Chinese New Year 2012

Well, this last month and a half has probably been one of the busiest time in my service here in Southeast Asia. God is so good and has constantly brought me back to Him and who He is in my life. More than ever before, I have been constantly reminded how much I need Him and how I can do absolutely nothing without His Sovereign power and direction every moment of every day.

I can’t stress enough that your prayers WORK…my parents are always sharing with me how so many people share with them how they are praying for me and the ministry. I am 100% positive that without your prayers, much (if not all) of the chances I’ve had to share Jesus and His love with the people around me wouldn’t have been possible. Thank you all so very much.

Anyways, I’m going to try to recap my travels and adventures from my first Chinese New Year vacation. Hopefully this will be a blessing and encouragement for you to read what God’s been doing in my life and in the ministry on this side of the world. I divided this (extremely lengthy and long overdue) blog post trip-by-trip so it’s easier to read by section if you’d like. Enjoy!


Some of the cutest boys alive

BO CUN TRIP
Starting with my trip over New Year’s (like the January 1^st, “Western New Year’s” kind…) with Bo Cun’s 6^th grade class: Each one of my six grade classes plan a class trip that they go on together as sort of a memorable marking point before all the students head out to Junior High the next year. The class I chose to go with is quite possibly one of my favorite 6^th grade classes as a whole. The students are so sweet and I love my principal and co-teacher from that school. J

We spent the 4-day trip travelling (virtually) all over the West side of Taiwan; from Taichung to Nantou to Kaohsiung- and everywhere in between. I saw some breathtaking mountain peaks, and of course the pretty spectacular Sun Moon Lake. For New Year’s Eve, I left my class for the evening and spent some time with dear friends from another IBLP TESOL team in Nantou and then took the HSR (High Speed Rail) back the next morning to catch up with my class.

This trip, though tons of fun and full of adventure, was pretty hard for me though. It was the first time I was away from my Kinmen team and with Chinese-only speakers since I’ve been here in Taiwan. On top of feeling “homesick,” some of the parents from my class had a hard time with the idea of me not speaking Chinese conversationally yet. The first night, I just sat in my hotel room and cried before the Lord in utter frustration. I felt very alone and rejected and just wanted to go home.

Before I left for this weekend trip, my dad had told me to keep John 14-16 in mind- reminding me that I could not do ANYTHING on my own and I needed (need) the Lord to guide my every step. So, after talking to the Lord for a while and re-composing myself, I pulled out my Bible and read that passage over and over again. The Holy Spirit spoke to me that night. I re-realized all I am required as a daughter of the King is remain in His love. There is no other requirement for my personal walk with Jesus. As I keep my eyes focused on Him and diligently seek for His hand in my life, He will provide my every need and orchestrate my every step. He could even teach me Chinese if He wanted to. From that moment on, I committed my language proficiency to the Lord- I am going to work as hard as I can, and leave the results up to Him and His will and plan. In this area, and in all others: I only need to ask…ask like a child. Trust like a child. Enjoy life as a child. Isn’t our God so cool?

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you…As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love…You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” (John 15:7, 9, 16)

THAILAND

Sunrise over the mountains

The next couple weeks after that weekend with my class, my team and I prepared for our King Car Visa renewal trip to Thailand. Lesson planning and packing pretty much consumed our time, especially the last couple days leading up to our departure. (This trip was completely paid for by the King Car Foundation we work for in Taiwan, which was such a huge blessing.) The group consisted of the teams from Kinmen, Yuli, Pingdong, and then a few members joined us from Nantou [All in all, SUCH a great group of people]. Tuesday-Saturday we taught English classes for the 1^st-12^th grades in Da Tong, Thailand. In our touring time, we got to see the Golden Triangle, White Temple, explore a pretty big day market in Chiang Rai, spend about an hour on the other side of the border in Myanmar, spend time at a convent school for Thai girls, play with a monkey, launch lanterns for Chinese New Year, and so much more memorable moments that I couldn’t even start to type out. (Just look through my bazillion Facebook pictures if you get the chance…ok?)

This trip was a super great opportunity for me to get out of my comfort zone and share the Gospel. On the flight from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, I was able to talk about the Lord with the man I was sitting next to. We talked almost the whole flight. The man was a Buddhist, and believed very strongly in Buddhism’s “Middle Path,” yet was very interested in both sharing his beliefs and listening to mine. It was such a Divine appointment. Be praying for Mr. Vincent.

Also, because Chinese wasn’t the first language of the kids I worked with, my pride got to have a break from the beat-down it normally has and I was able to actually communicate outside of class for a change. ;) The kids were amazing- all the way up to my 9^th grade class. For the most part, I felt so welcomed and loved by each one of them and just plain had fun spending time with them.

Yet, spiritually, the warfare started off with a bang that week at the “Welcome Party” for us foreign teachers. Some of the girls from 4^th-9^th grade put together a performance with several dances…let’s just say the dancing was shocking and painful to watch. It hurt me so much to see such little girls dancing so sensually- I know I can speak for our entire TESOL team by saying our spirits were grieved and put on guard by such a performance. The Kinmen team met as a group the next night and brought the little girls, their families, and futures before the Lord.

Then, personally, I went on hyper-drive mode as far as seeking the Lord’s will for next year’s plans….I loved Thailand from the first moment we landed, being struck by the need of the people in the area in which we worked. Mid-week, we ran into some missionaries that literally worked in the middle of the fight against Thailand’s sex trafficking industry; I can’t tell you how much I wanted to go with them. In hearing the missionaries’ stories about the girls, and the different rescues they were currently running, my heart ached and I quietly pleaded with God to someday allow me to join in this battle.

So, needless to say, midweek in Da Tong, I was praying very hard for the Lord to give me direction and a heart for where He wanted me. I want to spend my life in ministry where there is NEED- a need for real rescue and salvation- a place screaming for light. I prayed and spent time in the Word for hours on end, seeking God for direction and praying that He would show Himself real in my life. It was only when my heart got to the point of being totally willing to go where and when the Lord sent me, that I began having peace again. Ministry ideas for this semester in Kinmen to help fight the more local sex trafficking industry started coming to mind and I set a few personal goals for the semester. It was so freeing to have the Lord show me how I was inside His will and then give me ways I can be “useful in the Master’s hand” this semester.

Some of my personal goals for Spring 2012 in Kinmen:

1)     Read through the Gospel of John in Chinese

2)     Read “Case for Christ” (Lee Strobel)

3)     Set aside a minimum of 10 minutes a day to study Chinese

4)     Make intimate time with Jesus priority- both in prayer and study

5)     Stay on top of monthly blog updates

{My team and I are in prayer about a few fundraisers and awareness projects to support ministries on the front lines of the fight against sex trafficking. We’re hoping to involve the entire island of Kinmen with each of these events. Please be praying that God’s will be done with every project. Our goal is to bring ultimate glory to the name of Jesus by protecting those who cannot protect themselves. I will keep you updated with how God guides.}

TAIPEI WINTER CAMPS

Finally, to finish up our New Year vacation, we worked this last week in a Taipei Winter camp with King Car. Our “camp team” consisted of our Kinmen group, plus Caitlin (from the Yuli team), and Kelsey (BWills’ younger sister). We had 60+ kids come from mainly the Taipei area for a 5-day camp that had us up at 7:30am and down usually around midnight. It was exhausting but SO well worth it.

I worked with a middle level group- Team D: The Daring Dragons. Ironically, even though we had the manliest name and team chant, I was placed with several of the girliest girls in the entire camp. It was a blast, lol. Kelsey and I worked as co-teachers with our TA, Jenny, helping us all along. Our topic for the week was current world issues and what we can do as individuals to help. We danced the “Waka Waka” and Justin Beiber’s “Baby Baby” song almost daily for fun and did tons of skits, games, stories, and songs with the kids…basically just loving on them. Kelsey got to share the Gospel with the students as we studied Europe and the song “Amazing Grace” one morning. She was able to explain the concept of sin, grace, and the mercy of God. (Kelsey shared that during English class, get that: in class. It’s pretty wild the freedom we have in Taiwan as foreign teachers to share the Gospel with kids in our English classes.)

Midweek, (again, lol) the Lord knocked on my heart and set me in a tailspin because I was (still) so comfortable doing things my way. There was (is) a need for someone to go to help out another one of the TESOL teams for this next semester and the Kinmen girls were asked if anyone would be willing to go. When I first got the email, I laughed and thought how ridiculous it would be if God sent me somewhere else for the semester. Almost as soon as I mentally made my decision to say “no,” the Lord asked me why.

Why was I so unwilling to think that He could possibly take me out of my comfort zone yet again and bring me somewhere else? So for the second time this month, I prayed and sought counsel and sought the Lord about if He wanted me to move from Kinmen. And similar to my “prayer battle” in Thailand, as soon as I was willing to be obedient and pay attention to the Lord’s gentle leading, my peace returned and He reminded me of His heart for my life. A life that is continually plugged into Him, a life that only wants His will, and a life that will jump when He says “go.” Lord willing, I’m going to be staying in Kinmen this next semester and am going to try to actually wait and listen for His guidance.

“I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15)

If it’s ok with you, I would like to end this update with a quick personal prayer- thanking Jesus for Who He is and what He’s doing:

Heavenly Father, thank you so much for my brothers and sisters in Christ all over this world. It just amazes me to see Your hand everywhere I go and I just want to tell you thank you. Thank you for the people I work with and for. Thank you for the children that I get to pour into daily. Thank you for the work You’re doing in my heart to make me the woman you want me to be. I pray that each one of us will never lose sight of YOU and Your marvelous mercy and love. You are so holy Jesus and I thank you that You are not finished with me yet and have great things in store for this next year. This time in Taiwan is dedicated to You. Greater things are still to come. I thank You and praise You. In Your holy name, Amen.