Day 15 - 7/14/2016 - A Bittersweet Return

Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

     Psalm 106:1

                I woke up, groggy from the hour-long nap I took. It was 3:30 am. Our last night was spent packing and talking rather than sleeping so that we could re-accustom ourselves to the American time zone. I couldn't focus on anything and I felt like I was dreaming, but Edward helped me get ready, telling me to quickly change and finish packing up. We left at 3:40 am, 10 minutes behind schedule, and got into two taxis which waited for us at the front lobby. At the bus station, we still had until 4:15 am to wait around. Hwa-Chi bought us all water bottles, boiled eggs, and sushi rolls, like the ones we had on our first day in Taiwan. I reached into my bag and pulled out a pair of earphones, preparing myself to take a nap. Sliding my hand into my pocket, I started to panic. It was empty. I searched through my backpack and bags to no avail. We were leaving in 5 minutes, but my phone was nowhere to be found. The only explanation was that I left it back at Hwa-Chi's. But thankfully, Pauline and Hwa-Chi were kind enough to find a way to send it back to me.

                The bus arrived at Taipei International Airport at 5:40 am, and Hwa-Chi and Pauline walked with us through baggage drop-off and check-in. We said our final goodbyes outside of security. As they walked away, we reminisced on all they had done for us throughout the trip. They had shown us all so much love and taken up so much of their time to be with us, and everything they did was done joyfully and with sincere hearts. Getting to know them was truly a blessing, and we can't thank them enough.

                After passing through security, we still had an hour to burn, so we wandered around the different shops in each terminal until the 7:50 am boarding time. The plane ride went by so much quicker this time. After takeoff, we ate our first meal of either beef and rice or chicken and potatoes (they always seem to have a different choice of either Chinese or American food for each meal). Edward, Emily, and I started off the flight by watching the Jungle Book and 10 Cloverfield Lane, while Jeremy fell asleep on a stranger's shoulder, later waking up to the aroma of the in-flight meal. At 10 am (Taiwan time), we went to sleep. After waking up, Edward, Emily, and I talked about how sad it was to leave Taiwan, but that it still felt good to come back home. The rest of the ride, we spent watching movies and sleeping.

                We arrived at JFK, passed through customs, and made our way to the food court. There, we all shared a mushroom and spinach pizza and some McDonald's for lunch. At 12 pm, we headed down to the buses, and after asking around for a bit, we found our bus and were soon on our way home to Philly. The bus ride was literally a constant magnitude 7 earthquake. The whole bus was shaking and everything in it, including us, making it nearly impossible to relax and take a nap.

                But 2 hours later, we had safely made it to Saigon Market, where my dad picked us up and drove us to Abundant Life. There, we saw Mrs. Song and some other familiar faces, like Anthony, Sarah, Nicole, Gerry, and Michelle, and we shared some of our many experiences in Taiwan with them.

                On the car ride home, I was barely awake, suffering from the initial effects of jet lag. I teared up a bit after realizing that I'd be returning back to my normal life now. I wouldn't be spending every single day with the amazing team I was blessed with anymore, and I don't know when I'll ever be able to see the youth we so dearly befriended again. When I look back at everything, the memories are all a blur, time flew by, and it's shocking to see that it's all over already. But through the friendships we made, through the team bonding we experienced, through sharing milk teas, spending time with the kids, learning how to play the drums, listening to Hwa-Chi's invaluable life lessons, typing up blogs late into the night, through exploring the little shops and foods of the night market, through biking around Sun Moon lake, and through cherishing our last moments together, as a team and as a family, on the wetlands under the setting sun, we can look back and see that God's plans truly are amazing. He has been with us through every step of the trip, keeping us all safe and giving us so much to be thankful for. Even though right now, we miss all the people and all the experiences we had in Taiwan, and though we may feel wistful at the moment, all of us can know that deep down, we really are blessed to have met these people and made these memories-- all we can do now is thank God.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for the christian gathering to grow
• Thanks for giving us a safe flight home
• Thanks for the unforgettable experience
• Pray that we can return next year