Our students are busy preparing for the group project. We want our students to not only learn leadership principles and skills but also to have a chance to practice them in real-life situations. This year we have the privilege of partnering with a local bakery, Boske.
http://www.boskebakery.blogspot.com/
http://www.boske.com.tw/
(Both websites above are in Chinese)
Boske is no ordinary bakery. They specialize in European/American style artisan breads (think Panera)and gourmet roast coffee. They also make their own Taiwanese style breads. Their workers are predominantly special needs adults. They bake the bread, work the cash register, and serve customers like normal employees. We had the privilege of going to the bakery, and the products are definitely top-notch. You cannot tell from the outside that there is anything "handicapped" about the workers or anything inferior about their products.
Currently, the bakery is owned by a local pastor who has stressed the importance of showing Christ's love to these adults by giving them work opportunities. Our students will be promoting the bakery and information about special needs as well as selling some products this week. We're hoping that they may practice leadership as well as gain a love and appreciation for God's precious children.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Gospel Night
God is good. God is very good. Tonight we had the gospel night and God definitely did work. Between the testimonies shared and the songs and everything, God reached some students. Some came to Christ. Others had seed planted to night. All in all, we must praise Him, amen!
Sorry for the lack of posts. Our team has been super busy with the Camp which has been going very well. All of us seem to be getting closer with the students and the Gospel Night definitely aided that process.
I just want to share with everyone something about tonight and how God worked in my heart (this is Andrew btw). During my Youth Group years I never had a problem sharing, in fact, I usually never have a problem sharing about my life. But for this trip, there was something weird about me sharing a testimony for the Gospel Night. Yesterday when Tony asked who wanted to share, I considered it in my head. But instantly I felt this push in my heart, and then in my hand. Seriously God was telling me to raise my hand to volunteer to share. I obeyed and started praying about what to say. After praying that night with the guys, I knew to talk about my academic/scholar life and about its emptiness (at least, that's what I aimed for). Tonight I shared about something that I tried to delete from my mind. My suicide phase. Not many people know of this part of my life, and God just led me to share it tonight in addition to my testimony about life's emptiness. I had major issues trying to get the words out, and I felt bad that Jackie had to awkwardly stand next to me to translate my next sentence. But indeed God is good. He delivered me from that low in my life and has given me New Life. Praise God indeed.
God is good all the time. And all the time God is good.
Sorry for the lack of posts. Our team has been super busy with the Camp which has been going very well. All of us seem to be getting closer with the students and the Gospel Night definitely aided that process.
I just want to share with everyone something about tonight and how God worked in my heart (this is Andrew btw). During my Youth Group years I never had a problem sharing, in fact, I usually never have a problem sharing about my life. But for this trip, there was something weird about me sharing a testimony for the Gospel Night. Yesterday when Tony asked who wanted to share, I considered it in my head. But instantly I felt this push in my heart, and then in my hand. Seriously God was telling me to raise my hand to volunteer to share. I obeyed and started praying about what to say. After praying that night with the guys, I knew to talk about my academic/scholar life and about its emptiness (at least, that's what I aimed for). Tonight I shared about something that I tried to delete from my mind. My suicide phase. Not many people know of this part of my life, and God just led me to share it tonight in addition to my testimony about life's emptiness. I had major issues trying to get the words out, and I felt bad that Jackie had to awkwardly stand next to me to translate my next sentence. But indeed God is good. He delivered me from that low in my life and has given me New Life. Praise God indeed.
God is good all the time. And all the time God is good.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Camp Starts Tomorrow!
We're done with our four days of training. Camp starts tomorrow. We're excited to meet our students and see what God has in store for this camp.
We really need your prayers for the following:
1) Physical strength - it's going to be a long week. Pray that God would renew us with energy and vigor for the week!
2) Our small group leaders - Some of our small group leaders are not yet Christian. Please pray for them and also that we, the American TAs, would work well with them!
3) Our students - Pray that God would use this camp to open their hearts to the gospel! Pray that this camp would help to improve their English and leadership skills.
4) Tony - He's giving the lectures this week on leadership and leadership traits. Pray for empowerment and wisdom!
And a side note, sorry for the lack of updates. We have yet to move into the dorms at CYCU, so internet connection is kind of limited for most team members, but we WILL be updating hopefully more regularly...with pictures and video! :)
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. - 1 John 4:10
We really need your prayers for the following:
1) Physical strength - it's going to be a long week. Pray that God would renew us with energy and vigor for the week!
2) Our small group leaders - Some of our small group leaders are not yet Christian. Please pray for them and also that we, the American TAs, would work well with them!
3) Our students - Pray that God would use this camp to open their hearts to the gospel! Pray that this camp would help to improve their English and leadership skills.
4) Tony - He's giving the lectures this week on leadership and leadership traits. Pray for empowerment and wisdom!
And a side note, sorry for the lack of updates. We have yet to move into the dorms at CYCU, so internet connection is kind of limited for most team members, but we WILL be updating hopefully more regularly...with pictures and video! :)
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. - 1 John 4:10
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Day 1: 我愛台灣！
Day 1: It definitely does not feel like we only arrived yesterday. We had a long day of training today, particularly for me since I had trouble sleeping through the night. But God is good! We spent the morning worshiping and fellowshipping with the local coworkers and spent time preparing skits, games, body worship, and sing-along-songs. It was a pretty typical day of training, and it definitely got harder as the day went along. Many of us are experiencing typical jetlag symptoms: fatigue, tendency to nod off during lectures, and irritability.
At night, we went over small group material, and Pastor Kao led a session on evangelism in Taiwan. We split up in small groups to discuss FAQ that we'll probably have to face soon. We found the following two questions particularly compelling and relevant to our current situation.
1. If my family has other religious beliefs, what should I do? I am afraid of causing conflict with my family.
2. My family practices ancestral worship. What should I do about it? What if my parents want me to do it?
Ancestral and other forms of idol worship are extremely prevalent in Taiwan. Many Christians face a troubling dilemma - should they disrespect or even offend their elders by refusing to offer incense OR should they fall into sin in order to appease their family? Many of our team members too struggle with this, and we found that only one solution stands. We must pray as if our life depended on it. We must trust and fully depend on God, such that we are freed from the fear of man and are able to love like Jesus.
Good thing about having a ridiculously huge team? You have more prayer warriors! We spent time praying today for us, our students, and for Taiwan, that God would deliver us from the spiritual oppression here, and that he would reveal His insurmountable love. We prayed for the annointing of the Spirit over the Church, our team, and the Christians here, that we may be bold witnesses for the gospel.
One of my personal prayers for this trip has been that God would increase my capacity to love, that He would break our hearts for the students and for Taiwan. I found this excerpt from Love Walked Among Us by Paul Miller, quoting C.S. Lewis, screaming the issue I've been struggling with lately.
"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possible broken. If you want to be sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable....The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."
I love Taiwan. Granted, there are still some aspects I'm learning to love- the heat, the mosquitoes, the sweating...most of all, I'm learning that love is hard. My heart broke today for Taiwan. May God continue to change our hearts, that we may be enslaved by HIM so that we can love, even when it hurts.
Samantha
At night, we went over small group material, and Pastor Kao led a session on evangelism in Taiwan. We split up in small groups to discuss FAQ that we'll probably have to face soon. We found the following two questions particularly compelling and relevant to our current situation.
1. If my family has other religious beliefs, what should I do? I am afraid of causing conflict with my family.
2. My family practices ancestral worship. What should I do about it? What if my parents want me to do it?
Ancestral and other forms of idol worship are extremely prevalent in Taiwan. Many Christians face a troubling dilemma - should they disrespect or even offend their elders by refusing to offer incense OR should they fall into sin in order to appease their family? Many of our team members too struggle with this, and we found that only one solution stands. We must pray as if our life depended on it. We must trust and fully depend on God, such that we are freed from the fear of man and are able to love like Jesus.
Good thing about having a ridiculously huge team? You have more prayer warriors! We spent time praying today for us, our students, and for Taiwan, that God would deliver us from the spiritual oppression here, and that he would reveal His insurmountable love. We prayed for the annointing of the Spirit over the Church, our team, and the Christians here, that we may be bold witnesses for the gospel.
One of my personal prayers for this trip has been that God would increase my capacity to love, that He would break our hearts for the students and for Taiwan. I found this excerpt from Love Walked Among Us by Paul Miller, quoting C.S. Lewis, screaming the issue I've been struggling with lately.
"There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possible broken. If you want to be sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless - it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable....The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."
I love Taiwan. Granted, there are still some aspects I'm learning to love- the heat, the mosquitoes, the sweating...most of all, I'm learning that love is hard. My heart broke today for Taiwan. May God continue to change our hearts, that we may be enslaved by HIM so that we can love, even when it hurts.
Samantha
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
we made it!
we're finally here! after a 14ish hour plane ride and another 1.5 hour plane ride. it was soo humid already when we got here but good thing jersey was a bit humid before we left so we were somewhat prepared. we met most of the other team members last night; they met us at the airport and welcomed us with big arms! everyone is so different but funny and the guys on the team are amazingly chivalrous (carrying our luggage up and down stairs with no complaint!) we're all going to get breakfast this morning together but i woke up a bit too early...jetlag i guess. jamie and i are going to go explore our campus a bit more so time well spent. pictures will be up soon enough! :)
jenchen
jenchen
Hong Kong International
We all survived the 16 hour flight! Yay for arriving in Hong Kong! Between movies, sleeping, games, etc, we made it. Praise God that we're all safe and no one puked or anything. It is currently about 7:50pm here and our connect flight to Taipei is at 9:00.
In the meantime, we're probably going to find stuff to eat with our not HK money. Too bad we can't go out to sightsee in the city or anything. Continue to pray for us. The Taipei flight is a lot shorter and hopefully it will go just as smoothly.
In the meantime, we're probably going to find stuff to eat with our not HK money. Too bad we can't go out to sightsee in the city or anything. Continue to pray for us. The Taipei flight is a lot shorter and hopefully it will go just as smoothly.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Leaving!
Pray for us! We're leaving today!
Metting up at church @ 10:00 AM with everyone else. Somehow, I believe God will work through us and show us how AWESOME He is through this trip.
Joseph
Monday, June 28, 2010
We're leaving tomorrow! Our flight departs 2:50 from JFK, and we'll be flying to Taipei via Hong Kong. We're pretty much ready to go! Thanks to everyone for praying with us for the past months. We've truly been blessed by your prayers!
During our last team prayer meeting, Auntie Cynthia shared a vision she recently had. In her vision, she saw grains of sand. A hand picked up the sand, and the loose grains fell right through the fingers. Then the sand mixed with water. The sand clumped temporarily but fell apart. But then the sand was then mixed with blood and formed into concrete. We've been praying for team unity, especially since it has become even more pressing as the trip approaches. Praise God for Auntie Cynthia's vision. We're reminded that we are reunited with God through Christ, and it's also the blood of Christ that will unite our team so that we can be used for His glory.
"We are all bought back by Christ's Blood. His precious blood washed us clean and bring us into God's kingdom and we became HIS children. So in my vision, God reminded us that we are binded by Christ's blood which is HIS LOVE. We, as one team, should love each other without any condition, just like our LORD."
God is SO GOOD!
Cynthia
During our last team prayer meeting, Auntie Cynthia shared a vision she recently had. In her vision, she saw grains of sand. A hand picked up the sand, and the loose grains fell right through the fingers. Then the sand mixed with water. The sand clumped temporarily but fell apart. But then the sand was then mixed with blood and formed into concrete. We've been praying for team unity, especially since it has become even more pressing as the trip approaches. Praise God for Auntie Cynthia's vision. We're reminded that we are reunited with God through Christ, and it's also the blood of Christ that will unite our team so that we can be used for His glory.
"We are all bought back by Christ's Blood. His precious blood washed us clean and bring us into God's kingdom and we became HIS children. So in my vision, God reminded us that we are binded by Christ's blood which is HIS LOVE. We, as one team, should love each other without any condition, just like our LORD."
God is SO GOOD!
Cynthia
Thursday, June 17, 2010
feeling the excitement!
hi everyone!
this is our first official blog! we're going to use this to update you guys on what we're up to and how things are going so hopefully, you follow this! :)
so our team is leaving in 12 days!!! i think i speak for everyone when i say, we are SUPER EXCITED! we're still preparing for our skits and body worship songs. some of you might have already seen this but, if not, check it out...it's what we're doing for one of our body worship songs. it's intense! we're planning on doing this at teahouse, post stm trip so if you really want to see us dance like that, come to teahouse!!
ok, i have to get back to studying...
PRAY FOR US!!!
jenchen :)
this is our first official blog! we're going to use this to update you guys on what we're up to and how things are going so hopefully, you follow this! :)
so our team is leaving in 12 days!!! i think i speak for everyone when i say, we are SUPER EXCITED! we're still preparing for our skits and body worship songs. some of you might have already seen this but, if not, check it out...it's what we're doing for one of our body worship songs. it's intense! we're planning on doing this at teahouse, post stm trip so if you really want to see us dance like that, come to teahouse!!
ok, i have to get back to studying...
PRAY FOR US!!!
jenchen :)
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