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the more that it rains here, the more i wonder if it really is God crying for this country. every single day that i have to walk outside in the rain, i'm feeling the gloominess of the city behind all the lights and goingsons around me. it's hard to breathe here.
could it really be that God weeps for all the souls that are lost to idol and ancestor worship?
yesterday for easter, we watched The Passion of the Christ. i'd never seen the movie until yesterday. of course, i cried. no sobbing, just...a constant stream of tears coming down my face. the desire to cherish every single drop of blood that you saw fall from Jesus and hold it in your hands tells you that you understand the pain that He went through to call you one of his own. and yet...despite every lash he endured and the final nail in the cross, millions of people are still unaware of what He's done for them.
after church, as i was walking to the shopworker's church in the rain, i began to wonder how God feels, knowing that the people of taiwan are worshipping all these other idols or rejected Him because they'd rather worship more "concrete" gods that haven't done anything close to the brutal sacrifice that Jesus went through for us. if i were God, i'd be weeping for their loss too.
anyway, i'll be writing about that in my next newsletter, so stay tuned. i've been putting off this topic for a long time, so i've decided my next one will be focused on this.
oooh, on another note, i finally had time to finish reading the book up above. it's pretty good and very practical about new ways of thinking about evangelism. i recommend :)
head on over to my other xanga for a more lightened entry :)
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| hiiiiiiiiii heeeeeeeeeeeey!!!!
happy chinese new years to you folk. where's my money?!?! HAHAHA.
anyway, a quick update for the few of you who actually make it to this site. God knows i loooooooove those of you who are faithful in keeping up with me through different means :)
the new school semester is starting up, so things are getting busy busy busy!!! i'm really glad, though, becasue for a while there, i was without a consistent schedule and it was really screwing up my sleeping schedule. i'm too used to getting up for work...or maybe just out of habit...or maybe God just knows me too well, so he made me the type to have to work along with a schedule. whatever the case, i'm glad i have one now. now i have to wake up consistently in the morning, which means i can't stay up as late as i have been, AND that also means i'll be more productive. yay! i love feeling productive. (and yet, when i am not being productive, all i do is just sit there feeling guilty that i'm not being productive).
so with the start of this week comes a lot of ministry things: back to the university fellowship and meetings, helping to do more translating for Village Gospel Missions, the shopworker's ministry, the Kid's Club ministry...and some other random things that i'm doing, like bible study or other meetings. it didn't sound like a lot to me, but when i put it all out on the table...it is a lot.
for those of you who know me all too well, know that i looooooooove making schedules. excel rocks, man. you can do everything on that. i remember making a schedule print out every single semester in college. and as soon as something changed, i'd remake the whole thing. yes, i probably have OCD and am a perfectionist. anyway, so here's what my schedule looks like for the month. the colors that are the same are the same ministries, and the parts that are white are when i have breaks. each day is kind of split into morning, afternoon and evening...notice i took out the details and only left the blocks in for you to see. i don't want no stalkers, hey.
as you can see, i don't get a lot of block white time. it's good because i'm kept busy, but at the same time, i worry i won't have enough time for...me. since i'm one of those independent types, i desperately need time for myself to just unwind, and when i don't get that chance to do so...i will not be a happy camper. hahaa. so i guess you can pray for me that i will be able to actually USE those free times that i get and do what i need to do. Monday is my designated day off, but somehow, something always comes up where i have to use up my own spare time. i've always had a hard time saying no. you can pray for me about that, too. :)
alrighty, that's it for now! i'll keep you posted...better yet, try emailing me. i'm more prone to respond when i get a personal email. :) thanks to those of you who actually DO do that...i truly appreciate your friendship and the fact that you keep in touch with me and check up on me every now and then :)
now shake it on over to my LIVEJOURNALFORLIFE :)
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| yay
i'm back and ready to update! how exciting. HAHAHAA.
ONE-WEEK-INTENSE-INDUCTIVE-BIBLE-STUDY-TRAINING-CAMP-FOR-UNI-STUDENTS-AROUND-TAIWAN
so two weeks ago, i was in Taichung
leading a group of university students in inductive bible study. The camp
was a little over a week long, but the first three days were training for us
counselors, and then the students came after that. now, i gotta tell ya -
the camps here are so intense. in preparation for this camp, all the
students that were coming had to read the entire book of Mark (or Hebrews,
depending on what level they applied for), and write a summary about it.
can you believe that??! this coming right off of finals.
craziness.
anyway, so the first night when the students arrive, we had worship, some
announcements, and then guess what? A TEST!!! HAHAHA. it was
insane. the test was pretty difficult too, because the questions were so
specific. (for example - Jesus heals the blind man in what chapter of
Mark?) seeeeee?!?!
 
one of the students taking the
test
at our ministry/missions calling nights
anyway, so then everyday after that, we would split
into small groups and work on our inductive. i actually really miss doing
inductive bible study! i've forgotten how in depth and how much you can
learn out of sheer details and questions. anyway, my small group was
tooooo cute. and since most of them came from small universities, they
didn't really know too many other students there at the camp (there were about
650 students that week). so praise God, our small group REALLY stuck
together and got to know each other. they were also so cute because
before dinnertime, there was always nap time, so the other counselor and i (i
had a partner since i didn't know how to lead inductive in full fledged
chinese) were always sleeping. then one of the kids in our group calls us
and is all, "where are you? we saved you a place in the dining room
already. hurry up!" hahahahaa. so cute. so we
actually all ate together during most of our meals.
our group was pretty mature, i think, and they all learned a lot, evident in
their sharing every night. the very first night was the ONLY night we
ended sharing time on time. all the rest of the nights, we always ran out
of time because everyone had so much they wanted to share. i will miss
them a whole bunch! only one of them lives here in taipei, and even then, it's pretty far - all
the way out in Danshui.
 
a picture of some of the students in my group eating
lunch. all our inductive notes we had to write all over the chalkboard.
we had to bring our own lunch boxes!
KIDS-LEARNING-HOW-TO-STAGE-ACT-AND-LEARN-ENGLISH-AT-THE-SAME-TIME
during the uni camp, i was called about doing a story-telling time at a
children's camp for the Taiwan Nazrene Church Kid's camp. so i told the
story of Noah's Ark
and then got to be one of the judges on the judging panel for their last day
skit performances! it was so fun!
the crazy thing about this camp was that these are 2nd to 6th grade students
who wanted to learn how to stage act; not only that, but they got their scripts
(in ENGLISH) on the first day of camp! so they had to memorize their
lines within three days. now, this probably wasn't as hard for the older kids, but for the 2nd graders to have to memorize 3-4 lines in english?
that's pretty good. they were so adorable. oh oh, AND they were
taught how to make their own costumes, so the counselors and churches provided
all these random materials and things to use as props and outfits. it
really was quite impressive!
 
look at them! so cute. and check out this batman-Lazarus! too cute.
alrighty, that's a lot more pictures than i've normally posted, so hope you've enjoyed your reading time. now get back to work! TA HAHAHAA. or go to my normal XANGA page!
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| HAPPY NEW YEAR!
wow, i can't believe how quickly 2006 came and went. it is obviously a sign that i am getting old. can you believe last year at this time, i was just starting my application for OMF? and now, a year later, i'm already here out in the field. man, God works in funny ways. i'd never thought that a year later, i'd be out here in taiwan, halfway across the world from everyone i love, doing God's work. i tell ya, only God is capable of making all this happen.
anyway, if you want to see my post about things i did for new years, you'll have to go to my OTHER XANGA. otherwise, you can bore yourself with what i'm saying next. HAHAHAA.
I DONT" LIKE READING, BUT I READ THIS BOOK
i finished reading this book: Plastic Jesus: Exposing the Hollowness of Comfortable Christianity, by Eric Sandras, Phd. (do people with PhD's always have to say that they have one?
anyway, i really enjoyed this book. it was an easy read, but also very challenging. even though i'm already out in the missions field, and out of my christian "suburbia", it's still easy to live back in it because of how materialistic people are here. anyway, here are some good things i've learned from the book that i found challenging for myself, and hopefully for you too:
1. "Calling" is something that comes from within us. we're exposed to our God-given calling, whether it comes int eh form of a sound, a character in a movie or book, or an opportunity (such as missions). we are living our mundane lives, focused on our own little worlds, and then suddenly something inside us leaps and yells, "Hello!" but if we're not careful, our other responsibilities can disconnect that call and force us back to living life the way we have always lived it. don't settle for spiritual suburbia!!
2. When we follow God's calling, all the pieces come together to reveal the glory and purpose of God in our lives. Sometimes we're anointed for a season, sometimes for a lifetime. but when that happens, the comfort and predictability of redundancy give way to the adventure and passion of intentionality.
**the distraction of "pretending" with Jesus - can you identify?? have you been busy pretending to believe? keeping yourself looking good with spiritual actyivities - teaching bible studies, going to prayer meetings, attending spiritual retreats, working in the homeless shelter - because you are afraid that once you stop doing that, DOUBT will stalk you? if so, something in your spirit is likely whispering that just pretending won't support the weight of your REAL life. now, don't go abandoning all those activities, just yet. it may not be the activity that is the culprit, but you. you may be losing your true friendship with Jesus in the midst of acting like you have a better one than you do. Jesus doesn't want to be our imaginary friend. he wants our faith in him to actually bear the weight of our lives.
3. In regards to brokenness and missions/ministry: we often think that God's goodness is best reflected in the polished parts of my life - that we have to be the perfect christian first. that's the way it is in suburbia. when we drive down the street, we notice our neighbor's freshly waxed BMW or the newly painted picket fence. we don't go looking in their garbage or slither through the crawl space under their houses. but God wants to bring light to our darkness, to recycle our garbae, and clean out our crawl spaces. He doesn't want to admire a good car wax job, but to heal our rust spots. in God's economy, broken things actually have great value.
4. life works better when you have a vision and purpose. don't get stuck in the monotony of spiritual suburbia. it's like allowing yourself to be content with a mcdonald's happy meal spiritual prize instead of the crown God offers. experience the love and relationship that God has for you, even if the adventture takes you into the uncharted territory of your brokenness.
i've really enjoyed reading this book because it's truly helped me affirm my coming to Taiwan. as much as i was excited, i still kept thinking to myself, "i can still live in the states and do missions or do ministry.." but knowing that i'm stepping out of my comfort zone and allowing God to use the parts of me that were broken to reach out to people i share a culture with is not only challenging, but just as exciting. not to say that everyone who's not out in the mission field is living in "spiritual suburbia", but it's true that the risks are greater. i know i was like that at many points in my life when i was serving in the church and attending all the christian events.
so my point is not to say that i think you're living in that "spiritual suburbia", but to challenge YOU to step out and respond to a calling that perhaps you've ignored because of wanting to living comfortably or live according to what you're familiar with. it may not be missions, it might be something else...but don't ignore it!
alright, end of schpiel. hehehe. if you're read this far, kudos to you. if not, well, you probably won't be reading this sentence. :)
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| GREETINGS, few people who read this xanga! :)
NKOTB...or NAOTB
things have been pretty quickly coming together here in taiwan!!! first and most funniest news of all...welcome ME, the New ALIEN on the Block!
yes, you can all laugh at my pictures. but this already proves that i'm losing weight. my ID card picture is from my Visa picture, which i took right before i left for singapore. the insurance card picture is from today.
 
So...where's my BLOCK??
next news up...i finally found a place to live! praise God. that's been a prayer request for some time now, but today we went to look and just loved it! i gotta remind you, though, that living in taipei city is like living in new york. places are expensive and small. so even though my flat is considered an "apartment" here, it's seriously just like a dorm room. but hey, i'm not complaining. it's close to my ministry locations, AND it's right next to the NTNU night market, so things will be hustling and bustling til at least midnight, which is good for me, since i come back from one of my ministry sites around that time every sunday night. i'll post pictures of it when i get there!
alrighty, so that's the details of all the logistical stuff so far. i'll update about ministry stuff later...in the meantime, you can go read my other random thoughts on my OTHER FUN XANGA!
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