Zoo pictures

Zoo Pictures

Tonight's Adventure...

Tonight Lauren and I decided to take the bus into Chiayi City to attend an evening English service at the International Christian Church there. Little did we know the adventures that awaited us!! The bus ride in was uneventful and we managed to hail a taxi (actually, the taxi drivers are very keen on having our business and we have to work to avoid them) to take us to the church. We had the address (in Chinese) written down on a business card for the church and so we thought it should be pretty straightforward to get there. Well, lo and behold, the taxi driver got lost and had to ask someone where the church was. They directed him to a Catholic Church. Ooops, not where we wanted to go. Eventually we found the church and after paying the 200 NT for the ride, we got out. We figured that someone from the church could help us call a taxi to get back to the bus station. The service was supposed to start at 6:30 and as it was only about 6:05 we had plenty of time. We decided to walk around a little bit. Back at the church by 6:20, we noticed that everything was shut up and dark. Was anyone there? Apparently not. At about 6:25 a Taiwanese couple drove up; not regulars at the church but just wanting to pop in for an evening service. 6:35 rolls around; still dark in the church. In the meantime, we got to know this delightful couple who lived many years in New Jersey. They managed to get a hold of someone who informed them that the church leaders were all on a retreat so there was no service. Ah well! We were so glad to have met this couple who graciously drove us back to the bus station so we didn't have to find a taxi. At the bus station, we found out that we still had quite a bit of time till the bus back home left so we wandered around looking in shops. I was just mentioning how funny it would be if we came across our first taxi driver when he came by saying "Hello, hello!" like we were old friends. I was quite amused. We popped into a doughnut shop and bought a couple of DELICIOUS chocolate cream puffs. Some of the best stuff I've eaten in a long time. Back at the bus station, we saw our bus pull up and tried to get on, but the driver wouldn't let us on without a ticket. That was kind of strange, because we've never had to buy a ticket before. Oh well. We got off, looked at each other and thought "What to do?" At this point, a young Taiwanese lady came up to us and asked if we needed help. Her name was Salina and her English was really good. She directed us to the little place where we could buy the tickets we needed. We managed to bargain the price of our ticket down to close to where it should be (not quite sure why they were trying to get us to pay so much more... naive foreigners???) and then waited for another 20 minutes till the next bus came by. This time we were let on and we were able to take the very old and bumpy bus safely back home.

What's amazing is that in a place where very few people speak English enough to understand us and help us that there were people at every point where we needed help! First, the Taiwanese couple and then Salina. Lauren and I rejoiced in the Lord's provision for us in that way this evening, and although our evening didn't go as we had planned, we had a chance to meet some people and spend time sharing together.

God is good.

Love,
Christy

Here I am...

Well, as you all can tell, I haven't been super-consistent with updating this recently! Much has been happening in my life, mostly on the heart level. The Lord has been faithful to show me some areas that need refining ("Princess lessons" for His daughter) and so in that way it's been a very good past few days. It's just hard - for the natural man - to be humbled and learn!! Pray that I would draw close to the Lord and truly become more like Jesus.

The teaching is going well. I've been busier than usual with my lesson planning, but gladly the students seem to be learning and I continue learning to be a good teacher. =)

Today was the first day that didn't feel really hot when I stepped outside. It was a balmy 69 degrees F this morning and it felt wonderful! It still got up to 87 during the day though and next week's forecast still calls for temperatures in the 90s.

Psalm 51:10-13 "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee."

Love,
Christy

An-Dung Guo Siao

Hello friends!
Here we are in week 7 of this semester! The Lord is good. Last week was challenging and I felt like I had to step out in faith to approach this week. And with Christ walking beside me and in my heart, surely I can face whatever He might bring my way, because we are in it together! The last couple of days, although still with challenges, have been wonderful teaching days. I love the children!! Teaching is fun, especially at An-Dun Guo Siao (elementary school). Here are some pictures from this week:

Patrick, my "co-teacher", some 5th-graders and me.

Patrick with some 2nd & 3rd-graders.



Yes, these classes can get lively!! =)

 

Rachelle!!!!! and dragon fruit...

This (above) is a dragon fruit. I really, really like it and just yesterday practiced my Chinese and bought some for the first time from a roadside fruit stand! Yum! I was also able to buy a pineapple all cut up (I love pineapple). And the best part is that the fruit stand is not even two blocks away. :)
And lookee here!!! My dear friend Rachelle (from Canada) came and visited me yesterday, along with her brother Josiah and grandparents!! What an incredible blessing and encouragement they were to me as we shared pretty much non-stop for 7 hours. I so appreciate receiving wise and Godly counsel from her grandparents as I have lots to learn in leading my team, and just hearing what God is doing in their lives. You have no idea how wonderful it is to actually see familiar faces of loved ones after being in an environment of new-new-new for the past 3 months!!

The Lord is good and faithful!! How grateful I am for all of you!

Love, Christy

 

My weekend...

Siang-He Elementary School

This is my afternoon school. I work here almost every day...

 

Quotes For Today

Look out for daily opportunities for showing the gentleness, sweetness, and unselfishness of the Lord Jesus.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him.

ABC song with actions...

 

More pictures from last weekend!