A day in the life:
Wake up to a region-wide melody comprised of bells to mark 7:00am
Check the kerosene space heaters to see if they have just enough fuel to blast for 10 minutes while we hazily snuggle up tighter in our sleeping bags and blankets and wander around our living space in the 30 degree weather – peering over a concrete sea wall, waiting for the cold water winds to whip into the stairwell.
We walk the quarter mile to the coffee shop, sit in a morning devotional with our group of 20 plus the missionaries we’re partnering with:
Rich, Emi, Cherry & Jo.
We’re met with warm greetings, hot coffee and the sweet sounds of worship music we’ve sung a thousand times over but never seem to tire of.
Day-by-day we change – we paint fences, help with the coffee shop, teach English and share snippets of the gospel with each smile, each fragmented sentence, each bow and each “Ohaiyou/Konnichiwa/Arigatou!”.
5:00pm, what sounds like a rendition of the last movement of Dvorak’s “From the New World” symphony rings throughout the town to mark the end of the school day and kids pour out of what appeared to be still-frame buildings that just count as background markers on our walks to and fro.
Bible studies, nightly worship, family meals;
Sweet laughs, sweet memories, sweet time with our Father.
All building up to the question some of us keep silently in the back of our throats, unable to choke out:
“Are we doing this right?”
Simple hesitations, breaking molds of what we believe God to be and not to be – breaking down barriers of communication by stepping into a position of small obedience.
Luke 16:10
“The one who manages the little he has been given with faithfulness and integrity will be promoted and trusted with greater responsibilities. But those who cheat with the little they have been given will not be considered trustworthy to receive more.”
Man, who cares if we’re doing this “right” – we’re doing exactly what we’re supposed to be doing and that’s what matters.
Easy to say now that I’m officially one month out of the United States but WHEW.
Man God was easy and sweet on us during those few weeks in Ishinomaki.
To cap off the journey there we were gifted a sweet sweet worship session before departing from our new friends that will be etched into my heart for the rest of my days to come.
I’ve been told a common question upon return is:
“What was your favorite country”
I was also told there’s a frustration that comes behind answering that question because there are different things that come with each place we root ourselves in momentarily – something I struggled to grasp before this but kind of have an inkling about.
Japan was beautiful – I got to see a fisherman town, go to Sendai and then Tokyo and I felt all the feels and praised all the praises. It was BLISS y’all.
But we landed in Taiwan and everything just shifted; beautifully but clumsily.
The air just felt more free and open somehow, even past the obvious increase in temperature but it was just….different.
We arrive in Taipei late in the evening, put on our giant packs, climb 7 flights of stairs to a flat where we get settled for a training period called debrief. We step out onto a balcony overlooking the Shilin night market we’re perched on top of and just take in the air and immediately confusion hits – why here? Why, such a cool spot, do we get to do our ministry HERE?!
The following morning boasted the above view and continued the sense of “why me?”.
Stay tuned for the next blog after I get an answer to that.
For now, I’m still $6,000 away from being fully funded – my next deadline is in April!
If you feel led to support me and my team please follow the donation link above and send all the prayers as we step into this next month and get a little more comfortable with what God has called us to.
