July 2004 Archives

This last week I was in Shuili, teaching a five-day English camp. It was a tough week for me, because I have always taught to more advanced kids, but this time, I was in charge of 11 late-beginner students. It gets frustrating when you can’t communicate with the kids, and they do not want to listen because they do not understand. But the Lord helped me through the week, and I learned a lot. You just have to get back up and try again whenever you fall...I made mistakes, but I learned through the problems and by the end of the camp I felt much more comfortable. I led my group of kids in a skit at the camp presentation. They acted out the story of the wise and foolish builders who built on the rock and the sand. The children did so well!! I was impressed by how it all turned out. And more importantly, they understood what the skit meant. They saw the truth of having a firm foundation. Please pray that the seeds planted in their hearts would fall on good soil, that it would grow, and that they would not leave behind the truth of the message they heard.

Today we moved to Taijung County, pretty far up into the mountains, to teach a couple camps here. Pray that we would be good witnesses of the gospel, and the US. There has never been any American teacher in this town. Everyone is very excited, and this could open many doors in Taijung County. There are seven of us who will be here for two weeks. May the Lord be glorified in all that we do here.

Isaac Mazur

Yesterday as I walked along the streets of Taipei and tried to process all the new sights and sounds I realized that every day since I've arrived in Taiwan I've had some kind of "new" experience. From drinking pearl milk tea, to eating octopus, to taking sticky pictures, to seeing the tallest building in the world, to using chopsticks, life here has been an adventure. And I'm loving every minute of it!

The English Camp here in Taipei only runs from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. This makes it a little harder to learn to know the kids really well. However, it gives us a lot more time to do fun things with the TAs. They've been excellent tour guides! Yesterday about ten of us visited the Taipei Zoo and then had a short tour of one of the college campuses that two of the TAs attend.

We ended up having dinner together and then going on a short hike up a nearby mountain. The "hike" was climbing flight after flight of stairs to a small park. I wish I would have counted how many stairs there were.
Reaching the top and seeing the lights of Taipei made it worth the effort though!

On the way from the restaurant to the campus I took a quick detour which proved to be a bad mistake. We were walking along the sidewalk and instead of dropping behind and falling into line when the sidewalk narrowed I just stepped off into the street. Normally that would be fine. However, it was dark and I didn't look where I was stepping and I stepped right into wet cement. My whole shoe was now covered in the stuff and I didn't know what to do. I knew that I needed to wash it off before it could dry or I'd have a pretty heavy shoe. My dear friend Janet came to my rescue and helped me find I bathroom where I could wash it off. My shoe was now clean but also very wet. It didn't feel too bad at the time but going hiking in a wet shoe wasn't a very good idea. I now have two blisters on the bottom of my feet because of it. The moral of the story...watch where you're walking, especially in the dark!

On a more serious note, I'd like to share with you the quote from a card my Mom gave me before I left home that has been such an encouragement to me. I hope it encourages you as well!
"You may not be mighty BUT YOU CAN PRAY
and see situations change by the hand of Him who is almighty; You may not be influential, BUT YOU CAN PRAY and ask Him who raises up one ruler and puts down another to have His way in the affairs of men; You may not know how to comfort or encourage someone who is hurting, BUT YOU CAN PRAY and touch the heart of Him who is the Father of all comfort; You may not know how to protect yourself from evil, BUT YOU CAN PRAY and allow God to be your shield and defender. You may not have a lot of resources, BUT YOU CAN PRAY and receive what you need from the treasure house of Him whose resources are unlimited." (Roy Lessin)

As I look over previous updates I see that most of us ask you to pray for us, for the people here, and for the work we have to do. And once again I ask you to pray. Someone once said, "Prayer isn't preparation for the work, prayer is the work." You all are just as important to the work here as we are! Thank you for your support!

Reporting from Taipei,
Katrina Nisly

Greetings in Jesus name!
I am still trying to take in the reality that I am actually in Taiwan! It is awe-inspiring to wake up every morning, look out the window at the beauty of the mountains, and the strangeness of my new surroundings, and remember where I am! I praise the Lord for His goodness in bringing our team here together, and giving us the privelege of ministering in His name. Whether sharing the Gospel with our TAs, or simply expressing His love to a child through a caring hug, a warm smile, or a game of chase, we never lack for opportunities to reach out to the people here.

Our camp here at Jiji is going well. I joined Josh, Jeremy, and an American born Taiwanese named Ruby here on Sunday night, and got ready to jump right into camp starting the next morning. At first it was quite different for me since my first three camps at Yong Le were three day camps and the kids stayed at the school. We had charge of them all day from 7:30am until about 8:00pm. The camp here in Jiji is a day camp, so the kids arrive at 9:00am and leave between 4:30 and 5:00pm. I have enjoyed having more free time, as I have had more opportunity to do things such as check my email and write updates!!

So we have made it to the end of another busy and interesting day of Summer English Camps in Taiwan! I taught family vocabulary and pronouns to the seventeen kids in my B level class today. We played a couple interactive games that got them practicing their English and asking and answering questions. It is so exciting to see the kids gradually starting to put into practice the things we are teaching!

After camp was over for the day the American teachers and the TAs came home to rest for a while and then decided to go out and find some dinner in spite of the fact that it was raining. When we stepped outside it was barely sprinkling, but by the time we had walked two blocks it was pouring!! Most of us had umbrellas, but the wind was blowing the rain into us. We arrived at the resteraunt soaking wet, and shivering cold. The owners were kind enough to bring us girls the best they had to dry off and warm up with...pink tablecloths! Picture three girls sitting at a table in an authentic Taiwanese resteraunt wrapped up in pink tablecloths! I'm sure we were an interesting sight. The dinner was delicious...white rice with spicy Tofu, bamboo shoots, and boiled dumplings with meat and soup inside. Yum, yum! It was worth the drenching we received to get it! We sat around for a while after eating, waiting for the rain to slack off. When it finally did we headed back home. The girls stopped in a little convenience store to pick up some things and the boys...well...we thought they went on ahead to the house. We quickly realized when we arrived home to a locked door that they were not there, so we sat out in the rain for about fifteen minutes until the guys got back from their stop at the camera shop. Were we ever cold and tired when we finally got inside! It felt good to get into dry clothes! I am learning to give thanks for the little comforts of life...AC, beds to sleep in, washers and dryers, etc. I hear that our team members in Shui Li are learning that life does go on without these comforts!

So that's the latest breaking news from Jiji! Thank you so much for your encouraging emails and the many prayers that are going up in our behalf. It is such a blessing to have family and friends who care enough to let us know that we are thought about and prayed for as we expend our energy and enthusiasm every day!

~Please continue to pray for the Lord's strength to be poured out to us each day. There are many hinderances and difficulties that the evil one would put in our way because he hates, with all his being, our goal and our purpose for being here.

~Pray especially that the kids would be excited and eager to learn English, and that they would be attentive to the character lessons that we teach as well.

~Pray for the TAs we are working with...that we will be living proof to them of the joy and fulfillment that comes from knowing Jesus.

~Pray for our team -
~for wisdom as we plan and teach
~for physical energy, and enthusiasm
~for strength to fight the spiritual warfare that is raging in Taiwan
~for continued fellowship and unity as a team
~for purity and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit that we may be channels of His power, glory, and love into the lives and hearts of the precious Taiwanse people.

Have a blessed day in the Lord!

For His glory,
Rebekah Gilley reporting from Jiji
Phil. 1:20

Wow, another day another week. I am already in my third week of teaching here in Taipei. The time has flown by, but I have been enjoying each minute.

On Friday Joel, Mai, Josiah and I welcomed 4 other team members to Taipei. Dexter Sellin and Daniel Vanderhorst were staging through on their way back to the States, Katrina Nisly is helping us with the Taipei camps, and Rebekah Gilley came in early for a press conference that was held Sunday morning. The rest of the Nantou group arrived Sunday morning a few minutes before 11.

Mr. Morgan Sun, the CEO of the education Division of the King Car foundation had arranged for the press conference. It was a normal PR meeting, several short speeches by important people, as well as from a couple of our team members, and lots of pictures.
Also, it was great to get to see the rest of the team again and to catch up a little on what had been happening with them the last two weeks.

Here in Taipei we are getting a lot of repeat kids at our camps, this is both a good thing and a problem. The problem is that because some of the kids have been here before, they know most of what we are teaching since we teach the same thing each week. However, the relationships that I am building are worth far more than the inconvenience of trying to come up with new ways to teach the same material. It is amazing to talk with the kids and realize how much they love to be with you. I am so glad for the opportunity to work with these kids for more than just a few days; I think it may have impacted me more than it has the kids.

Please keep us in your prayers, as we are carried along by them.

Until next time,

Chase

I love life!! New experiences arise all the time! After visiting the C.K.C. memorial yesterday, I couldn’t quite see how there could be two great adventures in one weekend. Once again the world is full of surprises!

This morning we left the Chen’s apartments here in Taipei after a wonderful refreshing time spent in the Word of God and time spent in prayer. We were heading towards the mysterious place where we were to soon attend a press conference concerning the English Camps we taught and also the coming school year. We then took the MRT (underground subway) to the appointed destination. We had to walk a little bit of the way so for those of you who know me you know how fond I tend to be of such activities!

Today’s weather greatly resembled yesterdays’ forecast of hot, humid,
and very sunny. I’m starting to get use to the humidity and the
constant perspiration it tends to drag along with it! I noticed the other day that I started to where my hair down instead of always up! I “must” be getting used to the weather! On a really humid day you can see the humidity sitting there where ever you look like a sea of fog after a hard rain.

I think what amazes me most is seeing all these Taiwanese women carry an open umbrella in the rain, and sunshine! It’s “very” different!
*giggle* For some reason we were waiting on some team members outside today and I opened up my umbrella ( I carry one if I know I will be outside for long periods of time so as not to get rained upon if it so chooses to do so! ) I received quite the reaction from my team mates.

Some disowned me for the time being, some told me I was starting to fit in, while others thought it was a good time to put it away being as the sun was very much in full array!
So that was my twerky urge for the day!

Now that I am completely off track, I can mention that I was so excited to see the rest of the team at the press conference! Although we’ve been apart for little less then two weeks it feels like at least a month or two! So many different things have happened since then like, camps starting, separate adventures, and even inside jokes! It was a blessing to be reunited with them for a few hours.

Our team here from Taipei was the first to arrive at the press conference. There were just a few reporters in various corners of the conference room waiting to start. Some did start to take some random pictures of us and talk with the leaving team members. Some of the team assistants arrived shortly after that. Of course when the rest of the English teachers came it was a great reunion.

After our entire Hello’s, what’s up, and I miss you’s, we were then channeled into our various seats. A team assistant sat every other seat between us. I was very grateful being as I needed an interrupter in order to understand Mandarin.

Morgan Sun, the president of the educational dept. of King Car then welcomed us publicly to Taiwan and thanked us for our service here. There were several different representatives for the various school districts that attended. They also, in turn welcomed the new teachers, thanked the previous ones, and shared their vision for the learning of English for their schools. It’s amazing to see the zeal that these teachers and representatives have for us coming to their school district. The majority of the conference was in Mandarin so much of it was translated to me.

After the times of sharing there was a time of questions and comments both from the English teachers and reporters. Then it was the final frosting of the event! Picture time!! It will be very interesting to look in the newspaper here tomorrow!

After the blessed event we then were served a wonderful Chinese buffet for lunch provided by King Car, and given a small gift in appreciation.

It was very much a busy morning. We then spent the afternoon with the other team mates, site seeing and shopping in Taipei.

Once again we will be starting up another English Camp this week. I think it will be a little more challenging this week seeing that we will have approx. 16 students attending from last week as well as the revised format of our camp schedule. On top of that we as a team decided that we should switch teaching positions to broaden of teaching skills. I will be teaching the advanced class, Joel will be teaching the intermediate, and Chase will be teaching the beginners. Josiah and our newest team member to Taipei, Katrina will be helping wherever the need is and setting up for various parts of the activities of the week. Even though it will be a long week ahead of us it will again be a good one. I’m very much looking forward to what the Lord will share with me and my team this final week in Taipei.

Mai Lewis

I’ve been stationed here in Jiji now for the past week and I have to say its been a wonderful experience. This week I was teaching the “A” level students. We were only able to cover basic things like “this is a pen, I am a student etc.” I was on my own for the first time it was a bit of a challenge but thankfully the Lord gave me the strength to teach the kids and the week was a great success.

During our large groups I also had a chance to practice my story telling. Telling stories to the children is a blast however the hardest part is learning to slow down and using smaller words.

On Wednesday the press came to watch our presentation on the environment and our talks with the kids regarding proper hygiene. The Lord really blessed the time and seemed to be a great success. They interviewed us here in Jiji and we ended up making the Thursday news.

One of the biggest highlights of my week was meeting Rita. Rita is one of the students that Jeremy was teaching. On the way back from the store one evening to buy materials for our stories she stopped me on the street and invited me to play badminton with her. I told her that I would play for a few minutes but needed to get back. Well the five minutes turned into forty-five minutes and I ended up playing with her mom and brother. At first I was terrible never really playing badminton before I became there entertainment. Every time I would miss they would say “good job” and then laugh. By the time I was drenched head to toe in sweat they were just getting warmed up.

The next evening Rita invited me to go and play with her again. This time I was more prepared and was actually able to play. That evening I also realized why Rita was always down during the day she seemed to have this depression about her. The house in which she lives is the store front for selling incense and offerings for idols. Jeremy was with me that evening and we were invited to have tea with them. It was a great opportunity for us to learn some more Chinese. Actually it was Jeremy who was doing all the talking and I just ended up listening.

Please pray for Rita and her family. Pray that we would be a light to them and that God would bring about a chance for us to share Christ with them. The family wants me to stay in Jiji this year so that I can teach them English and in return learn Chinese.

Yesterday after classes we all went bike riding as a team. The TA’s (Teachers aids) got regular bikes and Jeremy and I got power bicycles. They are the coolest things… you can peddle like you would a normal bike but when you get tired you just turn it on and it peddles for you. When we started out it was nice but it ended up down pouring on all of us. We were all soaked head to toe and the street quickly filled with big puddles. At times it was so intense that we weren’t able to see what was in front of us.

Jeremy and I ended up going on a much longer hike then the others. The powered bikes were great for getting up and down the mountains. The view was amazing and it’s something we hope to do again soon. Unfortunately we don’t have any pictures and thank fully we didn’t bring our camera’s as they would’ve ended up getting ruined. Ruby and I both lost our cell phones due to the water that got in them but were hoping in a week they might dry out and start working again.

Today the Shuili team came over for dinner. It was a real encouragement to see them all and just a great time of fellowship. We will all be heading to Taipei in the morning for a press conference. It will be the first time in two weeks that we will all be together. We will then travel back Sunday evening to Jiji and Shuili for the camps that start on Monday morning.

Thank you all very much for your prayers it’s great to know that you are praying for us. Please continue to pray for the health of us here, and that we would be able to quickly learn the Chinese language.

Writing to you from Jiji

Joshua Smith

Today we finished our third camp, but our first camp as a team. This camp had a bad start, but God in his mercy allowed us to finish the race with success. I had the class that had the lowest level in English. About seventy five percent of my students could not remember their English names or did not have on. After working with the students for about forty minutes half of them remembered their English names. I did get to name three or four students so that was very fun and by the end of this week they were use to their English name. The hard thing about picking names for the Chinese children is they need a name that came be pronounced easily. Then we run into the problem of eight Tinas and five Bills in a group of sixty kids. I did managed to think of not so common names to give to the children.

I spent a lot of time teaching the children in my class how to say "Hi," "How are you doing," "I am fine thank you," and "My name is ________." I spent about half my time teaching the children those very simple words. I also spent sometime covering family: boy, girl, son, daughter, dad, mom, etc. I also taught some very simple commands, but even that was over their head. Thankfully by the end of the camp they knew that when I said sit down they were suppose to sit down. They also knew when I said line up . With children so low in English there is a great language barrier, so when we manage to communicate with hand actions, English and Chinese we get very happy. I have really enjoyed working to communicate with the children it helps their English and I am learning just after words in Chinese.

We have been living at the school we are having the camp at. Living here has been a real adventure. There is no AC so we have become very grateful for the many fans they have in each room. We are sleeping on the floor which is not alot different from the little flat mattresses they give us every where else. King Car( the company that paid for us to come here) gave us three sleeping bags each so we have slept very well. Except for the fact that we keep waking up because some lovely dog is invading the school and the guard keeps chasing it out. We also had to wash all our laundry by hand up until about an hour ago. I didn't mind washing my cloths by had except for the fact that I just did not feel like they were getting clean enough. Morgan Sun(works for King car) just came by and bought us a washing machine so for the next week we will get to enjoy clean cloths. I am really praising the Lord. After teaching children all day I just don't feel like spending an hour washing five pieces of clothing.

You might as well guess what else Morgan Sun brought us. American food, or more correctly McDonald's. Even though we had spend alot of money just yesterday to travel to another city twenty minutes away to get McDonald's we welcomed the food with open arms.After eating rice all week it was great to have something else.

If I were to sum up how I am feeling in one sentence I would say, I am truly grateful God has put me out in the middle of Taiwan to learn to lean fully on Him.

Josephine Papp

I’m sitting here in Shui Li castle as we have come to call it, typing away in the breeze. It’s really nice out here on the balcony, you can see the city lights down below and off on either side there are mountains with the smallest little pin points of light shining from windows. The school we’re at is a new one. It’s only about a year old and is constructed to look more or less like a castle. It’s even got ramparts over the entrance with three different levels. One day after the kids left we found ourselves to be in possession of an abundance of leftover water balloons. Being the nice and mature young people that we are we decided that the best thing to do was to play “storm the castle”. One team would take to the ramparts with balloons and buckets of water. While the other team got ready out in the front yard. With a shout of “One, two, three!” the people on the ground would race to the entrance in order to grab the “magic bottle” and get it back to their base. The problem being that the people up top would hit you with a barrage of balloons and cold water from buckets. If you got hit you had to put the bottle down and go back. The team that held out the longest won. My team didn’t do all that well the first time but the second time we got the bottle in 30 sec. It took the other team 5 min!! ROCK ON TEAM!!!!

But for real…

We are having a great time teaching with the kids. Sure, we don’t have any air-conditioning but we can live with that. God has blessed us with a great group of TAs and the four of us IBLP teachers are really getting along great. We had a chance to get up on the roof of the school tonight and look at the city and just talk as a team. The Lord is really blessing us with a spirit of unity; both with the Americans and the Taiwanese. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for us. The time here at the school has been both exciting and hard. It’s hard because this is the first camp we have done on our own without the help of the veteran team and also because the children’s English is so low. We thought it would be a bit higher and so when it turned out other wise we had to make some changes to the curriculum for the week. On the other side of the coin, it’s been exciting for some of the same reasons. We have been shown by God that we really don’t know what we are doing and that we have to rely on him in all situations. If things had gone perfect from the very start we would be so full of pride in our accomplishments that there is no way the Lord could have used us. But instead we had to go through some times of breaking and trials so that we could have the chance to watch God do amazing things. He really is a great God and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he really does care about a few little ‘ol teachers teaching at a backwoods school in Taiwan.

To think that the God of the universe would take the time to look down from heaven on our team and even take the time to bless us beyond anything we can imagine just blows my brain cells. I don’t understand how my God works. I don’t know how he loves us so much. But I’m sure glad he does and it’s my desire to share that love with the kids in this camp and to be a broken vessel that is ready for my Father’s work.

So as you pray for the team in Taiwan today (and I know you are…right? :- ) ) pray that we would remain broken before our Maker and ready for his work. Pray that the love that he shows us would flow into the lives of the kids at the camp.

So for the team in Taiwan…
This is Daniel Neu saying THANKS FOR PRAYING!!!

Each day is a completely new experience. Here in JiJi our camp starts off at about 8:30 A.M. Josh, Ruby and I teach English from 9:00-12:00 followed by a wonderful hour and a half lunch/rest time. The afternoons usually start off with a “specialized English class” in which we are basically supposed to teach about Family Relations, Nature, and Sanitization. I’m not sure how King Car threw those classes in, but they did. We then have sports or some type of group activities and our camp ends around 4:30. After camp is over we eat dinner and quickly resume lesson planning for the next day. (We are up even later if Josh makes us write updates!-Like now…)

Today we had some reporters show up to watch our class on sanitization. It was definitely an interesting experience. We started by learning words like “throw it away” and “soap”. Then Josh taught us how to thoroughly wash our hands and turn river water into drinking water. The kids thought it was interesting, especially when he drank the river water. I think the class turned out all right, but it felt like we were teaching a class on hygiene instead of English.

I want to end by thanking Jesus, he is our strength, grace, and peace in all we do. We have had so many changes in our schedule this summer and so many stressful situations but we have always been given the grace to overcome our problems. God is responsible for the new team here, he recruited them and he has brought them together. I have never seen a group of people bond as quickly as this new team that just arrived two weeks ago. Praise the name of Jesus!

Please continue to pray for the health of the team and the grace to accept the changes we face each day.

Jeremy Bartlow

Greetings to all,

This is the man with the "severely" broken nose reporting in. I'm not always so good at praying for situations that I read about in e-mails or online updates, but if you did pray for me, thanks a lot! I really needed it. I went in for the operation five days ago now. It didn't require an incision as I'd initially thought, so I just received local anesthesia, and the doctor was able to quickly snap the bones back into place with some medical-looking pliers. I was able to walk out immediately, with my nose carefully immobilized inside and out. The next three days were really difficult trying to breath and swallow using my mouth alone, but God helped me persevere and I'm still around to tell the tale. I'm mostly back to normal now, just being careful not to bump my still fragile nose. I want to give thanks to the Lord for hearing all our prayers and bringing me safely through a trying period.

Looking beyond my nose, God is continuing to bless us here as we're split into four camp teams in Nantou and Taipei. With small teams at each spot and busy, busy days with lots of kids to love, we really need to depend on the Lord for energy, health and hearts full of His love. Please pray for each group of us to be functioning well as a team, for creativity and effectiveness in our small and large group teaching times, and for continuing divine opportunities to share Christ with our Taiwanese teaching partners. It's wonderful to see how God has given many of them a spiritual interest and has opened the way for meaningful conversations with various ones among us.

Hold us in prayer, that we'd be filled with the Holy Spirit, alert to what He's doing. Also, pray for the old team members on their way back to the States. It's hard to say good-bye, and we need the Lord's comfort and strength to forge on to the next stage of our lives. Different ones of us (including myself) will be transitioning out over the next several days, and we're trusting God for brave hearts and safe traveling.

I'll sign off now, to give you a chance to actually pray for us :o), instead of having to read about all the details for too long. Know that you're in our thoughts and prayers.

God bless you all.
Daniel Vanderhorst

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high! May He send you help from the sanctuary, and support you from Zion! (Psalm 20:1-2)

My first week and a half here in Taipei went by way to fast. This place, the people, and especially the food, is amazing. It is so neat to look out the window of the 24th floor of the IBLP office and to see the tightly packed city of Taipei surrounded by mountains in all directions. It is very pretty at night to see the sun set over the mountains or watch a rainstorm blow over the city. The night markets are fun and the stuff you can get to eat is far out( the spicy snails still in the shell are very good).

Last week at English camp I helped Erin with the lower class. It was nice to be able to help the students to learn and to see how the camps are run and to act in the skits(some of the time). The kids are so sweet (most of them) and it was a little hard to say goodbye at the end of classes, but there is no time to think about that as this weeks classes have started and I have a class to teach with Erin as my assistant. She is leaving in a few days so the idea is to let the new people teach and take over and give the "old timers" a break. It also helps us remember to put our trust in the strength of Christ and to look to Him for wisdom. Most of the students in my class this week know even less English than the last class so I have had to change some of my lesson plans to reach their level. It's all good.

All of our TAs are very good to work with and they know their stuff well. It is great to have them helping, and it is fun to get to know some of them as well. Please remember to pray that all of us would be good examples of the love of Christ and that our light would shine through to all those we come in contact with. Some of our TAs have expressed interest in Christianity and may be close to making a decision to follow Him. That would be very sweet.

I am looking forward to what God had for all of us here as we continue to adjust to changes. Remember to pray for those who are going home for a break that they would have safe travails and good time with their family and friends. Pray for those who are going home to stay that the trauma of Taiwan withdrawal will not be overcoming. Last but not least, PLEASE pray for those of us staying for the year. We need it.

In the strength of Christ,
Jo`el

Once again this morning I woke up to the busy sounds of Taipei city. Perhaps they weren't quite as loud as during the week, because of it being Sunday. It's very much a pleasant and unpleasant sound to wake too.

Today was my first full Sunday here in Taipei. Unlike last Sunday morning, this morning I will be spending my morning service in a local church here in Taipei. The church is located in the same Christian School that we have been teaching the English camps out of and to my delight and English speaking church.

When we arrived I was a surprised to see so many different people there. There was about 75-100 people from all different backgrounds. America, Canada, New Zealand and Taiwan. I'm assuming that a good amount of people there worked as English teachers seeing as the Pastor made reference to them several times during the sermon.

The most unique thing I noticed in the service this morning was the songs. We would sing part of the song in English and then the other part in Chinese. Being partial to music and singing I enjoyed it very much.

Yesterday afternoon we had the priveledge of visiting the National Place Museum. It was defiantly a must see place if you ever come to Taiwan. This museum holds many artifacts that were brought over from mainland China to Taiwan during the transfer of Chang Kai Shek.

This afternoon we were also able to go and see Taipei 101. The tallest building in the world. Although we couldn't go inside the tallest part of the building do to renovation, we stood outside like tourists and took pictures!

Yesterday the team from Kimen came to Taipei. They are here waiting to depart for the States.After their stay in Kinmen for so long their taste buds were famished from the lack of American foods. It's amazing what kind of wild goose chase you will go through in order to have a good American hamburger and fries! We traveled on the MRT ( underground subways) changed stations, walked flights of stair, traveled through the sea of Taiwanese people in a loud market and finally came to our destination. A T.G.I.Friday's! The saddest thing about going to an American restaurant is the fact that it's not totally an American restaurant. I was looking at their specialty menu and everything on there had rice. I love the small qwerks here. Needless to say it was a blessed evening.

After dinner some of the team went on the long journey back to our humble abode, and a few of us girls stayed to look around at the surrounding shops. We didn't buy much a few sticky picture and some Japanese candy, but it turned out to be a wonderful time of sharing our faith with the Team assistants. ( Team Assistants are college students from here in Taipei volunteering with King's Car.) One T.A. , Claire was full of questions last night about what Christians believed and if they could do this or that. After the evening was over you could tell that what we had talked about was starting to create more curiosity for her. Please pray for her salvation. Claire is just one of the many T.A. 's we work with and are praying for. There are a few Christian T.A. 's but not alot. Pray for all of us as we witness to them, that God would give us wisdom and discernment as we answer their questions, and share our love for the Lord with them.

Just a few Quick prayer requests in closing, please continue to pray for the team members that will be traveling this week to return to the States. Also please keep Joel, Chase, and myself in your prayers as we will be starting to do camps by ourselves without the assistant of the old team members. We are bless to still have Josiah Witten on our team and are very grateful that he doesn't leave for the United States till mid August. So we are not totally here alone and forlorn. Thank you also for your continual prayer support it has been a blessing!

Mai Lewis

Luke 1:37 " For with God nothing is impossible! "

Greetings from Taipei.

Hi, I have been serving in Taiwan for the past 5 1/2 months. It has been a huge blessing working in the schools of Taiwan.

Presently, I am teaching camps in Taipei with Mai Lewis, Joel Feig, Chase Hiebsch. I am also working with Josiah Whitten and Erin Anders. (They have also been here for the past 5 1/2 months.) They are all great to work with. We are staying pretty busy here in Taipei. This is my second week to be in Taipei. It has been a lot of fun living in a big city, but I don't think I would like it as a permenant residence. (I really miss the mountains of Nantou!)

The Lord has blessed us with great kids to teach. (That does not mean that there are not troublesome ones!) I have been blessed to get to work with the advanced students both weeks. Last week I had the highest group and this week we had to create a class specifically for those in Junior High or really close to that age. The wonderful thing is that all but one of my 8 students, this week, were in my class last week. The girls and I are really getting along good. We have a blast in class. Class does not consist of English lessons, but instead we do a ton of talking. (And a lot of laughing!!!!!!!!) They heard today, that we (teachers) chill and play games in the evenings, and they wanted to come. So, if I am still in Taiwan next Wednesday, they are going to come over and visit.

Yesterday and today we talked about (1)Differences between Taiwan and American and (2)Foreigners.They saw that I am different than the ideal America. They said that I can get a tan, color my hair and get contacts to turn my eyes brown and I could be Taiwanese. I thought it was so funny. One of the girls even said that she wanted to take me home! I am so glad that I will be able to finish out the week with this group.

The Lord has been so faithful in supplying all that we need. Because the majority of our afternoon kids (this week) are repeats from last week, we cannot just copy last week's lessons. It has been stretching to come up with new ideas. Also, a parent said that they wanted the advanced class to be harder. (Yes, that would be my class. We are teaching from materials that are written for 3rd graders with very low English base. Did I mention, that these kids have wonderful English?) All of that combined has been driving me to my knees.

A huge blessing is that, this is the only week that we are teaching in the afternoon. The other weeks we only teach in the mornings. This freedom of schedule, has allowed us to do so much with our TAs. (Teacher Assistants) Last week, I think we were with them every evening (Mon through Sun) One evening, as we were with some of the TAs, one of them started crying. We did not know what had happened. We later found out, that she was so happy to be with us that she did not want to leave. (She scheduled a transfer to a different camp thinking we were going to be transferring. She had transfered simply to be with us.) She said that she had never felt so comfortable around foreigners. I think it is partly because she knows only a little English, yet this is such a testimony of God and what He can do through us.

I am looking forward to finishing my time here in Taiwan, going home for a visit, and coming back to serve with everyone.

Thanks for the prayer support!
Holly Polson

I've only been here a little over a week but already this island and its people have a special place in my heart! Although I've been experiencing so many new things the warm welcome we've received makes it easier to feel right at home.

Today we (the new team) had a lot more responsibility in running the camp (story telling, teaching large group and leading songs) due to Daniel, Melissa, and Emily being gone most of the day. I haven't heard much about Daniel's surgery. He can't talk much and looks pretty worn out, but from what I hear things went well. PTL! Emily and Melissa went along because they needed to get groceries for our pizza party with the kids tomorrow night, as well as miscellaneous items for our team members.

Please pray for the precious children that we have the opportunity to spend time with this summer. We only have three to five days to be a part of their lives. It's not very long but we pray that as we show them Christ's love it will be something they remember for the rest of their lives! Please pray for us, that we would be bright lights here in Taiwan, making the most of each opportunity to share Christ and His love with those around us.

A light to Taiwan,

Katrina Nisly

As I sit here typing and ponder the past few days. I realize just how much I have enjoyed these children from this camp. Today they departed from our midst. Leaving us will a whole new set of kids, as our camps continually flow one right into another. Last night we had a sad farewell party and then the kids slept in tents out doors. Needless to say the teachers loved their air-conditioning indoors. Also one other issue worth noting, today I went in to turn on the water just to wash my hands and no water came out. We have had problems with the water before, and it has always taken a few days to get it back on, this time though it was just turned off for a small amount of time as they had to replace or do some work on a pipe. I am so grateful.

For those of you who have wondered how the Lord has been working in Taiwan and whether we see him working, the answer is a resounding yes, it has been great. Last night I had the privilege of leading a TA to the Lord. Her name is Isis. It was truly amazing as this has been the second person that God has allowed me to show them his gift. But it was not me alone, by far it was not, as God has allowed her to be influenced by many Christians before I ever came into the picture. Oh and incase you are wondering, the first person God allowed me to lead to the Lord happened last week to another girl name Lanie who asked Jesus into her heart. I ask that you would pray for these two souls as they don't have the Christian foundation to lean upon that many of us in America have. Pray that they would seek the Lords face and that we here in Taiwan would see many more opportunities open.

From the heartland of Taiwan.

Dexter Sellin

Today was a good day for those of us on the Taipei team. Our "normal" day of teaching (we've only had two of them) starts at 9:00 am. We leave our rooms about 8:20 for the 20 minute walk to school. The kids begin to show up at 8:45 and continue trickling in till a little after 9. The first thing each morning is a large group assembly with all the kids that are at the camp. It is pretty much a welcome time. About 9:20 we break off into 4 classes. I am working with Christina Moody teaching the advanced students. Joel and Mai are helping with the lower level students. Today we were teaching the character quality of obedience to the kids. They pick up on ideas really quickly. I'm not sure how much of it actually stays with them though. Throughout the morning we have another small group, and two more large groups. We end at 12 for lunch. In the afternoon the whole process starts over with a different group of kids. We have about 40 kids in the morning, and about 20 during the afternoon. It is rather a small number, but it is nice to be able to work with the kids more closely.

Taipei is an amazing city. The streets don't really run in any certain direction, and you may have a 5 or 6 way intersection at a major location in the city. It is kind of confusing, but fun to walk around. There are lots of markets, and shops, and mopeds everywhere. You kind of have to see them to understand just how many there are, pictures don't even convey the whole idea.

Joel, Mai, and I have been in Taipei since Sunday afternoon. I think we are adapting to it quite well, and we are having a good time in the process. It has been great working with the team that was already here, we have learned much, and continue to see God's hand move in many little ways.

Pray that the teaching would continue to go well, that we would not get tired, and that we would see God working in the hearts of some of our Teaching Assistants who seem to be open to the Gospel. The names of the Teaching Assistants are James, Fenglin, Tom, Janet, and Claire. Pray for Fenglin especially, her grandfather is sick and close to death. She had been going to a Mormon church, but has attended a Christian church a few times recently. Pray for her salvation.

From all of us in Taipei, goodnight.

Chase Hiebsch

A day at camp...
The camps have started and this is our first full day, let me tell about what went on today in camp.

To start the day off our team of teachers got together at seven-fifteen and had devotions. We read through some of the Psalms and then went around and shared something out of God's Word that had encouraged us. We also spent some time in prayer.

After that we had breakfast, which I guess I can say is not too bad. They give us tea and a breakfast sandwich that has been close to deep fried. The first time I had one of these sandwiches, which has bacon and egg along with some type of onion on it. Each time I eat one it gets harder to choke down, but I am proud to announce that I did eat it this morning.

The first small group started at nine. Ben, Isaac, and I have a group of seven children to work with. The children are just awesome, their names are Connie, Wendy (Way Ly), Bena, Jack, Angel, Jason, and Michael. We have two teacher assistants (TAs) that translate for us if needed, Paul and Ginger. Ben taught about plurals, Isaac was in charge of the game and I got the wonderful job of getting the children to do mouth exercises.

During large group I helped Emily review the song and "I will's" of ways to obey. I am starting to feel more comfortable in front of the children and I am still learning how to speak slowly enough for the students to understand me. They also told a story about dogs, there was the good dog and the bad dog.

The second small group we reviewed plurals. Then we taught some very simple directions, for example right, left, turn, turn around, and take___step(s). We helped the students learn this by playing a game.

From eleven to twelve they did crafts, but I decided to rest instead as that would be my only free moment of my day. So I clean my room a little and then Ben, Isaac and I had a big discussion on missions. We never did come to a good agreement.

Now we have come to another time of day when we get to eat Chinese food. For lunch we had fried noodles, soup and small tomatoes. I passed the small tomatoes since I was not sure how we are supposed to eat them (you have got to understand sometimes the Chinese eat there food different ways than those of us who are from the States) and I also passed by the soup.

From 1:30 to 3:00 we had large group, I helped with teaching the "I will's" of ways to be responsible and I also tried to be the old grandmother in the story. The story was about a knight who withstood temptation and stayed at the job he was given even when he thought there was a greater need else where.

At three we all got ready and went down to the creek to wade. The wading turned into water fights and then into swimming. Some of the children would call teacher, teacher, and when they had got our full attention they would soak us. One sweet little girl would ask us to give her rides on our backs in the water. After an hour of fun we walked back to the school where we are staying and got cleaned up.

For dinner, we had a barbeque with the children the Chinese way. Near the end the children had me cook the food and then taught me how to figure out when it was done. There were so many unknown foods we had cooked that I did not know what was what, so I picked something that looked okay. Wrong choice, it tasted like seaweed. Later on to my horror I found out that I had just eaten a food I hoped I would never eat because it totally goes against what the Bible says about what to eat and not to eat. I had just eaten a blood cake, yummy!!! We taught the children how to make Smores, they enjoyed them.

At seven thirty we had another large group and they did a skit on a Chinese as a second language class. Those how spoke English got painted on the face with white paint. Since the skit was in Chinese I only caught a little of what was being said and done. Then came our one and only chance to share the gospel to the children, we did a chalk drawing for them. I truly pray that the truth they heard will someday impact their lives.

That ends our day with the children, we still have meetings to do, lessons to plan, and things to write before we can go to bed, but it has been a wonderful day.

Josephine (Jo) Papp

Today we woke up to the sights and sounds of a school in the mountains of Taiwan. It was hard to believe that Sunday was here already. I arrived just yesterday afternoon, so I was still feeling my way around, getting aquainted with the grounds. It was decided that church should be held this morning on a nearby mountaintop, since an English camp was starting later today. The group of teachers hiked up to the top, and enjoyed the view for several minutes before moving to a nearby gazebo. The view was amazingly beautiful, and just reminded me of the incredible greatness of our God. As we all sat down, a little ways away from a Buddist temple, it created the perfect frame for the gathering of the saints. Not only was God being worshiped and magnified here, but I know we put a dent in Satan's realm for a while. The Bible passage we opened to was the book of Philippians. The Lord really let us see how much it pertained to us and our situation here in a foreign country. From, "…Do all things without murmering and diputing…" to, "…My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory…" we saw over and over the truth that God will take care of us, and all we have to do is trust Him.

All to soon, Daniel got a phone call that said that the kids for the camp were coming early. We hustled down to the school to get ready…

I was very impressed at the way the camp was run. Stories, games, and into lessons made for a great learnig environment for the kids. Benjamin, Jo, and I worked together in one of the more advanced groups, trying to learn everyone's names, what they like, and playing games with all of them. We did not do a lot of teaching-more of that will start tomorrow. I am looking forward to the coming days. An awesome opportunity is right here in our laps right now, and we will do all we can to be a positive witness for the Lord Jesus. May all the glory and praise go to Him.

Isaac Mazur

This brings back memories! I've watched the new team arrive here, spend a few days in Taiwan, and everything comes back to me……..this is what I did just six months ago! Since I've lived here a little while I've found out that six months in a foreign country is hardly any time to really understand a country, it's people, it's customs, or it's language (especially the language!). I'm so glad that the new team will be here for a whole year and have the chance to learn the language more, establish long-lasting ministry friendships with Taiwanese people, and know the country and it's people better.

I've really admired already the spirit I've seen in this new team. They have an obvious, outspoken goal of working for Christ and developing ministry opportunities. One of the girls encouraged me when she told me that she had loved everything she'd eaten and wanted to learn how to cook it. Some of us last semester (me included) were a little wary and reluctant to eat the food…kinda funny when we came over here ready for die for Christ, but don't want to eat stinky tofu, blood cakes, or squid! I think that the teaching ministry here in Taiwan will be in good hands when we leave. I am really glad that we, as the old team, have the chance to spend a few days with the new team so that we can get to know them. When I go home and hear updates from Taiwan, I will know the people that write them and who the stories are about. Since I've come to love Taiwan, the teachers, the children, and the country, I'm grateful that those taking my place bring with them an enthusiasm for their work and a love for the people.

They will have an interesting time these next few weeks as they get a crash course on how Taiwan works…how Taiwan schedules work…how they change last minute…and what TIK is. Granted, we only created this acronym the other day…but I think it's pretty good. T is for Taiwan. I is for the Institute (IBLP). K is for King Car (the sponsoring company here). Just add those together and you get TIK. TIK will teach you FLEXIBILITY. They make a schedule, they change the schedule. They modify it. They scrap it altogether. And then they start the process again. It's a wonderful experience, and a harder lesson for some than for others. But it's definitely a feature of life here.

One thing that I've seen just in spending a few days with our new friends is that when you live in Taiwan, in a small English-speaking community, you forget what wide variety of Americans exist back home. We've lived with just a few other native-English speakers all semester. Worked, talked, ate, played with them. We interact a lot with Taiwanese people, but are limited in our selection of Americans. But when all of a sudden you see a new assortment you remember what America is like - different personalities, different backgrounds, different accents (!). I think I can count on a little reverse culture-shock when I go back home on July 21st. For those friends and family of the new teachers...be prepared for funny new behaviors and mindsets when your people come back. Life in Taiwan can change you. I wish the new team the absolute best…I'll be praying for you guys!

Emily Storm

After all of us headed to bed around 9:00pm last night we were all more then ready and willing to hit the sac. When we counted it all up we had been up for nearly 30 hours straight. Thanks to Ben and Jeremy keeping us going and walking everywhere through Nantou we were able to stay awake and go to bed at the proper local time.

We were all up by 9:00 at the latest this morning. Jeremy, Ben, and I went across the street to get breakfast for everyone as well as trying to figure out why our cell phones weren't working. For some reason in Taiwan you need to supply them with a copy of your passport and drivers license in order to get a pre paid phone.

After working that all out we joined the rest of team for breakfast and then went into a time of prayer and devotions for that morning. We read from Romans 14 where it talks about accepting those who may have different standards or convictions then we do, learning to show deference to one another.

Dr. Chen then came to visit with us and we met with him for a couple hours as he gave us an overview of Taiwan, the Government, and how God has opened the door for us to be here. It was encouraging to finally find out more in depth really how God has worked in a miraculous way in allowing us to come and teach English.

We then took the bus into Nantou for lunch. We ate at this stir-fry place where some of the team had there first encounter with chop-sticks. The food was amazing and I think most of us if we had the chance could've stayed there all day. After lunch we did some shopping. We got everything from fruit and vegetables to flip flops for the showers, travel bags and even game tokens (Ask Ginger Jernigan about that if your interested in hearing about it).

After meeting back with the rest of the team Ben, Joel, Chase and I rushed back to pack up our bags as we would be leaving right after dinner that night leave for Yung Le. The taxi ride back was most amusing as we watched the taxi driver swerve in and out of on coming traffic. The people of Taiwan don't really seem to obey the rules of the road you have to be extremely alert to what goes on around you.To be honest I think it's good that none of us drive here.

The team went out for dinner with Morgan Sun to a Chinese Steak House. The director of Nantou's school board was there and expressed his gratefulness in us being here to teach English. His English was excellent and I was amazed to learn that he's only begun learning English over this last 2 years since the teachers first came to Nantou County.

The food at the steak house is not your typical North American steak house. When it came time to order our food the girls sitting next to me went ahead and ordered my dinner. It was quite hilarious as she ordered for both of us thinking that I was her brother. When are main course arrived Jo and I were supposed to have veal but it certainly wasn't anything close to it. We ended up getting the leftovers of the cow that no one in there right minds would want to eat. All that was there were nothing more then a big piece of fat and bones. We tried to be polite and eat it but couldn't… so we resorted to hiding the piece in the bowls we had all stacked on the table. If any of you can have seen Mr. Bean where he is at the restaurant with the steak tar tar you can picture what it might have been like. It actually became quite the thing at the table as we all were laughing hysterically as we kept looking for places to put the meat.

I really enjoyed the day immensely as it gave me a chance to experience more of the Taiwanese culture. I came away last night realizing how much the world doesn't revolve around me. Its was different to walk into my new room in which I will be staying for the next few days to find nothing more then a piece of plywood and a very thin mat to sleep on. I realized that I've been quite spoiled and that what I found to be in my mind bad sleeping conditions was actually high end for the culture in which we are living.

I've also found that I'm you can't take the time to over emphasize on your appearance. Do to the extreme humidity you find yourself ready to take a shower 30 minutes after you've just taken one.

The children here are already growing on us. They are excited to come right up to you and just start playing. I actually had one boy who came and found me then proceed to drag me down to the basket ball court so that I could play with him. They also like to smile for pictures and have fun with camera phones.

It truly is a different way of life here and I'm learning just how little I really know about life and how much more I need to learn. Please continue to pray for all of us as we prepare for the camps on Sunday and also for team unity as we get to know one another.

Joshua Smith

A different perspective on the day!

Day: 2- Ying Pan, Nantou, Taiwan

Goal of the day: getting more acclimated

Our day started off at an hour that would have made any parent proud. By 7am we were up and ready to tackle our first day here. I can't remember the last time I woke up so excited to be in one place. I think we were all excited. But wouldn't you be excited to wake up on the other side of the world??

The differences of the culture here compared to home are infinite. At the same time, the people are completely normal, just like us. These people have to eat, bring home the bread (or rice, here), run errands and live just like we do. Granted, the way they do things are slightly different. But that's what makes this place so fascinating. It's so different, yet the same.

Dr. Chen came down to spend the day with us. He and our team leader, Jeremy, did a thorough "orientation." Dr. Chen explained a lot about Taiwan, how the ministry got started, and the need for Christ here. Did you know that Taiwan's percentage of Christian's is HALF that of China? Not numbers, percent Moving thought, isn't it?

Later, we caught the bus into town, where Dr. Chen treated us to Tapenyaki for lunch. We sat at a counter in the local shopping center's food court and enjoyed soup, rice, and meat and some veggies over rice. Fruit-flavored ice-cream topped it off. Hen hao chi (yummy)!!

The place we went for lunch, being a shopping center, attracted the five of us girls downstairs to browse the foreign store. It was like a normal department store, except that almost everything was written in Chinese. That included the change exchange machine that was placed next to the arcade. At least I thought it was or regular change. That's what the English translation under the Chinese characters said. Since I needed change for the bus anyway, I walked up to the machine, put in my 100NT (about $3US) and waited for ten 10NT coins to fall out. They didn't come, but 20 tokens for the arcade did. Boy, did I feel spacey. I didn't know. But hey, we got a great laugh and a couple games of air hockey out of it.

Morgan Sun arrived that evening to take us to dinner. He gave us a warm welcome, along with the director of education for Nantou county and Dr. Chen. It is so awesome to be a part of the ministry and vision here. God is going to awesome things this year. That reminds me of something my cousin told me before I left, "Let God work in you. Not just through you, let Him work IN you." I can't wait. Bring it on!

Ginger Jernigan

His Strength Is Made Perfect In Our Weakness
What a powerful God we serve! This trip started out for me on Tuesday with a character-building, faith-strengthening situation, but looking back, I stand in awe of the way I have seen God's hand in bringing me to Taiwan.

Upon arriving at the Raleigh Durham airport to begin my journey, I was told by the ticket agents that I had to have paper tickets to board the plane. Due to a mix up (which has still not been totally solved) I never received the necessary paper tickets from my travel coordinator. Even though I had my ticket number and electronic itinerary, and my reservation showed up under my name on the computer, I was still required to present a paper ticket before I could get on the flight. Needless to say, this caused great concern to my parents and me! After many phone calls to the travel agent, the travel coordinator, and the airline, we decided that the best thing to do would be to purchase a whole new ticket and make my way to San Francisco. This required faith and trust in the Lord since we didn't know for sure that I would be able to get from there to Taipei, Taiwan. The airline and the travel agent were confident that once I arrived in San Fran, China Airlines would re-issue my ticket and I would continue on without incident. So with prayer and my family's blessing, I set out for San Fran, not knowing what was going to happen when I got there but confident in the assurance that I serve an omnipotent, omniscient God, who did know, and would work things out for my good and for His glory.

The time spent on the plane was a time of prayer, seeking the Lord, and beseeching Him for His grace and peace that I so badly needed to trust Him with my immediate future! He placed a fine Christian man next to me who noticed me reading my Bible and after hearing my story, encouraged me to trust the Lord, and assured me that he and his family would be praying for me. This was a seemingly small thing, but a tremendous blessing to me; proof that God did indeed know where I was, and was already handling my difficulties in His perfect way. He also allowed me to meet up with another girl on our team, Ginger, who was an incredible blessing to me.

When I arrived in San Francisco I rushed to the China Airlines ticket counter to see what could be done about my situation. Great was my distress to discover that without a paper ticket or a copy of it, they could not, or would not re-issue my ticket. (How I was supposed to have a copy of the ticket, having never seen it, they didn't stop to consider!) The next step was to call my travel coordinator, update her on the situation, and ask her advice. She advised that I stand up to China Airlines, and insist that I had everything I needed (ticket number, itinerary, and confirmation number) to get on the flight. Meanwhile two other team members came along and set out to help me. Unfortunately the answer was still the same - without a paper ticket or a copy, there was no way I was getting on the flight.

Not knowing where to turn I called my parents asking for their advice. At this point, I was thinking I would have to turn around and come home. When I asked my dad for direction, he expressed his feeling that I should go on to Taiwan even if it meant buying a one way ticket out of pocket. So back I went to the ticket counter, prepared to purchase a new ticket if it came to that. It was then that I met Ben, another team member, who went out of his way to deal with China Airlines and eventually gave me the good news that a ticket had been purchased and I was on my way to getting a boarding pass. I don't think I've ever been as excited as when I was when I finally held that boarding pass in my hands! I was going to Taiwan! Throughout the entire thirteen hour flight from San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan my whole heart was going up in praise and thanksgiving to God for His mighty power displayed in getting me on that plane! Praise His name!!

So here I am! This day has been a long one, as our whole team is wiped out due to jet lag from our long flight. In spite of the exhaustion, however, there is joy resounding from the very depths of my being! Never have I seen God's power displayed in such an amazing way, and never have I felt so assuredly that I am right where He wants me to be. This is going to be an incredible year, and I know that God has a great work to accomplish in and through us. All the opposition the devil can put forth cannot quench the power of Christ in the country of Taiwan, or hinder the zeal of His Holy Spirit in our hearts as we seek to minister in His name.

We're here and ready for work (or we will be after a good night's sleep!) but there are still many bridges to cross, and difficulties to conquer. We know that Satan's hindrances will not cease but rather increase as we begin the work we came to do. That involves English camps in the coming weeks, and eventually teaching in the schools. Please pray that the Lord will continue to show Himself mighty and strong in our behalf. Pray that our hearts will be fixed on Him, and that our focus will not wander from the goal. Thank you for your time! May God richly bless you as you seek Him and His kingdom first.

Rebekah Gilley

The sun is glistening off the wet pavement as we drive down the highway on our way to Nantou. Off in the distance the mountains tower, carpeted by deep green trees. Closer to the road tall buildings with signs in a language we do not know are all pressed together in a dense concrete jungle. The sights and smells all around us are freshly new and they assault the senses with a barrage of new and exciting scenes. It's great and the adrenalin is beginning to run!

We've survived our flights from the states and now are well on our way to being part of Taiwan. It's amazing how we have already seen the Lord's hand work for us. Every one of the team was able to make the connecting flight in San Francisco and we even weathered a short scare when one of the girls had trouble getting her tickets processed through and we didn't know if she was going to make the flight or not. All those things are past now and we can use these experiences as an encouragement to keep the faith in the coming days. We have jet lag ahead of us, new foods to try to understand, a language that we cannot use, new places to live, and experiences that we are all looking forward to.

It looks as if our plan right now is to continue on to Nantou and get all settled in. We will spend the rest of the day doing some shopping and getting to know all the teachers better. We ask that you would continue to pray for us here in Taiwan. Two of our team members were not able to get their luggage at the airport so you can pray that the airline is able to get the luggage to them quickly. Also we are going to be attacking jetlag so pray that we are able to sleep when the time comes and be full of energy when not asleep.

Keep your eyes open for more updates as you keep us in your prayers.

Daniel Neu