In the afternoon, we headed to The Aroma where we had worship practice for about an hour with two of our Aroma friends, Tiffany and Ariel. We finished a bit early and coincidentally all fell asleep for about a half hour. Ministry work and fun can be tiring. We all went to the Taipei Grace Home Church homeless ministry that evening. According to their brochure, the Grace Home Church has 23 facilities throughout Taiwan and provides food, shelter, goods and resources, medical service, after-school care, tutoring, scholarships (Public school funding ends in middle school.), prayer, and worship. One of their routines is that people who want to eat a free meal must go to the church service beforehand. Today was the Aroma's turn to minister.We were able sing the Chinese song we had prepared, God is So Good, and happily found it to be one in the church's hymnal. Then Greg shared about how God is our perfect loving father because yesterday had been Father's Day here in Taiwan. Our other Aroma friend, Larry, shared his testimony as well. Larry shared how he had had to have some form of brain surgery and it affected his brain so much that he lost his memory for a time and his ability to walk. Someone prayed for him and then he regained his memory. He also encouraged us all by saying he doesn't have to worry so much as he knows that God is in control. Then after some enthusiastic and beautiful Chinese hymns (including God is So Good), we helped pass out dinner. We weren't really able to engage with the people but we did tell them, "Yesu i ni (Jesus loves you)." The people then dispersed fairly quickly. We headed back to The Aroma around 7PM where several of our young friends invited us to hike up the Elephant Mountain. We made a compromise with our friends to head to a night market and then a hike up the mountain. As a group of 11 members, the whole rowdy bunch of us traveled to the night market and then up Elephant mountain. At the night market, we somewhat quenched our exotic food cravings by trying chicken feet, chicken butt, torched BBQ, stinky tofu (both boiled and fried), pig intestines, lime jelly tea, "British-style milk tea", pig blood, and duck blood. Then we headed up what our Taiwanese friends called a "easy short 1.4 km hike" up the Elephant Mountain. If you have ever been up the "1,000 Steps" hike in Guam then imagine it with many more flights of stairs and heading up a somewhat steep mountain. That is what our hike was like. Two of our girls had slightly more trouble but we all made it to the incredible view of Taipei offered at the top. After some sight seeing, we all headed home which was another adventure in and of itself. We were told that the buses had already stopped running and so we took the MRT to a different route closer to home and to catch the bus there. Once at the bus stop though, the bus did not come and so the girls took a taxi that could fit only 5. Surprisingly, a few drivers didn't want to take us and then our sweet elderly driver wasn't sure of the area of our home. After some directions from other drivers, the girls got safely home. Greg waited and, lo and behold, the bus came just much later than usual. To conclude, today has probably been the most adventurous and physically taxing so far.
The Lord has continued to strengthen and encourage us throughout our stay in Taiwan. Knowing you are out there praying for us also does too. ^_^
Please pray for:
- the Grace Home Church and its ministry to a forgotten minority,
- maintenance of good health,
- our remaining days in Taiwan,
- The Aroma's ministry in Ximen,
- and for Taiwan's people to open their hearts to Jesus.
Grace Home Church Website: http://www.good119.org/
Thank you! 谢谢！(Xièxiè!)
[Pictures to be uploaded later today.]
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