This is Taiwan

In the movie, Blood Diamond, Leo frequently says "TIA- This is Africa." Among the missionaries of Taiwan, we frequently say "TIT- This is Taiwan." Here are the hilarious (though maybe only to the people here) examples from today. This post in dedicated to Anna Meyer.

"Why do those children have guns?"- Some of the high school kids take part in a military type class. They practice with real guns. When I say guns I mean large machine gun looking metal things. This is not color guard my American friends.

"Are they going to keep those spikes up there?" - We are putting in a fire escape thing at CELA. When I say fire escape I don't mean ladders or stairs. Its a rope or it will be. They started building the landing structure today. At the top are these very sharp metal spikes. I don't know why.

A few additions:

"They don't speak Chinese in America?!" and "There are 7/11 in America?!"- We are starting Pen Pals this week and I asked the students to write about differences between Taiwan and America. These were a few of the shocking things my students discovered.

This is Taiwan. Nothing is what you expect and everything is a memory.

Prayer Request

Please pray for my family. As many of you know my mom has Stage 4 Breast Cancer which has been dormant for a number of years now. We found out last week that it is back and spreading. The tumor markers are showing growth in her stomach again. Her abdomen is again filling with fluid and she is in a lot of pain. This week, she will begin a rigorous 8 week course of Chemotherapy. She will be taking that time off of school so she can focus on getting better.

The doctors are not telling us to be positive. Chemo did not work for her last time, it was a complete miracle that she recovered at all. I believe strongly in the power of prayer and I know that God has plans for my mom, she is an amazing servant.

Please pray for her as she undergoes treatment. Please pray for my brother and sister who are living in Austin, for my dad who will be alone in caring for my mom in St. Louis, and for me as I try to deal with all of this so very far from home.

Jesus Loves the Little Ones...

This is Meredith. She is our boss, Callie's daughter. This weekend, the CELA staff took a trip to Kending, a beach resort area on the southern tip of the island. It was an amazing trip. We went to the beach, tried surfing, toured some local history, and went shopping at an amazing night market. It takes about three-ish hou had the joy of sitting next to Meredith for a lot of the journey. Meredith knows very little English but she learns very quickly. She is in my K2 class so she knows some Bible songs and some English sentences. While we were together, I was reminded so much of what Jesus means "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Meredith is the biggest little gospel light I have ever seen. She sings about Jesus all the time. Her favorite song is "Jesus Loves the Little Ones." She would constantly lean over to me and say "Little Ones, Beka" and we would sing. I want to be more like her, easily accepting, loving, and singing about Jesus!

In Kending, I was also reminded of how much God loves us. The picture to the right is a view from our spot on the beach. If God were just some bored figurehead up in heaven, looking for something to do, he could have made the world grey and bland. He could have made it flat and dry. Instead, God wanted to show us his power and love. He made white sandy beaches and green mountians and blue, blue oceans. He have us friends to enjoy these with and time to cherish his creation! God is so amazing!