Poverty

Three weeks ago, I was teaching in a shed on a mountain somewhere in northern Thailand.  A ridged metal sheet was our roof, and chicken wire over some wooden beams made up the side wall that you didn't want to lean on too hard.  30 little kids stared up at me like nothing else mattered, and wrote down every single word I put up on that board.  These kids are third generation Chinese that fled to Thailand at the same time the Taiwanese settled on their island.  The difference is, the Thai Chinese came to a country that was already settled - so they aren't eligible for passports, making it legally impossible for them to leave the country.   These little kids go to school for seven days a week.  Chinese school, and Thai school.  They can usually speak three languages, and I wonder - what is this accomplishment for?  Why do they work so hard when they have so little chance of being able to use the education they rigorously pursue? 

We've traveled hours in the bed of a rickety pickup truck to get to these mountain schools...we're served green tea in the principal's office, which consists of a wooden table in a concrete room and a bookshelf on the far wall.  At another school the principal serves us carrots from his own garden.  We give out cookies at one school where there are only sixteen students - one of them is a baby held by a young girl.  As we drink even more of the tea that has become so familiar, the aged principal tells us slowly in Chinese, "You are the first Americans ever to come here...thank you..."  I wonder if I know a tiny bit what David Livingston felt like as he was seeing Africa for the first time.

Every where we travel are these thatched roof huts that I've only ever seen pictures of in charity books.  I've heard stories about little kids going barefoot to school...but now I know they do because I've watched them trek into the schoolyard.  I've dreamed of being able to make the tiniest bit of difference to these kids, and from what they tell me themselves...I've succeeded...and been left only with the prayer that now I'll be able to do more.

Camping...

The campfire story was a little scary for my taste, but the smores definitely were compensation - and a new concept for all the little kids who were roasting marshmallows.  I don't remember a time when I didn't know what a smore was.  They concentrate intently on the composition and consumption, and overall, the concensus is that 'It's good!"  As we trek back to the camp, I grab one of the little girls and run her across the field to the tents.  She squeals at the toad I find jumping around in the grass. 11:30 finds me huddled in a pup-tent in a school sports field with my little students.  We're still playing cards...curfew was an hour and a half ago, but they don't want to go to sleep.  "It's the last night of camp," one girl told me..."we want to have fun!" So we keep playing and color check our UNO cards with my cell phone light every few seconds.  We finally go to sleep when the other tent protests at all the noise we are making.  I blame my co-teacher Jo for starting the sleeping bag war! :D When we wake up the next morning, we all take turn laughing at each others hair, and then roll up our blankets to go brush our teeth.  After the final performances, we walk the kids back to their bus.  It's been four days since camp started and we've been together 24/7.  I was there to pick them up at the train station and I waved good-bye as their bus drove away.  I've made grilled PB-and-J and pizza with all of them, and played 'Heart Attack' more times than I can count.  

Psalm 4:7a says "Thou hast put gladness in my heart..." I think that I got an extra helping of happiness this week and the best part is...we have a whole other camp starting tomorrow...as my students would say: "Sweet dream!"

New Friends...

Early last Thursday morning, me and Sarah started our five day excursion to Singapore and Malaysia...we popped on a taxi that took us to the train station, and caught our train just in time.  Once we were in Kaohsiung, we took the subway to the high-speed rail station.  The rail took us up to Taipei (which is on the northern tip of Taiwan).  From there we caught a bus that took us to the airport.  We finally got into Singapore around 11:00 that night.

 When traveling abroad, you never know who -or what- you might encounter...one of the run-ins I had on this trip was with this friendly boa.  I stopped to admire the snake and as I stroked his leathery skin, the Indian who was charming him asked if I had ever held a snake before...when he heard my answer was yes, the snake was around my neck almost before I realized it...gorgeous, isn't he?

During our stay, we went to Sentosa beach which is the Southernmost point of all Asia.  On Saturday of our trip, we hopped on the early flight to Malaysia and spent the day in Kuala Lumpur where we went up to the skybridge that connects the Petronas Towers which are the two tallest twin towers in the world. 

 After the towers, we made our way to a special reflexology spa where we had little fishies

 nibbling on our toes...there were several different pools where you could experience the treatments and some of the fish had teeth!!  After the spa, we jumped in taxi that took us to the National Mosque of Malaysia.  We waited for prayers to let out and then I had to cover my hair before I could walk into the Mosque.  We looked down on the washing rooms, and walked

 through the marble pillars to the prayer room.  We couldn't go into the prayer room, but we watched several men perform the traditional prayers.  Then it was back to Singapore in time for church the next morning.

We got home to Taiwan late Monday night, and we have three and a half days to get ready for our visa trip to Thailand.  We'll be there for two weeks teaching English in the schools there, and we will also have a mini-camp with a drama theme for a high school there.  We will be touring Bangkok for the last few days that we are there, and then we come home with just enough time to get ready for our own winter camps at the EV.  

With all of the traveling I have been doing lately, I am constantly reminded that no matter where I go, God is with me - protecting me, leading me, and listening.  He is my guide wherever I go, and has kept me safe through all of my adventures.  I am so grateful to Him, and curious as to where He'll take me next....

New Travels...

This Thursday I'm off to Singapore for a week and also a stop in Malaysia.  We've been planning this trip for quite a while now and I can't believe it's here already.  I spent tonight in a clinic for a check-up before the trip.  Last week was my first experience with needles in a foreign country away from my family and America and what is familiarly safe to me.  I have never enjoyed getting shots... and not having my mommy there was rather a traumatizing experience that I am not ashamed to admit :D.  Fortunately I have a dear roomate who took care of me as I was attended to by the nurse with the syringe.  We will get back in one week, and then off again for our visa trip which as of right now, the destination is unknown.  For the first weeks of February, we will be holding living camps at the English village and I will be in the kitchen for the cooking classes with all the kids... grilled peanut butter and jelly, kettle corn and pizza are all what's on the menu.  It's going to be a messy sticky job...I can't wait... it's been about five months since our summer camps, and having all those kids for an extended period of time is always a blast - I'm thanking the Lord for this opportunity to be with the same group of kids for several days at once.  

2009

I can't imagine the adventures that this new year will bring... So far for 2008, I spent half of the year in a foreign country... I'm definitely excited to see what God will have me do when I come home sometime in July... Taiwan was his plan for me this year, I can't wait to see what I'll be doing next.  I was so restless last year to do something -anything- I didn't know what, and the Lord sent me out to a place that I had never dreamed of.  My life dedicated to God has brought me so much more than I ever could have gained by myself - there is no way I would have found these experiences on my own... no way I could have been used as He saw to use me.  I love the verses that talk about being a vessel for His glory...it is my prayer that there will be yet more opportunities that I am ready for as a result of His trying me this year.  

Christmas at our House

Packages have been arriving almost daily for the past week for the eight teachers on our team here in Pingtung.  It's pretty exciting and will definitely be a new experience for me to celebrate Christmas without my family.  It's been a blessing to be able to share about what we are celebrating with all of our friends.  Having Christmas in a different country opens up opportunities right and left to explain about Jesus coming to earth so many years ago.  

I hope that everyone is having a special Christmas and I thank God for all of you back home.  Thank you for the Christmas cards and packages you've sent... Merry Christmas from me in Taiwan!

Mama Mia!! It'za Pizza!!

This week our school celebrated it's 26th anniversary.  Friday night was band and musical competitions.  nearly 3000 people there, and they wanted the Americans to sing - so sing we did.  The eight of us filed onto the stage and did our routine of the round 'King of Kings'.  I used to think my second grade Christmas programs were bad...I now understand the reason for stage lights.  

As I mentioned in my last post, we were in charge of making pizzas for the event.  Friday was a late night, and we spent all day at school mixing and baking 50 pizza crusts in the school kitchen classroom.  We had 'helpers' coming in and out to stick their fingers in the dough and keep us company (and also maybe take a break from all the decorating outside)...After 14 hours at school, we finally got home and around 10:00 and caught some sleep before we had to be back at the school by 7:00 the next morning (Saturday morning, I might add!!).  We assembled the pizza and baked them six at a time, then sliced and ferried out too our booth.  More curious students came for taste tests, and to help carry trays out to the stand.  At about 12:30 ish, we sold out and it was time for the races.  All of the students competed in relays around the 1/4 mile track (and some of the teachers too).  4:00 came, and we jumped on a train into Kaohsiung for a Christmas concert...the Christmas carols were a delight to hear after months of thinking they didn't even celebrate Christmas here.  The choir was exceptional and the saxophonist and opera singer were fun to hear too.  

This Saturday I will go to a sports meet at one of the schools I taught at this past month.  After that, one of the teachers will take us to a traditional Taiwanese Opera, and then to see a boat that will be burned next year for the town's tri-annual boat-burning festival.  An interesting tradition where they believe that all the bad spirits can be put onto a boat and destroyed by fire.  The theory is definitely familiar to me, but unlike the fire they will use, the fire I believe in doesn't ever die...

Saturday night is also our church's Christmas party, and then Monday we will host another party at the EV for our teacher friends and Nan Jung students.  Mint hot cocoa and a white elephant exchange are on the agenda as well as decorating Christmas cookies.

Tomorrow we will teach a group of professors and college students with English majors at the EV and host a Q and A time for them after classes.  I find it almost ironic that I will be 'teaching' people older than myself and people who probably have more experience in the teaching department to begin with.  I just happen to be one of the more fortunate people on the planet who is a native speaker of English.  Needless to say, it will be entirely different to teach while being scrutinized than standing in front of little elementary students who just would probably just be content to stare at the American for the whole class period.  I'm pretty sure that coming back to America and not being the center of attention is going to be quite the humbling experience. :D 

I had the best students today in class, full of questions and excitement.  They loved hearing me speak my minimal Chinese, and exchanging vocabulary words.  Some days teaching are better than others, and this was definitely a good day...good week...good month...it's all I can do to give the praise to God, who brought me to this place, and knew that it was the perfect thing for me to do this year.