August 2004 Archives

Summer camps are officially over, which in turn means that the summer has come to an end. I think my favorite summer memory (If I had to pick only one) was when all the students that were living at the hotel with us came and visited with me when I was sick. They were really sweet! I shall miss the students in Matsu.

Upon my arrival here to Nantou I decided that I would try and make this as homey as possible for the rest of my team. So the following day was spent in cleaning house. I was enjoying it quite well actually until a little lizard decided to announce its presence. I must have scared him with my loud squeak because he didn't stay long enough to visit. Needless to say at the end of the day I felt like part of the cobwebs were gone and everything had a place. I like that feeling! I guess that teaching won't start for the Nantou and Jiji team till next week. We're waiting on the rest of the new and old members to arrive! That means I have a whole week to clean!! Yeah!! (I take joy in many things!)

On a serious note, I do have to say that I will miss being with the T.A.'s. The ones that are Christians have such a thirst to know the Lord more. It's been a good challenge for me to see their eagerness to learn. It also reminds me of the heritage I have from growing up in a Christian home. Please continue to pray for them, as many of them are going to be starting college again. Hopefully we will be able to get together with some of them and encourage/disciple them.

Thank you for all your prayers, knowing that you are praying has really encouraged and ministered to me as well as the rest of the team.

Please continue to pray for the health of the team. We are slowly recovering. *smile* Also pray for us as we adjust to our new lives and homes for the year.

With much appreciation,
Mai Lewis

Hello! and welcome to Ying Pan, my school location for the year. I am now in Nantou County, at the school which will be my home for this next year. I arrived yesterday evening, after flying into Taipei from Matsu Island, and taking the bus from Taipei to Nantou city.

The Matsu camp, which we just completed last Friday (8/27/04), was different from any other camp that I had worked this year. There were several reasons for this; the first was that we were teaching Jr. High students instead of elementary school kids. This created a whole new set of challenges, the most difficult being getting the kids to break out of their shells and participate.

The second reason why Matsu was different was that the focus of the week was not just an English camp, but a drama English camp. This caused quite a few challenges as well; as the week progressed, it became increasingly tough to teach both English and drama. Matsu also differed from the other camps in the fact that it was held on the island of Matsu, not on Taiwan. We were delayed in flying off the island because of weather. In the past weather didn't matter because we always traveled by ground.

Wednesday of last week, a typhoon came through Matsu as well. This was rather fun because I had never been through a typhoon, I was tucked cozily away in a nice, comfortable hotel, and we didn't have to teach that day. Instead we played games with some of our students who were staying in the same hotel as we were.

Saturday morning we toured some of Matsu Island. Matsu has been a key military stronghold in the past, and is still considered an important military base (8,000 troops are stationed there). As a result there are quite a few interesting fortifications formerly used by the military which we were able to visit. One of these was a man made cavern; it had been hollowed out of solid granite using blasting powder and picks, shovels and drills. It could hold about 100 small landing craft inside, and opened right into the ocean. I was able to go inside for a ways; it was pretty incredible to envision all the work that had gone into the place. It was pretty fascinating.

We flew out of Matsu on Saturday, but we had to take a later flight than was originally planned because of the weather. From Taipei Isaac, Mai, and I said goodbye to the rest of our Matsu team, and took the bus to Nantou. Joel and Daniel were still there from the camp that was held in Ying Pan this week. Right now there are five of us here in Ying Pan, but Daniel will be going to Jiji next week, and another girl, Christina Moody, will be joining us here.

That will round out our teaching team here for the year.

From Ying Pan,
Chase

Hi again everyone! I am having a nice relaxing Wednesday afternoon here at the school in Ying Pan, lazing around and watching the rain come down. The school now has a river running through the outside hall and a lake in front of the basketball court. Our English camp and press conference were canceled for today on account of all the rain we received in the last two days. Bummer. You can only imagine the extreme disappointment our team is feeling at missing out on a whole day of rambunctious kids, and actually having time to catch up on sleep.

Our camp here is going very well. I am here with Daniel, Rebekah, and three TAs, Lanie, Annie, and Claire. The first day we were concerned we might have to tie and gag a few kids for the remainder of the week, but after a few forceful talks with some rather disruptive kids, the class has settled down. We only have 18-20 students all together, so our small group time involves a lot of improvising. The good part is that there is more time for personal instruction with the students. The average English level of the students here is low, so we have to do most of the teaching though translation. The TAs we have are very good to work with so we have had no problems making ourselves understood to the students.

This is our last week of English camps before the school semester starts. Pray for us that we will remain focused on what we have to do right now, and that we will be ready to teach in the schools. Also, pray for safety for those who will be traveling to Taiwan and through the country to the different schools to teach, and that all their bags would come with them. We are all excited to begin the next step in what the Lord has called each one of us to do and we need His help to accomplish those goals.

If you have the time, try to send us a line of two. You have no idea what it means for us to know that there are many people who are holding us up before the throne of God in prayer and we would like to know you personally. Praise the Lord for this amazing opportunity that He has given to us. I have already been changed for life with the few experiences I have had in the last month and a half, and I am looking forward to the rest of the year.

Trusting in Jesus,

Jo'el

I stood there, looking at the twenty one middle schoolers seated in their desks in front of me. They waited patiently for me to say something. After all, I was the teacher and class had just started.

I wondered what to say and how to say it. Not that I don't know how to start my class, the question went deeper than that. It was more like how do I lead these kids? I don't want to just get up there and teach English. I want to LEAD my class. What's the difference? How do I make that connection? The objective of teaching is to bridge the gap between where one is and where they could be academically, right? So build the bridge and LEAD them across. It sounds so simple, although engineering such a bridge is easier said than done.

On the lighter side, Matzu has been full of challenges and suprises. The students, although requiring much more motivation than previous camps (usually elemenary aged), have been enjoyable to teach. It's fun to take teaching and the way you teach to a deeper level. The kids are very lovable, and love to talk with you. They want to know everything about you! The best thing has been that they try to doing it in English. It's great practice for them, and a delight for us.

The week's schedule was packed. I missed having extra time with the kids.　They love it when you just talk or hang out with them. It means a LOT.　Little did I know that the weather was to fix that...

About to be windblown in Matsu,
Ginger Jernigan

We are on the last camp for the summer and what a wonderful challenge this has been. We are on the first day and have four wonderful days left. The Lord has supplied a great opportunity for us to work with about 120 high school children on a little island called Matsu, in a small school. Matsu is a military base and there are about eight thousand soldiers stationed here.Two of the children here are from Main Land China. We were very surprised to hear that but thrilled that we have this opportunity to work with the Chinese people as well as the Taiwanese. Let me tell you about our day.

The kids started arriving at eight and at eight-thirty we decided to teach the students a great Chinese song. We love that song as it is the only Chinese we know, the song is all about killing a chicken and we can manage to have a lot of fun with it. So Ben worked really hard to teach the song with Ginger, Chase, and I trying to get the students to get motivated and into the song. We tried everything, like jumping off the stage, look really, really silly, getting in among kids and a hundred and one other things but nothing seemed work. The students are just way too cool to do something clean and fun.

Testing went okay except for when everything was done and we were trying to sort the groups and get the same level children in the same groups. The TA’s were telling us to hurry up because the students were waiting for us to divide them up so they could go eat in their classrooms. Honestly, Ben tried to hold them off while I finished sorting, but I felt the pressure and I wonder if I could have sorted them better if I had not had someone standing over my head. Thankfully everything looks like the students got sorted very evenly. We were all very surprised to find that these junior high students had very low English if not almost no English.

I had class A and in that group I have sixteen students. During lunch things were dead silent and during team time which is when we get to know each other, they were still very quiet. I again tried everything but almost to no avail, things got so bad that I would almost pat myself on the back when I got one student to smile. The A class does not understand or know much English. To help you understand where they are at let me tell you that they do not know how to respond to what is your name?

But guess what when I look back over this very difficult and had day I seeit has a success. You may ask why, but my simple answer is God is my strength and I can also do all things through Christ which strengthen me. I am very grateful for this opportunity to work with these kids and the teacher assistants.

Jo Papp
Matsu

We have one more week of camps to go!

Although I’ve enjoyed the last seven weeks, I’m looking forward with great expectation to settling in at my station for the year! I feel like my belongings are scattered across Taiwan (even though they’re only in three different locations) and I’ll be very happy when they are all in one place. The whole idea of being a pilgrim and sojourner has taken on new meaning!

This next week Ben, Chase, Mai, Ginger, Jo, Isaac, and I will be in Matsu and Daniel, Jo’el, and Rebekah will be at Ying Pan. The camp in Ying Pan will be similar to the other camps we’ve been doing this summer. The Matsu camp will be unlike anything that we’ve done so far. We’ll be teaching 171 kids that range in age from 13-16. We spent several hours this afternoon going over the schedule and trying to get a general idea of what our week “might” be like. However, after the last several weeks here in Taiwan I know that our schedule will change at least once during the week!

Some of our team members are still struggling with poor health. Please pray that the Lord would restore health and strength. Also pray that we will have wisdom, creativity, and plenty of enthusiasm this next week! We’re all feeling tired and definitely realize that we can’t do this on our own! Thanks to all of you who come along beside us in prayer. We couldn’t do this without your support!

Katrina Nisly

Signing off from Shuangsi

For today’s update Daniel is going to introduce the whole team to you all.

Ladies and Gentlemen, these are the people who have been doing the camps.

Josh Smith:
I’m going to start off with Josh because without him this whole thing would not be possible. His abilities for web design and his commitment to the team have been some of the biggest encouragements to me on this trip. I think this web page is a good example of the kind of guy Josh has become. I’ve known Josh for about 2 years now and I have to say that I’ve been super impressed with the strides he has taken and with how much he has matured over the years. He is loyal, friendly, works hard and I thank the Lord he is on this trip. He has really added a neat element to this team.

If I had to say it in one word, I would pick…”faithful”

Chase Hiebsch:
Wow, what can I say about Chase? He’s one of my closest friends and had been dynamic to this team. Here this last week he did a bang up job as team leader and shows himself over and over again to be wiser than his years. The way he can step back, look at a situation, size it up, and then make a good observation about it amazes me. I know I can always count on him to really give a lot of thought to any advice for which I ask.

If I had to pick one word I would pick…”wisdom”

Rebekah Gilley:
Rebekah is the sweet southern belle of the team. You can always count on her to have an encouraging outlook on life and to figure out the good in every situation. If things get hard and I’m at my wits end she is always there saying “you’re doing a great job! Just keep the faith and it’ll work out” I think of her as something of a counselor and moderator for the team. She’s always trying to get people to be happy and look on the bright side. Along with that comes a lot of energy and love. That love is not only for the team but for the kids as well and you can really see the way she cares for them.

If I had to put it short I would say “joyful”

Jo’el Feig:
Oh, he is the man, “Mr. Adventure bring it on” himself. If I you ever need something short notice and Jo’el can do it then he will without a doubt. I can’t count the number of time during my camps when I asked him to do something short notice and I could trust that it would happen. Jo’el is the kind of guy you can trust with a job. He’ll make it happen one way or the other. That really is a quality that I want to learn and he’s doing a awesome job showing me with his example.

One way to say it is…”Responsible”

Benjamin Jacob:
The hyper-active leader. This guy is one big, stinking, huge ball of energy wrapped up in a shell of energy. Hard day? No problem. Tired? Not a worry. Ready to kill the kids on your team if they don’t stop shooting tapioca balls out of their nose? He’s the guy for you. He will make you smile and get the blood flowing again. Ben has this way of making me feel energized to work in Taiwan when Taiwan is wearing me out. When I don’t think I have the fuel to do any more he somehow pulls the last string and busts out with a happy smile and a funny game or song. He’s the teams energizer bunny…he keeps going and going and going and going.

I think I would call that…”Excited”

Ginger Jernigan:
The resident surfer. Ginger has been something of my wall here in Taiwan. I really like bouncing ideas off of her to see what comes back. I can count on her to give an honest answer to anything no matter what. But more importantly I can count on her to get the focus back on God if things start to go astray. Ginger is really pointed on her reason for being here. She’s here to serve the Lord and the people of Taiwan. She doesn’t let things get in the way of that. To me her example has kept me on track more than once. Her commitment to the work is something that I really admire. That and she’s one of the most unselfish people I know. You need something? No problem.

It could be wrapped up in “commitment”

Mai Lewis
Mommy. Here is a woman who really has a heart for the team. She spends a lot of her time giving of herself and in serving the people around her. Anywhere from cooking, to giving hair cuts when she would rather be in bed, you can see in Mai that deep and unselfish love that completely absorbs those around her. She observes people watching for signs of trouble so that she can jump right in and do her best to make things right again. I get the feeling that a lot of the girls on the trip really look up to her as someone they can talk to about whatever it is girls need to talk about. They trust her and love her and she loves them right back.

I would call it…”aware”

Isaac Mazur:
I really like Isaac. This guy is solid and I hate to think of taking this trip without him. The guy is so creative. He and I have gotten to work together on several occasions with chalk talks. He really brings a neat perspective to the way I think. He sees a problem or a situation and has the coolest way of coming up with a new solution to fix it. Not jsut with people. Give the guy a broken machine and he’ll figure something out to make it work. Isaac is also very tireless and is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. He just keeps pounding away even when the going gets tough. But he doesn’t keep pounding away in the same spot over and over again. He will step back and look at the situation and try his very hardest to come up with something new.

I think of it as “creativity”

Katrina Nisly:
Miss, Honest as the Day is Long. I really appreciate Katrina because she is so real. She can have fun and be serious all at the same time. It’s really fun to watch. The other thing about her that is really nice is that I can count on her to tell it like it is. If I have a question about something and I ask her advice on it I know that the answer she gives me will be well thought out, simple, and right to the point. She has a way of spelling things out in a way I can understand. For someone to really make things simple for me is an accomplishment that makes climbing Mt. Everest seem like nothing. I really like Katrina and her simple honesty.

She is very “real”

Josephine Papp
She’s like my sister. She keeps me out of trouble and helps me to remember why I’m hear. She laughs at my jokes (poor thing) and is ready to do anything new and weird. This girl has a lot of courage in her walk with the Lord. She is willing to go and do no matter the cost. I see in her someone who looks at problems and difficulties and just laughs at them. It’s almost as if she says, “with God on my side I’m going to win, so bring it on!” I think of her like one of the soldiers in Pickett’s charge. She knows it’s going to be hard and that some people are going to get killed. But she trusts her leaders and her God and is right there behind them no matter what. Thanks Jo for the patch!

Thanks for your “courage”

So this is the team that I’ve been with for the last 5 or so weeks. A great group of people. I would go with them anywhere and do anything. I know that God has put together the perfect team for this trip and I know that he has the people here that he wants. I’m looking forward to spending a year with all these people and getting to know them all better. Please be sure to e-mail us all and get to know the team yourself. It’s such an encouragement to hear from people who care.

So for now, this is Daniel with light2taiwan.

God bless!

By God’s grace we at Shuangsi have made it through yet another day of camp! As we near the end of this camp, I can once again look back over the week and stand in awe of the mighty things the Lord has done…not only as we have taught, loved, and made friends with the children, but also in my own personal relationship with Him. Each camp so far has been so different! As we have changed locations, teams, TAs, kids, schedules, living quarters, (you name it…it’s been changed at some point or another!) I am constantly being reminded of my need to develop flexibility! (Not setting my affections on things that can be changed by God or others) Every time I start feeling good about my detachment and ability to change routes easily I am faced with yet another change and find myself coming to the Lord to place it all in His hands all over again! Just one of the many lessons He has been teaching me in the two months that I have been here.

Since tomorrow is the last day of this camp, today was a day to relax, have fun, and play with the kids. No English lessons! We took them to the river and played water games, water balloons, and went river wading. Have you ever taken 50 kids wading in a river full of water that is brown with oil, grime, and other things we don’t care to mention?! It is an experience! Some of our team, observing the condition of the water and watched while the rest of us played and had a blast with the kids in the water! It was only after I climbed back up the bank, wet, soggy, and smelly that they kindly pointed out that the pipe where the water was running into the river was spitting out dirt, brown water, and “chunks” of “stuff”…enough said. Oh well…I had fun, and the kids had fun…What else matters?! There is always the option of a long, hot shower at the end of a busy day! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Our kids this week have been great! There are always those who seem destined to strengthen our patience, teaching, and problem solving abilities but even those have been, for the most part, controllable this week. The kids in my class have really been excited and eager to learn. I have an older boy who has taken his place as our team leader and is great at motivating, directing, and encouraging the others on the team to participate with enthusiasm. There are a couple kids here this week that have really stolen my heart…I have them at every camp, even though I try not to play favorites! I can’t get to know them all in just one short week, so I like to choose one or two and pour my free time into loving and making friends with them. It makes for a hard good bye at the end of the week, but many good memories to look back on from each camp that I have taught.

As far as prayer requests go, please pray for our team here in Shuangsi. It seems to us that we have really been under attack from the enemy this week, just in little hindrances and things that discourage and distract from the goal of meeting the needs of the kids here. There have been some health issues…several of us have been sick, and a couple have been to the doctor this week. Pray that the Lord will bless us with health and strength and will revive us physically and spiritually as we finish yet another camp and start what will be our last camp for the summer. We have also sensed some tension with our TAs. We think that this camp has gone great…a few minor hitches, but an incredibly smooth week overall when it comes to teaching in small and large groups. The TAs seem to have a different opinion and insist that certain things are not going well…certain teams are not going smoothly, certain kids are behaving terribly…etc. Please pray that we will end strong and that everyone, including our TAs, will feel good about the week and the things we have accomplished.

God is still on His throne, and we are rejoicing in the peace that that assurance brings! We have had some pretty special team prayer meetings that have encouraged our spirits and united our hearts before God. He is answering prayer! Keep lifting us up! It is such a blessing to feel the love and prayers of our faithful family and friends from across the globe!

Signing off from Shuangsi,

Rebekah Gilley
Phil. 1:20

This has been one interesting camp…To tell you the truth, it has not been going as planned, but, oh well. Today was pretty fun, I am getting over a cold, Daniel and I did a chalk talk today, I helped teach the concept of “Love” to our students, and not much else. The chalk talk went very well, better than I had hoped. Actually, I did not have any paper left for this chalk drawing, so the camp director here found me something that we thought would work. Last night, I went to set it all up and found that the chalk wouldn’t stick to the paper…not good. So I tried something completely different than any other chalk talk I had done. Three colors and lots of black light chalk. Daniel told a great story, and all the kids actually sat still and listened. (Look for pictures on my blog) Wow. Praise the Lord for an amazing time. I am so grateful for all the provision.

Please pray for our situation here with the TA’s. We are having some misunderstandings with the teaching staff. Nothing new really, everyone has their own ideas how things should happen. The key to it all would be to just show the love of Christ. Pray that no one would react in the wrong way and that lives would be changed.

Isaac Mazur

My day was different from most… it started out with about 30 minutes of English class then Isaac and I being ushered to Taipei to go see the doctor. For some reason when you just ask to see a regular doctor they make a big deal and decide to take us to the hospital.

As we were sitting in the car we realized that if we didn’t die before we got to the hospital that we would most certainly die by the hand of our driver. The roads in Taiwan are extremely narrow and there is nothing like trying to pass big concrete trucks while going head to head with on coming traffic at 60mph.

Things were fine as we both got our prescriptions and left… the hospital was a really good eye opener to me in really seeing the people of Taiwan… young and old… sick and really sick. The quality of care here is probably the best in the world. They have centers for everything you can think of and it’s quick and efficient.

We then had the privilege of stopping at Costco for lunch and had about 15 minutes to look around and buy the essentials… M&M’s and root beer. I had the feeling of being a little boy being let loose and a huge candy store. Seeing American food and the breads, pies and just well…good food was amazing.

We then took the train back and joined the rest of the team. I look forward to teaching tomorrow and hopefully the kids will enjoy it too.

Please pray for our health … we are being fed a lot of food but the food isn’t sustaining us. We need proper vitamins, fiber, nutrition, etc… and that the rest we have would make up for everything else.

The thing I will close with is the how amazing it is to be able to name someone. On Monday I was able to give out a bunch of names to the kids I was testing… Sophia, Matthew, Jeff, Brendon, Luke, and Micah were all names that I gave out in a period of about 30 minutes. The last set of names was fitting for the guys I roomed with back at HQ and today it was funny to see them shining through the kids.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement…

Joshua Smith
Shuangsi County

In all my short travels here in Taiwan I've found that one thing still amazes me no matter where I am. It's the beauty of Taiwan in all its different forms. Life in a very busy state as it was in Taipei to the quiet nature sounds heard in the mountains.

As you know my team is in Shaungshi for the next week. It’s been a huge blessing to be living inside a village with food stands, restaurants, stores, and of course drink stands. It is quite a switch over from Taichung County, although I miss the countryside. On a clear night you could see the stars shining above in the sky. I’m so glad and thankful for being able to see them here as well. Oh the small pleasures of life!

We started our first day of camp today. This camp has approximately 50 students from two different schools. I was privileged to test the students this morning to find out their English levels. Most of the students are at a very very basic level. Some didn’t have English names. I do have to say that Josh gets the highest honor for giving out English names. I was blessed to name a little girl this morning I named her Nikki. I think she liked here name. I hope so! It’s a good name.

Isaac and I are teaching the highest class this week without the help of a team assistant. That will be a new adventure for the two of us, but it went very well today. Altogether we have 7 students in our class and I am looking forward to getting to know them more. One of the girls seems to laugh a lot. I think that everything must be bringing her bundles of joy! The funny thought is that, I was very much like her when I was her age. Poor Isaac will have to make do with two giggly girls! One small and the other big! I wonder who that could be?

Please continue to pray that the Lord would restore health into out teams.Thank you so much for all your support!

May the Lord truly bless you to over flowing!

Mai Lewis ~ Luke 1:37

It has been a while since I’ve written, so let me fill you in a little on where I’ve been. You probably have heard some from Ginger and Ben, but I’ll give you the rundown from my perspective.

The last two weeks I was in Alishan, Taiwan, a little village buried
way up in the mountains. The scenery there was some of the most incredible I’ve ever seen. The school we were teaching at was perched on the side of a mountain about 3500 feet above see level (approx.). From the school you could look down our valley, in one direction there was a city which you could see on a clear day, and in the other direction there were numerous peaks all around.

It was also incredible to watch the clouds; they came from all directions and all levels. One day the clouds would come in over you, like I was used to back home. On another day however I would watch as the clouds built and grew below me, then marched up the mountain to engulf our school, and me, in their feathery whiteness. It usually rained at least once a day as well, but I got used to that pretty quick.

The kids in Alishan were great, not without energy or a mischievous streak, but they were fun to work with and teach. One thing different about Alishan was the use of American Born Chinese college students to teach the camps. Ben, Ginger, and I gave 11 of these ABC’s a basic course in how to teach a summer English camp. That was on the first Saturday and Sunday we were there. On Monday we began the week of camps. The ABC’s took to the teaching with great enthusiasm, and they pulled together as a team. Both weeks of camps went very well, and were successful in reaching the goals set for them.

This past Friday (8/13/04) Ben, Ginger, and I left Alishan to meet up with part of our team that had been teaching in Taichung for the past two weeks. We spent the night at their school in Taichung County, and then headed for our new location Saturday morning. After a 2.5 hour train ride we arrived in the town of Schuan Shi (I’m not sure of the spelling). We spent the evening getting settled into our living quarters, eating dinner, and shopping for various needs.

Today was filled with preparation for camp tomorrow, planning, cleaning, creating, and all the other little details that go along with getting ready for an English camp. We had dinner at a restaurant/flower garden that is famous for its Ginger flowers. Almost every dish we ate included some kind of Ginger flower in it. Soup, vegetables, and other dishes were cooked with ginger flowers, as well as ginger flower tea, and ginger flower ice cream. All in all in was a very gingery evening.

Please pray for our team as we begin teaching camp tomorrow, for each of our team members as we strive to live in such a way as to stand out from the crowd. Pray for our TA’s, that they would notice the way we live and ask us about the reason behind our standards and commitments, and pray that we would stay rested and ready to teach.

The team members here are Chase Hiebsch (Team leader), Daniel Neu, Josh Smith, Isaac Mazur, Rebekah Gilley, Katrina Nisly, and Mai Lewis.
With that I bid you goodnight from Shuangsi.

Chase Hiebsch

Shuangsi
Taipei County Taiwan,

Rain, rain, go away. I want to go outside to play (no surprise there). I hope you do not mind reading about Taichung again, because it just so happens to be the best place in the world for me to be in for the last two weeks, and I just love to tell everyone about it! As our second week here in Taichung is coming to a close, I am a little sad to see it go. I have had a wonderful time here getting to know the students and working with different TAs. It is so quiet and peaceful up here on the mountain (except for when the local bug population gets together for a sing-along outside my window) that sometimes I think I could live here in Taiwan for a year. Kind of ironic, don’t you think? Taiwan is very beautiful. Please come and visit me.

The English camp here is ending very well. We have had a more relaxed schedule in terms of actual English instruction in the classroom as opposed to fun and games with the students (which, I might add, can be very taxing on the teacher!!). The rain has limited us somewhat as to what we can do as a whole group but then we get to spend time in small group!! Oh, joy! Small group is my favorite time of the camp because I love my class and get to spend quality time with them. I have a great time teaching my class probably because I have such good kids. Some of my poor fellow teachers (as in I am sympathetic to their troubles not in doubt of their teaching ability) have had a somewhat trying week with some, shall we say, rambunctious / in need of discipline, children. However, over all it has been great.

Wednesday King Car arranged for the students to go out on a community service project about a 5 min walk from the school. If you go to the photo gallery under Taichung, we were at the washed-out bridge. The children bagged trash and swept up everything in sight. We left rebuilding the bridge to someone with more time to burn.

Friday we are looking forward to hosting the team from Alishan for the night and then on Saturday we all leave. Most of us will be going to Taipei County, and the rest, including me, will go to Haulien. I am looking forward to going some place new again. Please pray that we will be able to adjust to new people, places, things, or ideas. Pray for the children we will be impacting that we will be able to clearly shine the Light of Christ in to as many hearts as possible. Team unity is always a good thing, and also pray for our teams that we would stay in good health.

From the heart of Taiwan way to late at night, oh wait, never mind… now its morning… anyway, God bless you as you remember the ministry in Taiwan, and if you get a chance, send us an email.

Jo’el, Joeleo, teacher, if I could spell my Chinese name I would.

Greetings from Taichung, Taiwan!

Wow! What a day we've had! After almost two weeks of camps here in Taichung, we are all just about worn to a frazzle. We begin every day asking the Lord for an extra measure of His grace and strength to teach for another day. Amazingly, no matter how tired we are, He always supplies the strength necessary to press on in His name!

Actually, the camps here have gone well. We have had some minor difficulties, but over all we have had precious kids, outstanding TAs, and good weather. God has blessed! Today we taught English to our kids in small groups from 9:00am until 10:00. Then they went off to do "community service" consisting of cleaning up the school grounds, and the nearby roads. After lunch we got a long break while they watched a movie! Yeah! We all took a nap which helped us to be ready for our next small group from 3:00pm - 4:00. Another day of camp was over...time for seven exhausted American English teachers to crash! But wait...there was still the end-of-the-day routine to go through!

We have gotten used to the end-of-the-day routine by now...all the teams are assigned different areas of the school to clean, and they rush of with great zeal to complete their assignments. Then they all line up and the TAs keep score of team points that the kids earn by being on time, winning games, good behavior, etc. After that the kids count to three in Chinese - "Yi, er, san," and in unison call out to the seven of us American teachers, "Thank you teacher! Goodbye teacher!" Then they all run to catch their various rides home. Some are picked up by their parents, and some ride off piled in the back of a very interesting Taiwanese-style pick up truck. (Pictures of this coming soon to the gallery!)

Only two more days left of this camp...I will miss these kids so much! I will also miss this beautiful location! The mountains are so awe-inspiring! Every time I look up and see them I am reminded of Psalm 121 - "I will lift up my eyes unto the hills; from whence cometh my help? My help cometh from the Lord which made Heaven and earth..." I am so grateful for His help, and for His presence with me each and every day! In my triumphs, and in my difficulties, He reminds me constantly that without Him I can do nothing. I must depend on Him and look to Him alone for strength, joy, peace, and the power to do His will. I know that He has so much to teach me during this year, and I am excited and awed to see Him already using my experiences here to draw me closer to Himself! What will He teach me tomorrow? The next day? The next week? I can't wait to find out! That's another day, another lesson, another update! Until then, may the Lord bless you as He is blessing us - with His abundant joy, His sustaining grace, and His overwhelming love! May His will be done in each of our lives is my prayer!

For His glory,
Rebekah Gilley
Phil. 1:20

Our character quality for the day was obedience. In our first small group I taught our class three simplified “keys” of obedience. This is how it went:

Katrina: “The first key to obedience is ‘I will do it right away.’” (I explain what “doing it right away” means and Tim translates for me.)
Katrina: “Now, I want you to repeat after me.” (Tim translates and I get ready to point to the words on the board)
Katrina: “I will”
Class: “I will”
Katrina: “do it”
Class: “do it”
Katrina: “right away!”
Class: “right away!”
Katrina: “I will do it right away!”
Class: “I will do it right away!”
Katrina: “Again!” (Tim translates)
Katrina: “I will do it right away!”
Class: “I will do it right away!”

We continue to repeat it several times with simple motions until I feel that most of the 15 kids are saying the phrase. Then we go on and follow this pattern for learning the other two “I wills” of obedience. “I will do it with a smile” and “I will do it all the way.” I then had them right these out in their notebooks. After I felt that they were familiar with the sound as well as the way the words looked I divided them up into two teams to play a game. I wrote out two sets of the “I wills” and cut them apart. On the count of three we dropped the pieces in the middle of each team and then watched to see which team could put the words in order the fastest. The kids here have a strong sense of competition so it was quite the sight to see them scramble to get those words in order! We had them play this several times to see if they could beat their previous times of completion. I don’t know how much of this lesson they will remember but I guess the most important thing is that they had fun!

In our second small group Tim taught the kids how to make a more complicated paper airplane. We did this to show them that it’s important to listen carefully and “obey” each instruction that they are given in order for their plane to turn out. After every child was the proud owner of a paper airplane we went up to the balcony for the first flight. Before we let them fly their planes I had them repeat several times in English what they were holding in their hands, “Paper airplane! Paper airplane!”

I don’t know how useful “paper airplane” is in a child’s vocabulary but I figured they should know in English what they just made. Sometimes it is so hard to know what kind of vocabulary should be taught, especially when they practically don’t know any English. But we decided that this week we would focus on having fun with the kids instead of feeling like we needed to drill, drill, and drill some more. Most of these kids have experienced a lot of trauma in the past few weeks and they’re not really interested in going to an English camp that feels like school. So we’re trying to have fun with them and show them that we love them and want to be their friends.

Please pray that the Lord would give us wisdom to know what to teach and a large dose of creativity so that the kids can remember this camp as a fun time with the “American teachers.”

Katrina, writing from Taichung

Taichung County is very different then teaching in Taipei city. I'm enjoying teaching here very much! There’s just something about being in the middle of the mountains in Taiwan! Teaching here has really challenged my teaching ability! In a good way!
The children I taught in Taipei had a much high level of English ability then those of the children here. I'm learning to simplify the simplest things to teach them.

The children here are so precious. They try very hard to teach all of us Chinese and they are very patience and forgiving. It’s actually helped me work on what little Chinese I already know! My new phrase is “Wait one minute.” it’s been wonderful! Especially when the students are all yelling “Teacher, teacher!” and you’re the only teacher insight. It’s been great to be able to play with the children here. (In Taipei it was in the middle of the city and there wasn’t much room to chase and play with the kids. Although we did play basketball with them after lunch almost everyday. ) I love watching them play with each other , they get a little confused when you decide to join in and you know what they are doing and how to play.

Katrina and I are teaching a class of 14 students at a level B class. Which I’m sure to you makes no sense whatsoever! Our class’s English level is very, very basic. Last week I had the great opportunity to teach them “Hello teacher” when I said “Hello students”. They have it down pat now! Most of the children know there basic colors like red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and pink. Some of them knew what black, white were, but they had a bit of a ruff time getting the color brown. I sent them on a scavenger hunt to find colors. They seemed to like it really well. I enjoy reaching them along with Katrina.

It’s a wonderful blessing to have the same children as we had last week. Please continue to pray for Katrina and I (and our T.A. Tim) as we teach this week, along with the other teachers here. I think that our fatigue from the other camps is starting to catch up with us all. Please pray that God would continue to give us energy as we serve Him here, and that the Lord would keep all of us in good health.

The other night Joel had a granola bar that he had brought from America. He was ever so gracious and sharing! I’ve never missed a granola bar before! Oh the small pleasures of life we tend to over look! So here is the challenge for the day! Find something small that you are blessed and thankful for! I’m discovering small blessings are what makes a day full of joy! The Lord works hard to see us smile so don’t forget to thank Him when you do!

Mai Lewis ~ Luke 1:37 "...for with God nothing is impossible."

It truly is amazing to see yet again another week pass bye. The Lord has been working in many ways over these last few weeks. I think the biggest thing that we all have to face is the matter of having our schedules and teams changed at the last minute. It’s been non-stop since we’ve got here and it appears there is no end in site as to when there will be as some may call it a normal schedule.

I’ve been here in Taichung for this past week and I have to say first of all it’s been great actually having a mattress to sleep on. The area in which we are teaching is in the county and has suffered much loss from the recent typhoon. It’s different seeing first hand the affects that it has on the community then just through my normal vision of CNN.

We were actually able to travel into Taichung yesterday to spend the day shopping and enjoying some of the pleasures we are accustomed to in America. Now I’m not a big fan of McDonalds nor would I recommend it to anyone however it is like heaven here in Taiwan. Then to top it all off a cup of coffee at Starbucks. We had a great chance to visit all the stands at the night market… my main goal was finding a cell phone as my last one was destroyed by the water that seeped in. With a new cell phone and joining with the others we spent today just resting and even getting some Computer games in over the network.

This evening we watched a Q&A from Ravi Zacharias and it became more of a challenge to us to study more fervently the WORD of God. We are constantly in the light of a magnifying glass as the TA's (Teaching Assistants) watch what we do and say.

Please pray that God would allow us to be sold out to Him and that we would be a living testimony of the peace and assurance that is only found in Him. We come into this next week once again in need of God to fill us with his strength and Holy Spirit to teach these kids.

Thank you for your prayers and your encouragement. Please pray for the camps and the TA’s as well as those who will be traveling here soon to join the team. Pray that God would bring unity and harmony amongst the team and for physical strength to carry on.

Joshua Smith
Taichung County

It would appear that I am the update man this week… :- )

That’s ok. Ask my friends and they’ll tell you how much I like to talk.

Life here in Taichung county isn’t quite like anything I’ve ever come across in my short miniscule 21 years of life. It’s as if my mind can’t really figure out how to process all the different experiences that I’ve had so far. When we first got here my first impression of the place was a mix of sympathy and wide eyed amazement. I found myself glued to the window as we drove along the rough switchbacks. All around me I saw signs of the typhoon that had come through a few weeks back. I’ve been told that they got over 5 meters of rain in less than a weeks time. This caused huge mudslides all over the various mountain ranges in Taiwan. In Taichung county it is really bad. All around me I could see the scars that had been ripped into the sides of mountains by the mudslides. Entire trees had been snapped in half and were laying in stacks all along these strips. We continued to drive along and passed a bridge that was probably 20 or more feet above the river. You could still see the remnants of tree roots stuck between the metal beams. It was an incredible visual proof of just how high the water had gotten during the floods. I’ve been told that thousands were displaced and lived in camps for a while. Most of the kids that we have at our school had their homes damaged in one way or the other. It really gives you a heart for the people when you can see what they have been through.

On the other hand…Taichung county is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. We are in the middle of a valley surrounded by dark lush green mountains on every side. The other day some of the guys and I went climbing for several hours. You can check the photo gallery for what we found. It truly is amazing the way God has made this place. The one thing that blows my mind is the wild flowers. I’ve been into landscaping for a while and love flowers. Here in Taichung county you can actually find wild “impatiens” growing in the mountains. It’s the weirdest thing to see a flower that I pay good money for in America growing completely wild here. If I want all I have to do is go and dig some up and I’m all set.

Then there are the children. They give you the impression of being a type of cute little monster. They are friendly, loving, kind, gracious, fun, happy, but at the same time they can be stubborn, obnoxious, dishonest, unhappy and annoying. But that’s all kids I guess. I can just hear my mom laughing as she reads this. I can only imagine what I was like as a child. All in all, the kids here are really good and I love working with them. They get into the songs, stories, lessons, and games but at the same time they will sit and be quiet when it’s time to rest. They are good at putting up with us when we try to communicate and they are really good at helping us with our Chinese when we need it. (really good actually).

Then there are the teachers and TAs. We have one of the coolest teams here in Taichung. Everyone knows their job and is good at it. The TAs really work hard and give it all for the kids. They have to always be there with them and don’t get much time off. But they still have a smile and keep a pretty good attitude. My team of King car teachers are doing great. Hats off to them for a great first week. I’m looking forward to the next one.

This weekend will be nice. We got a chance to go to Taichung city for some fun and shopping. Tomorrow we will rest and plan for the next week. Pray for us as we prepare to work with the same group of kids for the second week in a row. We have to get new stories, games, activities, and crafts all ready to go. With your prayers and the Lord’s help I’m sure it will all be good. So keep praying for us here in Taichung County.

Daniel Neu

I have some of the oddest conversations in Taiwan. Let me share a few with you…

(Disclaimer…some of the names have been changed because these people know where I sleep)

Me: Good Morning
Billy: Morning
Me: How’s it going
Billy: I can’t find my fingers…
Me: Really? This happen a lot?
Billy: Yeah, every once in a while.

Gertrude: I think this is a snail
Me: No I’m pretty sure it’s just a pot
Gertrude: No, it’s a snail
Me: If you say so but it looks like a pot to me
Gertrude: Let’s go find out
Me: OK
We walk over and look
Me: Oh…it’s an egg…

Me: Why are you walking backwards, playing a guitar, and making eyes at that guy?
Phil: I don’t know…cus it’s cool?

So this just gives you an idea of what life is like in Taichung. I think maybe it’s the mountain air. Or maybe something in the water…I’m not sure. Don’t get me wrong, things are going well here and we are having a blast. Good teams, teachers, kids, and TAs. Put them all together and what do you get? A good camp.

For the most part the kids here are the ones that attend the school during the year. So that makes things a little simpler as well as faster. They already know a lot of the rules and for the most part I think they are pretty good. Of course I had the two little boys who were trying to brutally murder each other in their class room but 2 kids out of 60 aren’t bad. :- ) at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

Yesterday we had a chalk talk where I got to present the Gospel to the kids and TAs. Isaac did a great job on the picture and you could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet. It was such a God thing to have over 60 people in that small room and not hear a sound. Pray that much fruit would come from that talk. I think some of the TAs here are really interested in learning more about God. So pray for them.

Pray that we would be able to understand what the kids want and need so that they can learn and have fun.

Other than that nothing much else to say.

Daniel Neu

Life at Alishan...

I never thought I was one to have my head in the clouds. I never pictured myself driving on mountain switchbacks in fog so thick you could barely see twenty feet in front of you. And never did I know that re-uniting with a bed and pillow would feel so heavenly. Being here changed all of that.

For the next two weeks, Ben, Chase, and I are in Alishan. It’s nestled high up in the mountains. Every afternoon we watch as the clouds roll in at our feet, give way to rain, dissipate, then clear up for the next morning. Yes, that’s what I meant by having our heads in the clouds.

We’ll be staying here to train and aid a group of eleven ABC’s (American-Born Chinese) in running the English camps we’ve been teaching for the past three weeks. It’s interesting to see- or put- other people through the same scenarios we just encountered. So far the group is doing really well. They’ve jumped into lesson planning and getting involved with the kids. They’ve really excited us with their willingness to get down into teaching. It’s not a task for the weak.

That’s the latest from Alishan. Please continue to pray for all of us. Opportunities are opening up, and exciting things are going on here. Pray that God will do mighty and impossible things in and through us. He will do so much if we’ll just ask. So ask away!

Ginger Jernigan
Alishan, Taiwan

Hey everyone! The last week of English camp in Taipei went very well. Chase, Katrina, Josiah, Mai, and I taught 29 kids, half of whom were repeats from last week. The kids we had were very special and I was able to make some very special friendships with some of them. The English level of most of the students was good, so we were able to talk with them and build good relationships with many of them. Three of my students have been texting/calling me almost continually for the last two days. I hope that God will be able to use the seeds that have been planted to add to His kingdom.

On Friday, Chase and Josiah left at 10 in the morning, so the rest of us had to pull together and do the finishing activities by ourselves. As soon as we finished having lunch with the kids, we were taken to our apartments where we picked up our stuff, loaded in to a van, drove to Jiji, and then on to Shuili to spent the night. We had a great time with the teams from Taipei, Jiji, and Shuili all together (for the most part) along with a bunch of great TAs. We had a blast together, and the time went way to fast. The next morning we all were sent to our various camps.
I am a part of the Taichung team composing of: Daniel, Josh, Rebekah, Katrina, Isaac, Joel, and Mai. After a short bus ride and lunch at McDonald's we piled into several cars and drove to the school here in Taichung. The school is on a mountainside surrounded by mountains, fruit groves, clouds, gardens, and lizards. We have running water (huge blessing), actual beds (big plus), and INTERNET! Sorry, some things are valued differently here. Most of the teams cell phones do not have a signal unless suspended out over the second story balcony, except for mine which works just fine everywhere.

This area was hit very hard by the typhoon so there is a lot of damage to the roads vegetation here. This is the first time that King Car has worked with school in Taichung County so we have a big responsibility to at least try to look like we know what we are doing. Most of the children we will be teaching will know little to no English so it could be very interesting for the next two weeks as we will be working with the same kids two weeks in a row. Um, please pray for us and if you could remember to pray for us that would be great and if I didn't mention it before, PRAY FOR US!!!!! Actually, I think it will be great. However, we can always use all the prayer you can give. Pray for the children that they would cooperate and for our TAs that they would see Christ shining out through us, and for all the officials that we are working with that they would like what they see and that this door would be opened even wider.
God bless you all from the heart of Taiwan,

Jo'el