|
HeavenSentAnjel
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Sally
Birthday: 12/16/1985
Gender: Female
Interests: Driving people nuts, forming new callouses from guitaring and violining, picking cilantro out of my soup, and singing in the shower :o)
Occupation: Student
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  HeavenSentAnjel
Member Since:
7/22/2002
|
|
| From a computer on dialup...
Dearest Friends, Family, Brothers, Sisters,
It is finished! The ¡°official¡± mi---ons part of my summer, that is. If mosquito bites could express my gratitude for your faithfulness in praying for my teams (in both China and Taiwan), I would pick that huge palm-sized bite on my calf. Last time you were updated, I left off at the night before our final full day of mi---try, but the goodies DAD had for us did not stop there¡
The final night before we were to do our outdoor EV program, we looked outside at the dark sea of clouds and it looked like there was going to be some serious rain. The whole team was tired from a kids talent show in the morning, having lost a team member who fell into an uncovered sewer*, and saying tearful goodbyes to the high school kids we had been teaching. Though all of us were secretly hoping that it would rain so that we could take the night to rest, DAD had bigger plans for us.
Joe, our team leader had said ¡°If we get out there, set up the chairs and there¡¯s one drop of rain, we¡¯ll call it a night and forgo the program.¡± Oh boy, that proposal was sounding awfully nice to our exhausted team. When we walked down to the park location, however, we saw a big incense burning fire right next to our ¡°stage¡±. Let me give you a little background. That night was July 15th on the Lunar Calendar, a big night for ancestor ghost worship/incense burning, so businesses and households all around Taiwan were burning incense and setting out altars for the ghosts of ancestors past. You can probably imagine our dismay at seeing pagan worship next to what was supposed to be our site for J.C. worship.
The TAM team immediately fell to prayer while setting up, asking DAD to take away this distraction and any evil spirits that came with it. Almost immediately, the rain that had been falling in sporadic droplets increased a little in intensity. By this time, we were already near the bookstore where we were going to pick up our tables and chairs and Joe and I were wondering whether or not we were to continue with the program. We were confused because Joe had said if there was a drop of rain, we¡¯d pack it up; but at the same time, it didn¡¯t seem like DAD was allowing it to rain hard enough to the point of packing up. We continued to pray and ask DAD what to do as we were walking back to the site. When we got there¡.
¡One of our team members, Nina, piped up and said ¡°I know why it¡¯s raining! Look! The idols are gone because of the rain!¡± It was then that I realized that though I prayed for the incense fire to be taken away, I didn¡¯t actually think that DAD would literally take it away right then. Nina¡¯s faith and DAD¡¯s faithfulness showed me how small my own faith is. I may have a lot of scholarly knowledge about the Word, but when it comes to faith that can move mountains; I¡¯ve come to see how much I fall short.
Within the next ten minutes, the rain gradually stopped and we were able to proceed with our program. Logistically speaking, the night was a disaster: from broken guitar strings to the actual program itself, but spiritually and relationally, it was probably the most fruitful night. Relationships were deepened and we were even able to make a date the next day for one of the girls we had met to give our team¡¯s girls free facials, and for our guys to play basketball with these three guys that we had met through the program. What a way to end! DAD continues to work and be faithful even though I am faithless. It¡¯s been amazing to see how much this TAM team has been on spiritual steroids for these two weeks!
I have since returned to Taipei to spend time with my relatives, but my mi---try does not end there. I still have a few more requests ¨C sorry, for those of you who thought you were off the hook already :o) ¡
1) My grandparents ¨C Though my nuclear family (dad, mom, brothers) have been believers for a long time, my grandparents have never bought into the faith. We¡¯ve been praying and praying that they would come to know DAD, but we have not yet seen fruit. Please pray that I could be a good example/witness to them and that DAD would provide a divine appointment for me to share about my faith with them. Tonight at dinner, I was able to share a little bit, but not as in depth as I would like. Ironically, it¡¯s harder to speak openly about my faith with my own grandparents than it is with total strangers. I¡¯m trying to hold to DAD¡¯s commission in Joshua 1:9 to be strong and courageous but I¡¯ll be honest ¨C I¡¯m scared.
2) Preparing to return home ¨C I have one more month in Shanghai before I return to UCLA, but as soon as I return, I start school. For those that don¡¯t know, I am a violin performance major, and that requires lots of practice ¨C practice that I have not had time for since summer began. I¡¯d like to ask you to pray for my diligence in practicing violin during the month I¡¯m in Shanghai so that I will not be in deep trouble when I get back to school.
3) Spiritual life ¨C the wilderness is starting to look greener and I¡¯m starting to see little patches of grass here and there, but like the Israelites that DAD brought out of Egypt, I have a wandering heart. I¡¯ve seen DAD do amazing things in the lives of people I¡¯ve had the privilege of working with or meeting, but please pray that I will not forget what I¡¯ve seen, or get discouraged now that I¡¯m returning to ¡®normal¡¯ life. Rather, I¡¯d like to ask you to pray that I would continue to seek after Him and continue to walk faithfully in the center of His heart.
4) TAM team ¨C Joe, Nina, Joan, Eliott, Ben, Enoch are flying back to the states on Wednesday the 24th, please pray for safety and comfort in travel. Also, please pray for their enthusiasm in sharing their experiences when they get back home and that the jet lag monster will allow them some sleep :o)
Thank you so much for your prayers. You have shown me just what DAD means in Ephesians 4 about unity and community. Know that all these stories and experiences are yours as well because you were just as much part of our teams as the people who were physically there. I really pray that these experiences have blessed you just as much as they have blessed me. Hopefully when I return to the states, we can make a date so I can share more experiences, pictures, and videos with you. I miss you and love you all more than mice love rice¡.err cheese :o) I¡¯d also love to keep getting emails from you about how things are back home and how I can yarp for YOU. Until then, time for some Cho Do Fu (stinky tofu)!!
Love,
Sally
* P.S. A team member didn¡¯t really fall into the sewer. We lost a team member (Christine) because she had to fly back early to start school :oP | | |
| Dearest Friends and Family,
I have so many praises that I barely know where to start! Even my mosquito bites are throbbing and rejoicing with me. First I want to start off trying to express my thanks to you for your loyal prayers. All the emails I get from you with updates, encouragements, and reminders that our team is in your prayers speak straight to my spirit. You show me a beautiful example of faithfulness that I can only hope to learn from. Now for all the goodies that were provided by your yarpers that DAD answered)...
Remember my request #2 from my last update? That park program/concert that all of us prayed earnestly for started on Monday evening. That first night, we did a worship set, handed out flyers, and talked to people. By tonight (Thursday), what had started out as a simple public music worship session became a full blown EV program complete with skits, body worship, worship, a message, and an illustration. DAD showed us little by little each step of the way what the needs of the community were. There were drinks available for the kids that were playing at the playground, there were chairs available for the parents of the kids and any passer byers, and there were tables available for well...what tables are there for. All these amenities surrounded our makeshift "stage" -- the sidewalk.
More exciting than the program, though, is how our team worked together. To see each member of the team so excited to fill their role completely lifted my spirits. Every night, as we're walking back from the park (post-cleanup), all I hear is excited chatter from the team about the night: who they got to share with, which kids smiled, how a prayer was answered, and more. As I observed the team from day to day, it's been awesome to see each of their gifts being developed and put into practice Ephesians 4 style. For Joan, it's her musical talent and affinity for children. For Nina it's her ability to communicate with adults and children alike with the utmost honesty and sincerity. For Enoch it's his gentleness with kids and his miraculous life testimony. For Eliott it's his diligence and integrity in fulfilling responsibility given to him. For Ben it's his childlike faith and passion for DAD that overflows into his relationships with people. For Christine it's her sensitivity to those around her and her leadership through servanthood. For Joe it's his shepherding and flexibility in going with DAD's plans. And for me...
.... For me, I feel like more than anything else, this Taiwan portion of my trip has been more of a chance for DAD to take my eyes off of myself and learn to share in others' joy and suffering (1 Cor 12:25-26). I shared with you all in my last email that I feel like I'm in the wilderness. But because that is the case, it's forced me to observe DAD's hand move tangibly in other peoples' lives if not in my own. It really takes "living vicariously through others" to a whole new level.
Most of this email has been spent talking about our evening program, but I don't want to discount what we've been doing during the day. We've still been teaching our two community classes in the morning and going to the high school to teach in the afternoon. This week we started working with a new and younger high school class. It's proven to be challenging because they are definitely a lot more energetic and less disciplined than our previous class. But because of that, we've learned to adapt lesson plans and even threw in a new "one-cut" illustration. Remind me to show it to you when I see you next, because it's really cool, gimmicky EV tool :o). For those of you who have ever led a funny ice-breaker that I've had a chance to participate in, we've probably used it. Things like the fruit game ("Pomegranate! Pomegranate! Pomegranate!), or Kung Fu Masters have all been hits with the high schoolers (and a riot for us to watch), so here's a quick thanks to you guys!
As we wrap up the last day of our mi---try time here in Hsin Chu, I have a few more requests for you to send up:
1) Tomorrow, we've invited some of the high school kids to come join us for dinner and to hang out and that may be our last chance to share with them about DAD. Please keep sending up yarpers for us for the right words to speak and for divine appointments.
2) Mosquitos, mosquitos, mosquitos. Even right now, the girls are running around the room chasing a mosquito while I sit here as bait. Please pray that the mosquitos will die, or maybe just leave us alone. Hehe.
3) Finishing strong. As we have only one full day of planned mi---try left, please pray that we won't rest on our laurels, but rather run even harder because this may be our last chance to proclaim the Good News to some people.
4) Personal request -- I'm still in pretty much a similar spiritual state as in my last email, but with higher spirits from seeing DAD work amazingly. Please pray as the Spirit leads, thanks :o)
I love you and miss you all! If there are any specific Taiwanese delicacies that you're craving, let me know so that I can eat a lot of it in your stead. I'll even take a picture with my mouth full of whatever it is ;o) I trust that DAD is faithful in your lives back at home, please do continue to keep me updated with your joys and struggles; sharing is caring!
Love,
Sally
| | |
| The latest on our battle with mosquitos...
Hey Faithful Prayer Warriors,
This email finds me at the end of a trying week one in Hsin Chu. It's been quite interesting getting to see DAD's faithfulness in such different forms. What do I mean? Let me explain¡K
Since day one, spiritual warfare has been evident. When we were preparing to go on a prayer walk through the night market the very first day we were there, somehow, 12 of us got stuck in a humid 4x5 foot (approximately) elevator. It may seem like a coincidental incident, but combined with last year's stories, this was no accident. There have also been other little things that have prevented or delayed our min¡Xtry opportunities.
Besides little logistical trip ups here and there, our team's physical and spiritual lives have also been under attack. Tiredness is like the bubonic plague here. One person will start to feel tired, then another set of eyelids will droop, then another, and pretty soon, we have a very droopy team. Some of our team members are even getting sick! The constant draining of energy could be due to the heat and humidity, but I also strongly believe that there are 'unseen forces' at work here. Spiritual lives have been under attack as well as each team member struggles with issues such as inability to forgive themselves, irritation at each other, why is DAD so unfair?, or just not being able to hear/discern His voice clearly.
Throughout it all, though, this team has been such an encouragement to me in the way they chose to take DAD's way on the narrow path. They have lifted up everything in prayer ¡V from mosquito bites to strength and ideas in lesson planning. Yesterday, as we were sharing high and lows, I shared that my high of the trip was seeing each of them discover DAD in a new way. Two of our members shared that they had never prayed so much in their life, and that they were seeing problems from a whole new perspective: on their knees. One of our members Ben had a specific request answered when he was struggling with where his place on the team was, and if there was a role for him on this trip. He came out of that day rejoicing because DAD was faithful in showing Ben how he had been prepared months ahead of time for a specific purpose (you can ask me more about this later, I even have a video clip to share with you regarding this). To see the younger members of our team be so excited and so on fire because DAD has revealed himself in a new way is my biggest joy here.
Each day of teaching has become more and more fun as relationships and routines are developed. In my morning class of 2-6 year olds, we start off with excercises, review, then we usually teach them a new 'subject' with a related song or motions. Following that is game time, then craft time. Though I start and end each day exhausted, somehow, while I'm teaching, DAD fills me with a supernatural strength and energy ¡V and then I crash afterwards :oP In the afternoons, we've been going to the local High School and working with their 'Language Gifted' class. Rather than teach them English, we've been asked to challenge them to think -- so we do, with the Word as our textbook. I had the privilege of talking more in depth to one of the high school girls during our 'get to know you tea times'. This girl Dolores actually started saying that she didn't know what true love was (this stemming from the question: do you have a boyfriend?) and was interested in discussing with me what our concepts of love were. Through that, I was able to share a little bit of my faith with her and she seemed to be chewing on that. Tomorrow, I'll have a chance to talk to her more¡K I'm excited to see what kind of divine appointment is in store for me tomorrow!
Our host families here have been spoiling us rotten and showing us just what true servanthood is. It is an encouraging example to me of hospitality and generosity not only with resources but with time as well. At this point, we have not yet started EVing out in the night markets, because somehow, our head leader Joe feels like the team is not ready. In fact, yesterday, he seemed to receive word from above that we should do open praise nights in a community park nearby where families come out to hang out. We were all asked to lift this up in prayer to confirm if it's really from DAD or not. I'm anxious to see how DAD shows himself this time.
I apologize for a long (and kinda dry) email :o/ but good news: just a few requests and I'm done! Hehe¡K
1) Mosquito bites ¡V I'm really getting eaten alive. I have a mosquito bite on my calf that's the size of the palm of my hand. It started swelling up and after praying over it, has gone down only in the last day. My other team members who laughed at me are now starting to get eaten alive too. I guess my blood is not enough for the greedy mosquitos here. Please lift this up because itchiness can be a very uncomfortable distraction.
2) Discernment on what to do in the evenings ¡V As mentioned above, we were asked to ask for confirmation on our leader's leading.
3) My own spiritual health ¡V I've been struggling a lot since I got to Taiwan. While I've been seeing DAD's hand moving so strongly amongst our team, it's hard to sense it moving in my own life. Part of me wonders if this is because of PMS (Post Mis¡Xons Syndrome) or even pride. My quiet times truly are quiet ¡V it's almost as if my spirit is not as sensitive to His voice as it was even a week ago. I feel like I'm in the wilderness. I have spent time in reflection and confession to see if there's something that I haven't repented of that is grieving His spirit, but it doesn't seem like that's it. Whatever it is, if you could lift me up in this aspect, I would really really really appreciate it.
If the Spirit leads you to pray for anything else, feel free! Thank you for your unfaltering support and encouragement. I really love your emails of encouragements, updates, and love. Opening up my Inbox is like Christmas morning to me when I find emails from you guys, so keep 'em rolling :o) If there's anything specific that any of y'all would like from Taiwan or China, let me know soon! Otherwise, if I get you something tacky, don't say I didn't ask ;o) I miss you and love you all a million tons!
Love,
Sally | | |
| Let's Catch Up
I just realized that I had said I'd post updates on xanga, but didn't end up doing it. I lied. I'm sorry. Good thing God forgives *whew*. Anyway, I'll post the emails that I've been sending my supporters down below. Warning: long post ahead!! (they'll go in chronological order)
July 11th
Dearest Faithful Yarpers,
It's been about five days in Beijing and a wealth of stuff has happened already ¡V stuff¡K.for lack of a better word. The first day I got there, I was greeted with "Our local partner didn't pull through on his end of the deal. The first ten days camp is canceled." ..uhhhh¡K can you imagine what was going through my head? But after an afternoon of meetings, phone calls, and lots of yarping, I had learned from the godly leaders (Jeff and Alithia) whom I will be working under that no matter how capable you are, it's not just about working for Daddy, but working with Him and obtaining His permission before acting on anything.
The second day, the team from the US came in and joined us. I cannot even put into words how thankful I am for these teammates. These are godly brothers and sisters who love Daddy and have been blessings to me. Okay, enough gushing about my team. We range from ages 17 to 24 and everyone is from the south .. except me.
These few days, I'm starting to appreciate more and more my bilingual background. Being able to speak English and Mandarin has allowed me the privilege to serve in ways that I would otherwise not be able to. Who knew that translating could be so tiring? We did two promotional roadshow seminars on Saturday and worked with some kids a little, and went to a local church here in Beijing today.
Starting tomorrow, our team will be traveling 6 hours by bus to Inner Mongolia to hold a 4 and a half day English camp for the local kids. Inner Mongolia!! Daddy's plan really is bigger than we could see. I'm really excited and a bit anxious at the same time because lately there have been a lot of thunderstorms and where we are going is apparently very flooded right now. Add on top of that a large possibility that there is no running water. Yay? Regardless, Paul said in Philippians that he had learned to be content in J.C. and to rejoice in all circumstances. If Daddy has commanded it, then what have we to do but obey right?
Yarper Requests:
- Peace of mind in all situations no matter how out of hand things may be ¡V and trust me, things get out of hand here!
- A discerning spirit and a loving, humble heart to know how to minister to those around me ¡V teammates, local coaches, kids alike.
- Physical health for our team. Most members of our team have never traveled outside of the US and the food, jetlag, and weather has been hard on their bodies. Please pray that God's healing and protecting hand would continuously be over us.
- My attitude. So far God has been really gracious in extending me the grace and strength I need to look at things through His eyes, but it will be very easy especially when I am tired or uncomfortable to let my guard down and start complaining.
- We are not allowed to openly profess Daddy unless asked, so pray for divine appointments and opened doors while we are ministering to the kids, and locals
Thanks again for your yarpers¡KI have faith that they have already been heard and answered. Thanks also for those of you who have sent me encouragement emails. They really do brighten my day! I love you and wish you all well.
Love, Sally
July 17th
Dearest Friends,
It's been an eventful week since you last heard from me. He is so good and so faithful J When we got to Mongolia after a long dusty bus ride, we were surprised to find rather nice living accommodations. Our 11 western coaches joined 12 local coaches all from Peking University in a dormitory style house. It was evident that even though we didn't know we'd be going to Inner Mongolia, Daddy had already prepared because our guy to girl ratio fit perfectly into the number of rooms with the perfect number of beds with every bed filled. Daddy is a daddy of details for sure! We cooked all our own meals and had interesting experiences with cold water only, low water pressure showers that didn't drain. It was a great bonding experience though, and we were able to share our lives not only with the kids that we worked with while we were there, but also with the local coaches, most of whom are very new runners in THE race.
Our primary purpose there was to run a camp that started at 8 in the morning at the local primary school. We started out each morning with a short talk on a virtue or character quality to be our main focus for that day ( i.e. honesty, love, servanthood) then we would split up into our separate teams, each led by two western coaches and 2-3 local coaches and go off into our track times. We had a total of four hours of track times that included rotations to activities such as music and sign language, soccer, football, Frisbee, basketball, silly songs, elevator talks, and drama with a lunch break in between. I got to teach the silly songs in English/Chinese for the afternoon track and went from station to station with my kids during the morning track.
Not only was it amazing to see the amount of English these kids picked up (from NO English background at all), it was amazing to see their love and openness toward us. Their thirst for knowledge, love, and acceptance made it easy for me to become very attached to the kids in the short five days we were there. Though we were not allowed to openly proclaim Daddy's name, His presence was very strong through the love that was shown through all the coaches.
As we were preparing to leave on the last morning, we heard a commotion outside our house and went outside to see what it was. A bunch of the kids had gathered outside our house wanting to say goodbye. There were many tears shed on both sides ¡V the kids and the coaches ¡V and the kids sang us two Chinese love songs. It broke my heart to see them so happy and sad at the same time. The kids of this village don't have much materially and most came from farming families, so this kind of camp and the relationships built were very new and a big deal for them. Despite the long energy draining days, I was sad to leave that little town. Daddy definitely expanded my heart and capacity to love and showed me what it means to have faith like a child. If I could go back again, I would.
For the next two days, we (the western coaches) are going to take a two day adventure/faith trip. In teams of two (with the exception of my one team of three), we will all be dropped off at different cities each 2-3 hours bus ride from Beijing, and we are to find our way back to the designated meeting point in Beijing by 5:30 the next day. We are left to fend for ourselves in terms of lodging, food, and sight-seeing. It's also a race at the same time to see how little money each team can spend. It's like the Amazing Race and ultimate scavenger hunt. I have no idea where we're going yet, but we leave tomorrow morning. Since I am the only Chinese speaker, I'm not allowed to speak Chinese the whole trip (except in emergencies), and I'm supposed to let my two Caucasian teammates do all the talking. I'm really excited for these next two days to see what Daddy has in store for us!
Thanks for your faithful yarpers. They have been a big source of encouragement along with the emails you guys send. Feel free to keep them coming! I am either suffering from really bad allergies or a cold, but either way, if you could send a message to Daddy for my health, that'd be great! Otherwise, the other requests that I sent in the previous email still stand. Thanks for being faithful! I love you and miss you all and hope things are going well wherever you're at!
Love,
Sally
July 29th
Dearest Friends,
Back, alive, and well! My partners and my faith trip to Ping Gu was a blast and it was awesome to see Daddy's agenda for us to meet people. From the minute we got back from our vision trip, we've been busy preparing for the ten days camp here at the deer sanctuary/hotel with a day of touring Beijing thrown in there. Talk about working ourselves to the bone! The attitude of the team through it all, though, really showed me glimpses of Daddy's heart.
On the Sunday that the kids arrived, I was put in charge of registration and ..lemme tell you, 120 kids and 40 counselors running around makes for one very long day. Things here are always changing and we always have to adapt due to miscommunications, or just lack of manpower or resources. Even lesson plans or schedules constantly change so I'm learning to be flexible and to really use some creative thinking to address the issue at hand. Though we've all been exhausted, it's been a good kind of exhausted because we keep getting refills in our spirit when we see Daddy pouring into the kids we're working with.
A typical day at the ten days camp (camp CJ) starts with a 6 am wake up call for the staff, 6:45 team devotions/meeting, then the day with the kids starts at 7:30 with morning excercises, breakfast, then morning assembly. Each of us counselors leads a team of 11-12 kids ranging from the ages of 13 to 18. After each assembly in which there is a skit and then a teaching on a topic of the day, we break up into team time where we lead the kids in discussions and help them with their English. Throughout the rest of the day, the kids go through a sports track in which they play one of three sports that are taught by the coaches, and a choice track, in which they go to one of the five tracks also taught by coaches. Every evening, we have a different program whether it is movie night, game night, talent show, cotillion, or theater games ¡V usually there's lots of laughter and fun involved. We end each evening with a final team time where we share about our team and maybe laugh some more :oP After we send the kids off to bed at 11, we, the staff get to have one more meeting where we discuss, yarp, and sometimes sing. Finally, around 12:30-1:00 when all the loose ends are wrapped up, we get to tumble into bed. Whew!
I was allowed the privilege of speaking in the assembly the second day and was also given the music track to teach. In order to be able to incorporate kids of all backgrounds into my class, I've basically been teaching stuff like stomp (rhythm stuff), and some singing and rapping to go along with our body rhythms. It's been fun and stretching at the same time to have to come up with lesson plans and to be enthusiastic and excited all the time, but it's great because it's not forced. I really am loving serving in this way. I've also been given a few divine appointments to talk to certain kids who are having trouble with different areas, and it's been great to see their improvement and change in attitude. My team of kids is also amazing and it's been great to see them opening up as the camp progresses. Even the non-English speakers are able to form pretty coherent sentences and share with us all now!! All this has been amazingly eye opening for me. The world and Daddy's heart is so much bigger than my own provincial world.
Talk about tiring days, but I'm learning so much and enjoying myself immensely. Pouring out my life into the campers here whether its doing administration, teaching, or just hanging with the kids, is such an amazing experience because I need to depend on Daddy for my strength and it's been great to receive answers to yarpers and unlimited supplies of energy. Thank you my dear brothers and sisters for your faithfulness in sending messages up to the Big Guy for me.
Some more requests:
1) Health ¡V many of our team of counselors are getting sick, please pray for quick recovery and healing. Our days are long and draining, and energy is a precious commodity that we can't afford to waste. Thanks for your yarpers with my health, my cold/allergies went away overnight! It was definitely a great display of Daddy's ability.
2) Soul refreshment ¡V It's hard during the day to find time to sit at Daddy's feet to just listen, be still and be fed. If you could yarp for just those short times to be super strength shots of refreshment for our whole team, we would all appreciate it soo much.
3) Kids who still haven't been able to open up ¡V Yarp for love, patience, and wisdom as we are living Books. For some of the kids, we may be the only Book they ever read, but we need to continually go to Daddy for refreshment so that we can know just how to be living Books.
How are you all doing? I would still love to hear from you guys. I don't have much time to write email updates (hence the long time between my last one and this one), but I do have short times where I can check emails. Thanks for all your encouragements! Keep them rolling, cuz ¡K.haha, I need them greatly sometimes :o) Love you all, hope things are going well in whatever you're doing! Till next time!
Love,
Sally
P.S. Ask me if you want to know what I learned about the importance of bananas :oD
August 6th
Faithful Friends,
God is great. The Lord is faithful. Jesus is gracious. Boy it feels great to be able to freely praise our God with words without worrying about getting thrown in jail :o) I've been in Taiwan since the day before yesterday when our camp ended and all our goodbyes were said.
Throughout the ten days CJ camp, I was so privileged to have been able to see and be God's hands and feet. I had the opportunity to talk to a few 'trouble' kids and see their point of view. It was saddening to hear about some of their lives and how in some cases, even their own parents would tell them they were worthless and annoying. Some were put out of their houses since they were 11 or 12 years old to work and fend for themselves. It wasn't just during the planned programs and lessons that we ministered, but rather, a lot of my own ministry time took place during breaks or when I was called aside to go talk to a certain kids who were creating "problems" ( i.e. smoking, fighting, defiance, harassment).
The camp schedule was grueling but also a lot of fun. We took the kids to the Great Wall, had two Olympic athletes come speak, and even did a day of adventure sports on a ropes course type thing. All those were in addition to the daily assembly, and character lessons. After the great wall trip, one of the counselors in the ongoing skit had an accident and ended up with a fractured cheekbone and a black eye so I was asked to step in and take her place as 'Darby' in the drama. I usually stink at memorizing stuff ¡V especially when we get our script the morning of ¡V but by God's grace, somehow we got through the last three dramas uneventfully.
When the final day came, and goodbyes had to be said, you would be hard pressed to find a dry eye in the entire camp. Even those campers who seemed most apathetic throughout the duration of the camp had tears in their eyes. Surprisingly, it was the kids that gave us most trouble and had to be disciplined the most that cried the hardest. It wasn't hard to see that they had never before been shown the kind of forgiveness and unconditional love that God showed through the counselors. For some of these kids, just like in Inner Mongolia, this would be the only time in their lives where they would have this kind of experience and loving on. I can only hope that we were able to be living Bibles to them.
These past two days in Taipei have been spent reflecting on my time in Beijing and I still have not entirely processed everything yet. But I know one thing is very clear, and that is that our God is real and living. Until this trip, I had not yet fully understood what it means to cry out to God and ask for EVERYTHING ¡V from little requests to seemingly unanswerable ones. The team of counselors was such an encouragement to me and continuously reminded me to bring everything before the Lord in prayer and petition. Working WITH our Lord, and not just FOR him is an amazing experience. It was awesome (for lack of a better word) to see our prayers being answered and to see God's faithfulness in action.
As I prepare to head to HsinChu tomorrow to meet up with the Taiwan missions team from Harvest LA, I have a few more prayer requests:
1) Spiritual Refreshment ¡V I'm feeling pretty tired from continuously pouring into people for the past twenty something days. Please pray that my times with the Lord will renew my strength so that those I encounter in Taiwan will not be getting second best because of my own tiredness, but that they will still be getting full bursts of love and energy through me from Him.
2) A Quiet Spirit and an open mind ¡V This segment of my summer will be very different from my time in Beijing and it will be very easy for me to compare and even to become depressed. Please pray that I will be able to continue to keep an open mind to whatever God has in store for me and to continually learn from situations and people around me.
I just want to say another super duper thank you to all of you who have been faithfully praying for me. I know those prayers have not gone unanswered. There are so many more amazing things I want to share with you, but for brevity's sake, I'll wait until we meet again. Thanks for your encouragement emails, they do exactly that ¡V encourage! Keep them rolling, because my portion in Asia sure isn't over yet! I'll keep updating every few days, hopefully. I love you and miss you all!
In His Service,
Sally
Pictures will come soon...err.. maybe not soon, but later :o) | | |
|
Shanghai
Finally here! It feels like a different world where drivers run over pedestrians for fun, every part of an animal is edible, squat potties are the norm, and the temperature is 100 degrees Fahrenheit at 8 in the morning. Though I love this charming city, I love soCal more… I miss you guys  Hope you’re all having a blast driving in congested LA traffic or going to the Del Mar fair eating fried twinkies. Before I leave for Beijing for the first segment of my missions trip, I just wanted to share some pictures with you for your enjoyment:
sunday worship at the 56 nation represented, foreign passport holder only, Shanghai Community Church
yum! that shaved ice i'm about to dig into isn't even mine hehe, my dad ordered it
my little bro Connor dug a tunnel in it... about five seconds after this picture was taken, the whole thing collapsed
only the first of many engrish signs to come
yeah, that really is pigs face for sale at a supermarket. yum-my
playing with a big pile of mung bean at the supermarket. i've never seen that much mung bean in my life! ...dont worry my hands were clean 
That's it for now, hopefully I'll be able to keep updating whilst in Beijing. Ciao! | | |
|
