Taichung STM

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. As our voices lifted in song singing "Lord I Need You", we began our journey to Taipei.  A reminder of God's infinite love and power, the song lyrics made me calm down, readjust my perspective on the small bumps in the road, and gain a new appreciation for the countless instances of grace and love during this trip. Despite our best efforts to focus on the children and service, Satan loves to strike when we are doing God's work. These obstacles have been discussed in the previous blogs, from feelings of incompetency, to conflict within groups, to health issues, to selfish desires. It is in these testing moments that we must remember that we are one family, working together to advance God's kingdom and seek his glory. We are to, as James 5:16 says, confess our sins to each other and pray for each other...

“To whom will you compare me?      Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Do you not know?      Have you not heard? The  Lord  is the everlasting  God,      the Creator  of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary,      and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength  to the weary      and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary,      and young men  stumble and fall; but those who hope  in the  Lord      will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;      they will run and not grow weary,      they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:25, 28-31 This entire week has been a struggle. Without exception, our entire team--us and the Taiwanese youth--has gone through trials of all sorts, and now a...

1 Corinthians 14:12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.             While many of us no longer seek out the classical gifts of the Spirit (prophecy, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues), we should all still push ourselves to our utmost limits, different though they may be, in serving the LORD. And as our missions trip has progressed, I've come to realize that this philosophy must trickle down to even the smallest of details, for when days become routine and repetitive, it is then that we can and must zoom in and appreciate everything small and normally overlooked.                        Today began for us boys with a slight twist; rather than eating store-bought breakfast, we enjoyed a delicious meal of fresh eggs, bacon, and fruit as Pauline woke up early to cook for us. Again, there is no way to than...

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." - Philippians 4:6 Hey everyone!  It's Katherine here with my first ever blogpost for Taiwan Missions!  Before I reflect on the day, I just wanted to thank God for never failing to calm the storm inside me.  To be completely honest, in the months leading up to this missions trip, I was doubting myself a lot and I was wondering if I was truly ready and qualified to teach to spread the Gospel to the children in Taiwan.  I found myself always worrying about being able to connect with the kids and Taiwan youth.  Since I did not go last year, I knew that I would be lacking the closeness with the Taiwan youth and kids that Emily, Josh, Jeremy, and Edward have.  Halfway through the flight to Taiwan, I let my doubt in myself control me and my emotions.  I broke down in tears and I felt utterly and completely alone as I sat betwe...

Psalm 98:4 "Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music" ... And shout we did, from the very first part of today's camp until the very last kid was safely with his parents. Hello again everyone, this is Edward with today's blog post update! Psalm 98 is one that is all about singing praise to a God that has done marvelous work in creation and in preserving his people - but we as Christians take a completely new meaning from it. Our jubilant song is one offering our sincerest thanks to Christ for his sacrifice, and also a celebration of the new life, one that is an eternally free gift. The application of this verse today will be explained more deeply in the following recounting of today's events. However, before we dive into a day filled with excitement, dancing, arts and crafts, and very, very sore throats, I'd like to once again offer up my deepest thanks to all of our prayer support! Everyone back at home praying for us ha...

"And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." Romans 8:30 This morning, I woke up feeling refreshed after a peaceful night's rest, extremely excited for the first day of VBS. But not long after, Edward turned to me, expressing great discomfort with what he later self-diagnosed as "traveler's diarrhea." As Edward was assigned to teach the first day's American culture lesson, it was such a blessing from God to see a quick recovery leading up to his lesson. Kevin, an amazing, lively local youth, kicked off the VBS with a fun game time, where the kids had to run around the room to complete a scavenger hunt of tasks, requiring anything from telling a counselor 5 sentences about themselves to playing rock-paper-scissors and winning against a fellow camper. It was a struggle at first getting the kids to interact with us and each other, since most were naturally shy to begin with,...