Day 1 in Taiwan

Day 1 - 6/30/2016

Isaiah 31:31 

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.

Good "evening" everyone! This is Edward. Before I say anything else, I'd like to give thanks for all of the great prayer support we've been getting from everyone!

I'm glad to inform you that the entire team (and more, as I will soon explain) has been in Taiwan safely since 5 pm EST of the 29th. It's been a great blessing in ways to have such a long travel time, and I personally am very thankful to God for the great way that our team sticks together like family. After all, we are brothers and sister in Christ.

It's been a really long day of travel, and we're in Taichung with our host families right now - it's 2 pm as of now, and I'd just like to give everyone a quick rundown of what has happened so far!

So, without further ado, lets get into the day's exciting blessings!

When the team departed from Philadelphia, we were all given the pleasant surprise of the opportunity to be in the same shuttle and flight as the Fan Family. I am sure that I can speak for the entire team when I say that we were all very grateful to God for giving us a guiding adult to help us get through the things we took for granted when we traveled with our parents; for example, finding the proper TSA examination line.

On the flight, we were given the chance to savor the beauty of God's creation - flying through a beautiful NY skyline,  being followed a dazzling sunrise over the icy seas, and finally a descent over the luscious island of Taiwan. Even the in-flight food tasted better in the company of each other and of God - I am quite sure that those who travel often will agree that that is definitely a miracle.

After meeting up with Hwa-Chi and Pauline, we took a 2 hour bus trip from Taipei to Taichung. At first, the silhouette of mountains seemed ages away, but we soon passed through like Romans over the Rubicon.

After meeting up with Mr. Zhen and Mrs. Chen, the host family of Jeremy and I, we took a short walk in a local park, and had breakfast at a 7-Eleven. It came as a great surprise to the team when we saw that 7-Eleven in Taiwan was a big deal, having lots of easily prepared and prepackaged foods.

After breakfast, we visited a beautiful Art Museum full of modern arts in all forms - from abstract ink prints to audiovisual presentations. It was nice to see that although we are simply the creations of an infinite God, we as humans were special - created in his image even to the extent of the ability to express through creation to a lesser extent.

Time really zipped by, and before we knew it, we we're once again treated to great food at the 春水堂restaurant right next to the museum. We had milk teas and lots of great 小吃. Afterwards, since we were all rather fatigued, there was a consensus to return to our homes away from home with our hosts - and that brings us to now - myself and Jeremy in a nice abode prepared for us by gracious hosts and an even more gracious God. I'll be back later for more updates, so please enjoy these pictures and videos!