Beituen church just joined their services and were treated to lunch at McDonalds afterwards. (Corey, Travis, Larry, Holly, Bethany & Nathan). We will be leading several events at their church this week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. At GanEn church Landon & Daniel led the church in three worship songs which were translated into Chinese and then I preached a sermon from Matthew 22 which was translated by our new friend Angela. After the worship service, we joined their young people for Sunday School and split up into three groups for some group discussion in Deuteronomy. Then they fixed us a homeade lunch of rice dumplings. (Some would say the best we've had)
After lunch, we came back to WanDe to change clothes and left for the afternoon festival. The festival we were going to was hosted by several Christian organizations that help the homeless in Taichung along with the city council. We were there to be ambassadors of goodwill. We played tug of war against the city workers - and won - twice. Then we got to sing for them and have a great dinner with them also.
After dinner, we went back to WanDe for our outreach event that we invited people to all week. We had a good group of students from the PE college come and right as we started, Bama, Blake, Jeff, Sherrill, Andrew & Hilary arrived from Kaoshoing. We had a great fellowship and once again our students jumped to the challenge of engaging these students and developing their friendships. At the end, a large group of them went to starbucks togethers.
Tomorow we have a softball game at 10a.m.
From the far side.
After lunch, we came back to WanDe to change clothes and left for the afternoon festival. The festival we were going to was hosted by several Christian organizations that help the homeless in Taichung along with the city council. We were there to be ambassadors of goodwill. We played tug of war against the city workers - and won - twice. Then we got to sing for them and have a great dinner with them also.
After dinner, we went back to WanDe for our outreach event that we invited people to all week. We had a good group of students from the PE college come and right as we started, Bama, Blake, Jeff, Sherrill, Andrew & Hilary arrived from Kaoshoing. We had a great fellowship and once again our students jumped to the challenge of engaging these students and developing their friendships. At the end, a large group of them went to starbucks togethers.
Tomorow we have a softball game at 10a.m.
From the far side.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Day 6 - Saturday
We thought today would be a little bit slower since we didn't have to get up quite so early, but we were wrong - and thankful. We did get up later than usual and went down past the school to a well known market where on Saturday's they sell all kinds of Jade and other precious stones and jewels. Jade is one of Taiwan's special exports. Before going into the market, we went to a large temple where idolatry and ancestor worship is practiced. We had three of our Chinese friends with us and Glennda to help explain what was going on as this is a very active temple with worshippers coming and going all the time. It is hard to convey what the experience is actually like, but it helps put into perspective why we are here. Because the people are living in darkness, their eyes are blinded by the gods of this world. All kinds of people, young and old, moms and dads, grandparents were there, buying "hell" money which they burn in these large furnaces to send to their dead relatives. They were bringing offerings of fruit and flowers to leave on the altars for a short time so the "ghosts" could eat - after which they would take them home to actually eat them. The foolishness was so apparent to us, but it was like watching zombies perform vain acts they had no control over. The area behind the altar had a plethora of demonic looking gods and the smell of incense was so thick there was no place to escape, even down the street it was still in the air. It reminded me of why we give so generously to missions and why we go so often on mission trips and why we pray fervently for our missionaries. Because there are millions if not billions of people who live in darkness and who will die under God's judgment for their sin. These people need to hear the Gospel and there are so few here to tell them. - on a side note, the mormons are not losing any time, every street we go down, we run into mormon missionaries.
After spending some time in the Jade market, we headed back towards the apartments and stopped at Subway for lunch. It was a nice break from a lot of chopsticks and rice. And yes, it's pretty much the same as at home.
We had about an hour back at home before we left for our afternoon at GanEn church for their monthly outreach. We didn't really know what to expect, but our expectations were far too low. We arrived about 3:30 to maybe 10 people and by about 5:00 p.m., there were about 100 people there of all ages, but mostly teenagers and college students. We had a great time playing basketball and talking with them. And then we sang - for probably 3 hours, broken up by a short dinner. It was wonderful. I will be so glad when we get to heaven and the language barrier is finally and fully broken, but singing worship together in multiple languages is about as close on earth as we'll get before then. It was an incredible time for all of us.
Parents - let me just say on a side note, how proud you should be of all your kids. Carol, Larry and I have talked about and been told by others how mature, engaged, well behaved and spiritually sensitive this group of students is. They are on task and are having a great time together. They love each other and they love others. They love Jesus and they are talking about Him. Pray hard for them - this week will get tougher, and I'm sure the enemy is not going to leave us alone, but they are doing great!!!
From the far side.
After spending some time in the Jade market, we headed back towards the apartments and stopped at Subway for lunch. It was a nice break from a lot of chopsticks and rice. And yes, it's pretty much the same as at home.
We had about an hour back at home before we left for our afternoon at GanEn church for their monthly outreach. We didn't really know what to expect, but our expectations were far too low. We arrived about 3:30 to maybe 10 people and by about 5:00 p.m., there were about 100 people there of all ages, but mostly teenagers and college students. We had a great time playing basketball and talking with them. And then we sang - for probably 3 hours, broken up by a short dinner. It was wonderful. I will be so glad when we get to heaven and the language barrier is finally and fully broken, but singing worship together in multiple languages is about as close on earth as we'll get before then. It was an incredible time for all of us.
Parents - let me just say on a side note, how proud you should be of all your kids. Carol, Larry and I have talked about and been told by others how mature, engaged, well behaved and spiritually sensitive this group of students is. They are on task and are having a great time together. They love each other and they love others. They love Jesus and they are talking about Him. Pray hard for them - this week will get tougher, and I'm sure the enemy is not going to leave us alone, but they are doing great!!!
From the far side.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Day 5 - Friday
This morning, we started the day after breakfast meeting with Glennda and Otey (two missionaries) to talk about our prayer walks over the past two days. We are going to be able to bring back some pictures and guides that will really help those who have been before and those who haven't been be able to pray for the people of Taichung. The missionaries told us how their are works that are now going on here, including our work at the college, that took years of teams coming over to prayer walk before they opened up.
After our meeting, we went to lunch and then joined the Table Tennis (ping pong) team for their practice at the college. It is amazing how patient and willing these students are to teach and spend time with us. We had a great time with them and continued to build relationships that we began yesterday.
After that, we went to join the Kendo team. Kendo is a Japanese martial art that probably could best be described by thinking of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. You wear body armor and brandish a sword made of bamboo. It is very violent and really fun. The team was really excited to have us and was ready to show us all the moves and we got to try out everything, including a match against some of them at the end. You'll have to check out some of the pictures once we return. Again, the Lord prepared the way for us, and we made some great connections. He has gone before us every step of the way. Please pray that He will go behind us and water the seeds we have planted.
After Kendo practice, we split again, with the GanEn group heading back to WanDe for a few minutes of rest before heading to the church and the other group heading to dinner before going to another class for the evening.
From the far side.
After our meeting, we went to lunch and then joined the Table Tennis (ping pong) team for their practice at the college. It is amazing how patient and willing these students are to teach and spend time with us. We had a great time with them and continued to build relationships that we began yesterday.
After that, we went to join the Kendo team. Kendo is a Japanese martial art that probably could best be described by thinking of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. You wear body armor and brandish a sword made of bamboo. It is very violent and really fun. The team was really excited to have us and was ready to show us all the moves and we got to try out everything, including a match against some of them at the end. You'll have to check out some of the pictures once we return. Again, the Lord prepared the way for us, and we made some great connections. He has gone before us every step of the way. Please pray that He will go behind us and water the seeds we have planted.
After Kendo practice, we split again, with the GanEn group heading back to WanDe for a few minutes of rest before heading to the church and the other group heading to dinner before going to another class for the evening.
From the far side.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Day 4 - Thursday
Today began with breakfast, some of the students have found a place that serves a peice of Texas toast with peanut butter on it along with fresh squeezed orange juice. Others return to the little sidewalk buffet we went to at first for eggs, and other Chinese delights, including a nice little donut.
Carol, Corey & I (Todd) took a walk through a little market that is right down the street and got to see all kinds of things we don't see much in the states. Fresh fish (still flopping in the bins) including some flying fish. Huge hunks of tuna and other types that we had no idea what they were. Several meat counters where you could buy just about any piece of a pig, cow, chicken or duck from the head to the feet and those looked pretty fresh also. All types of produce, some we can't get in the states. We bought and ate a fresh pineapple. There were carrots that would have made bug's bunny envious. It was really fun and the local people laughed a lot trying to help us understand what some of the items were.
After breakfast we broke into two groups and prayer walked this neighborhood around and in the college campus. This is one of the most important things we do because of the spiritual bondage the people are in. We found in the middle of the college campus an active temple and at another place a "sacred" tree where people believed some spirit from the past lived and they would come and offer it sacrifices and pray for its blessing. We prayed for it to die. Around lunchtime, our two groups met at a streetcorner and we had been passing through groups of students all day, some recognized us and most know we are coming to their class at some point in the next week, so almost all will say hi. We say a team practicing a game called handball which is a combinatino of soccer and basketball that we don't play at home. We walked onto the court to watch for a few minutes and soon struck up some conversations with the players. The players who weren't playing asked us if we wanted to try on an empty court so we invited them to help us make a couple of teams and we were off. The coach let the other players stop practicing and they all came over to watch and cheer us on, so for about 15 minutes we were worn ragged playing with them. They and we had a blast and built another bridge. I got to speak to the coach and he was very excited that we came by.
We had lunch at a Korean BBQ and then back to the campus for three classes back to back where we were meeting with students and sharing our testimonies in small groups. At about 3:30, 7 of us split off and went to a ping-pong class. Yes, you can major in ping pong in Taiwan. We got to see some world class play and even attempt it ourselves. Needless to say, we didn't score so well. But we had a great time. We'll get to spend some more time with this group today.
The group that broke off (Daniel, Sally, Landon, Carol, Jed, Henry, Todd) went to dinner together near the WanDe building with Angela (one of our Chinese friends - who also helped us order) and then took taxis across town to the GanEn church. There were just a few people there, but we had a great time teaching them with drama how to use the chronological bible stories. Afterwards, they treated us to some candy and a special drink we'll call "Black Jelly". It was a unique texture and flavor.
The other group went to eat at the same place where they get the peanut butter toast in the mornings for dinner and then went back to the college to Gavin's English class. They broke into groups and were able to share their testimonies. A couple were able to give away Bibles. Corey gave a Bible to a girl who was wearing a cross because she liked the shape of it, but had no idea what it meant.
We all met back at the apartments and quickly fell asleep after some practice for leading worship and story sharing.
Today is another full day with a meeting this morning and back to the college this afternoon where we'll get to learn another martial art - Kando. Then tonight we'll split up again with the group going back to the church and a group going to an English Bible study.
From the far side of the world.
Carol, Corey & I (Todd) took a walk through a little market that is right down the street and got to see all kinds of things we don't see much in the states. Fresh fish (still flopping in the bins) including some flying fish. Huge hunks of tuna and other types that we had no idea what they were. Several meat counters where you could buy just about any piece of a pig, cow, chicken or duck from the head to the feet and those looked pretty fresh also. All types of produce, some we can't get in the states. We bought and ate a fresh pineapple. There were carrots that would have made bug's bunny envious. It was really fun and the local people laughed a lot trying to help us understand what some of the items were.
After breakfast we broke into two groups and prayer walked this neighborhood around and in the college campus. This is one of the most important things we do because of the spiritual bondage the people are in. We found in the middle of the college campus an active temple and at another place a "sacred" tree where people believed some spirit from the past lived and they would come and offer it sacrifices and pray for its blessing. We prayed for it to die. Around lunchtime, our two groups met at a streetcorner and we had been passing through groups of students all day, some recognized us and most know we are coming to their class at some point in the next week, so almost all will say hi. We say a team practicing a game called handball which is a combinatino of soccer and basketball that we don't play at home. We walked onto the court to watch for a few minutes and soon struck up some conversations with the players. The players who weren't playing asked us if we wanted to try on an empty court so we invited them to help us make a couple of teams and we were off. The coach let the other players stop practicing and they all came over to watch and cheer us on, so for about 15 minutes we were worn ragged playing with them. They and we had a blast and built another bridge. I got to speak to the coach and he was very excited that we came by.
We had lunch at a Korean BBQ and then back to the campus for three classes back to back where we were meeting with students and sharing our testimonies in small groups. At about 3:30, 7 of us split off and went to a ping-pong class. Yes, you can major in ping pong in Taiwan. We got to see some world class play and even attempt it ourselves. Needless to say, we didn't score so well. But we had a great time. We'll get to spend some more time with this group today.
The group that broke off (Daniel, Sally, Landon, Carol, Jed, Henry, Todd) went to dinner together near the WanDe building with Angela (one of our Chinese friends - who also helped us order) and then took taxis across town to the GanEn church. There were just a few people there, but we had a great time teaching them with drama how to use the chronological bible stories. Afterwards, they treated us to some candy and a special drink we'll call "Black Jelly". It was a unique texture and flavor.
The other group went to eat at the same place where they get the peanut butter toast in the mornings for dinner and then went back to the college to Gavin's English class. They broke into groups and were able to share their testimonies. A couple were able to give away Bibles. Corey gave a Bible to a girl who was wearing a cross because she liked the shape of it, but had no idea what it meant.
We all met back at the apartments and quickly fell asleep after some practice for leading worship and story sharing.
Today is another full day with a meeting this morning and back to the college this afternoon where we'll get to learn another martial art - Kando. Then tonight we'll split up again with the group going back to the church and a group going to an English Bible study.
From the far side of the world.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Wednesday - Day 3
Today was an incredible day. We left the apartments to try out a new prayer walking guide the missionaries have put together for volunteer teams. The guide has helps in it that allow you to the whole walk from beginning to end without any help. So we called our own taxi's and went to the Beituen church where we will be working next week to begin our prayer walk. When we arrived at the church, the pastor and his wife were there and we were able to spend some time talking to them about themselves, their family and the church and then pray over them and for them as a group. We then split up into two teams and prayer walked through their neighborhood for about 2 hours. We experienced up close the daily life of so many people. We also were able to go into several temples and pray that the Lord would shut them down and release the people from this incredible bondage in which they are caught.
After we finished with the prayer walk, we returned to the church to meet and eat lunch (on our own), but as it turns out, the pastor was able to go with us and helped us order our food. And he gave us a wonderful blessing by purchasing our lunch for us. (Don't worry, we're going to find a way to bless his family next week while we are there at the church.)
After we caught taxi's back to our apartments, we had a breif rest and then headed over to the college where we joined up with the Judo class of about 40. They had us join right in with their warm ups and practice and then several of their team took our group and gave us some private lessons in the art of Judo. After that, we got a great sideline show Judo demonstration match between all the team members. Then the fun really started when they invited us to try Sumo!! Yup, Sumo. They put belts on us and into the ring we went. Well, you'll have to see the pictures. Afterwards, we got to sit and and talk, share pictures and our testimonies with them and some of them went to eat with us.
After dinner, we went back to the campus to join an English class where we were the special guests. For about 1 1/2 hours we rotated through the group of 24 students so that all of our students spent time talking personally with all of the Taiwanese students. They were so eager to talk to our students and so excited to get to know them. Again, our students took every opportunity to share their testimonies and invite the students to the events we are hosting over the next couple of weeks. While all this was going on, I was in the back of the room praying for our students and what they were doing and the girl who was introducing everyone, Eve, came back to me and told me that I was boring - she was trying to say that I looked bored. But I realized that she wasn't really talking to any of our students, so I started talking to her about her family and then her faith and she shared her traditional beliefs with me (ancestor and temple worship). I asked her what she thought would happen to her when she died, and she said that people went to either heaven or hell. So I asked her how she would be able to go to heaven. She said she would try to do more good than bad. What happened next was so beautiful. She got to hear for the first time in her life the Gospel - from beginning to end. How God created her for a purpose, how He loved her and how she could never be good enough - but there is One who was.
She had some questions and thankfully Sara Jeng, one of our longtime friends was with me to help translate a few difficult words and concepts, she said she thought she had a friend who was believed some of the things I did, so she was going to call him and invite him to come and talk to me with her tomorrow.
Please pray for Eve - that the Holy Spirit will start to pry the scales loose from her eyes and that she and her whole family will be saved!!!
From the far side of the world.
After we finished with the prayer walk, we returned to the church to meet and eat lunch (on our own), but as it turns out, the pastor was able to go with us and helped us order our food. And he gave us a wonderful blessing by purchasing our lunch for us. (Don't worry, we're going to find a way to bless his family next week while we are there at the church.)
After we caught taxi's back to our apartments, we had a breif rest and then headed over to the college where we joined up with the Judo class of about 40. They had us join right in with their warm ups and practice and then several of their team took our group and gave us some private lessons in the art of Judo. After that, we got a great sideline show Judo demonstration match between all the team members. Then the fun really started when they invited us to try Sumo!! Yup, Sumo. They put belts on us and into the ring we went. Well, you'll have to see the pictures. Afterwards, we got to sit and and talk, share pictures and our testimonies with them and some of them went to eat with us.
After dinner, we went back to the campus to join an English class where we were the special guests. For about 1 1/2 hours we rotated through the group of 24 students so that all of our students spent time talking personally with all of the Taiwanese students. They were so eager to talk to our students and so excited to get to know them. Again, our students took every opportunity to share their testimonies and invite the students to the events we are hosting over the next couple of weeks. While all this was going on, I was in the back of the room praying for our students and what they were doing and the girl who was introducing everyone, Eve, came back to me and told me that I was boring - she was trying to say that I looked bored. But I realized that she wasn't really talking to any of our students, so I started talking to her about her family and then her faith and she shared her traditional beliefs with me (ancestor and temple worship). I asked her what she thought would happen to her when she died, and she said that people went to either heaven or hell. So I asked her how she would be able to go to heaven. She said she would try to do more good than bad. What happened next was so beautiful. She got to hear for the first time in her life the Gospel - from beginning to end. How God created her for a purpose, how He loved her and how she could never be good enough - but there is One who was.
She had some questions and thankfully Sara Jeng, one of our longtime friends was with me to help translate a few difficult words and concepts, she said she thought she had a friend who was believed some of the things I did, so she was going to call him and invite him to come and talk to me with her tomorrow.
Please pray for Eve - that the Holy Spirit will start to pry the scales loose from her eyes and that she and her whole family will be saved!!!
From the far side of the world.
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