As I try to collect my thoughts for yet another update it seems my mind keeps coming back to the same theme again and again; that is the incredible need of the people I meet every day. Whether it is the little girl in my class who is desperate for my attention and affection, the shopkeepers who nightly burn their incense and paper money, the junior high kids who have such hopeless looks in their eyes, or the teachers we work with who are so driven to succeed… They all have one thing in common - they need Jesus in their lives.
The startling truth is that we may be the only expression of Him that they will ever see. They may never leave this island and may never meet another follower of Jesus in their lives. It is up to us, as we allow the Savior to live His life through us, to be a demonstration of His love to them; a beacon of light shining in this dark corner of the world that will guide these misguided, blinded people to the One Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! The alternative is not a pleasant one, but its truth is equally as convicting.
As I look around me I am constantly reminded that many of these people I see every day will end up in Hell. What a sobering and saddening thought. It is heart breaking for me to consider this and yet I cannot allow myself to forget. I must live each day with eternity’s values in view; considering with each thought, word, and action whether they will count for Christ and His kingdom’s sake. Am I laying up the treasures in Heaven? Or will the things on which I spend my time and energy amount only to wood, hay, and stubble?
I pray that as I live and work here on Kinmen Island the Holy Spirit will so conform me to His Image that I will be a living, breathing picture of Christ to those I meet every day…that they will see me and be drawn to a love, a peace, a joy that they have not known, but that they so desperately need. Pray for me, and for the whole team here, that the Lord will grant these deepest desires of our hearts as we continue to serve Him in Taiwan!
Rebekah Gilley,
Kinmen, Taiwan
