Coming Home and Looking Back

We’re in Taipei again. Eight days ago we were in in the same place preparing for ministry; today we wait, with full hearts and minds, for the final two legs of our journey. We’ve had only briefly passing moments to reflect on all that has occurred.

For all who have supported us financially and prayerfully, I want to do my utmost to communicate what God has been doing in our little slice of existence over the last week. It’s impossible to communicate the sum of our experiences in a short blog post, so anticipate many more!

Our adventure began late Thursday night with flight number one departing PDX at 9:30 PM. A short flight landed us in San Francisco where we awaited our 1:40 AM flight to Taipei,Taiwan. During these first few hours we became more acquainted with our Corban student team – four young men and three young women, all of whom are Super Duper people! And somewhere in there, we became ‘mom and dad’ to this fantastic group 🙂

The thirteen hour flight to Taipei was a blur of comfortless sleep, on-board movies, music, and some chatting. Then, voila, we were in Taiwan at 6 AM Saturday morning.

I realized we had essentially missed Friday in the blur. And not just any Friday, Good Friday.

And more than that, we were now in a part of the world that realized no significance in that day or in Easter. No celebration, no cross, no Easter Lilly, not even an Easter bunny!

I can’t imagine living in a world with no Easter, and no Good Friday. That dark day that  led to the explosively bright Sunday morning is pivotal for all humanity, whether they recognize it or not.

No Good Friday equals no, shedding of blood and no removal of sin. It was the blood of a lamb that covered the sins of the Israelites, that guarded their lives while the lives of Egyptians were snatched away. And it is the blood of THE LAMB that more than covers – it completely annihilates every last speck of sin lurking in our lives making us brighter and whiter than our minds can comprehend.

Without His death we have no life. Without His blood we have no righteousness.

This is the good news we were called to the tiny island of Tokashiki (pronounced tuh-kosh-key, they drop a syllable) to teach.

But we could’t go quite yet; we had a 12 hour layover in front of us! We spent Saturday exploring part of Taipei. On the North East coast we explored some very interesting rock formations, one which is famously known as the ‘queen’s head.’ Later we took a 30 second elevator ride up to the top of Taipei 101, the world’s second tallest building at 101 floors – 509 meters tall. It was better than a Disneyland ride!

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Multiple Views of Taipei 101                                      North East Coast Rock Formations 

We left that evening on our final flight to Okinawa, Japan. So far things were going just as planned.

But that’s just the beginning of the story ……………More to come!

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It’s a Trust Thing

IMG_0361Trust is a funny thing. Sometimes we give it too freely and end up grieved in return. Sometimes we hold it back, even when it’s in our best interest to give it.

We fly away to Okinawa today, but God is already using this trip to teach me a few lessons.

I know that any other mom will understand the feelings I have about leaving my children home while I travel to the other side of the world. Am I being irresponsible? Will they be safe? Will I be safe? What if something horribly awful happens? I could go on, but you get my point.

Honestly, this flood of questions began before I even decided to join my husband on this adventure. And I have continued to wade through them daily. Right now the anxiety of leaving my kids behind is overshadowing the excitement of serving God. (By the way, I’m teaching a workshop on overcoming worry and anxiety at the camp this week. Hmmmmm………….)

But the beauty in the midst of this turmoil is the confidence I have in obedience. This is a fear God means for me to face. Though the questions arise I have a foundation of peace and hope in Christ. He has called me to go for this moment in time. How can I refuse?

So off I go, leaving my children in the capable hands of their grandparents, because I trust them. But more importantly, I trust Him. Our lives are in His hand. He knew the number of our days before we had even lived one of them.

Time for me to take a cry break………………………

I’m back, and on a lighter note our packing and planning are wrapping up. Our flight leaves PDX tonight at 9:30 headed to San Francisco. After a short layover, we board a plane for Taiwan which arrives Saturday morning, Taiwan time. Since we have a 12 hour layover there, we managed to squeeze in a tour of the area – we may even get to take a trip to the top of the world’s second tallest building! Saturday evening we catch another plane to Okinawa. Sunday morning we will take a ferry ride out to Tokishiki where the camp will be held. Sunday is prep day and then the High School students come Monday morning. It’s going to be a crazy whirlwind of activity and we are trusting that God will sustain us.

Hopefully we can give some updates as the week progresses!

Please pray for safety for our whole group and that we would be effective ministers God’s Word. And say a special pray for comfort of this momma’s heart!