Well, quite some time has passed since I have had a chance to write the team update! I have been so many places, done so many things, and had so many new experiences that it is hard to know where start!
I guess I’ll start by telling what’s happened since I came to here to the island of Jingmen. Ginger and I arrived here two weeks and two days ago on a Sunday. It was an incredible sight as our plane flew in and we could see the coast of Mainland China in the distance! We were so glad to be here! It is impossible to describe how it feels to finally unpack and settle in somewhere after living out of a suitcase for close to eight weeks! Ginger and I enjoyed settling in and learning our way around Jingmen. We struck out on our own for the first couple days here because the rest of our team, Drew, Lucas, B.J. and Megan had not arrived yet. It has been fun getting to know each other, and learning to work together and live together as a team. God has blessed us and given us a unity that has greatly enhanced our first two weeks together. It’s gonna’ be a good year!
How can I put into a few words the many and varied experiences that have made up my first weeks of teaching English in Jingmen classrooms?! This is a bigger challenge than I’ve undertaken in a while! To encompass my thoughts in one sentence, I guess I could say that I’ve seen my weakness, and God’s never failing strength during this past week as never before. There is just no way that I would have had the courage, the creativity, the enthusiasm, and physical energy to walk into my classrooms for the first time without Him! Amid the whirlwind of kids, teachers, curriculum, meetings, names, etc. one thing stands sure, and that is the confidence I have that my Savior’s presence is constantly by my side! I am so grateful for that assurance, and the peace that it brings!
I am teaching at five schools, and four of them are very small, so I am enjoying getting to know some of the kids. They are so welcoming and friendly! It is a great way to start a teaching day to get out of the car and be surrounded by sweet little faces all cheering my arrival, and wanting to help me carry my things. Don’t get me wrong…not every student is this way, but it’s nice to have some who are! There have been some classes that have challenged me more than others, but I’m still alive to tell the story! I still can’t believe I’m actually here, and teaching in Taiwan! I thank God every day for bringing me here and giving me the awesome opportunity to have an impact on the lives of these children!
Please continue to pray for our teams in Taiwan, and especially for our team here in Jingmen. There is a great spiritual darkness here, and the people are in such bondage to their fear of the supernatural world. They know that there are powers bigger then they are, but they need to see the light and truth of God’s Word to know that HE is bigger and more powerful than all of their superstitious traditions. We have a burden to spread that light, and proclaim His truth, and we covet your prayers as we seek to do this. What joy it brings to know that Christ has already won the victory, and He will see His will carried out! It is exciting to serve Him and see what He is going to do here in the lives of the people of Jingmen!
For the Jingmen team,
Rebekah Gilley
Phil. 1:20
