Quake

Yesterday's earthquake was a nice segue way into my Bible lesson about Paul and Silas in prison.

Visitors

Our missionary house serves as a hub for other ministries and missionaries coming and going.  Right now we have a student teacher Molly from Concordia Wisconsin who is here for three months.  Also visiting this weekend is another student teacher Anna who is doing her internship at a Christian school in another city in Taiwan.  Long-term missionary, pastor, and professor Hank Rowold came from the seminary in Northern Taiwan to preach for us in our home and serve us communion.  Sitting in our living room around our coffee table where the bread and wine were waiting, I had a picture of Jesus in the upper room with his disciples sitting around a table, chatting and eating their Passover meal.  Our communion was a little unorthodox in that we gave each other communion one by one, handing them the wafer saying, "Emily, the body of Christ for you," and "Michael, the body of Christ for you", and the same as we passed the cup.  It was very personal.  During Hank's lesson, I found myself leaning in close to hear every word.  Even as teachers and missionaries, we still crave being taught. And it's such a treat to be able to sit and listen to someone else do the teaching and encouraging.


Our visitors Molly, Anna, and Hank remind me that it's so refreshing to have visitors here.  Now Anna's gone back to her city to teach and Hank is returning back to the seminary.  As I show Molly the ropes and introduce her to different things, it's kind of funny to remember that that was me only a year ago!  It makes me realize how much I've learned.  I'm looking forward to working with Molly in my Spanish classes and to learn from each other.


All in all, our house is full right now and that makes us pretty happy campers.  Thank you, God, for bringing more people to Taiwan!

Sick

Most of the time I love my life in Taiwan.  I am living in the moment, with my mind on my job here and now, and not in some far-off stretches of the past or distant dream in the future.

But when I do think of home, when I talk to friends and family, I get so homesick.  I can taste snow on my tongue, feel the touch of my bed's flannel sheets, inhale the familiar scents of dryer sheets and stew.  I have snapshots in my mind of my mom's summer flowers and dad's English cap and our freshly-mowed lawn.  I remember old jokes with friends and evening strolls and games with family.  Home has always been a transcendent place for me, even magical.  This is by far the longest I have ever been away, and it's hard.

But I am not overwhelmed by the challenge; I am encouraged.  I am thankful to be here in Taiwan and to have the job that I have.  I am thankful to have such a wonderful home.  I am thankful that our eternal home is in heaven-- endless, perfect, face-to-face with God.

If anyone reading this is sick for home or missing a time long past or longing for familiar faces, know that you are not alone.  Don't let it distract you.  Keep on running towards your goal.  Be thankful for the time that you have.  Be prayerful and watchful as God prepares you for your eternal home.

Dear Dad and Mom,

Thank you for making our home a beautiful, beautiful one.  I can't wait to come home!

But first... we have three more months full of days full of moments full of opportunities to take.

加油!  Fuel up and keep going!  Let's go!


Love,

Anna

Let's Pray

In my writing classes, my students are working on composing short stories, so today was a free work day.  Usually I start class with prayer, but today I didn't.  I started giving announcements and directions, and one of my students raised her hand and said, "teacher!  we didn't pray!"

"Oh!  Well.... would you like for us to pray?"  I admit I sounded a bit incredulous.

I saw several heads nodding and heard an "uh YEAH."  I'm pretty sure I beamed at those kids.


Thank you, Lord, for my students.  Thank you for how you work in our hearts little by little.  Please let our daily class prayer teach them how to talk with you as children talk with their Father.

Thankful

Today I'm thankful for: maple syrup, English radio, baseball games.

I had fun with the 6th grade boy I tutored today.  He comes from a good Christian family, but I was never really sure what he believed personally.  He's a smart kid, but his English level is fairly low.  He used to come in and sit down and not say much, only answering my questions with a mumbled yes or no.  But after praying and brainstorming about how to connect with him, I had some ideas.  I remembered that he liked science, so I gave him a picture of the universe and asked him to explain.  He was flabbergasted when I first pretended to know nothing about the universe, but then he vigorously started explaining to me how the universe works, using circumlocution around the big English words he didn't know (like revolution and gravity).  I'd never heard him speak so much!  Since then I've given him pictures of the water cycle, a volcano, a plant diagram, and he always amazes me with how much he talks and what giant concepts he's able to convey.  That also broke the ice.  Today we laughed a lot, and now he even speaks freely with things unrelated to the science pictures.  

In our conversation today he mentioned how the parades in Taiwan are bad.  "Why?" I asked.  He said a Chinese word that I didn't understand.  After thinking about how to explain it, he said, "When we die, we go to God.  He is in heaven.  There is another place, with Shadan." 

    "Oh yeah, Satan,"  I caught on.

     "Yes.  And Satan is in the Chinese parade.  I don't like."

     "Yes, I agree.  Those gods are not real, right?  They are made of wood.  They cannot do anything."

     "Yeah,"  my student laughed.

     "I am so glad that our God is strong.  He can do everything!"

      "Yeah,"  he laughed again.

It was a simple conversation that ended there, but I was glad to hear my student confess his faith in the true, uncreated God with childlike simplicity.  I am glad the Christians in Taiwan are raising their children in the knowledge of the God's Word and how we should interpret our world through God's Word.

Yeah, it was a good day.

Did I make a difference today?  Am I making any impact at all?

Doubts buzz around my head.  My to-do list seems lengthier than my will, and I can't seem to scratch anything off it anymore than one can scratch out air.  As the midnight clock splits the emptiness with each thunderous tick, my own mortality knocks on my cranium, refusing to be forgotten.  My time, my days, my every breath is an investment from my Heavenly Father.  Will I bury it in the dirt, refusing to draw interest?  Will I while away the time until the end, wondering where it's gone and wondering where I missed my chance to make a difference?  Or will I hear at the end of my days a "well done, good and faithful servant"?  Stepping off the plane and onto the mission field is not a guarantee that I will make a difference; it's only the first step.  It's the daily walk with God that bears the fruit, one day at a time, one step at a time.

We are not called to be wielders of a shoulder-shrugging faith.  Through the Holy Spirit and by the blood of Jesus we are born again with authority to be radical, transformed, set apart from the world, to be people of integrity.  We are empowered to stand firm in a shaking world, to pray for our enemies, to protect the helpless, to be thankful in the midst of trials, to be joyful in the face of death.  God does great things in us, his children.

Are we making a difference?  With the Holy Spirit of Yahweh living inside of us, how can we not?  But we may not see the impact we have.  If you are like me, wondering if your walk with God is making a difference in the world, take these words from Mother Teresa as encouragement:

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

All my zealous endeavors and idealistic inspiration falls flat before the cross.  Savior, the measure of my strength lies between your outstretched hands.  Christ has already made all the difference.