Starfish

The Starfish Story

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference to that one!”

The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved. - adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley

God has been incredible to remind me of this story these past few weeks.  Being a mom to 3 little ones, studying a foreign language, setting up house and taking care of responsibilities for our ministry here hasn't left a lot of time for much else.  There are days when I'm standing on a street watching people go by and it's like I'm this little girl standing on the beach watching all these starfish washed ashore drying up and dying.  It seems impossible to make a difference.  I can become cynical and wonder how in the world God can use our family or YWAM or all the christian organizations to reach the millions of lost people here in Taiwan.  It can feel overwhelming and impossible!  BUT I am reminded that God can fit a camel through the eye of a needle!  He created this world, He created starfish, He created this island and the people living here!  He is asking me to be faithful in the small things.  He places the starfish in my path and has equipped me with His love and the Good News!  He is the WAY- and praise His Name I get to be His hands to those starfish that He places in front of me!  The community at the end of this story is beautiful.  The body of Christ coming together to be used for His glory and the salvation of the lost.  I imagine Jesus on the beach placing the starfish in front of our feet giving us the opportunity to join Him in the joy of His salvation of the hopeless! All we have to do is move, He has equipped us, He will do the work-- How Great is Our God!

Rich had to go to Hong Kong recently and met up with a friend from our days working in China.  His name is Tony.  Rich met him playing basketball - starfish- and shared the gospel with him.  Tony was an atheist but more than ready to receive Jesus because of the work that Jesus was already doing in his heart. Tony was discipled by our team there and then sent to a pastor training school close to Hong Kong.  He began a house church from there.  Tony told Rich of his sisters radical salvation and how many have come to know the Lord through her testimony.  He also shared how his church was reaching out to factory workers who work long hours and are under-paid.  This community of people have become hopeless and many have taken their own lives.  Tony and his church are reaching out to these men and women with the gospel of hope! More of the body of Christ on the beach being joyfully obedient to what God has put in front of them.

I am humbled by the simple gospel message that God has given me to share with so many who are in desperate need of Him.  It should be as simple as casting something helpless into a sea that brings life.  He brings life.  He is so good. It is written on our hearts.  Jesus saves!  Praise His Name that we get to be a part of His work! 

Ghost Month

I took this brief description of Ghost month (August) in Taiwan from www.lyberty.com:

According to Chinese folklore, there is an increase in the incidence of accidents and deaths during the seventh month of the lunar calendar, an occurrence attributed to underworld spirits visiting the earth during this time. During Ghost Month, people prepare big feasts to indulge the many roaming ghosts.

Eastern societies, unlike many western societies, traditionally try to appease the dead, rather than trying to banish them, by inviting them temporarily into the world of the living. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Taiwan during Ghost Month. On the first day of the seventh lunar month, 'Open Day' in hell is held, the gates to the underworld are opened and the spirits are allowed to cross over into the living world.

Not only do the Taiwanese accept these hauntings with admirable equanimity, they actually give their ethereal guests the full VIP 5-star treatment. At the Chung Yuan Festival (about halfway through the month), huge banquet tables are set out in temple courtyards and mountains of fish, vegetables, meat and other delicacies are offered as sacrifice; hanging lanterns are erected to guide the ghosts to the table; non-stop operas entertain during dinner and fake money is burnt so that guests have a bit of pocket-money to spend when they return to hell.

This hospitality is not entirely altruistic - it's insurance against paranormal acts of retribution.

Other do's and dont's to be observed during ghost month include the following:
DO:- make offerings, especially the burning of "ghost money" (An estimated 220,000 tons of ghost money is burned every year around Taiwan)
DON'T: 
- weddings, special plans, business deals and outings should be put on hold till the end of the month;
- no whistling, whistling is not a good idea, whistling will lead the ghost straight to your home;
- talking ill of the dead (even if it's true) will just bring tears and heartache;
- special care should be taken when walking along riverbanks where a water ghost can easily steal a living spirit; and
- adding to the numbers by burying the dead is, unfortunately, not a good idea.

On the 30th day of the month, the gates of hell are closed again and the ghosts return to the other side.

This is also a link to a 10 minute video made by OMF about Ghost Month:

http://vimeo.com/14770840

Flowers, food and drink offerings to ghosts

Metal container used to burn money for ancestor worship and to appease ghosts

Even though these beliefs may seem strange at first, it is an open door to talk to the Taiwanese about supernatural things.  We don't have to convince them that the spiritual world is a reality, we just have to clarify which spirits are good and which are bad.  The Bible clearly talks about the spiritual battle raging around us.  Ephesians 6:12-13 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm."  In 2 Kings 16:17  we see the reality of the spiritual world when Elisha prays for his servants eyes to be opened to the spiritual realm and his servant is no longer afraid of the physical battle before him because he has seen that there is an army of angels prepared to battle on their behalf.  When we pray we go directly to the front lines of spiritual battle.  So, if you're prayer life is lacking you're on the sidelines of the spiritual battle.  Satan will do anything to keep us from praying, because he knows there is power in it.  Sometimes we will talk about things for hours and try to reason things out, but never actually stop to pray.  Please join us in praying for the eyes and ears of the Taiwanese to be opened to the Holy Spirit and for freedom to experience the love that Christ has graciously given us.  2 Timothy 1:7 "for  God gave us a Spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

BABA Day

The Chinese word for "8" is /ba/.  The word for "daddy" is /baba/.  So on August the 8th the Taiwanese celebrate Baba day!  Father's day this year in June was one week after we moved here to Taiwan.  It completely took my jet lagged brain by surprise as I realized what day of the week it was! I quickly had the kids make daddy cards while he was in the shower!  Rich is so sweet and he was so thankful.  It was far from the big deal we would of made had we been in the states!  I don't know how you are but we like to celebrate even the smallest events in big ways!  So normally I would be a little jealous that Rich would get TWO Father's day in one year but this gave me chance to make up for the missed opportunity to show him how much we love and appreciate him!  So the kids got to work yesterday on their gifts for daddy.  Homemade boxes made from paper and tape filled with a paper airplane, "I love you" notes and a Hershey kiss, a dinosaur book and a sign!

The kids think breakfast in bed is the best thing that you could ever do for a person.  When we began discussing how to make Daddy's day special this was the first thing that naturally came to mind.  As I asked what else we could do to make his day special Hudson said (in his still slightly babyish voice that I adore), "Demember when you guys took the bucket and rags and put our feet in it-in Hawaii?" I reminded him that we were washing his feet like Jesus did for the disciples. "Yes, yes!  Let's do that!"  We all agreed that this was a great idea!  They would get to serve Daddy like he has done every day for us!

 So the next morning we woke Daddy with coffee and breakfast and then led him to the dining room where he was given a special seat!  The kids got on their knees and began to wash their Daddy's feet.  Katie began to say a prayer of thanksgiving and praise for God giving them such a great Daddy.  All 3 kids kneeled by Rich washing his feet as she prayed.

His heart was full to say the least!  There were lots of hugs and kisses and then we were on with our day!  Rich is a humble, gentle, loving Father.  Katie, Hudson and Charlee know that they are loved by their Daddy by his words and actions.  God has given him patience and a steadfast love for his family.  We are blessed to have him leading our family!

As I write this I am reminded of the sinful woman at the feet of Jesus and Mary listening to Jesus teach at His feet.  I can't help thinking of the humility and trust that it takes to kneel down and do anything at someone's feet!  Both of these women sitting at their Maker's feet fully aware that it is a place of honor to be there.  And how Jesus responded--"Your faith has saved you; go in peace." and "Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."  It is at the Father's feet that we see faith, find peace, comfort, goodness and His steadfast love!  This has been a vital truth for me to cling to as we have just moved overseas and are waiting on the Lord for direction regarding ministry.  Looking at the picture of the kids washing Rich's feet, I am reminded- that is where God wants me- humbled and trusting Him- serving Him by being with Him- blessing and praising His Name, completely sure that His Name will be exalted in all the Nations.  Baba sounds so close to Abba- when we have a relationship that is so deep and so personal with God that we can call him "daddy". Baba Day has been a sweet reminder to sit with my Abba in the seat of honor at His feet. 

To Taiwan and More

Time has seemed to zoom by since we left the great state of Texas and moved here to Taiwan!  These past 2 months have held a lot of highs and lows for our family!   In all of it God has been faithful to show His grace and mercy!  We are truly blessed to be here in Taiwan!  Here is a picture journey of our time since we left!

Our last day in Texas

Hanging with students at the Rock

Our New Apartment

Lots of fresh fruit around every corner

Our 4th of July Celebration

View down by the river near our home

Rich walking down the busy streets of Danshui with kids in tow

Another River view

Dragon Boat parade- this is a very long line of idols

Game night at the Rock-  (this guy killed me at rock, paper,scissors)

Our day at the beach( God blessed us with an AMAZING sunset)

We have been so thankful for the opportunities that God has given us to share the Gospel with those around us!  We spend a lot of our days learning the language in class and also by doing individual study (or just by stepping out of our front door).  With the broken language that we do have, the Lord allowed us to pray over our buddist neighbor who is in a wheelchair and struggles with some sort of kidney problem.  She has a port in her chest for medication to be administered.  Every night her husband wheels her out to the courtyard of our apartment complex.  After having a very broken conversation one night we asked if we could pray for her in Jesus Name.  She agreed and we prayed a very simple prayer for Jesus to heal her.  She was grateful and agreed that Jesus was good.  The next night she excitedly stopped us as we were walking through the courtyard to tell us that she had slept through the night.  This is something that had not happened for her in a very long time!  She was very excited and kept thanking us for praying.  We kept telling her it was Jesus that did it!  Since then her daughter has also stopped to thank us for praying for her mother.  This family does not know Jesus but they now know that there is power in His Name.  They also do not know English.  I loved seeing the Lord work through our biggest weakness to bring Him the greatest glory!  When we are weak HE is strong!  We are even more encouraged to learn the language here well so that we can connect more and more with this culture and share the Good News!  

Humidity and Humility (written June2012)

We have been in Taiwan for about 3 weeks now. I have never in my life sweated as much as I have in the first few weeks here. That is saying a lot considering I grew up south of Houston and am a sweater by nature.  My friends with thicker Taiwanese accents will always blame the heat on the "humidity" but  it often sounds like they are saying "humility".  These two words have been closely linked for me as I have been meeting so many people for the first time with sweat pouring down my face and back!  There seems to be a theme with our transition here- Humility.

Entering a country without knowing very much of the language or much about the culture can leave you vulnerable.  You feel like a child, talk like a child and can sometimes be treated like a child because of your ignorance.  Humility.

Matthew 18:3-4 "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

We don't know where we live. We carry around a piece of paper with our address on it in Chinese.  Whenever we order furniture or have to get a taxi we hand them the paper and smile. Humility.

Genesis 12:1 "And the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you."

Hauling three children around busy streets, crowded furniture stores and on different types of mass transit just opens the door wide for...... Humility.

Psalm 127:3 "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."

Being in humbling situations usually yields frustration.  I wish that I could say that it produced something different- grace, patience, kindness, joy, etc.  It has not.  It has produced frustration on most occasions coupled with anger- my arch nemesis.  It has been way too easy to walk in my flesh and it disappoints every time.  I was sharing with a friend recently and she asked me the "root" of that frustration and anger and in an instant I knew it was "control"!  I have lost what little control I thought I had by entering a land that I do not yet know much about!  I have more often than not began my day with my own agenda instead of being open-handed before the Lord.  So we are back to HUMILITY!

Phil. 2:3 "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."

Prov. 11:2 "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom."

The Lord has been continually gracious during this process.  In all of these areas of my life He has shown me the gifts that humility brings- fellowship in His Kingdom, His direction, bearing good fruit, wisdom and fear of the Lord.  Humility in Proverbs 22:4 (NIV) is the fear of the LORD!

Humility for me is discovering how small I am and how little I actually have control of in my life.  It brings me to my knees before an all-knowing, loving, merciful and patient Father.  I have come to realize that it is in this place that I am filled- on my knees, my own will defeated, struggling to breath and He is there. Ps 40:2 "He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure."

So here I am in Taiwan.  A place that makes me feel like a child, unaware of my surroundings, culturally unaware and completely vulnerable.  It seems as if this could be a pretty devastating place to be BUT GOD calls me to look to HIM, trust HIM, follow HIM.  It is at this point of releasing "control" that I find why He has called me to humble myself before Him- He wipes the sweat from my face, stands me on my feet and leads me in the right way.  It is here that He has replaced my despair of losing control with the joy of being completely dependent on Him.  He has opened my eyes to the beauty of living in a different country and having to cling to Him!  He is faithful to give the fruits of His Sweet Holy Spirit- love, joy and peace!

We're Back!!!

We flew back to the beautiful state of Texas about a week ago now! I wish I would've taken a picture of Hudson and Katie's faces as we arrived at the gate- they were so excited to be back.  These past five and a half months have been wonderful, difficult, beautiful, challenging, life-changing......


Our time away has been a huge revelation that when we are weak and miserable, He is strong and He is good! Thank you so much to those of you who have been praying for our family.  We have been overwhelmed by the power of the Holy Spirit and God's provision. Here are some pictures of our journey:

This is a picture of our team outside of the parsonage where we had our meetings.

TAMIL METHODIST CHURCH ministry

This is our team performing a song for the church we were partnering with.

Teaching Children's church

Rich teaching on the Kingdom of God

Kids being creative while we were in a meeting

Worship to our King

STEPPING STONES ORPHAN ministry:

Dinner with the kids on Christmas Eve

One of our Saturday Fun Days 

Rich helping before one of our games

Rich taught the older boys to throw an American football

HOMELESS SHELTER ministry:

Hudson was a big helper

So were the girls!

SOCCER ministry:

Hudson loved this one

VILLAGE outreach:

We had the opportunity to leave the city and venture out to a small village.  While there we were able to join the people in worship and lead them in a pretty intense prayer time.  This ended up being a stretching time for both Rich and I in so many ways and opened up our eyes to the power and authority that we have in Jesus.

None of the children could speak English but it didn't stop us from loving on them!

REFUGEE ESL ministry:

We loved getting to teach these kids.  Our group of teachers had opportunities to share Christ with several of them even though it was not allowed at the University. God truly opened up my eyes to His love for them and gave me a bigger glimpse into His love for all people groups-our God is so big!

We had a party our last day there and the kids all brought food from their culture- this was the best food I had in Malaysia--SO GOOD!

STREET BLAST

We organized a street party at the church.  We had to get permits in order to have it because we were going to be evangelizing.  Because it was in a predominantly Indian/Hindu area we were given permission by the Muslim government.  We had over 200 people from several different countries come to here the gospel through music, dance, drama, reading of the Word and testimony.  We invited all of our friends from ESL, prostitutes, hotel staff, people we had met on the street and so many other places AND they all came!  We were blown away by the turn out.  The church provided materials (Bibles, tracts, etc.) in 10 different languages to pass out.  By the end of the night almost everything had been given away!  

Katie working on a sign for the Blast

We are rehearsing a dance-Rich did the "worm"

The kids all took turns reading the Bible to our homeless friend Charlie that night

A row of our kids that came

I have so many more pictures!  I'm hoping that this is going to load with all that I have put on it for now!  We have so many great stories of how the Lord showed up in mighty ways.  Our team helped empower and encourage the  church to follow up and disciple the people we met with and ministered to.  It was exciting to see how a church that was already doing so well welcomed us with humble and teachable hearts.  I think we were all blessed and learned a lot from each other.  We are trying to meet up with as many people as we can while we are back in Texas. We want to share all that God has done in us and through us the past few months.  Please let us know if you would like to meet up.  

WE STILL NEED YOUR PRAYER:

* We put our application in for staff with YWAM in Taiwan and will hopefully hear back from them soon.  They accept new staff in May so this is what we are hoping for.  As soon as we find out if we have been accepted we will be working on visas, purging our home and raising support.  Praise God that He is in the details, and that as we make our plans He directs our steps- Prov.16:9!

 

Malaysia

We have been here in Kuala Lumpur for 2 1/2 weeks now.  The time has been jam packed with lots of meetings, planning and ministries.  Before I get to what we are doing, let me tell you about where we are staying.  We are staying in an area called Brickfields at a place called MY Hotel (this can get very confusing when telling others where we are at :). All five of us are staying in the same room with two double beds- I will post a prayer request about this at the end!  Little India is a block away and China town in a mile up the road.  We are surrounded by "hole in the wall" restaurants and small convenient stores.  The church that we are partnering with is just a short walk down the street.  We prayer walk down this street every day due to the fact that there are also many brothels, gangs and it is common to see people passed out on the sidewalks from being drunk.  It is a reminder everyday that we live in a fallen world, full of fallen people in desperate need of the hope of our Savior.  They are all looking for hope.  We feel extremely privileged that Jesus has allowed us to come here and serve.  I can't help but wonder if Jesus walked down and ministered down streets that looked just like the one we are staying on.

Our days are usually very full.  We have one full day off a week.  I will bullet point and explain the ministries we are involved in:

• Teach ESL to refugees at HELP University 8 hours a week- Rich and I are getting to do this together.  The students are from Myanmar, Somalia, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.  The country of Malaysia does not recognize refugees so there are no programs or help for them here outside of non-profit organizations.  This program is put on by the University along with the United Nations to teach the students English and give them job training so that they can leave the country.  We love our students and are praying that God allows us to teach them a lot more than English.
• Prostitution outreach- There is an amazing woman here that runs a woman's home and outreach to women who have been forced into the sex trade and also prostitution.  We are in a heart-breaking area and have been informed that in the neighborhood we are in, girls as young as 14 are locked in some of the back rooms of the brothels-our God is big enough to rescue them!!!!  They have a jewelry workshop that teaches the girls a skill so that if they do want to get out they have a trade.  We prayer walk and talk with the girls to inform them about the jewelry workshop and love them-just genuinely love them-like Jesus does.  This outreach makes me pray even more fervently for Jesus to return.- Zeph. 3:19 " Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors.  And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth."
• Stepping stones is a home of about  100 orphans.  Most of them come from abusive backgrounds and have been adopted by Pastor Johnson who runs the home.  Seventeen years ago Pastor Johnson was an alcoholic and a christian prayed for him.  At that moment he was healed of alcoholism and was saved!  The Lord gave him a vision of taking in widows and orphans and He obeyed.  He has a house that would probably not meet any building codes in the States- including tin roofs and open air rooms with no doors.  The children sleep on concrete floors- the same floors that they eat on and study on.  This man loves these children and even more teaches them about how much Jesus loves them.  They are amazing. I got to sit with Daniel, Mark, Isaac and Gyatran today and help them with studies and talk about Jesus. There eyes just lit up when we walked in- they just love the attention and getting to talk and be loved on. Precious,precious, precious kids!  We help them with studies several times a week and will get to have some play times with them on Saturdays.
• Homeless Shelter- our first week here we were able to help out with a homeless shelter.  It was one project here that our whole family could do together.  We were able to help serve lunch to around 200 people the first Saturday.  Katie and Hudson were amazing!  They helped set up, passed out drinks, helped prepare the food, handed out the meals and even helped wash dishes in the end!  Charlee of course just walked around charming everyone she saw and helped with clean-up (sometimes taking dishes before people were done)!  This ministry was in the Chinese part of town so Rich and I were able to practice what little Chinese we could remember.  Rich of course loved this!  It brought back a lot of memories for us! We are hoping to have an opportunity to serve there again.  They have a worship night once a week and also need help during the daytime throughout the week.
• Tamil Methodist church is our contact to all of these ministries in KL.  They have graciously allowed us to use their parsonage as a hub for our team.  They are an amazing body of believers here.  We are blessed to get the opportunity to serve alongside them.  They are having a 21 day fast and prayer starting Jan.12th.  We will begin teaching seminars for the next 4 weeks starting the 14th.  Rich will be teaching on the Kingdom of God on the 28th and I will be teaching on prayer and intercession on Feb. 4th.  We are also teaching in the Sunday school classes- I am with the 3 year olds and Charlee and Rich is with the young adults 18-25 year olds.  We have also been asked to share our testimonies in all the classes on Jan. 22nd.  I am in charge of the children's worship time every Sunday morning.  Rich was able to preach on God's word to the entire adult Sunday school department!  He will also be part of a cell group while he's here.
• Saturdays will be filled with football (soccer) camps for kids in the mornings and a kids camp for the Stepping Stones children in the afternoon.  There is also an opportunity to serve at the homeless shelter again.  

This week we have finally started to see how the schedule may work out for our family.  Being in ministry has always been such a struggle for me as a mother.  I want the best of both worlds- full-time mom and full-time ministry- being the best at both of course;)! Once again the Lord has been gracious in the way He handles me- allowing me to take baby steps down this road when I think I should be taking leaps!  I have wanted to do everything on the list of ministries (it's longer than what I listed above) yet have been more and more compelled to be with the kids.  There are not a lot of things on the list that we can do as a family as you can see.  I know this time here on outreach is short but I could see from week one how busying myself with the "work" has affected the kids and me.  Once again the Lord pulled up Ps. 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  It was an "ah-ha" moment for me - to be still and know Him is a HUGE part of ministry.  He has been teaching me so much about being fully engaged in prayer and praying in faith!  Oh how this pleases Him! So in those places that I don't "get" to be involved in, I get to war in prayer for those who do.  My kids get to pray alongside me and then see prayers answered.  I bit my tongue the other day and Hudson asked if He could pray for it- he squeezed his little eyes shut and prayed for Jesus to heal me in 2 sweet sentences.  He believed that Jesus would do it because  he has seen the power of prayer!  Our kids walk down the streets here everyday and have prayer walked this neighborhood we are in speaking Jesus' Name all the way because they know the power and authority that comes with His Name. I highly recommend prayer walking as a family together!  I am overwhelmed by just the simple moments here of "being still".  This has not been an "easy" transition from Hawaii to KL- we have struggled but God has been gracious.  

Please pray for:

• Continued wisdom for Rich and I on what ministries to be involved in 
• Katie to find her role here and to be comfortable where God wants to use her- she goes to ESL, stepping stones and also a jewelry workshop 
• Hudson and Charlee have just started a Kindergarten at the church in the mornings- for them to adjust well and for Rich and I to know when to pull them out for ministry
• For Brittany- she is such a blessing- she is often stuck in the hotel with Charlee and Hudson at least 2 afternoons a week
• The kids have a difficult time going to sleep at night because we are all in the same room- you don't realize how hyper your kids are until you are living in one room together with two beds that they think are only good for jumping on
• Rich and I to connect- we don't have much time or privacy
• For God to use us powerfully despite all of our weaknesses
• For the street we are living on to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit
• For the above ministries- if you feel led to give financially to any of the ministries let me know and I will find out how you can

We are so blessed by your prayers!  Thank you for being so faithful to pray for us!  I'm sorry my updates have been so few!  Next time I will attach a lot of pictures!  We love you all so much and often think about you and pray for you!