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!!!