"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing."
-2 Corinthians 2:15

THE REAL AROMA CAFE

Now I am back in Taizhong... yes, it has been a long time since I've updated, and for that I am very sorry. But while in Taipei, I actually had the chance of getting to visit the REAL Aroma Cafe... not once but TWICE! :D On Friday, June 15, Mary Ann and I went to visit the Aroma Cafe.

Every Friday night, they have this coffee house where people can just come in and join in on a conversation-mixer question, which involves everyone there. When we walked in, it was very welcoming... and very American. It was interesting to see an American style cafe with relatively Westernized food in Taiwan. But it is REALLY interesting and awesome that the founders chose food as their field of ministry. I knew that you can take whatever you have and give it to God, but for some reason I didn't think that ministry could be done with food. Although I guess I never thought about it before, but shopping/selling clothes can be made into one's ministry... like how Forever 21's founders/owners put John 3:16 on the bottom of their unmistakable, brightly yellow colored shopping bags.


One of the founders of Aroma told me about their calling to start a church in Ximen. He said that him and his wife, Chris and Jamie respectively ahaha, had been to Ximen on a short-term mission and knew of the need in Ximen for churches. Then a few years later, after they graduated college, they moved to Ximen in hopes of starting a long-term ministry...which developed into a cafe, since it would be hard to support a church in the shopping, entertainment, youth-populated area like Ximen. But I think I just found it so amazing that they, the owners and people working there, have this vision that combines "3 separate, but intertwined ministries: the church, the coffee shop, and short-term teams from the states as well as interns that come periodically throughout the year" (from Chris' email).


It made me realize that you don't have to be a seminary graduate or a missionary or a pastor to have a God-relating ministry... anything you do, if given up to God for God's purpose and will, can become a ministry that can help lead others to Christ. And I think I've been realizing that more and more as I travel Taiwan.


(Really quick, there is another story of these two accountants that were married in the states from 2 other Asian countries, Hong Kong and Vietnam or Singapore...I think, that immigrated to America. They really didn't want to leave America, since they worked so hard to get there; but upon listening to God's surprising and seemingly random calling to go to Taiwan, they ended up working for a missions organization and a Christian school... with their accountant skills. I know, right? You would never think accounting could be brought back to God, but they told me that accounting/dealing with money is one of the areas that missions organizations are lacking the most... which makes sense, because they all want to go to like... Goldman Sachs or something of the like.)


Anyways, I thought that I should share a little bit of what I'm learning here, and I think that the cafe was a sweet (literally and figuratively) reminder that we are the aroma of Christ, and we need to spread the gospel and God's love to those around us. :D

"I will be glad and exult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”

-Psalm 9:2

Aroma Cafe?

SO… I am finally in Taipei (and I am extremely apologetic that I have not been keeping up, but I will make up for that by finishing all my drafts by the end of this week). And I praise the Lord that I was able to get around by myself and the public transportation, aka the MRT, is actually extremely tourist/foreigner/non-Taipei person friendly.

But yesterday night, I looked at the clock and decided it was time to eat dinner. I had no idea where to eat, but I remembered there was a Mos Burger while exploring the area. Since I’ve never eaten Mos Burger before, I made that my backup. Strolling down the street with only my phone, keys, and 400 NT$ in my pocket (for some reason I thought I’d eat quickly and go back to the room), I saw a cute cafe… and read the sign: Aroma Beans Cafe.

Before I continue, there is a little pre-story that must be told. Basically Ruth (from Taizhong) told me of this one cafe in Taipei that was started by a few Christians that wanted to reach out to the city through their stomachs… giving them nourishment of the body and spirit. :D So I decided to visit it while up here in Taipei. A few days ago, I looked up the address of the cafe to see how far it’d be from the place I was staying at. AND TO MY SURPRISE, it was LITERALLY right around the corner… like it would take 2 minutes to walk to. At the time, I was really worried about getting places in Taipei because this is only my 2^nd time here (my first was when I was in middle school). Being nervous about transportation in this busy city, it was a HUGE relief that one of the places I wanted to visit was right around the corner! So I was really happy and praising the Lord.

Now back to yesterday, I saw the cafe and got really excited, because I forgot that the cafe was right around the corner. So I looked inside, but was slightly confused since the store didn’t quite look like it did in its facebook picture. But I decided to go in anyways. The waiter seated me, and I started looking at the menu. After seeing the menu, I became slightly skeptical that this was THE AROMA CAFE… those dang “beans” tricked me into thinking that this was the right one… just kidding. But even though it was the wrong cafe, the food was still pretty good and cute :D. I actually ate dok (Korean rice cake) with curry… that was a new mix.

After coming back, I looked up the Aroma Cafe again and realized that it was actually in a different part of Taipei. But STILL! Praise the Lord, because now I DO know how to use the MRT here AND I’m going to go with Mary Ann on Friday night when they have their Friday Night Coffee House, which is when they open up their place for a relaxed environment of talking about the gospel and getting to know other people and their testimony. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! So I’m super excited to be able to go with one of my cell group members there! It’s like we brought part of our cell group to Taipei! :D I praise the Lord that I’ve learned to praise Him in ANY situation… and that alone has made my life so much more joyful. 

"Take the world, but give me Jesus.

All its joys are but a name; 

but His love abideth ever, 

through eternal years the same.

Take the world, but give me Jesus.

Sweetest comfort of my soul;

with my Savior watching o'er me,

I can sing though billows roll.

Take the world, but give me Jesus.

Let me view His constant smile;

then throughout my pilgrim journey,

Light will cheer me all the while.

Take the world, but give me Jesus.

In His cross my trust shall be;

'Till with clearer, brighter vision,

Face to face my Lord I see.

Take the world, but give me Jesus. (x4)

Oh, the height and depth of mercy! 

Oh, the length and breadth of love!

Oh, the fullness of redemption!

Pledge of endless life above!
(x2)


Take the world, but give me Jesus. (repeated many times)"

-Take the World, But Give Me Jesus, Ascend the Hill


Instead of a verse, I think this song is the best remedy of reminding me how much the world needs Jesus. It's so crazy how messed up the world can be... the other day, some newly-made friends, Hannah, and I went out to eat in Hsinchu... and that was super awesome (yay for the first time at TGIF!!!). But after, I think I saw the saddest, most depressing, and heavy movie... EVER. It wasn't sad like the typical drama movie where something happens to someone and the atmosphere turns into this dreary, rainy day with everyone really solemn. No. This movie was really sad in the sense that, after watching the movie, I felt so burdened and heavy-hearted. I had like 1% of an idea of what the movie would be about, but I had no idea it would've been anything like I saw... I think Hannah and I only looked at the screen like half the time. This movie will remain title-less for the sake of... humanity.


To summarize, the movie was about a few kids who wanted to have this crazy part to prove that they weren't losers. So, when it was his parents anniversary, the main character's friend, who is possibly the worst person and friend ever, convinced him to host a big party... and people kept inviting people who invited people who invited people, and by the time of the party and hence forth, they realized that there were WAY too many people (by the end, there were around 1500 people). Throughout the whole movie, there's just a lot of profanity, drugs, alcohol, violence, many derogatory terms/images, and just about every worldly thing... all in 1 movie... all in, basically, 1 party (the whole movie technically only spans around 3-4 days). From the beginning, you see these kids that are still in high school following what the world thinks is cool... though not even. It's what the world sees as a false outlet, planning to leave the stresses of their lives but actually being held bondage by those exact things. As they start this path, the viewers can just plainly and very obviously see the mistakes that are happening and how INCREDIBLY MUCH it's going to hurt them down the road. It's not even the way-in-the-distance-later-in-life "far down the road" that they're getting hurt physically and emotionally.. it's like 2 steps down the road. I think a lot of us, walking away from that movie, were thinking: "Was it worth it? Was that one night of absolute craziness and drunkenness and highness and complete stupidity worth it? Was it worth everything that your parents owned (since everything got burned down or broken), the safety of SO MANY PEOPLE, the health of everyone there (I'm pretty sure their one of their livers had to have died), and your future/education/reputation/personal life story? Do you think people will remember you after graduation?" Sigh, couldn't they have used all that money to buy or do things that last and are fun too (i.e. board games... or go to a theme park, etc.)? 


Rawr, that movie just bothered me a lot... it was just very disturbing 1. in what they were doing, 2. in the terrible ending, where their punishment should have been so much more severe, and 3. that someone would make a movie like this. But all those distressing things put together made me just want to run to God and just pour myself out to him: thanking Him for loving people so messed up as us sinners... thanking Him that he not only loved us from Heaven, but came down to the people who hated and despised him (and were considered his enemies because of the sin that we have)... thanking Him for the death that he didn't deserve, which he took in our stead... and praising Him that He overcame death and sin and all the things that bound us to the world. And just through Christ can we be cleansed as white as snow... and so much more. 


:D Take the world... but give me Jesus. Just read the lyrics of the song again. How much more amazing and lasting and comforting and enjoyable and worthy is it to pursue after God... and love Him because He first loved us? For everything I praise the Lord... including the increasing realization of how much sin is in the world and in myself. Through that continual realization can I be able to continue to desire to surrender myself to God because:

"Oh, the height and depth of mercy! 

Oh, the length and breadth of love!

Oh, the fullness of redemption!

Pledge of endless life above!"