Fu Huo Jie: Resurrection Day

Missed friends and family today, but I enjoyed my afternoon in the quietness of Forest Park.  Mom, I should probably already know this, but what kind of flower is this?  There were thousands of these purple flowers carpeting the park and draping from tree to tree.

Beautiful bamboo

What I think are banyan trees

What else can I write about on a day like today?  No fleeting words of mine can compare with this expression of hope and faith:

“Oh, that my words were recorded,
   that they were written on a scroll,
that they were inscribed with an iron tool on^[b] lead,
   or engraved in rock forever!
I know that my redeemer^[c] lives,
   and that in the end he will stand on the earth.^[d]
And after my skin has been destroyed,
   yet^[e] in^[f] my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
   with my own eyes—I, and not another.
   How my heart yearns within me!"

Job 19: 23-27

Happy Easter, friends and family!

Anna 

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It is a Good, Good Day

I haven't missed American food until today when I explained to my Taiwanese friend what sauerkraut is and immediately began to salivate.  Even things that look normal here such as ice cream cake have little surprises in them, usually kidney beans.  I am learning quickly what I like and what I don't like, and learning to order in Chinese accordingly.  I had my first Chinese lesson today and can now put together basic sentences.  Although some aspects of the Chinese language are more complicated than in other languages (such as the four pitches or tones), other things are super easy, like conjugating verbs-- you don't even have to do it!

School today was mostly uneventful, except for the 30-hour famine, a group fast that the students were encouraged to participate in.  It's funny how significant going without food for a day can seem, but so insignificant when compared to Jesus' forty days of fasting.  It reminds me that God doesn't save those who are strong, but those who realize they are so very weak.  I wonder what impact a fast like this would have if all students in America fasted to focus on prayer-- can you imagine?

This Easter away from home isn't my first in a different continent; I've also experienced Easter in Romania five years ago.  Hearing the Easter message being communicated in a foreign tongue brings to reality the universal joy that we share.  Our church, Salvation Lutheran Church, had about 40 people there for the Good Friday service tonight, including the missionaries and pastor-- a good-sized gathering for this church.  And it's not every day a group that size can sing so loudly!  Like every Good Friday, God brought to my knees in humble thanks.  We are so loved.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

God is blessing me with getting to know some Taiwanese friends better.  It's nice to be able to go out with them and make connections deeper than our differences.  They have a lot of patience with me, as I ask for the Chinese names for a million different things.  And the best part-- we laugh a lot!

Falling asleep.... goodnight!  I mean, good morning!  Enjoy Friday!  It is a good day-- trust me, I've already been there. ;)

Anna

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Visitors

This might be my shortest update ever, but I need not say more:


We have fleas!!

Sun Link Sea and Other Adventures

I realize now that I have to update regularly, otherwise so much happens that writing about everything seems overwhelming!   Well, here I go to try to fill you in on this week:


New Vistas:
Wednesday was our day off for Tomb Sweeping Day, so the team went to Sun Link Sea, a beautiful place to hike in the mountains and see breathtaking waterfalls.  Delicate bamboo forests, towering cypress trees, cliff-climbing orchids and giant pink peonies were the flora that captured my admiration.  I think our first hike to Dulishan was good practice, because I wasn't sore at all!  I made some new Taiwanese friends who came with us on the trip.  The exhausting but lovely day trip ended with very traditional Chinese food including bamboo soup, deer meat, and deep-fried tea leaves!  Good views, good conversation, and good food makes for a great day.  Some pictures that I found online of Sun Link Sea:

New Experiences:
I got to experience the Chiayi Christian hospital on Tuesday.  My friends told me that I should have my swollen foot looked at, and because we have a friend with connections at the hospital, we just went there right away.  Formalities and regulations aren't as tight here, as I found out, and we were able to skip lines of people so that I could walk right into the "Infectious Diseases Unit" to be told that they're just infected mosquito bites (which is better than fleas like we thought it might have been).  The doctor gave me medicine to take for the swelling and infection.  It's getting better, but perhaps mosquitos are a lot nastier here or maybe I'm allergic to something, because everything just itches like crazy and I get rashes often.  Ahhh, such is the price of traveling!  I am just grateful that I haven't been sick yet.

New Lessons:
Unnatural Selection: that's what they call the population problem in Taiwan.  Couples want to have small families with few children to stay wealthy, and they often abort female babies to try for male ones.  I also learned that there are good and bad years to be born.  This is the year of the dragon; a very lucky year to be born, and I suspect there will be a lot of babies born in 2012.  The year of the tiger, on the other hand, is considered very unlucky, and hundreds of thousands of babies are aborted in these years, because families don't want unlucky babies.  One of our friends here (a Christian) was born in the year of the tiger.  Because of this, she is not allowed to attend any weddings or funerals in the family, and if anything bad happens in the family, it is blamed on her bad fortune.  No wonder she threw off those superstitions and became a Christian!  I was really shocked to hear how far these superstitions affect people's lives and cause people to be treated appallingly.

I was also moved by some of the stories I've heard of what some converts go through.  There are all different kinds of persecution and sacrifices that people experience to call themselves Christian, even though Taiwan boasts "freedom of religion".  One friend of ours is Christian, but her husband threatens to leave her if she embarrasses him by getting baptized.  Another girl my age was disowned by her parents for a while after being baptized, but later her parents warmed up to the change.  Also, women are more likely to convert than men, so women realize that by being baptized they run a high chance of being single for the rest of their lives.

New prayer request!  I got to talk with a coworker in my office who is my age.... she was very open to answering my questions about her traditional religion, and we talked about the reason why Easter is so special to us Christians.  It was a very encouraging conversation, and I would love if she came to church with us sometime.  Please pray for Tina!

 I just want to build relationships right now, and take whatever opportunities come.

Praying for you all!  Thanks so much for following my adventures here in Taiwan, and it's so great to know that my trip is being lifted up in prayer by brothers and sisters back in the states.


Anna

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A Day in the Office

Even while my camera is out of commission until I get a working charger, I can still take pictures in the office with my Mac. :)

This is fan teow = "rice strips".  They look like little jelly worms in soup.  It's actually a cold, sweet dessert soup with rice noodles.  Tastes like diluted maple syrup, but pretty good.

This is Janice!  My desk neighbor and self-proclaimed "Taiwanese mom".  I think we'll be going for many walks during our free time.  She follows the traditional Chinese religion, which is a mix of Buddhist philosophy and Taoist theology.  She will go to worship her ancestors tomorrow for the national holiday Tomb Sweeping Day.  I've invited her to Friday night Bible study at the church... maybe she'll come!

I forgot to mention that Saturday (my 4th day here) I had my first solo outing.  My mission: order breakfast.  After a lot pointing and awkward laughing, mixed in with the few phrases I know in Chinese, it was a success.  I pointed to a random thing on the menu and got------ chicken!  No sea food!  This is proof that God is good.  :)

Yesterday was my first shopping excursion and I rode my bike to the convenience store, a fruit stand, and bakery.  Chiayi is a big booming city, but only a few blocks away from our school I found quiet rice paddies and chicken farms.  There are temples everywhere, ranging in size anywhere from little shacks to the Seven Levels of Hell Temple, which is six or seven stories high.  Back in the states I couldn't help but admire the beauty and peace of Asian art, but now I see it from a different perspective.  These ornate temples are ominous and dark.  Perhaps East Asians strive for such a peace and "good energy" in their aesthetics because they have none in their religion.  How do you know if you've been good enough?  What if you were bad in a past life?  How do you please Matsa and the other gods?  Are your ancestors pleased with you?  How do you know?  Although we Christians also appreciate good art, we don't have to rely on synthesizing a sense of peace in our environment; we have the Spirit of peace inside of us.  The price for our sins has been paid for, it is finished.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God.  What peace could we possibly lack?

Tomorrow is Tomb Sweeping Day and it's a holiday for that very purpose.  Kind of strange that we get this day off from school, but not Good Friday.

My least favorite thing about Taiwan: mosquitos!!  My foot is swollen from bites and barely fits into my shoe and my legs are covered with them too.  But I can't complain.  Warm showers and edible food have already exceeded my expectations of the living conditions here.  My lovely room with a great bed:

My pictures have been put on hold because my camera charger isn't working and these are all I have.  I will upload photos as soon as possible.

Anna

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Weekend update

My calves are tight from yesterday's excursion:  climbing Duli Shan, "Independence Mountain".  The air is always hazy in and around Chiayi city, so the mountain was only a massive outline in the sky until we reached its base.  I'd like to think that it was the altitude that made me stop and gasp for oxygen at each new set of stairs that climbed to the top... I'm sure I would have been the first one to the top if I hadn't taken pictures all the time! ;)  Okay, in all honesty now... I thought I was going to die.  What a way to be broken in!  I would have given up if it wasn't for the team.  They didn't have to say anything; they were just there, always putting one foot in front of the other, and I wanted to be there with them at the top.  From my perspective, it was a neat picture of our Christian walk and why missionaries need work together in a team.  Being able to stand on the peak was a huge sense of accomplishment, not to mention the great view.  If this is what we do during our time off, I think I will be in the best shape of my life!

Flora:  impatiens, hibiscus, and cherry blossoms everywhere!  Cultivated tea plants and beetle nut trees that look like tall thin palm trees.  In the first half of the 20th century, the Japanese had control of the island and stripped the mountains of its natural trees.  The bare mountains were later planted with beetle nut, which produces a substance used like chewing tobacco.  These trees have really shallow root systems and cause many avalanches on the mountains of Taiwan; last year, a city was completely wiped off of the map because of these trees!  Fauna:  SPIDERS!  Huge ones, at least the same length as the span of my stretched fingers.  I'm not used to being able to spot spiders from 50 feet away.  Snakes, rodents, geckos, and other bugs I'm okay with... but spiders!  I think I'll be okay-- as long as they stay out of my bed.

Click >>here<< to read more about Duli Shan.


After our hike yesterday, a lady from the church named Joann took us to see some local Taiwanese artists, both traditional pottery and contemporary abstract art of various media.  It was intriguing to see the culture represented in art.  Taiwan is a blending of cultures, more Chinese by location, while also influenced by the previous Japanese occupation, and a touch of early Dutch exploration.  The Japanese influence accounts for more of the simplistic, minimalist, earthy art, whereas Chinese art tends to be more ornate.  They certainly understand how to create a sense of peace in their art.

Last night we went to karaoke for our friend Amanda's birthday, but I was so exhausted!  I don't think jet lag has been an issue; I've had NO trouble sleeping at night.  In fact, I feel like that's all I want to do right now!

On the way to church this morning we passed a parade celebrating a god's birthday, and we saw people on the street burn fake money and set out fruit as an offering.  When we arrived at church, it was refreshing to see the palms, the smiling pastor dressed in normal Lutheran pastor garb, and to hear the choppy sing-song language following the melody of familiar hymns where English always used to be.  I thought of Christians singing hymns in the same language in a country not too far from here-- but in basements, hiding from national police.  One of the members translated the sermon for us through a headset system, but I didn't need translation for the liturgy or the words of institution; I knew exactly what the pastor was saying when he told me I was forgiven, that this is Jesus' body and blood.

I always thought I wanted to travel to discover more independence, but instead God is teaching me deeper levels of dependence. Like 1 Corinthians 13 says, my gifts and talents mean nothing if I do not have love, and God is the only one who can enable me to love like that.  In previous mission experiences, I always leaned on sharing my gifts of music and languages.  But I did not come to play songs, and I didn't come to learn Chinese.  There are others on the team who play music for church, and everyone's Chinese is BY FAR better than mine!  And I'm okay with that.  It's kind of a strange blessing, not to be needed for your gifts and talents, but to just be a blessing with your heart.  God may be stretching me and showing me other avenues in which to love people, because that's what it really comes down to.

Pray for:
     - humility.  I really need it right now.
     - my Taiwanese colleague, Janice, who is not a Christian.

I hope and pray all is well back home!

Anna
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