God is so awesome -He never let me down..
I had four classes today.
First- I had no clue what to teach. The teacher told me what pages, but reciting and repeating is...not my style of teaching. I like to make my students THINK. And now that I'm teaching jr. high, I can manage to do things like that in class. So while I'm praying for ideas, my turn to teach comes. Ok, I was NOT going to let myself get walked over by thoughts of uncertainty. God didn't plan for me to fail this morning. I got close to a "silent moment" (VERY scary thing when you're a teacher), and decided not to let it last long. Ideas finally came, and the rest of class flowed after that.
2nd- This was funny. I had to teach a song. It did NOT give me an ego boost having to sing it (oh my word, it was so..not a fun song). I prayed again, this time that I would stop laughing by the time we finished listening to it and I had to teach it.
3rd- I don't know what happened, but that was one of the best classes I've taught in a LONG time. It flowed. It completely rocked.
4th- Last, but not least. I thought it had all but crashed itself. The students would NOT talk...at all- then, to top it off, the inspector and princple decided to walk in and grace the students with a speech during class. I spent almost the entire class time trying to get the kids to TALK. Then we sang another song.~ No comment.~ Walking out, I'd felt like that class was near impossible to teach, and was trying to figure out ways to fix what I thought were "problems." Then I talked with one of the students- who's also a good friend of ours. He said he'd never seen his classmates so interested in English, and that class was fun today. He gave me some helpful insight as to why they were so quiet, then thanked me for giving them a fun class.
That last part really made my day. It wasn't really becuase they thought English class was fun today. It was that God gave me success- even when I didn't realize it- and showed me how to change things that needed work to make them work better. So now, I have lots of good ideas for that class- and they involve getting students more involved and speaking LOTS of English....:-) So we'll see what happens.
I'm so glad God wants us to succeed. That makes Him an awesome Boss to work for.
Enjoying my job,
Ginger, Kinmen team
February 2005 Archives
I sit here in front of my laptop with a very blank screen in front of me and, most likely, a very blank look on my face to match. So much has happened that I could write about, and yet I don’t even know where to begin. I was informed by several of my teammates in Hong Kong that they actually read my updates. The thought that people might actually take time to read what I write is, honestly, quite horrifying and suddenly I’m sitting here wishing that I’d written lousier updates so people wouldn’t read them and then I wouldn’t have to worry about writing something good every time. I think I’ll just tell you about some of the funny things that have happened recently- maybe that will give you a glimpse into the randomocity of life for us weirdos in Taiwan…
The fun started when my group of nine of us foreign teachers got to Hong Kong. We went through customs and all and traipsed through the airport to find our bus. We went the wrong way several times and met some nice people- I think the helpful chap with the McDonalds bag was my favorite. Eventually Tony got the brilliant idea to ask someone where we were supposed to go. They directed us to the hotel bus curb, which was really simple to find- all you had to do was go all the way through the airport, turn after you see all the taxis, go past several sinister looking guards, and keep walking for about three and a half minutes after you stopped seeing other human beings walking around.
Once we found the place we all went outside to get on the bus. Well the guy is like “you can’t get on the bus- you have to go upstairs to exchange the tickets!” We’re all like Huh? We have tickets- can’t we just get on? But noooo… So Tony takes all of our tickets and heads upstairs. We’re sitting outside waiting next to the sign that says “no waiting” watching the people walk by and get right on the bus when finally Tony comes back wearing this enormous sticker on his chest. We all bust up laughing and he begins to recount his little adventure. He went upstairs, found the desk, and got our tickets exchanged or whatever he was supposed to be doing. The lady evidently asked him which hotel we were staying at. She writes the name of our hotel on this enormous rectangular sticker with the bus company’s name on it, and then she’s like “come closer”. Tony leans over and she sticks this HUGE sticker on his chest. Then she tells him that he must wear the sticker on his chest so the bus driver recognizes him. Furthermore, his eight friends must stand close to him so the bus driver knows who we are too.
Well, while he was upstairs the midnight bus left so we have to wait for the last bus, which comes at 12:30. So we all sit down to wait and laugh at Tony. This bus drives up and we all go stand close to it so they know we’re there. Tony walks up to the window and is flashing his sticker, pointing to it, jumping up and down…yeah, I’m sure if you know Tony you can imagine… The bus driver seems to think this is quite hilarious also, but he begins to get slightly annoyed when Tony begins to interfere with his nap and gets out of the bus to tell us that we can’t leave yet cause we have to wait for the “staff” (whoever that is). A second bus pulls up behind the first one and we all go up to that one, thinking maybe that was it, but the guy is like “No, no, no- not yet!” So we’re standing in between the two busses- us “eight friends” are all standing close to Tony and Tony is making sure everyone can see his sticker quite clearly. Every other person who walks out the door gets to board the bus right away while we’re standing there watching in dismay as our first bus up and drives off! We were all about to scream and run after it but finally the “staff” announced that NOW we could get on the bus. I think they just got a kick out of torturing us- we were certainly their entertainment for the evening…
Less than a week later, my team was teaching at an elementary school about two hours into the mountains of Nantou. I had been looking forward to teaching at this school, as two of my good friends had taught at the school and told me a lot about it. It was a really nice school, and everything was going according to plan- we started out with a large group with the whole school (only about 80-some students). Mai and I were singing to a few of the students during the break when Chase comes up to me with a rather odd look on his face. He informs me that it’s my birthday and the school bought me a cake so I needed to act surprised when they showed up with it. Well, the surprised part should be easy to do… At first I just kind of stood there staring at him, thinking this was some sort of joke. Soon I realized that he was being serious- and sure enough, after the next class several teachers came in with a big cake with a “?” candle on the top. Kind of what I was thinking too- “?” I acted surprised (of course, I WAS surprised but not quite in the way they were expecting) and they were so excited that they knew it was my birthday. I even got a big bouquet of flowers… Later we were mulling over how in the world they got the idea that it was my birthday- I mean, it was February 25th and my birthday is July 19th. Finally we figured out that it was the Hualien Christina’s birthday and there had been some mix-up about which Christina’s birthday it was. Oh well- the cake was really good…
Tuesdays always crack me up because not only do I have this totally wild and crazy 6th grade class, but during breaks all these kids come to recite their English dialog for me so I can sign their paper. I guess it’s a requirement for all the kids in the school or something. Anyway the funny part is that some of these kids that come to me for help can barely read Chinese, much less English. I have this one little guy who especially cracks me up- he must be in first or second grade. Every break he comes up to my desk, sidles up to me, sticks his paper in front of my face, and whispers “bu hui nien” (which basically means he can’t recite it). So then I say the dialog and he “repeats after me”. Normally, however, what I say and what he says are vastly different. What starts out as “I’m going to the Principal’s office” ends up sounding more like “Ima going…” and then he forgets the rest and inserts his own jibberish until he feels like it should be about time for the sentence to end. Sometimes I just have to laugh... another perk of Tuesdays is my wild 6th grade class. Those kids are naughty beyond all reason but I love them anyway. I guess I just love mischievous boys… There’s this one boy who almost always greets me with “hey man” except for the one time he realized I was not a man and said “hey woman” instead. They’re a little harder to teach and I’ve even “as-close-to-yelling-as-Christina-gets” at them a couple of times, but it’s still probably my favorite class. Anyway, this update is getting really long so I shall sign off for now. Keep us in your prayers, especially as those of us in Nantou and Jiji prepare for two back to back teachers conferences on March 19th and 25th. Thanks!!
Congratulations, you’ve officially reached the end of my update. Good for you! If you scrolled down to read the end first so you could see who wrote this and decide if you wanted to read it or not, THAT’S CHEATING so you don’t get any good baby stickers…
Christina “Kai Shi” Moody
Proud member of the Ying Pan team
“… I’ve grown so much its crazy. I have dreams now, hopes, goals, and I’m still getting more… It’s funny I’m even closer to my dad now.” That was a good part of the conversation that took place between me and on of my best friends last night.
We both have been going through as we would call it trials well I guess every day is a trial for me. I find myself asking Lord will I make you the most important thing in my life today or am I going to put myself or someone else above you. Will I focus on how things are not going for me or am I going to give these things to you.
In these last 3 months God has really been hitting the importance of relationships. I originally wished it was only in one area but it’s been affecting many areas of my life.
The first biggest change has been between my dad and I. Having conflicts before I left from home with him just over 3 ½ years ago are finally being worked out between us. I really have a much better respect and understanding of my dad then I’ve ever had before. I guess in a sense I don’t even see him as my dad anymore but as one of my closest friends. I go to him now not because I have to but because I want to.
The next area and much more important has been my relationship with the Lord. You know I have to be honest it was very hard hearing clearly from Him. Over these past few months I’ve ultimately had no where to go other then to God. You know the first thing he starts doing is showing you areas in your life that you need to confess and make right with Him. I’ve learned in a new way that sin really prevents you from hearing clearly from God. Due to God’s hatred of sin he can’t live in a heart that is in disobedience to Him. The most amazing thing has been in the fact that it’s not me that’s brought about that change but Christ.
The next area was expecting God to work within my timetable. You know I’ve never been someone who’s enjoyed waiting. In fact I don’t think any of us want to wait for the things we want most. Waiting upon God and his timing has probably been the thing that has brought about these other changes in so my life. I’ve learned that although waiting is difficult it’s what God would have me to do. The biggest comfort comes in not being alone. During these trials we have feelings that were alone. God’s asked us to do this huge thing and we have to face it all by ourselves. But really we’re not alone. In fact in the times where I don’t think I can make it one more minute, one more hour, one more day that’s when God comes and reminds me that He’s right there with me. It doesn’t change the fact that you still have to wait but you have someone who’s with you and won’t leave you.
So really all of these trials are really turning out to be blessings and in the end I know that even the things God is having me wait upon Him for will bring about a wonderful blessing.
Please continue to pray for all of us here in Taiwan. We really are unable to carry on the work without your prayers. Thank you for those of you who pray for us faithfully even every day. During the times we need it most its of great comfort to know we’re not alone.
Being reminded every day that God is good… all the time.
Hualien, Taiwan
Joshua Smith
Well, I was looking forward to writing this update, because I was planning to introduce the new people on the Kinmen team. But now I’m sick, and pretty much the whole team has been sick all week, and this update is late, so I’m just going to keep things short. :-)
I’ll give you all a praise that my brother Samuel shared at a church gathering Friday night. On his way to school Wednesday morning, he felt pretty bad and asked for prayers that he would be able to teach his four classes; and before starting his first class, he prayed again. His four classes went beautifully, he felt great, and he had no trouble juggling (whenever he’s tired or sick, his juggling usually goes way downhill)!
Just as soon as he got back from classes, though, he immediately felt terrible again, and spent the rest of the day in bed. On Thursday, he still felt bad, but decided to try praying again and see if he could teach his classes anyway. Sure enough, he felt just fine while teaching! and ... felt terrible again just as soon as he finished. :-)Seriously, though, it’s always nice to know that it was definitely God getting you through your classes. :-)
Okay, until next time, I shall think about how I want to introduce the new team members... Megan has suggested “Sick 1, Sick 2, and One From Michigan,” but I heartily disapprove such state comparing…unless it makes Texas come out on top. ;-P
God bless each of you, and thank you for your prayers!
~BJ, for the Kinmen team
Almost two weeks have past since we resumed teaching after the winter break. It felt good to get back into the mix of things with fresh energy and new ideas. A Couple high lights and changes are that I am now teaching a pair of third and fourth grade classes. At least for the first two weeks these kids have been a dream to work with. No, they are not better behaved than the other little munchkins I work with in the fifth and six grades, but the majority don’t know any English words, all they know is a little bit about the alphabet.
So armed with the fine literary classic Hop on Pop we began to learn English the right way. I was so pleased today when they finally were able to read two words: Up, Pup. While I still don’t think they fully understood why pup was up, or how he got up, or why he wanted to be up in the first place, they were still pleased with themselves, and I was quite proud of them.
Thank you for your continued prayers I will be traveling to Taipei this weekend for a meeting with King Car. We will discuss recruiting for next year. Pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers.
We have the possibility for adding another two counties next year, and we will need at least 22 new people to fill all the locations. This is humanly impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Blessings thank you for your prayers
Benjamin Jacob
Today, we got to experience a little bit of Chinese culture. Our sponsor school, Hoping Elementary, hosted a Lantern Festival Party for the JiJi and Nantou Teams. (Lantern Festival marks the end of a month long celebration of Chinese New Year. The celebration of Chinese New Year begins on the 16th day of the last month of the year and ends the 15th day of the New Year with a celebration of Yuan Hsiao Chie. A tradition of carrying lanterns to parks and temples has caused it, in English, to be called the Lantern Festival.)
We started the afternoon off having coffee with the two Principals that our teams work closely with. After chatting for a while, we set off to a nearby flower field, where we enjoyed an hour of photographing and picking flowers. (Side note: Flowers have nothing to do with the Lantern Festival; it was simply a fun thing to do.) After the flower field, we walked to a nearby outdoor restaurant, where we took more pictures and enjoyed a nice meal. After the meal, we all made a lantern. Because it is the year of the rooster, the DIY (do it yourself) lanterns were made to look like roosters. We took more pictures, and then walked through town with our rooster lanterns. Because some of us teach here in JiJi, we were able to see many of our students as we walked around town. The last place we stopped was a small night market and a small park that has been decorated for the celebration of Chinese New Year for almost 3 weeks. The night market and the park were filled with people. Vendors were selling drinks, jewelry, toys, and all sorts of foods. In the park, there were displays that businesses and different groups had made to promote the holiday. Many of the displays were hand made and carried the theme of “The Year of the Rooster”. Yes, our little town of JiJi seems at times small and boring, it was a lot of fun to get to spend the afternoon and evening with both the Nantou team and some of our Chinese friends.
Xin Nian Kuaile,
(Happy New Year)
Holly Polson
JiJi Taiwan
If you would like to see pictures of our outing, I will be posting them on my personal blog over the next few days. To read more about the Lantern Festival and to see some really neat pictures go to: http://www.index-china.com/index-english/Lantern.html
It is now the second week of the spring semester here in Taiwan. So far I am enjoying it much more than last week. It was a little bit more difficult getting back to teaching than I anticipated that it would be. I think I’m over the hump now, and classes are going well.
This morning I taught 5 classes before noon, which is normal for me on Tuesdays. Starting this semester though, my first class is a story time with the lower grades (grades 1-4, 2 classes per grade, 1 class each week). Today I had 1st grade, it was a blast. After reading through a story book twice, I played a game with the kids for the last twenty minutes of class. The students loved it, and I had a great time myself. Working with these kids is one of the best things around.
Throughout the afternoon I was able to take it easy back at the dorm. It’s nice to have a relaxed afternoon once in a while. I did get the dishes done too….
For dinner Mai made lasagna, the first time I’ve had it since leaving home almost 8 months ago. It was really good, (I had thirds).
Tomorrow I have Chinese lessons in the afternoon, then a trip to Jiji with my team to celebrate the lantern festival.
Friday after school I’m heading to Hualien with a couple other guys to visit one of the team members out there.
As you pray for us, please remember the Ying Pan and Jiji teams in this coming month. We have back to back teacher conferences next month (March 19th and 26th), and they are always challenging to prepare for. Christina has been doing a wonderful job of getting a schedule outlined for us, and now we will be moving on to the session preparing.
Please pray for endurance and health for each of us as well. Several of my team mates have been sick recently, and it is really hard to teach when you don’t feel well.
I think that’s about it…
From Nantou,
Chase Hiebsch
This is Christine Jefferies. I have just joined the Kinmen team for winter/spring semester. I was here for a month last year, and I am really glad to be back. My life was not the same after seeing the needs of Kinmen. It felt almost cruel to leave. The people here are beautiful, friendly, kind. It's painful to see them in darkness. As I walk down the narrow, winding streets, passing temples for their many gods, I am reminded what my purpose is in being here. Teaching Engish is just the open door that God has provided. The goal is to let God's light shine through me to the people of this land. It seems I need to be reminded of this (my true focus) far too many times.
The team here is wonderful. We all get along so incredibly well. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the people here are supposed to be here. God chose each one of us individually to be on this little island off the coast of China. My sister and I are sharing a room, and it is sooooo awesome! Being in our room gives me a little taste of home.
For these next few months God has personally given me some verses to meditate on: "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:2-5).
Those have been such encouraging words already. Another verse he has given me is "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." That comforts me to know that I don't have to trust in myself, that God wants to lead me in the way of holiness. I had the opportunity to witness to a TA at winter camp. We were going through a Chinese museum which had articles and artifacts of their religious beliefs. Penny (the TA) was explaining to me their meaning and purpose. As she spoke God told me to ask her a question. "Penny, what do you personally believe?" She looked at me a little suprised, and said, "My family believes in the gods, and worships them at the right times." I wasn't sure what to say to this and we moved on. Soon after God told me to ask the same question again "Penny, what do you personally believe?" this time she said "I believe in myself, whatever I want to do, all I have to do is believe that I can do it" We continued on, looking at the many rather beautiful carvings and work of her people. She then asked me "Well, what do you believe?" My heart gave a leap! (I have learned, that unless someone asks me directly what I believe I do not share unless God tells me otherwise) I had been waiting for her to ask me that exact question. Now I knew that God wanted me to share the gospel with her. For the rest of the museum tour I explained the way to salvation. She was very intrested, and listened with rapt attention. When I was finished, she had a questioning, thoughtful look, but she didn't say anything. I so wanted her to ask questions, to be hungry for the word of God. But then I heard God tell me that she was ready to hear but not ready to accept. I am beginning to realize that God using me to plant the seeds of faith in Christ is just as exciting as God using me to harvest them, and they are equally important jobs.
Thank you for your time and intrest in the ministry here in Taiwan, I pray that the Lord will bless you for the energy you all put forth.
Loving HIM- Christine
My first week back in Taiwan was really nice. I pretty much had easy classes and simple days so it really was a nice transition back into the swing of things. Nothing really new to report from the world of teaching.
Except this I guess. I had this really great chance to talk to a girl at my Thursday school. I haven’t gotten to know a lot of the kids at my Thursday school because I have around 200 - 250 students that I actually teach in the course of 5 classes. Remembering their names is hard enough and I just haven’t gotten to know them. I was sitting outside during the lunch break watching the kids play ball when this girl comes and sits next to me. I start to practice some of my Chinese on her (which always makes them laugh) and she surprises me by starting to use some English. In fact, her English was really good. So with my Chinese and her English we talked for about an hour! It was great. Then the bell rang and she had to go inside. At that point I realized I didn’t get her name. Gaaa!!! I’m so stupid sometimes. Oh well, guess I’ll get it this week.
I spent the first part of my weekend alone at the house. That was nice. I don’t get that much seeing as I live with 5 other people. But most of my team headed off to Hong Kong for the weekend and Holly went to Taipei to see a friend. So I had the house all to myself. Ahh that was nice. I need that more often.
I then went up to Nantou to spend the weekend with the other team and hang out with some of the TAs who came down to visit. That was very cool and great! I won at Dutch Blitz even though I sat at 90+ for 4 hands before I broke 100. As long as I won though I didn’t care.
The rest of my team got home a little while ago. I can know this because the house is not quiet anymore. Oh well, guess I’ll get off and finish my lesson plans for next week.
Before I go I’ll leave you with one thought. If it’s called Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese; why don’t they call it Koreanese and Cambodianese?
Daniel
Ji Ji
"Hey Shawn, by the way, you have an update due tomorrow," was one of the last things I heard from Ginger before I went to bed Wednesday night...
"An update?" I thought to myself, "I don't even remember reading the updates that others have put on the Light2Taiwan website!" I didn't have a clue as to what kind of content an 'update' included! "Besides, who reads them anyway?"
That disillusioned question quickly disappeared as I caught up on some of the recent updates from other Taiwan TESOL members and even some of my own team members here in Kinmen. I found out things that were going on with other teams that I had not known about, even people on my own team here on Kinmen who I see every day!!! For example... I had NO IDEA that my roomate was the "Coolest Guy in Taiwan!!!" I'm in shock! To think that I've roomed with him for over 3 weeks and didn't even know that he held that title, until I read his update! So all you people out there, keep reading these updates, it is a great source of information on us TESOL teachers (seriously).
Now I shall start the actual "update" part of this entry. Today I completed my first week of teaching!! YAHOO! It was a real blessing to be able to have Ginger introduce me to most of her schools, teachers, and students my first week, since I am going to be teaching at her schools for this semester. I wasn't sure how the whole process worked, me being an "assistant teacher" and everything. It was a new experience for me, because the only English teaching I had ever done was at English camps. However, now that the week is over, and I have experienced most of the classes, I feel more prepared for the role that I will be playing this semester.
One thing that I had been encouraged to do when I began teaching at the schools was: "maintain classroom order." That has never been easy for me! I sometimes can act worse than the class-clown! Needless to say, I prayed a lot! I really asked God to help me with being firm with the kids, yet likable too. God answered my prayers. I was pleasantly suprised at how little the classes got disorganized and rowdy! It probably was a combo of prayer, my good looks, and large muscular build.... oh and not to mention my very humble attitude(just joking). With all kidding aside... I know that God really helped me through this week, and I am greatly appreciative to Him and His grace. I'm also thankful for all my family and friends who have been (and hopefully will continue too) praying for me.
Well, I shall stop with my ramblings and go find my roomie and ask for his autograph... =D
Blessings,
Shawn Searle, from Kinmen
I like new things – new beginnings. There’s something that is exciting about the beginning of a new year, the beginning of a new month, week, or day. It’s clean and fresh no marks or stains. Like a blank page waiting to be written on. Many times at the beginning of a day, week, month, or year I wonder what this particular amount of time will hold. Here in Taiwan I often wonder what “new thing” I’ll experience next!
This past week has been spent in starting a new semester. Brainstorming for new ideas to use in the classroom, handing out the new books, making new name cards, and talking with the kids about the New Year has all helped to make this a fun week for me. (The only thing that I didn’t like was my new schedule but I’m sure I’ll get used to it fairly quickly!) I’m not going to new schools this semester which is nice, although there are a few new faces in some of my classrooms. New friends to make! As I look ahead to the next four months I’m asking the Lord to give me a new burden and zeal for sharing His love with those around me.
Today this verse stood out to me. I believe it was because I was thinking about “new” things as well as the fact that I’m living on an island and can see the ocean from my bedroom window. “Sing to the LORD a new song and His praise from the end of the earth! You who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, the islands and coastal regions and the inhabitants of them sing a song such as has never been heard in the heathen world.” (Isaiah 42:10).
Please join us in praying that a new song of praise would be sung to the Lord here on the island of Taiwan and that in the months ahead we would have a new song in our hearts as well.
Katrina Nisly
Hualien, Taiwan
Well, we had an incredible time at camp...at least I did. You should have seen some of the stuff that we did. It was crazy, so much fun, but terribly exhausting.
We had 77 kids from all over Taiwan, studying Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Now, I didn't know if I would be alive after it, but it went well. And, I have become the infamous "Hamburger!" - 'Scrooge,' that is. Somehow, I ended up acting this character, and every time I said, "Humbug," the kids thought it was the Chinese for 'hamburger'. The whole camp was full of kids imitating my part in the 'Christmas Carol'. During the skits, I was: Joseph, Ebenezer Scrooge, Charlie, Storyteller, Squanto, Messenger boy, and...I can't remember the rest. But it was very cool.
Now, as we move back into our regular schedule for the next semester, it is going to be interesting to say the least. Almost every one of my schools are swapping classes for me, so I will be teaching different kids. I pray that this semester will be the best semester that we have ever had. That should be our desire, our goal, - to do the best that we can. Please pray for the team here, that we would all have this encouragement; that we would strive to teach this school year for God's glory!
Isaac Mazur
Ying Pan Elementary School
Do you ever wonder where time goes, and why it is going so fast for some, and so slowly for others? Or why it is easy to find time for some things, and impossible to take time to do other things? And change, why is change so multifaceted? It is painful and good for you at the same time, yet it also can be painful and bad for you... Mmm...I'm just glad that God is in control of time, change, the weather, and my life. He knows where it is going, and what to do with it when it gets there.
Winter camps, break, vacation, rest, time... all of that is quickly fading into the past as the new semester has started. Walking into school today I had mixed feelings on starting school again. In one way, I did not want to start at all because that would mean that I can't stop until its all over, and that is a long time from now. At the same time I was excited to be doing what I came here to do, and for all of the new experiences I will face in this new semester. There have been a few changes in my school class arangements so far, but I think they have been for the better. All that said, the first day of school in my second semester as an English teacher in Taiwan went very well. I am teaching four new classes out of the five that I teach at that school, and I really like my new students so far. I still see my "old" students and it was great to be with them again.
I am really excited about these next few months, as we are progressing in our teaching ability and also our ministry to others. The relationships that all of us have made here, and the outreach we have to our students, teachers, and friends have the potential to greatly prosper and expand in the this next semester. I am so grateful for all of the people God has placed in my life, and I only hope that I can share with them the greatest gift of all, the love and forgiveness of Christ Jesus.
Please remember our team in your prayers. Pray for continued team unity in Christ, that as our focus is on Christ Jesus and His will, there would be nothing that could possibly cause us to bring dishonor to the name of Jesus. Also pray for the teachers and school officals we work with, that we would have clear communication with them, and that we will be able to serve our students and schools in the best way possible.
For myself and the rest of the team here in Taiwan, thank you so much for praying for us, and for your enocuragement to us. May the Lord bless you in your walk with Him. If you have time, let us know that you are praying, or that you have been blessed in some way by hearing what we do.
Jude 1:21 John 13:35
From Nantou,
Joel
How Precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. ~Psalm 139:17-18
These two verses came rushing back to my mind as I took off in the airplane today from Kinmen Island. I had spent three weeks on Kinmen Island. The first two weeks were spent teaching winter camps. The last week was a vacation week. Now I was on my way back to JiJi. It was the breath taking view from the airplane of the shore which seemed to stretch for miles that brought these two verses to my mind. As I looked out over the shore I could not even comprehend the amount of grains of sand that were on the shore. To think that God's thoughts are even more than the sand! As I reflected on that thought I was in awe of God's greatness. God's thoughts truly are great. I enjoyed my tine spent on Kinmen Island.
Lydia Deluca
Things are good here. We had a nice break for Chinese New Year and spent some time with the Pastor's family. Pray for us as school starts up again, especially the three people who are going to start teaching Juinor High from next week! God bless
Kinmen Team
question of the day: Have you ever won a race... with a ceiling fan?
thought of the day: 'Those who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint.'
for
You know you are in Taiwan when:
You find your self saying “I am sorry I don’t understand.”
You know the smell of stinky Tofu.
You have a list of English games.
You spell things on the palm of your hand.
You do your laundry in the bathroom.
You live at a school
Your washing machine sings.
You walk down the street and say “Hello” to people you don’t know.
You wash your dishes in the bathroom.
Your pastimes are going shopping.
All of the yo yo’s look different from the ones that you played with.
You find your self singing children’s songs in and out of the classroom.
You know what each letter of the alphabet stands for.
You know what Coco Momo is.
You use a toaster oven for an oven.
Your teammate might race the ceiling fan for fun.
You see a fork, knife and spoon and think it is strange.
You spend a lot of time on xanga.
You buddy list is full of people wanting to talk to you.
You teammates try to talk you into learning self defense.
There is no separation between your shower and your bathroom.
You crave a home cooked meal made by your mom.
You get hugged from kids from every direction.
You can hear the people in the next room.
Your bedroom used to be a classroom.
You see flowers that you have never seen before.
You can see pointsettias growing everywhere.
You have a dish dryer instead of a dish washer.
So if you are wonder why we all love it so much here, maybe this will explain the love in our hearts that we have for Taiwan.
Sarah Deluca
Ji Ji Taiwan
"Where do you think you'll be in five years?"
"I don't know. I never would have thought that I would be here in Taiwan five years ago!"
I replied to Christina's thought provoking question. Five years ago I had my world planned out, who I might marry, what kind of music/missions ministry I wanted to pursue. It was a good solid Christian life that would give me plenty of room to happily follow God's lead in the boundaries that I had drawn for myself and Him. Right? Like God is going to say "Oh that's a better plan then I originally had for your life. Why didn't I think about that?" I'm so glad He is who He is!
Tuesday was Chinese New Year, a day of new beginnings. Christina and I had full intentions of going to a English teacher's house and spending it with her and her family, but it didn't happen. Chase and Isaac ended up going to a teacher's house and came back with their stomachs full because of the Hot Pot they ate.
Hot pot is more or less a community dinner, one pan of boiling water is used to boil an assortment of veggies, meats, noodles, dumplings and of course tofu. You choose something, stick it in the boiling pot till it's done and then eat it! It's really quite simple, and very practical. Christina's been on a hot pot binge for the last few days. I think she finds it entertaining to watch things boil. Maybe she likes fishing, and since there are no fishing areas around, that's why she likes it. It's sort of like fishing, you eat what you catch. Oh the small pleasures that God brings along!
On Wednesday a Christian friend of ours (a lady from one of Isaac's churches) came over with another lady to do what she calls "fellowship". Ai Ni is a person you just don't forget. From the moment she got saved till the moment she dies she'll forever be praising the Lord! Nor will she ever be silent about God's love. Amen! She sang some songs for us and then had us all share about how an object reflects and challenges our walk with Christ. Then we prayed together in what she calls "Korean style". That is where everyone prays out loud at the same time. Ai Ni is the type of person that makes you want to know God more then you do already. Her zeal and passion for Christ speaks for itself.
The rest of this week we have no school, so Christina and I have been getting ready planning for things happening in this next semester. Please pray that God would give us wisdom as we are preparing for the months ahead. We have been privileged to teach about many American holidays lately, and with that the truth of how they began. In this next semester some of us will be preparing to leave Taiwan, and trying to say goodbye to teachers and friends here. Please pray that God would continue to use this time to sow seeds and reap a harvest here in Taiwan. Thanks you so much for all your prayers. Oh, and for those of you wondering I'm all better now! Thanks for your prayers of healing!
Mai Lewis
Luke 1:37
Ying Pan, Nantou
Well, I sit here with 20 minutes before I leave for the airport realizing I never wrote my update. I guess I can blame it on the late night dinner and a movie but I wont use that excuse this time.
My time home has been an adventure, traveling from Chicago to Orlando to Washington D.C to Detroit onto Toronto back to Detroit then here in Chicago. With today leaving Chicago to go to Tokyo and then back to Taipei.
I guess you can say I've been traveling a lot. I'm looking forward to hopefully a nap on the plane. I guess we'll see what happens with Daniel and I. Pray we dont get kids kicking our seats all the way back as we had on our trip back to America.
The Lord has been really good providing for different needs while being home as well as giving direction. I'm amazed at how God can even work in changing the hearts of those in authority over us. I've seen two specific situations through appeal where God is giving me the desires of my heart or at least pushing me in those directions.
I will have to update you all on it later as I'm out of time.Thank you for all your prayers its because of you praying that we are able to do anything affective for the kingdom of God. We'll be starting school on Monday, pray that God would give those of us traveling back the strength we need.
From Chicago
Joshua Smith
Well seeing as I missed my actual update day and I'm actually writing this a day late, it's Chinese New Year. Happy New Year, everybody! Only about a half an hour left in this year here in Taiwan. Then it's goodbye year of the monkey, hello year of the rooster. Mai and I were just outside with Isaac setting off little crackler thingys. Well, I suppose it was more like Ike was setting them off and laughing at Mai and I as we attempted to throw them hard enough to make them go off. Then we'd go chasing after them in the dark, find them, and begin all over again. Eventually Mai and I both got one to go off all by ourselves- yay...
Well the last couple of weeks have been rather eventful, as I'm sure you can guess. My camp team was involved in three camps over the course of two weeks. I think I can speak for my team in saying that all the camps went smoothly and we definately saw the Lord working. I had two great people to work with- Christina and Samuel were both very flexible and easy-going, which is a must when working with a crazy person like me. When I started doing strange things in large group, what did they do? Laughed and joined me. When I changed the schedule and hacked it to bits in the middle of the week, what did they do? Supported me and helped me try and explain everything to our awesome TAs. I want to thank you both for the help you were to me- you are absoluuuutely great! But the biggest thanks goes to the Lord, who seems to be teaching me more and more each day to trust Him no matter what happens. It's kind of hard to give a short synopsis of two weeks of camp because so much happened but it's hard to know how to give the "readers digest version". Please continue to pray for the kids and TAs we worked with, that the Lord would continue to work in their hearts.
And now it is the new year. Pray for this new semester that will be starting on Monday. Pray that the Lord will give us renewed energy and a renewed vision for the people He has called us to serve. Pray that we will give our best and not hold anything back. Pray that we would keep our focus on the Lord and that He would teach us more about Himself every single day. Thank you each for your prayers. I know I say this every time I write an update, but every time it is just as true. We really could not do this without the prayers of people like you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
A Nantou-ren at heart,
Kai Shi (Christina Moody)
Ying Pan Team
Well, we are back home safe and sound. Our teammate Christina has come back from Nantou and now we are happily sharing what happened at the camps we taught. Though I have a slight cold and we are all tired we faired okay.
My roommate and I stayed up late talking as we had not seen each other for two weeks and needed to get caught up. We were truly amazed to see God's hand in everything that happened. I shared with her how hard it had been for our team, Teacher Assistants included, when the Camp director had to leave after our first camp. The first couple days if anything went wrong like the stove would not turn on, the eggs froze, or no one new how to cook a certain dish you would hear someone or all of us crying "Fuge," (our former camp director's name)in great anguish. We went without a camp director for about three days, but those days were good for us. We had good relationships with our TAs, but this trial brought us all a lot closer together and will allow us to continue to have awesome relationships with them. One thing I do know is that God knows what he is doing and he cares for each one of us.
Josephine from Hualien
When I arrived here in Taiwan in September, all of my teammates had just finished teaching camps all summer. As you can imagine, I heard a lot of different stories…some of them good, and some of them not so good…so I really had know idea what to expect when I came here to Nantou to teach at winter English camps. I started out helping with the camp in Yong Le, switching after a few days to start a new one in Ying Pan and then moving on to a final one in Jiji this week. Whew! In other words they have been keeping us really busy. It hasn’t been too hard though because God blessed us with an awesome group of TA’s to work with during these couple weeks.
The beginning of camps God gave me a verse that has been my theme for service here and I think it is still just as applicable as our time here draws to a close.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10
God has created us and created specific works just for us. We may not always recognize them as something super spiritual or spectacular, but we are told that if we but receive a little child in Jesus name we have done it unto Him and I think that is one of the works that He is calling us to do here this week.
I also came here expecting to reach out and serve the TA’s, but in so many ways they have been an encouragement to me in their flexibility and willingness to go the extra mile. I sometimes feel that my part is so small in what I do, but yet God in His sovereign plan placed me here for a purpose. Again it may not be something spectacular, or significant in my eyes, but my prayer is that somehow during the short time we have left together, they may see more of Him.
Christina Furrow
From Hualien, serving at the winter camp in Jiji
Wow, time sure flies by! I think I'll cheat and just give y'all part of an email that I wrote to Samuel:
(Note of encouragement to the "antsy reader," (those, like me, who don't usually get all the way through people's updates): This starts out pretty boring, but gets more interesting later on. ;-P If you absolutely can't stand the first paragraph, then just skip to the second one. However, if you actually make it all the way through the first paragraph, then I give you a big, "Congratulations!" You must have found the right ADD medication.
We were really dreading the two camps this second week. The first week/camp was all of the kids whose families paid for them to come, and this second week is two camps of kids that are all being sponsored, (by whom I'm not sure...maybe the government). We figured the sponsored kids would be ones whose families didn't really care too much about the camp, but just saw it as free baby-sitting for one week, and that the "paid kids" would be the ones whose parents would want to make them learn and get their money's worth out of the camp. It turned out to be exactly the opposite, though! :-o Only a hand-ful of the 97 kids at the first camp were not students from Jing-Hu Elementary, (the second-largest elementary school on the island). Ginger teaches most of the classes at that school, (Rebekah teaches a few of them, too), and she has often noted that the kids at that school seem to be rather well-to-do *and* quite spoiled, both by their families and by the school. Oh my word, they were quite the handful! Thankfully, most of my kids were pretty decent, and a few were really great, because I had team G- the highest level.(Almost everyone seems hesitant to take the highest level team, but I love it! It's no coincident that the kids who have learned the most are also usually the best-behaved in class. But I'm not going to enlighten anyone else as long as they're willing to keep giving me the highest level everytime. ;-)) So, needless-to-say, since we were expecting the second week's kids to be *even more* ill-behaved than the Jing-Hu kids, we were all pretty apprehensive. Were we ever surprised! It seems that they picked the higher-level and best-behaved kids from all of the poorer schools, and they're all really grateful for the chance to come to camp. More than half of the kids at my location are from the Jin-Sha area (where I taught last semester and Lucas teaches now), and it seems that the rest are from Rebekah's small schools. I believe most of the kids at the other location are from Andrew's schools, (all pretty small), plus a few from a *tiny* school that I taught at this semester and a few of the good kids from my "Wednesday school." (Interpretation: When a Kinmen team-member (except for Megan or Andrew, :-P) says "Wednesday school," you should think "BAD school.") Anyway, we're all so glad that we're getting the nicer kids when we're more tired, and that we're going to get to end on such a nice note. All of us -- TA's and American teachers -- just keep marveling to each other every day about how wonderful our students are this week. :-)
Oh, and another thing about Jin-Sha kids versus Jing-Hu and Jing-Cheng kids. Last year, when I taught in Jin-Sha, I had kids "in my hair" all the time, but they generally never pulled my hair out. This past semester, though!! I was teaching in and around Jin-Cheng. Oh, my. I really had to wonder why an alarming number of my students enjoyed pulling my hair out. Was it....Because I changed conditioners this semester?? Because I got a slightly "Chinese" haircut when I arrived back in Kinmen??? Due to a change in the atmospheric ionic stratusplane???? I just couldn't seem to come up with a satisfactory answer, but I began to suspect that it was simply some sort of mental issue affecting the kids here in Jing-Cheng. Alas! That theory was blown out of the water last week when the Jing-Hoo kids at camp also enjoyed pulling my hair out. I got a little bit of comfort on the last day of camp, however, when about half of the kids on my team decided that they each wanted a collection of the American teachers' hair. Finally, somebody else was loosing their hair, too!! :-) The kids managed to get one hair each from Tony, Megan, and I, and then they carefully put the hairs in their name tags. So, then I knew that I'd been right about the mental issue part, but I could no longer confine it to Jin-Cheng. :-\ Since being re-exposed to some Jin-Sha kids this week, though, I've come up with a different theory: Jin-Sha kids are just generally sweeter than Jin-Cheng or Jing-Hu kids.
Disclaimer: This is a brand-new theory and, therefore, subject to change without notice. BJ, inc., The Kinmen Team, or any of their subsidiaries, are not responsible for any damages, losses, deaths, insanities, embarrasments, explosions, or purple freckles resulting from reliance on this theory.
That's all folks!
May God bless each one of you, and may He bring in a harvest, on Kinmen and in Taiwan, from these past two weeks of camps!
~BJ, for the Kinmen team
