Expectations & Requests.

missions team devotional time.

so now, we've spent the past two days preparing and going over lessons plans and scouring local stores for crafts materials. after spending most of yesterday [that would be our friday] finalizing craft ideas and creating templates and models, we went to taipei this afternoon to do some last minute materials shopping at costco and explore the city for 3 hours. we spent tonight preparing testimonies, practicing worship songs in chinese, and more craft preparation.

here are today's blog entries from each member. some members have a shared entry as they are teaching partners. and some days, not everyone will have an entry written due to time constraints.

the teaching partners consist of the following pairings: joshua yen & elean yang, bernard wen & karen ai, norman ai & marissa liu & jacqueline lee, chris sung & esther wong, shing chow & si chu. pastor josh ong and deacon katy yang will serve as administrators and float around each classroom and offer help as needed.

bernard wen: already tired. can't imagine how tired i'll be once teaching actually starts. -_-. really need prayer for strength. also focus because its been hard realizing i'm on a mission trip these first few days. but everything's fine since God is good. all the time.

shing chow & si chu: its the first two days in taiwan and we've been bitten by bugs and killing huge spiders. also we've been going to places to find supplies. cotton balls are the hardest things to find and we did not find that many. we also have been preparing for our lessons, crafts, and games. some of the difficulties that we'll have is the language barrier, but we're teaching 6th graders and we're supposed to talk to them in english. so it shouldn't be as big of a problem. prayer requests for energy and getting the message of the gospel and bible stories to the kids.

chris sung: i need prayer to sleep well. i am also anxious about teaching, so please pray for confidence in teaching and patience with the kids

josh yen: pray that our missions team can be unified in order to be a light here in taiwan.

marissa liu: after my first day of missions, i realized how much i needed to rely and trust in God. looking up and down the streets of neli for craft supplies and not finding any was when i started to panic. i started to think about what i was going to do and where i could go to find the supplies. after a good 10 minutes, i realized i couldn't do this by myself. i started to pray and trust that God would help me through. after we left carrefour [a walmart-ish store], some team members and i decided to go to a stationary store. at the store God provided ALL the supplies that norman and i needed to get in order to make our crafts. praise the Lord!

pastor josh ong: he is sleeping now, but pastor josh is preaching tomorrow at church. so please pray for strength and wisdom from God so that his words may be a blessing to the newly planted church. also pray for the recovery of his sprained ankle.

deacon katy yang: please pray for those team members who are not feeling hungry to eat. the weather here is hot, so hunger is usually suppressed. please also pray for my adjustment to the time difference.

norman ai: well, i find myself constantly tired. that may be attributed to my lack of sleep due to a slight inability to adapt to the time difference. [but bernard is giving us melotonin pills] haha. but so far, i've been encouraged by the past two days. the team is starting to bond closer and everyone is willing to serve. God is providing everything we need. as for expectations coming into this year's missions trip, i'm really excited about returning to baifu this year, as i will be meeting alot of the students/families that i taught last year. i feel since i have already established a relationship with some of the families already and kept in touch over the past two years with email and skype, i can be more comfortable in talking about my faith and God's gospel with them. not that i wont be able to do this with kids and their families at the other two schools, but i'll have even more of platform and familiarity in doing so. praise God. the missions trip will have its hard times and breaking points, but God will not give us more than we can handle and we will only strengthen our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. please pray that we will have the wisdom, compassion, and patience to plant the seeds of the gospel in the hearts of the students and their families. pray that the team will fully adjust to the time difference, weather, and culture in taiwan as soon as possible. and finally, pray that God's amazing love will be reflected through our actions and words in taiwan.