January 12, 2006

Hello From the States!!~

Well, I can't believe it has already been over 2 weeks since I came back to the States. Well, Pamela and I both returned safe and sound, with all of our luggage (Praise the Lord!).  I have been on the move for most of the time, so that is why you all are not getting an update until this time.

Here is a little update of what happened the last few weeks we were there!

The outreach Christmas Party was great! We had lots of people respond to the invite and were able to share with so many people the true meaning of Christmas. Ashley's friends came, as well as some of the dancers with whom I had been working .  Oh yes, and the dance went great! I know all the girls had just as much fun as I did dancing for the Lord that night.  We also performed a skit that night, that was a modern way of telling the Christmas Story. The Taiwanese are hilarious when it comes to acting, they did a great job and it was soo dramatic! To end, we sang Christmas songs in Chinese! It was great, many of my friends had never sung these songs before, nor had they ever been to a Christmas Party.  I am not sure how many of those will be followed up by the Taiwanese Christians but I know there were many many seeds planted that night, and hearts that heard truth, love, and what they were created to be here.  Thank you for praying for us during that time.  The enemy was at work as well, but once again we just walk in the victory that has already been given to us to through the life and death of Jesus Christ.

The Christmas Eve outreach was just as Successful. It was geared at different people, so we had almost a whole new group.  It had different dynamics of sharing Christmas and included a lot more small group.  Glennda, one of the m's with whom we worked , prepared it all, and she did a great job!

n the morning of Christmas Eve, one of the dancers Jru -Ya came over for Bible study with my roommate and me.  Since she doesn't speak very good English, I never got to hear how she became a Christian in detail, so I thought my roommate Jenny could translate.  Well as she started sharing I could tell by the look on Jenny's face something was not right.  After she finished sharing, Jenny turned to me and said, "She has never asked for forgiveness or accepted Christ", she just goes to church.  Also the church that she was a part of Jenny thought was a cult she had heard of.  It was soo sad.  My heart just broke.  I spent 3 months hanging out with this girl, and never knew all this was going on.  I just felt sick about the whole thing.  Well at this point, the whole conversation was in Chinese and it was a lot of trouble for them to translate, so I removed myself from the conversation.  Eventually,  I needed to leave and Jenny said we would talk later, b/c they were still in conversation.  Well come to find out, the dancer stayed at our Apt for over 5 hours talking with Jenny and what all she was experiencing at this "church".  And she became a Christian!!!

Isn't that sooo exciting!! I was just off the walls, I couldn't believe...That morning bible study was soo Divine, it is weird! I mean Weird in a good way!!  Please continue to pray for Jru-Ya as she begins this new life, and is soo confused about what the truth is.

Christmas Morning we had celebration with everyone, it was such a blessing to celebrate and sing Christmas songs in Chinese and English! Also, Angela, the one who became a Christian about a month ago was baptized.  This was the first time I had seen a baptism in Taiwan.  My roommate Jenny performed the baptism.  It was such a neat experience.  We went to the public pool and spa.  We were all watching from a balcony above the pool, while Jenny baptized Angela.  Then we all went out to celebrate for Angela's baptism, and it was Vanna's bday as well!!

I also had a night out with the dancers.  They all came over for dinner and then we went to a dance performance.  It was a great chance to share with them about the true meaning of Christmas.  It was sad, many of them have never celebrated Christmas at all, and this was their first party.  They also talked about how lonely they were on Christmas b/c they never had anyone with whom to share it.  Such a stark difference from my friends in the States.  The dance performance was soo amazing.  It was much more within the culture of Chinese than the dance performance I went to back in October.  Their outfits and dances were nothing like dance in the States, and I loved it! It was one of the most interesting parts of this culture I had ever seen!

I was able to spend quite a bit of time with Ashley and her friends the last few weeks.  They came over one night to decorate Christmas cookies! It was soo much fun.  We made icing from scratch and I baked the cookies before they got there.  They thought it was soo cool.  This was a great time to speak to them about Christmas, and it was a small group in which it is always much easier to talk about personal things.  It was really neat to see how much their demeanor and personality changed in how they treated me. One girl, Zivan, was like attached to my hip, and she was always hugging me, she was just so open (which is not like her at all).  They all were soo warm, it was like we had been friends for a much longer time than three months.  After the cookie party they took me out to a traditional night market and we shopped.  I was able to see parts of their personality that had not been exposed before.  Please continue to pray for these girls.  I know they are open.  They have continued to ask Ashley many many questions about the bible and God.  Pray they can know what it is to trust in Jesus.

I met with Ashley and Candy right up until the end.  Ashley continues to grow and even though she is timid, she shares with her friends and family. She was a little distraught about Angela being baptized before her b/c she had been a Christian longer, but we talked about it, and she was actually a little confused about it, so I am sure her decision for baptism will be soon.  She also gave her testimony at the candle light service. She said she was sooo nervous, but she is soo great!! I was so proud of her.  Please pray for Ashley in understanding the wisdom of God.  She has much to learn, like all of us, but she needs encouragement, sometimes she gets soo discouraged!  I will miss her dearly! She came to the lunch the last day we were there, and it ripped my heart out to say goodbye! uh.. it was soo hard..I really did not know how to handle it! 

Candy finally started to grasp even more truth in our last few weeks together.  She always is like a sponge just soaking it all up.  She will meet with Martha the m after I left.  It was also soo hard to say goodbye to her, as we were both crying she said...Landee.. we have to trust that God is gonna get us through this! I was soo overwhelmed with her hearing and applying truth to her life, I just cried even more!  Please continue to pray for her, that she would keep learning.. but most of all fall in love with the Lord.  That her faith and relationship with God would move past seeking knowledge and she would experience His love to the fullest!

All of our friends threw us a goodbye party the last night we were there at our friend Sara's house.  We were soo blessed to have soo many people that loved us, and that we were able to build relationships with, as well as learn from them.  There were many many many pictures, hugs, gifts, cards, and even more tears.  It was hard, and I was not sure how to handle any of them, I just kept placing my heart in God's hands and asking Him to be with my heart.  As we were leaving there was a small group that was going to meet us for lunch, but Sara would not be among them, she said it was too hard.  Well I totally buckled on her, and there was no way I could hide these tears, I just looked at her through my tears, knowing that was going to be the last time I would see this very dear friend of mine! I was soo thankful that even though there had been many people go and come as missions, that she still opened up to us and let us in.  I love her, and will miss her sooo much!!

The last morning we had breakfast with Jenny our roommate, it was rough, not only was it early in the morning, but it was sad. She was by far the most interesting and sweetest roommate I have ever had! But good news..since I have left, her parents have finally given their blessing for her to get married!! Yea!! Sooo I assume she will be coming here to visit!

In the end.. we said goodbye to all.  It was hard, but I totally could feel and know God's hand and love was there through it all!  I know this is getting long, so I will wrap it up.

Since I have been back it has been interesting.  There are many things I miss in Taiwan, but many things and especially people I have longed to see here, so it has been a blessing to see them!  I still have no idea how to transition out of this, and find myself confused in emotions and where I want to be.  I just keep trusting and resting in the Lord, for it's all I know to do.

Thank you for all your prayers! I hope that I get to see many of you, and share a little bit of God's love, mercy, and grace that I experienced in Taiwan.  I could never had survived with out  you all praying.  I thought I knew that before I left, but I had no idea how true it was until I was there.  I will be writing another update soon, to let you know about my transition, the people in Taiwan, and future adventures that are coming around the corner!  I hope that each of you were blessed and encouraged these past 6 months, for I hope I could at least return some of the overwhelming abundance of encouragement that you all gave me!

Resting in Him

Landee Ann