"Again, Jesus spoke to them saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"
John 8:12

Revisiting 中科 (zhong1 ke1)... technically Church #1

It seems like it's already been forever since I've been in Taiwan, but it's only been half a week... this is a good thing. :D But I'm glad to finally be able to meet up with a church in Taiwan, even though I've already been here before. 3 years ago, I visited 中科 for a VBS (Vacation Bible Study) type thing with local kids in 台中 (Taizhong) that was also largely to teach them English. But I made a lot of good memories there along with a lot of lasting and deep friendships; so, I was pretty excited to go back (though I had a feeling not a lot of people I knew back then would be there since most of them were probably now in college somewhere else). But even though I was "going back," it was still a new experience for me.

I don't know if it was because I told them that I would be coming or not, but they projected the lyrics, both in Chinese and English, of the songs we were singing on the wall. I thought it was super sweet that they would do that, because I doubt anyone else in the room would be singing in English. (If they were, then... well I'll be darned.) But an exciting thing I realized was that I could actually sing some of the songs in Chinese, which meant that I have hope for being able to communicate the gospel/Christianity to others during my trip. Yay! There is hope! :D During worship, I think one of the most exciting moments was when we were singing this song: 唯有耶穌. The English lyrics are as such:

Jesus, You can make the blind see.
Jesus, You can heal broken hearts.
Jesus, You can set captives free.
You make all things possible.

You reign on high in heaven and on earth.
You are the One who calms the raging seas.
You turn water into wine. You do miracles in life.
Jesus, no one compares to You.

Before I left the States, HCC's English Service was starting a new series called Signs, Statements and Sayings from the Gospel John (which starts from April 15). Since our pastors talked extensively and AWESOMELY about the significance of Jesus calming the raging seas, turning water into wine, and making the blind man see (which I have to listen to still), I felt like the lyrics made so much more of an impact. Knowing that, for instance, Jesus' calming of the sea signified his dominance over the turmoil in our lives and nature (as in ancient times, the sea was meant to signify "unmanageable chaos, uncontrollable power, and unstoppable destruction"), singing that line made me want to praise Him so much more. :D (Praise the Lord for HCC English Services! <3)

The sermon today was given by a retired pastor, and he focused on what it meant to be a Christian (and at one point focusing on God in Asia). He posed many questions, like "Do we consider Jesus our biggest blessing?", "How are we changed/different when we believe in God?", "How does this seemingly 'Western' God have to do with Asians?". He definitely had a lot of things to say... and a lot of stories to go with his points... and a lot of verses to go with those points, which means I took a lot of notes ahaha. But one simple thing he noted was regarding our reflections on our Christian lives. Like the verse says above, we should be following Jesus because he is our bright light in the darkness/sin of this world. He said that when we get ready in the morning, we look in the mirror and make sure we look presentable to the world when we step outside. The same goes with our spiritual lives: during the day, we need to look in our spiritual mirrors, which is the Bible, that reflects what we/our hearts look like (as sinners)... and how we need to fix ourselves (through Jesus... through praying, reading the Bible, continually preaching the gospel to ourselves, and so on).

I was super excited that on of my aunts came with me to church today, though I did see her nodding off a few times... but that happens to people :D not going to lie. AND there were actually people who recognized me from when I was there for the VBS 3 years ago... INCLUDING these 2 cute girls that were in the VBS. I was so overly happy to the point of internal tears that they remembered who I was... waaahhhh it encourages me to want to continue to be a Sunday School teacher at HCC (and a teacher in general).

PS-Sorry that this post is like a week late (technically this was supposed to be for May 20th), I've been wonderfully busy since I got to the SEND mission center. Thanks for reading (and caring) about what's happening with me in Taiwan anyways!

"Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance..."
Proverbs 1:5


My Rookie Mistake :P

Squeaka-squeaka-squeaka-squeaka-squeaka

That, my friends, is the sound of those classic blue asian slippers that everyone wears in some fashion here in Taiwan. I was putting away my swimsuit and towel in my bag, and I heard that sound... looking up in curiosity of who was squeaking, it was a cute obasan (elderly grandmother figure) waddling over to a shower.

On Tuesday (May 22), I went to the public/community swimming pool with one of the missionaries, Ruth, here at SEND (International Missions). It was an enjoyable and interesting experience. I haven't been swimming in quite a long time, so getting in the pool and swimming a few laps and sitting in the 溫泉 (wen1 quan2) was nice. But... in the beginning, I was so ignorant. Since I had some important stuff in my purse, like my wallet, journal, and other things, I wanted to lock my purse up in a locker. The only lockers that were available were the ones where you pay 20 元 (yuan2), and I thought it was better to spend 20 元 than lose like a lot of money and my notes. So, I opened the door, put in my purse, put in the coins, and turned the key to get it out... not realizing that you couldn't turn it back. So, the bolt of the lock was set in place, but I hadn't shut the door. All that happened in the split second that Ruth, who was standing next to me, wasn't paying attention; by the time she realized what had happened, it was too late (and she told me then that you can't get the money back either).

Pfahaha, we stood there kind of amazed at ourselves for being such foreigners after I just kind of donated 20 NT$ to the pool facility. But determined to get it right the second time, I took out money again... and we made sure to do it right (and we did the second time)... so embarrassing. But good thing no one else was there to witness it, so we kind of just giggled to ourselves. :D

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Today we were going to go swimming again in the afternoon. So this time, I resolved to not make the same mistake that I had the first time with the lockers. After changing, we walked over to the lockers, and I put my stuff in (locker 193 to be exact... not that it matters :D). With Ruth watching my every movement, I put the coins in, closed the door, and turned the key to lock it... only to find out that the key wouldn't turn. (-_-) In a panic, we started taking turns trying to turn the key... but it really did not want to turn. At this point, I'm starting to think I simply just have terrible luck with swimming pool lockers. We kept trying to turn the key, but I think if we kept pushing, we'd have broken the key and the lock. I was about to switch my purse out to another locker, but Ruth said that if we told the front desk, they would give us the 20 NT$ to put in another one. Still trying to turn the key, now in any direction to see if it would just move, I was, again, amazed at how I still had troubles with the lockers... even when specifically trying NOT to do what I did the other day. But one of the workers came up and fixed the lock and gave me the key... and Ruth and I giggled to ourselves again at how those lockers and I just did not go together.

Thinking back to this whole swimming situation, in simple terms, even though I figured out how that simple box worked, there were still things I had to learn from dealing with it: namely asking help from the workers there. In other terms, it's like how we're learning from the Bible. As in the verse above, even the wise man must also increase in learning, even from parables and instructions/proverbs that seem simple; there is always more to learn, especially and more so in the Bible. There's always something more we can learn from the verses we've read and memorized, which is why people read (books of) the Bible multiple times. But coming back to reality... I think my goal should be to continue to discipline myself to read the Bible on a regular basis. But just something I was thinking about... you never really know something unless you keep learning about it. (I was going to say "you never really know something unless you know something"... but that would be just plain silly. ;D)

"For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving."
1 Timothy 4:4

The Most Abhorred Insect of All

It's only my third day here, and I have encountered evil in insect form- the mosquito. I say evil in a couple of senses: "evil" as in it is a nasty bug that flies and can cause you to be very itchy if stung, and "evil" as in one of those things that I feel like Satan uses to cause frustration and irritability within a person. I have around 12 mosquito bites (like 75% of them from just today) that are the most annoying things ever. About every half and hour, or whenever it starts itching again, I have to apply this medicine on it... to attempt to make it stop itching. With every new mosquito bite, I found myself so exasperated at the fact that I couldn't see/kill it in time, annoyed at the fact that I had yet another red itchy bump on my skin (make that a large bump since I'm allergic to some mosquito bites :P), and angry just at the general situation.

But I realized that something as little as a mosquito can be the most interesting thing to think about and, like all things, relates to the gospel. I realized that with something as small as the itchiness of a mosquito bite could turn one's mood from joyful and happy to frustrated. And how quickly the situation turns into thinking about myself, and how much suffering I'm going through in all this itchiness that doesn't seem to befall anyone else. But, with every desire to itch my skin or find some sort of way to alleviate the irritation, I am reminded that this is the price we pay for our sin... well, one of them. God created everything good; but with the sin that befell people, we were shown the weaknesses and limitations of our body. Our physical bodies became prone to disease and could now be negatively affected by his creations, which were intended for good. So, each time I am clenching my fists to keep myself from itching my mosquito bites, I'm reminded of the necessity to obey God.

Also, I also started thinking of how God really does use everything, good and bad. The mosquito, though a pain to humans, is actually the food of other animals and insects, which in turn affects the general food chain... including us. So even though I'm always like "WHY ON EARTH DID GOD CREATE MOSQUITOES?", I'm  realize that that's a pretty selfish question (even in just the sense that I can even question God). In fact, another way of saying that is: God, why did you make something that is so annoying to me and has seemingly has no benefit whatsoever in my life/people's lives? But in fact, it does... just not in an immediate fashion. The mosquito is the food of another animal/insect which would be the food of another animal... and later down the line, somehow, it would be a food source for us.

God really does love us. As humans we are so limited in our understanding and our physical beings that we sometimes forget to just think of how pitiful we are. For me, even if it's getting super annoyed at a mosquito bite that may be bigger than a key ring, I'm thankful that I can still understand God's love for me. And I praise the Lord for just being able to confide in Him and trust in His plan... and I am definitely always very thankful that none of the mosquitoes that have bitten me have carried West Nile Virus. :D

"The Lord is good, a stronghold in times of trouble; he takes care of those who trust in Him."Nahum 1:7


HAY (Hello All Y'all)!

Just as a heads up, this blog may be sort of an experiment (in the sense that I haven't written one before). I don't quite know how to write a blog, who to address it to, what I should include, how to make the most sense, etc. BUT, as long as I can get my thoughts across from this trip, I will have done the minimal service to those who allowed me to go to Taiwan to just travel around and explore how Christ has been working in the lives of the Taiwanese people.

The verse I posted above has been the verse I have held dear to my heart this past semester, which has given me so much peace in times of stress... and will probably continue to help me as I travel by myself, which will probably be one of the scariest things I will have to do thus far in my life. But God has been VERY gracious in taking care of me in allowing me to come to Taiwan.. and, not to mention, getting me here safely (luckily I only felt like I needed to puke once). During this past semester, God has shown me over and over and over and over... and over and over again really just how sweet it is to trust in Jesus and to take Him at His word (reference to the hymn "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus").

It is a super amazing and surreal feeling to be here in Taiwan, and I know that it is definitely all God's doing that I'm here right now. Every time I explain to my relatives of what I'm actually doing here, they can't believe that 1. I got money, 2. I got money to travel and learn, and that 3. I'm travelling around Taiwan going to churches, organizations, and seminaries learning about Christianity in Taiwan. I am SO extremely excited to experience all the different churches, though there are definitely a lot more that I am not visiting, and get a slight sense of how God has been working in Taiwan. I have no idea what will happen in this next 2 and a half months, but I already know I will be seeing/hearing/reading/etc. so many things, as I'm planning to go to Taizhong, Hsinchu, Taipei, Tainan, and Kaoshiung.

I pray for many things as I start this summer, including:
-the opportunity to share the gospel (and how it's affected my life) with others...which will help me continue to refine my definition of the gospel
-my safety for travelling around Taiwan, especially with taking public transportation by myself and living kind of by myself
-for many opportunities to serve alongside a church/organization if they need my help (and be able to learn humility, service, and many other things from it)
-for understanding and God's love (which are related in that we need to understand the immense love that God has so graciously given us and what He's saved us from to be able to show/tell about it), since I will be dealing with peoples of a different culture and background than mine
-to somehow take all of what I've learned and type it into a history "research paper"
-and many other things (that I'm slightly too tired to type out now)

But I know that in everything, I can always give the glory back to God... and like the verse says at the top, that God will take care of me as long as I keep trusting in Him. :D So let's see what this summer has to bring! Huzzah!