Today It "Clicked"

For the past 2 months we have been in an internship assignment at a local Taiwanese Presbyterian church. It is not a new church, although the current pastor has only been at the church for 1 year. In the short time I have come to know him, I have admired his zeal, dedication, and love for the church. I am learning much about church ministry in Taiwan, as well as making strides in the comprehension and use of the Taiwanese language.

Pastor Li (center)

This morning's worship at the church was special for me. Pastor Li gave an impassioned plea for us to bring the "rifts", or brokenness in our lives to Jesus. When Jesus heals, His grace is made evident in our lives.

One thing that also touched me this morning was the way I was able to enter into the worship of God through the singing. The Chinese characters for the songs were displayed on the projection screen, and this morning the songs were easy to read and understand. Rather than being distracted in trying to figure out what we were singing, I found myself able to connect deeply with the meaning of the worship songs and give my spirit fully to worshiping God in the congregation. That hasn't happened that often since leaving Village Green Church in London, Ontario. I thank God that it happened this morning, and pray that it will happen more frequently as I go deeper into the language and church culture of Taiwan.

A Half Dozen Random Thoughts from Christmas and the New Year

It's been a month since my last blog post. I haven't felt motivated to post about anything in specific, so in the meantime, here are some random thoughts, comments, and observations from the last four weeks:

1. Christmas was good. We didn't go anywhere, but had fun around home with the kids, fellow missionaries, and some Taiwanese friends. It's different not having snow for Christmas, but we had opportunities to do carol singing and some other special Christmas activities. Church potlucks provide an abundance of delicious Taiwanese food this time of year!!

2. Our oldest daughter Erin celebrated her 15th birthday on Dec. 30. We had a Disney Princess theme party for her. She loved it. She was such a grown up host, serving everyone cake and ice-cream before eating some herself.


3. I recently visited my friend Ah-Hong in the hospital. He had been transferred to a different hospital for physical therapy. When I got to the hospital he was in the physical therapy room, strapped to a back board standing in the upright position. I almost didn't recognize him. It didn't occur to me till then that I had only seen him before laying in a hospital bed. Gravity has a way of changing one's facial features. He looked good and was pleased to see me again. He said he considers me a good friend. I thank God for the opportunity to continue to encourage him and pray for him.

4. Our internship at the local Taiwanese Presbyterian church is going well. The pastor and his wife there are very warm and helpful. The elders, deacons, and other church members have also welcomed us with open arms. There is one lady in particular that takes delight in teaching me new Taiwanese words, and then quizzing me on them later. She keeps me on my toes!!

5. The weather has turned chillier the past few days. The sun can still warm things up to around +20 C in the day, but the past couple nights it has gone down to just 9 or 10 C. The houses here have no central heating, so it does get rather cool. I still tend to ride my scooter with just a short sleeved shirt on, and when the Taiwanese see me they comment on how "strong" (tough) I am.

6. Our son Adam got a Lego "3-in-1" set for Christmas. He has never really been a Lego fan before, but this time he really got into it. I had great fun spending time over the holidays working on it with him a little each day. We built a Ferris wheel (motorized). It has over a thousand pieces!! The other 2 things you can build with it are a construction crane and a draw/lift bridge. We'll tackle one of those over the Chinese New Year holiday at the end of this month.