(Display Name not set)October 2005 Archives

"Jinmen xu yao ni..."

"Kinmen needs you..."

Sometimes the burden gets heavy to bear. There are times watching the elderly people making their daily trek to the ocean bed to dig clams that I look at them and wonder if my kids are going to grow up and be like them...living day to day with no more purpose in life than digging oysters and clams to feed their families. At times I think if I have to see one more child going through sickness, depression, or the normal struggles and pressures of growing up without the guidance of loving parents, my heart will surely break in two.

As I go about my life here, teaching, sharing, listening, loving, I try always to keep before my eyes the real purpose of my being here; being Jesus hands, feet, lips and heart to those He gives me to love. Lately it has not been a difficult task to remember this, as it seems every day brings a new prayer request, another chance to talk to someone about Jesus, another one of my kids asking for advice or sharing their problems. Though I know where to take the burdens when they seem to overwhelm me, I seem to be much more inclined to struggle along on my own forgetting that Jesus walks beside me and wants to help me bear the load I cannot bear alone. My times with the Lord bring intense joy and gratefulness that He knows my name and I am His very own...then a sharp pang of grief for my beloved friends who do not know Him as Father and Friend.

It is in times like this when I begin to question, not my God, but His plans and purposes. It is so prideful and sinful of me, but I still fall into the trap of thinking surely I know better than He who should be saved and when is the right time. I ask Him why I am here giving myself to these people, serving my heart out, loving my very life away with every passing day and not seeing Him working to bring them to Himself. I see the heart-wrenching needs around me, acknowlege His soverignty and wisdom in bringing me here, and with the next breath beg Him to start working on my time table.

Then He lets me talk with someone and I see the seriousness in their eyes that says they are searching...or I see a friend come to trust Him as Savior and I realize that He has been working all along, even when I did not see His hand...or I see Him give an immediate answer to a desperate prayer and I know He is ever watching, ever loving, ever listening to me, full of pride as I am...or, after sharing and crying with a student who is facing a difficult situation, he looks at me and says, "God knew that Kinmen needs you, so He sent you here to us."

And I hold back the tears of repentance and of gratefulness, look up at my Father's face, repeat the words again in my heart of hearts, "Kinmen needs me..." thank Him for bringing me to this island, and press on with new trust, new hope, new strength to face the task He has set before me.

And I remember my Savior, "Who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured..." Hebrews 12:2

From Kinmen,

Rebekah
Phil. 1:20

October 21, 2005

Here's our newest "YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT IN AMERICAN WHEN..." line,

You know you're not in America, when the government gives alcoholic wine to 20 year-old young people (as a "gift"), and the young people give the wine to the church...

They say Kinmen is the "happiest place" in Taiwan. Whether that is because of all the Kinmen wine, I don't really know. But I do know that Kinmen is a place full of people that God loves!

This morning I was struck by what Paul said about his calling in Ephesians 3:7-8, and 20. "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am the least all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach....(7-8) ...according to the power that worketh in us." (20)

God's grace is certainly the only thing that can sustain me in being a disciple, a witness, and even an English teacher. It's by God's grace that I have these opportunities and I can only plead for His grace to be the power working in me. I am so grateful for God's grace!

~Lucas Stewart, Kinmen

God is awesome. My favorite thing about living here is that, no matter how busy my week is, I seem to spend it just watching Him work. I ask him to give me respect in one class, and the students pay attention; I tell him I'm lonely, and then I look down to find four sets of hands grasping my arms and two or more kids that decided I'm as much fun to hang on as a jungle-gym. We need a break, and He sends a typhoon (that meant a day off). We pray for our friends, and watch as He makes himself evident in their lives, bringing them closer to Himself. I watch as close calls get even closer- and watch the power of prayer and God's promises protect us and others we've prayed for.

I know God is real wherever you are. Here, unlike America, we're surrounded by little to no Christian influence at all. Temples are everywhere, and you watch as people walk into them like you walk into church, believing their god offers protection, fulfillment, and provision. They believe it the same way we know and believe our God will protect, fulfill, and provide for us. Except they don't know..

That whatever is not of God, is of Satan. God's purpose for having a personal relationship with Him is to give us Life- abundant Life. Satan's purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy. Can you picture placing yourself before something like that, offering obeisance and expecting to be protected or secure?

So tell me, what does your god offer?

"I am the way, the truth, and the life.." ~Jn.14:6

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.." ~Jn.10:10

From an island you've probably never heard of (before looking at this website),

Ginger Jernigan