Until next time!

Today we had our very last devotion on this mission trip. Pastor Huang shared about always giving God the glory and spreading the gospel. We then had a singspiration/rehearsal for the performance for later that day.

After the singspiration, we took time to help the kids memorize the 9 bible verses before the bible verse competition where they can earn prizes if they can memorize bible verses. The kids were very eager to learn the verses after seeing the prizes!!

Around 20 parents and family members came to watch their kids perform and we are very thankful that we had the opportunity to connect the church with the local community. We pray that this opportunity would lead to many fruitful relationships in the future!

We will be forever grateful for the kindness and the hospitality that the church has shown us. We have been blessed for the past two weeks with amazing TAs and eager students that want to learn! Please continue to pray for the kids and that they may grow to know God in the future! Also please pray for the safety of the team members as we are all heading back soon!! 

Thank you for your continual support and prayer these past two weeks! 

Week 2 Day 4

Praise God we were able to continue our English camp today because typhoon did not hit us.
Angela led morning devotion, the scripture is from Matthews 28: 16-20, we shared about how to share Jesus' love with others.
Every class is busy rehearsing their song to be presented at the closing ceremony, some of the students are stressed out due to bible verses memorization competition tomorrow.
Love class and Grace class had family visitations last night, a parent wanted to show her appreciation and made a special trip to visit us this afternoon, and gave presents to our teacher and TA, what a kind parent!
The last session was held in the auditorium, we had 5 different games for the entire group, the students sure enjoyed great fun time together.
Well, it is time to pack and get ready for the closing tomorrow.
Please pray for the closing to be smooth, students actually learn the bible verses, parents can join us, and the mission team a safe trip back home.

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Week 2 Day 3

The days are passing by quickly as we count down to our final day here in Chiayi :( Today, we began with a devotion led by Vivian on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. It was a great reminder that God is really the one working in the children's hearts, and that we should persevere in this trip to bring Him glory.

After our devotion time and breakfast, we headed over to the school to start our day. It was super hot and humid and we were all sweating a lot on the ride there. Our lesson today was about Jesus and the adulteress with a focus on God's forgiveness for all of us. In most of the classes, we made salvation bracelets. The kids had a lot of fun making and wearing them. 

When we came back to church, we had a debriefing where we also planned games and prepared gifts for the children. We then went to a nearby supermarket where we stocked up on some Taiwanese snacks.

Later, Elizabeth and Angela visited their students in their homes. They had a lot of fun getting to know the families better and praying with them.

Please continue to pray for a smooth ending to this mission trip. Please also pray for good weather for our last few days here in Chiayi Taiwan! Thank you for your support!

Week 2 Day 2

Tuesday, July 16

Today we began with a devotional led by Elizabeth. The devotional was from Romans 7:13-25.

Elizabeth and Angela led the singspiration today, followed by the bible verse and a bible story told by Vivian. There was a skit so that the kids could better understand the story. It was about the prodigal son.

In addition to the english lessons, Karen ah-yi and Elizabeth did paper plate animals for crafts. Vivian's class finished their stainglass windows from the day before.

During the debriefing, all the classes seem to have gone smoothly with the kids participating avidly.
Despite slightly lower numbers in our classes today, today was definitely a success!!

We also had our class pictures printed today !! Hopefully we can give the kids a momentum for the two weeks they spent here with us through these pictures :-)

Today, Denise led another dance class and Hope had a family visitation after dinner today.

Week 2 (Monday/Weekend Recap)

🌞Monday of Week 2🌞

This past weekend, we had a much needed break after the first week of mission camp. On Saturday, we went to the movies in 嘉义. We watched Spiderman and Toy Story 4, enjoyed some Mister Donut, and went to a health-foods restaurant for dinner with the 朴子 church staff/friends. We also went to a night market afterwards.

On Sunday, Pastor Huang reminded us in his sermon（你是全新的）that God sees us as brand new; for in Him we are new creations. We are created in His image and destined for greatness. We are of worth and value, and we are alive today because God still has something of importance for us to do. As blessed people, we are to bless other people. 

Some former EV members also came to join us for Sunday service. (Vincent/Susan and Mary/her husband) Mary shared her testimony of how God brought her to EV where she met Pastor Huang and many others that helped her get to where she is today. She reminded us that at times, we may think God doesn't hear us but in fact, he truly is listening and will always be listening. He makes all things work for our good. We may not feel that way in times of suffering but when we stop and look back, we can see that our lives are truly built on blessings on blessings.

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Today, the singpiration was led by Denise and Karen. Karen's 'Hope Class' went up on stage to lead one of the songs. Pastor Huang also joined us in our skit  (Jesus heals the Blind Man) today as Jesus. (Picture 1- Everybody get Walking, Picture 2- Jesus puts mud on the blind man's eyes)

Please continue to pray for the team, and the students and their families as we get ready to wrap up mission camp this week. We will continue with family visitations as well. 

We really are beyond blessed to be surrounded with such kind TAs, church staff members, and everyone else that is helping us out this time. From buying us breakfast every day to just always being so eager to help out, we can feel that the people at this church are just so filled with God's love through their actions as they love on others. We are truly blessed to be working with such a team. 

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Day 5

Today we finished the first week of English Leadership Camp in Puzi, Chiayi.

The English Leadership Camp is held in Tatung Elementary School which is about 300 meters away from EFC Puzi church, we start off singspiration, bible verse and bible story/skit in the auditorium, then divide into 5 classes. The classrooms have no A/C, but we were blessed with lots of summer shower, we sure enjoy the cooler weather.

Today's theme is God Loves Me. We shared the story of Zacchaeus and the tree, the kids enjoyed the bible story very much. We have no family visitation this evening, so we were able to relax, spent some fun time with TAs, and hoped to catch up some sleep this weekend.

God is good, we are blessed everyday! Please continue to pray for the souls of the kids in Puzi and deeper relationship with the people in the Puzi community. Also pray for pastor Huang, he will be preaching this Sunday in EFC Puzi.

Day 4

Finished with Day Four!!
We started off the day with a devotion led by Vivian from 1 Kings 3:4-14 about how we don't have to face challenges alone. Then, we were off to the school to start the day with the kids.

The kids are coming earlier everyday! We arrived around 7:40 and there were already a lot of kids there! Vivian and Elizabeth led singspiration and the kids were more open to singing along and doing the handmotions. After singspiration, we learned the bible verse and the bible story about how God gives us a lot of blessings just like how the oil and flour never ran out in the story from 1 King 17. After we learned the story, we split up into the classes and went to our classrooms.

After the classes, we had a debrief meeting and all classes went relatively smoothly. Then, Denise had a super fun dance class that Angela, Vivian, and TA Gina helped out with. They all loved learning the new combo for their performance next Friday.

For dinner, the TAs were super gracious and bought us some good hotpot noodles. After dinner, Angela and TA Christine and TA Daniel had a blessing of having their third family visitation this week. The family was open and the kids had a lot of fun playing with their teachers. 

Please keep on praying for our team's wellbeing and the gradual opening of all the kids' hearts. We hope that we can finish this week off strong!!!

Day 3

Day 3 of Taiwan Mission was a success!
We started off our day with a devotion from Luke 23:32-43 led by Elizabeth. Our team then headed over to the church at 7:45 am to get ready for singspiration with the children.

Once the children arrived, we had a lot of fun singing and dancing with them. As the children are getting more comfortable with our team, they are opening up to us and talking a lot more! After singspiration, we learned the bible story and verse of the day before splitting off into our respective classes. Today's bible story was about Peter walking on water with Jesus. We focused on the theme of trust and how we are able to trust God throughout all seasons of our lives.

During our debriefing meeting, all classes were reported to have gone smoothly. We then spent the afternoon prepping for our future lessons. Our wonderful TAs also brought us boba, which really helped us cool down in the humid weather.

Elder Samuel Kao also came to give free dental consultations and treatments for the community. It was a great success and received very positive feedback from the people of Chiayi.

At night, Angela, her TAs, and the pastor went to a house visitation of two sisters in her class, Ella and Rita. They had a wonderful time getting to know the kids and family better.

Please continue to pray for the health and energy or our team members! Also pray that the children will be open to our lessons and eager to learn more about God!

Day 2

Tuesday, July 9

We started off our day today with a devotional from 1 John 2:24-29 led by Denise. We sang the song Whom Shall I Fear with the TAs and had a time of discussion and reflection

Denise and Angela led Singspiration, teaching the kids new handmotions. Elizabeth was in charge of today's skit and Bible verse reading. The skit today was about Abraham and Sarah receiving news that they would have Isaac.

In addition to learning new english lessons, we also had our first crafts today! Hope, Love, Grace, and Faith all made stainglass windows. Angel made picture frames.

Today was also the first day of family visitations! Angela, her TA, Vivian, her two TAs, and Pastor Wu went to visit two students. Luckily for us, they were both in the same household. The kids were very open to us during our time there.

Today was the second day of Denise's dance class! The kids were very energetic and Angela and Vivian both joined in to help Denise. The kids definitely opened up to us during this time while we had fun with them.

The second day was definitely a success. Please pray for high energy as we progress through the week.

The Mission Begins (Monday)

We survived the first day! Yaay! 😃😃

After morning devotion and breakfast, we headed over to the elementary school where the children were waiting (76 children came to camp today). Thanks to the teamwork of the church staff, helpers, and teachers, all the children took their placement tests and were placed in their correct class. After the singspiration, we learned the verse for day one and headed to our classes.

Since the schedule for the first day was a little different, we only had one break period and the classes were shorter. However, the students had lots of fun learning new things and before we knew it, day one was over! Some of the students headed back to the church with the mission members for lunch while the others were picked up by their parents. 

During the debrifing we shared that overall, today was a very good first day. We made some minor adjustments and are now preparing for the next day! Also, from buying us breakfast to collecting student information, we are very thankful for our hardworking and wonderful TA's for making sure everything runs smoothly. Lastly, a big thanks to Derek Kao for being our extra helper today! 🙌🙌

We thank Papa God for a great first day! We were able to get all the students registered and placed in their classes. From the singpiration to dismissal, things went very smooth. Also, an EV member has surpsied the team with 40 dragon fruits! 🌸🌸

 

Please pray for the team as we make adjustments for the students and their classes. There were also some students who weren't able to make it today because they were sick. The church is coordinating the visitations that start tomorrow. Lastly, pray for some of our members who are getting sick/are sick. 

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Lord's Day in Puzi

We were happy to worship with brothers and sisters in EFC Puzi. Pastor Huang preached today. The congregation welcomed us with very warm heart.
After the service, we met 8 wonderful local church TAs, we shared our lesson plans with them, and practiced the singspiration songs together.
Please pray for
1. our teachers preparation as we begin English camp tomorrow

2. the partnerships between the local TAs and the teachers

3. the large number of students (we were informed that there were only 30 students registered when we were in US, but now there are 88).

4. the very hot and humid weather so that every team member can adjust well and adapt to the weather condition

5. the TM  members, many members still have jet lag, pray for the members physical strength and energy to get over the jet lag

2019 Taiwan Mission Begins

We are in Puzi!

Pastor Huang and the 4 Puzi first-timers have arrived safely! The weather is warm and humid as usual in the summer. One more mission member and Elder Sam Kao will join us tomorrow.

Through EFC Puzi's Pastor Wu, we've learned that there are 88 students that have signed up for the English camp.
Please pray for our health (one member caught a cold), energy, good spirit, and smooth cooperation with the TAs.

After a brief meeting, we all need to rest a little early today so that our physical condition will get adjusted and be ready for tomorrow! Good night!