Day 1 - 6/30/17 - The Other Side of the Pond

"He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." - Luke 10:2

Hello everyone!
This is an extremely jet-lagged but also infinitely more grateful Edward signing on, bearing good news; by the grace of God, the TCCGP Taiwan Missions Team, comprised of myself, Josh, Jeremy, Emily, and our newest addition, Katherine, have touched down on Taiwanese soil!

First things first, I want to express how thankful we are for the continuous prayers and support that we have been receiving from everyone back home! A lot has happened since we've left Philly for JFK, so lets get into the adventures and blessings of our travels.

After having a final dinner in Philly with our families, we were sent off with hugs and kisses to begin a journey together under God's guidance. After we had arrived at the ai
rport and gotten to our gate, I felt that it was necessary to once again bring our attentions to an important part of missions: sacrificial love.

We all took out our bibles to read in 1 Corinthians, specifically in chapter 8, where Paul talks about giving up certain Christ-given rights (specifically eating meat that may be sacrificed to idols) in order to facilitate the growth of our brothers and sisters in Christ. However, before we could even start reading, a woman sitting across from us was interested in why we were all reading the bible together. It turns out that she was a Christian mother who was worried about raising her sons on the path to salvation. After learning this, we had a chance to share our testimonies regarding growing up in the church, and the importance of fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters. After all, the reason that we as a team are able to share the gospel, is that by God's grace, we had excellent role models in our older brothers and sisters. We will continue to keep her and her sons in our prayers.

Afterwards, we read 1 Corinthians together, talking about how we should sacrifice anything that may cause our brothers and sisters to stumble, just as Paul would have sacrificed ever eating meat if it meant that his abstinence would keep his brothers and sisters from idolatry. This, in our context, could mean the music that we listen to, the way that we talk to each other, or anything that may not be explicitly sinful, but would cause those we are preaching to to receive a false image of Christianity and the salvation that we have because of Christ's sacrifice for us.

Before we knew it, it was time to board our flight. Most of us were able to drift into sleep, and after two in-flight meals, multiple naps and doctrinal discussions, we finally made it onto the runway. After gathering our things and meeting with Hwa-Chi and Albert's dad, we were finally on our way to Taichung for our first day in Taiwan.

Jeremy will be updating everyone on the events of our second day- in the meanwhile, please pray for our continued refreshment of body and spirit, that the team would be able to overcome jet-lag and be ready to serve the children come Monday. Also, please keep the woman that we met and her two sons in prayer, that God would lead her two sons onto the narrow path to salvation.

We offer up our thanks for a safe trip, and for an opportunity to once again fulfill the great commission in Taiwan.