Now that I have time to think:

First landing in Kinmen!

We’ve been here in Kinmen, Taiwan for two days now and I’m just now “settling in” to the idea that I’m going to be here for a year. The island of Kinmen is beautiful. It turns out this is a national park- home to a lot of the wildlife and key history  of Taiwan. The people live at a slower pace than Taipei, and the government is wealthy because of the prospering liquor industry. I feel like I’m at home with the beach a two minute walking distance away and palm trees everywhere. From the beach closest to our dorms, you can see China. Like, it’s not something super far away either...people have swum the channel between Kinmen and China.

Home sweet home...

My room is beautiful and comfortable; I have pictures and letters taped up all over the walls to remind me of the people I love. I can’t help but laugh at how much I feel like I’m at college here. My “dorm room” has two bunk beds, four desks, and four closets all lined up. I’ve made the two upper bunks storage spaces, sleep in one bed, and use the other bed as a couch/living space. When we first arrived a couple nights ago, I couldn’t sleep in my room because of how dirty and mildewy it was. I spent all day yesterday cleaning and organizing, and now it’s cleaner than my room back home. J My teammates were laughing at how thorough of a job I did….my sister Kaylee would be proud at how much I threw away in the process. But now this place is comfortable and I’m thankful for the gift of my own “home.”

I’m looking forward to starting teaching classes next week. When we first arrived, my mind was trying to categorize life here….because, even though we’re working, we’re also very much so on the mission field. I was confused as to what my mindset should be while working and living on this beautiful island. I want to constantly remain focused on what’s MOST important. As I was cleaning yesterday, I thought of the amazing time I had in Jamaica teaching VBS to the kids in Balaclava and realized that this could be pretty similar. I work as a teacher’s assistant here in Kinmen- a lot of the pressure normal teachers have to prepare and track students’ progress is not on me; therefore I get to just love them. The CEO of one of the organizations we work for spoke to the entire 40-member team in Taipei and reminded us over and over that these students “deserve love” and crave it so desperately. That is going to be my main objective while here: Love always and in every way possible. It may sound cheesy and cliché, but I believe that is my mission to the people of Taiwan, and, more specifically, to Kinmen as a whole.

Jesus’ presence seems to be so real and close….almost like He’s hanging around waiting for me to turn around and listen. This morning I had an amazingly lovely quiet time because the video chat session I had planned didn’t work because my internet was down. Despite my lack of focus and frustration at this situation, Jesus’ presence was with me and put me at rest. My heart was able to cry out to Him in a way I wouldn’t have sought for if “all had gone as planned” for my morning. And He definitely spoke...