Last Saturday, I got up at the crack of dawn, drove over to Chudong, met up with 10 of my co-workers and got on the bus from H-E-double toothpicks (sorry, but it was!) to go up into the mountains of Taiwan where there is an aboriginal village of farmers. One of the gals who worked for Kang Ning was born in that village, one of nine children, and she now lives in Taipei. She was our guide and we had a blast, (once we got off the bus...winding roads, with potholes that touched middle earth, for two hours, me with a cold and on medicine, I was pale and wanted to hurl, but never did!)
There are many details about this day that I could share, but I must just say the highlight of the day was meeting our guides parents and some of her family. Her father, apparently was a minister in the Presbyterian church in the village for 30 years, and we met him and his wife. Their countenance was amazing and it truly gave me a different and welcome impression of Taiwanese people. This has been a prayer request for awhile, so I am thankful that God answered my prayers. When I spoke to the man about his life (through his daughter as our interpreter), he said that the whole village was Christian. This really did my heart good to hear. After lunch, we were relaxing around their lodge (a huge retreat house with traditional bunkbeds that will sleep 10 people each), and one of his granddaughters came in to turn on the television. I took my Ipod off my ears when I saw she was watching a worship service. It was Joel Osteen from Houston and no matter what you think of him, his worship team can play and the worship leader was bustin' out with How Great is Our God! I started singing and Anne (our guide) came in and started singing it in Chinese, and again, my heart swelled with excitement. Wow! It was cool.
Well, that was a week ago, and I've needed to post this all week, but haven't really made the time to do it, since I was full of the cold all week, and just had the energy to teach and come home to my bed.
However, one last story about my student Lee-Sheen, with whom God has given me favor. Lee-Sheen started out in a lower level class of mine, but quickly proved himself to be in the wrong class level. He's very bright, and his English is great, so I promoted him within a month or so of being here. About 6 weeks ago, his mother asked if we could put him in another class of mine, since he likes me, and she wants him to have four days of English class a week, rather than just two, which is the norm. His mother's English is very good, and we have had some very good conversations. Several weeks ago, she talked to me about coming to church, and expressed real interest in it. Then this week, she asked me again about it, and I told her that I really believed Lee-Sheen would benefit from being in Sunday School with all the children at our church, since he is an only child, and he is a little A.D.D., and can be demanding. She immediately got that, and said, "O.K., what time does it start? We'll come this Sunday!" I really pray that she and her husband will come together, that Lee-Sheen will have an instant connection to the teacher and to some of the other students, that the worship and sermon will pierce the heart of these people and that God will have His way in their lives. So, if you think about it, no matter when you read this, lift up this family, who's priorities seem to have focused, up to now, on material things. Her name is Jean, and I don't know the father's name. Thanks.
Gotta run.
Until next time,
LC from TW
Anne and her parents in front of their house.
He's 62 and the mother is 56.
It's a hard life in the mountains, I guess,
but they have faces full of joy.
(Sorry about the angle!)
This family entertains guests from the
lowlands regularly, and here the father
is singing a traditional song for us.
It was very moving.
3 comments:
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Just prayed for the famiy to join you on Sunday morning. Thanks for including us this way.
Thanks! I got a crick in my neck trying to watch the video! LOL! He sounded so cute, although I couldn't understand a word he was saying, he sounded sincere. Hope you get to feeling better soon!
Blessings!
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