My home away from home

Luke 12:33-34

Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Just three short months ago my hometown of Calgary, Alberta was contending with the aftermath of floodwaters that captivated our attention, not to mention also caused much destruction.  However, in the midst of the chaos, the losses, and the significant amount of damage that the receding waters revealed, the most notable thing about the flood was the pervasive community spirit that rose above all else going on in the city (just wanted to add that I'm SO proud to be Calgarian!).  Through this I learned a valuable lesson, a lesson that I'll always remember wherever I go: THINGS are just things and PEOPLE are what matter most.  I know that's a pretty simple statement and it's not an earth-shattering revelation or anything but nowadays it's so easy to get side-tracked.  Even though we have the best of intentions, all too often our lives reflect the opposite.  

So what does any of this have to do with Taiwan?  Taiwan has been another life lesson about making my life about people...

When I set out as a foreign missionary this summer, it felt like I was leaving behind so many THINGS.  Leaving my job, leaving financial security, leaving my condo, leaving my car, leaving a free and peaceful country, leaving the beautiful Rocky Mountains and leaving my lifestyle that had become all too safe and comfortable for me.  It wasn't easy since these are all things that I enjoy but it also wasn't very hard because I knew that none of these things alone define the value of a purposeful life.  Instead, I'm constantly reminded that life is about loving  and cherishing people - my family, my friends, and everybody who has influenced my life as well as all of the people that I have the privilege of influencing.  Looking at it from this perspective I realize that I haven't left anything at all but rather I have only gained so much more than I ever expected.  I look at all of the wonderful people I have met in just a few short months, people who have opened their homes, their hearts, and their lives to me.  As I think of the incredible stories that have been shared over a meal at a kitchen table, a cup of tea at a teahouse, a bus ride to a museum, a bustling office, or a walk on the beach my heart is so touched and filled with joy to have been blessed with every minute and every experience.

Here's to new friends and new experiences, may there be many more!  

At Essie's house for a steak dinner

Isuz taking me to the beach in Anping

With Angel at her company's restaurant 

Jocelyn at seaside during a client outing

Claire, Director's Assistant a.k.a. Master of Translation
She has been able to escape every picture except this one!

Betty, Live-In CounselorBetty
Lydia, Thrift Store Manager 

Me and Mei Hua Jie

Worth Waiting For Team, Joanne and Samuel

 
Our faithful volunteer Mercy

Admin Tina
                                           

Fish helping out at the ROH booth during the Tainan Food festival

   

    BBQ at Peter's house for Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

    

    Juanita and I having tea at a teahouse in Maokong in Taipei

 

      Grace and Priscilla from Light of Life in Taipei

Fine dining with Isuz and Jocelyn

In Kaohsiung with Isuz's friends from her Aboriginal Fellowship 

Pastor Johannes, Annette and Xiao Mei Mei
Soccer Ministry???  This girl is game!

Loving the one

So sorry for not writing for a few weeks, it has been BUSY but EXCITING time at Ray of Hope's crisis pregnancy centre!  

When I came to ROH in July we did not have any pregnant moms with us.  Then one mom moved in and a few weeks afterwards two other moms moved in as well.  So I have been spending most of my time as one of the live-in staff members for these three pregnant moms.  This involves staying with them 24 hours/day, planning and cooking meals with them, cleaning, taking them shopping, and organizing games and activities for them during the day.  At first I didn't think this would be difficult for me but then I realized all of my limitations with the language and the culture.  Although I'm trying to learn Mandarin, I can't speak much right now and the moms don't speak any English.  And though I love cooking and baking, I realized that the Taiwanese don't have much appetite for western food and I don't know much about Taiwanese cooking.  Plus, there is the added difficulty of reaching out to these moms and gaining their trust since many of them have experienced much hurt and brokenness in their lives.  The first mom was quiet, closed-off, and disinterested with everything that I tried.  So for the first several days I was both discouraged and frustrated because there was so much I wanted to say and do, and yet couldn't! 

When we are weak, God is strong.  So I turned to God and asked Him for help.  He told me to stop trying in my own efforts and just to trust Him and lean on Him and He would give me the wisdom that I needed.  It's so awesome because when we ask God for help, He's always so faithful to help us!  

Afterwards, I started being able to communicate with the moms a little bit more each day using Google Translate on my cell phone (Thank you Jesus for Google Translate - it is a lifesaver!).  God started giving me different ideas for meals and for activities to do with the first mom.  He showed me how to teach her, how to build her up and encourage her, but also how to confront  and correct her in a loving way when necessary.  I shared my testimony of why I chose to become a Christian and how Jesus redeemed me from my broken past.  We started reading the Bible together and discussing how God is a loving father and not an angry God.  Even though she didn't seem super interested at the time, I chose to believe that I was making a difference in her life.  Last week, as time drew near to her delivery date, she was so uncomfortable and wanted to have her baby sooner than later and so she half-jokingly asked me to pray for her.  So I did.  I didn't think much about it until our staff took her to the hospital for her regular check-up.  After the doctor told her that it was now time to deliver her baby she asked our staff if she could talk to me on the phone.  When she called, I could hear the voice of a scared little girl on the other end as she burst into tears and started sobbing.  In my broken Chinese, all I could tell her is not to be afraid, that she is not alone, that God is with her, that Jesus loves her, that I love her and that it's going to be okay.  In her time of need, she stepped out in faith and asked me to pray for her.   As I prayed the Holy Spirit ministered to her and calmed her soul.  In a just a short moment she overcame her fear and ceased crying.  When I hung up the phone, I realized that God had been working in her heart this whole time and was showing her just how real He is.  Wow.  That same night the staff reported back that she was so strong and courageous throughout her entire delivery and now she is the proud mama of a healthy, cute, little baby boy!  Another wonderful thing is that one of the other moms, who has become her good friend, also gave birth to her baby boy on the same day.   So these two moms have been able to share this experience and spend their recovery time together.  God is so good!

Your life and everywhere you go is ministry.  It's not constrained to having a huge gathering or a successful program, it's about touching the life of every person and meeting them where they are at.  I'm humbled daily at how God goes above and beyond to show His love to just one person.  And He asks us to do the same.  Perhaps that one person is someone in our family like our father, mother, brother, sister, son, or daughter.  Perhaps that one person is a friend, a classmate or a coworker.  Or perhaps that one person is a perfect stranger whom you've never met before.  

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 
Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

A different perspective

So I was going to write more about the fun and friends but then this week I had some amazing, heart-changing experiences that I really wanted to write about instead.

Psalm 68:5-6 
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families, He leads the prisoners out with singing.

The first experience was that Juanita invited me to go with her to visit once of the local Tainan prisons for a baptism service.  Juanita's former pastor was involved with prison ministry for many years, faithfully going every week to share the love of God with the prisoners and the good news that despite needing to serve time in jail for their crimes, God still loves them and forgives them.   After the pastor passed away, many people thought the ministry would end, but it turned out that a man in her church had such a passion to reach out and give hope to these men in prison.  He ended up carrying on with the ministry and has seen such tremendous growth.  Every year they baptize all of the new believers that have accepted Christ as their Savior in the past year and this year there were 50 men who chose to be baptized.  Then, during the service itself 6 other men accepted Jesus!  It was such a powerful and heart-warming service and couldn't stop weeping as I saw all of these "tough"men bowing their heads and humbly choosing to return back to their Heavenly Father!  As I watched the inmates getting baptized - each with their shaved heads, prison garb consisting of white shirts and blue shorts, and many with tattoos from their former gang life or large scars from scuffles from their rough past, God reminded me that every one has a story but no matter what our story is, He loves every single person unconditionally and He always has His arms opened wide to embrace and restore each person from all of the brokenness they've suffered in life.  I had never been inside a prison before but I was so privileged and touched to be able to share such a significant moment in their lives.  I apologize that I don't have an pictures (cameras weren't allowed inside), but the images are forever imprinted in my memory!

Then the next day, I had a wonderful opportunity to go to an orphanage for a three days in Liu Gui, which is in Taiwan's beautiful mountain region.  Two of our Ray Of Hope staff (our Worth Waiting For team) lead a camp for 60 teenagers and young adults who live at the orphanage, ranging from junior high, senior high and college ages. Knowing some of the sad backgrounds that some these kids come from and the situations they have already had to face in their young lives, I was so blessed to see how the orphanage has given these children a second chance and how the staff take such good care of them and love them tremendously.  Although I couldn't help out much directly with the kids due to the language barrier, I participated in the games as much as possible and then spent most of the time praying for the the youth throughout the sessions.  During this time, God showed me how much he loves each one, just as a father loves each of his children uniquely.  I was so moved because although perhaps their parents weren't able to or didn't want to raise these children, God desired to create them and did so with a great plan and purpose for their lives.  Psalm 27:10 says "Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me".  God then showed me the gifts and talents that He placed inside each person - how some of them are called to be leaders, some are incredibly bright, some are musically gifted, and others still are incredibly caring and compassion for others.  He reminded me that no matter what our relationship is with our earthly parents, we are always loved by God.

Since many of the youth had already heard messages on sexual purity, our leaders decided to do something different this year by focusing on inspiring and encouraging them to fulfill their dreams.  It's amazing how the Holy Spirit leads us and guides us because that was the exact message that these youth needed to hear.  What really impacted me was when the youth were asked to write down their dreams and desires for their lives, many of the kids didn't know what to write because they never actually thought that their dreams were possible.  Many of them couldn't imagine their lives outside the orphanage, let alone think that they could make a significant difference in the world.  But after the leaders spoke and prayed with them, some of the children started to cry because they were given hope to believe that their dreams could come true.  In just three short days, I saw how some of these youth transformed from uninterested, unsure, or rambunctious teens to an inspired, more confident, and focused group.  I know His work is just beginning but I am so excited to have played a small part in their great future.  God is so awesome!   Again, sorry no pictures since we don't have permission to publicly post them but if you want more information about the orphanage, you can check out their website here: http://www.cmchtw.org.tw/_ch/about.php (there is a button at the top for English).

Finally, the camp was also a really great time to bond with the leaders, who were all young adult volunteers from my church.  It was nice to connect and hear their life stories - many of them are the first Christians in their families and even though they face a lot of opposition, they are so pure and genuine in their faith.  Everyone made me feel so welcome and a part of the team - I know it's the start of many good friendships.  I am so grateful that even though I am physically apart from my family and church community in Calgary, God has placed me into a wonderful family here in Taiwan!

Standing For Life

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise;
 you perceive my thoughts from afar.  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.  You hem me in behind and before,
 and you lay your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 
too lofty for me to attain.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
 I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you 
when I was made in the secret place,
 when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book
 before one of them came to be.  How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
 How vast is the sum of them!  Were I to count them,
 they would outnumber the grains of sand - when I awake, I am still with you.

Hi, my name is Chang, but everybody here calls me little Chang Chang.  I was born just a week ago and my life was saved through Ray Of Hope.  So far I have to say that my life as a newborn baby is really great!  I pretty much just eat whenever I want to, sleep whenever I want to, and poop whenever I want to!  I think that I better enjoy this now because somehow I don't think it'll be this way forever ;)  I also have all these people at Ray Of Hope taking such good care of me - loving me, cuddling me, singing to me, telling me how cute I am, and even changing those poopy diapers that I was telling you about.  As soon as it's possible, I'll be on my way to The Home Of God's Love, the adoption center that partners with ROH and which has placed hundreds of babies in loving adoptive homes.  Then in a little while after that I'll then get to meet my new adoptive mommy and daddy!  I'm so excited, I can't wait!!!

     

Sooo...I think I'm falling in love with this little guy.  Actually, I think everyone is falling in love with this little guy.  Really, how could you not fall in love with this little guy?  He is just one of the many blessings that I have come across while being a part of this great ministry in Taiwan but here I'll tell you a little bit more about the ministry itself as well as how I am helping out. 

Ray Of Hope serves in a few different ways: 

1) To Counsel, Restore, and Serve - as a Crisis Pregnancy Centre.  This involves a 24-hour crisis hotline that women can call if they find out they are pregnant and do not know what to do.  I'm learning so much about the severity of this problem in Taiwan as more and more abortions happen every year.  Taiwan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world only 198000 births per year in a country of 23 million people and yet at the same there there are an estimated 500000 abortions per year.  Many women choose abortion because they don't think they have any other choice, some are worried about how their pregnancy will affect their studies, some are pressured by doctors, others are co-erced by their boyfriends, and many others can not live with the shame and guilt they will bring to their families since they are pregnant and not married (unfortunately, this is still the common response that women receive if, and when, they tell their parents and families).  There are so many factors, many of them cultural factors, that influence their decision and so the staff here are very diligent to discuss all of their options with detailed facts and information.  We have a counselor and a social worker that they can talk to about their options and also receive counselling from if they have been abused or had an abortion(s).  We also provide safe and warm homes with live-in counselors for moms to live if they do not have a place to stay while they are pregnant.  The centre then continues to provide assistance for the moms and their families as they make decisions regarding what to do once the baby is born.

The first week that I arrived, I attended ROH's Crisis Pregnancy training classes to learn more since I will be living with the clients.  It was definitely an eye-opener for me and the more I learn the more I want to be able to help these women in need in whatever way I can.   Here I am getting my certificate from Juanita after completing the course.

During the day I work in the office, doing a wide variety of things such as writing emails, making phone calls, and making info packages or DVDs.  It's really busy because we are preparing our big annual event called Stand For Life, which will be taking place in Taipei on October 14th.  We have a lot of staff meetings to plan, organize, and coordinate and there are also a lot of meetings with pastors in order to get the word out and promote the event.  I'm really excited though because I know that God is going to do some great things there - one of my friends will be sharing her testimony of how she had an abortion and how God healed her of the pain, shame, and guilt.  She is now an engaging and confidant woman who has such a beautiful heart to help hurting women.  I'm so proud of her for taking such a huge step to share her story publicly, especially in a culture that for the most part sweeps these stories under the carpet and never talks about them.

Other than the office stuff, I also get to help with taking care of little Chang Chang - all of the staff take turns with feeding him, holding him, and changing his diapers.  Juanita is the greatest because she takes care of Chang Chang during the night but so far she says he's been one of the best sleeping babies she's ever had.  To my mom and to all of my friends who are moms - I really do appreciate all that you do!!!

2) To Educate - teaching purity and the sanctity of life.   ROH runs a program called Worth Waiting For, which is a program based in America which we had permission to translate into Chinese.  The program focuses on teaching sexual purity to youth and young adults in schools, churches, and communities.  There has been a huge interest in the program and it is growing steadily so ROH continually needs to train more and more teachers.  The day that I arrived, ROH completed training 40 new people!  

I haven't had a chance to sit through the classes yet but I will have an opportunity this upcoming weekend.   The Worth Waiting For staff are taking a group of us to an orphanage for a 3 day camp where we will have the opportunity to speak to teenagers in junior high and senior high.  It's so great to be able to share such an important message that has the ability to impact these kids in such a positive way.  I think how many mistakes I could have avoided in my life had I had someone to speak truth and mentor me along the way.  At the same time I'm so thankful that God's grace covers every mistake I've ever made and empowers me to share my testimony to help others avoid going down the same path that I did.  As Christine Caine says, the best people to rescue others are those who have already been rescued themselves.  

3) To Equip and Empower - training women for life.  For most of the women that come to ROH, many will continue to need counseling and assistance after delivering their baby, giving it up for adoption, or having an abortion.  So ROH has started a training program at our Bedwell Mama's home.  The women live there and learn to live independently - buying groceries, doing laundry, cleaning, and cooking for themselves.  You many not think that these are life changing things, but remember that many of our moms are teenagers or young adults and many of them were not taught these things by their parents.  The organization also has a thrift store where the moms work and get paid while learning valuable transferable skills such as time management, handling money, communication, organization, and customer service.  

Up until this week, I was living on the third floor of the Bedwell Mama's home, interacting with these clients every day.  Mostly it's just hanging out, baking or cooking together, going shopping or things like that.  But even in such a short period of time and even with the ongoing challenges that they face, it has been so wonderful to see how this program has helped the moms grow in so many ways, especially after all they have been through.  I'm so proud of them and continue to root for them to succeed in every area of their lives!

So far I have been working with Ray Of Hope for just over three weeks and there has been a lot to learn.  To be honest, in the past I had never thought of or had a strong desire to work with a crisis pregnancy center, or to work with clients who have experienced abuse, or to work with clients who have had abortions.  Pretty much I had zero knowledge and zero  experience in this area so I really didn't know how I was going to be able to help or serve effectively.  Plus I don't read, write, speak or understand Chinese, which is kind of important when you work with people!  But God had a plan and wanted me to be here so I knew He would lead me and guide me.  And that is exactly what He has done.  He has been so faithful in leading me and  teaching me - mostly in how to serve in whatever ways I can and how to show His love to people from all walks of life!

So that's just the Coles notes version of the ministry but if you have any questions please send me an email at emilytakana@gmail.com and I'd be happy to hear from you!  

Time flies so fast, I can't believe I'm already one-third through my missions trip here in Taiwan.  I can truly say that it has been such an awesome and rewarding adventure - I am so grateful for everything I have learned and experienced up to now and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me in the next two months to come.  Stay tuned and there will be more on friends and fun times in my next post!

Life in Taiwan

So now that you know a little bit about me and about why I'm doing what I'm doing, I'll let you know about my first experiences in Taiwan so far. 

If you have never travelled to Asia let me know just give you a little taste of it because it's 24-7 exposure to non-stop humour, and yet they aren't even trying to be funny! You will pretty much be confronted with many things that just don't make sense to much of the world but somehow makes sense to Asians. Take this for example:

Now to most people, a logical place to look for the telephone in hotel room would be on the desk, on a table or perhaps on the bedside table. So being the Canadian that I am, that's where I looked first when I arrived at my hotel in Tokyo. Little did I know that somehow making phone calls while you're on the toilet, brushing your teeth, or else taking a shower would be the best time and place when you're in Japan!

Other than the laugh that I got out of that, my trip to Taiwan was pleasant (I had serious favour with people wherever I went!) yet uneventful. I met up with Juanita, the director of Ray of Hope (ROH) at the airport in Taipei and we then took the high speed rail train to Taichung, where the annual Taiwan Missionary Fellowship conference was being held. This is a yearly event where all of the foreign missionaries get together to meet each other and share what we are all doing. We attended the evening service and since it was so late, some of the local Taichung missionaries boarded us for the night so we could attend the sessions the next day as well. Thank God because I was pretty tired after 2 days of travel! We stayed with Gloria and Clive (Gloria is an American whose parents were missionaries in Taiwan so she's lived here since she was 7. She is seriously my hero because she speaks fluent Mandarin!) Her husband Clive is an American born Taiwanese - they have 3 really cute kids and another one on the way. It was so nice to meet other missionaries and this couple were such great hosts.

Clive and Gloria, fellow missionaries in Taiwan and my lovely hosts in Taichung who treated me to my first of many lovely Taiwanese teas (this one is passionfruit)!

Juanita, the director of Ray of Hope and Gloria 

I also got my first taste of Taiwanese food, Danbing, which is a type of omelette filled with your choice of ham, cheese, and veggies. Yum! This was a delicious start to my food journey in Taiwan but since then there has been a lot of other crazy food (see below!).

Danbing - The Taiwanese version of an omelette, and peanut butter toast!

The conference was also where I got to meet little 6-week old Yuen, the baby in the picture in my last post. Her precious life was saved through Ray of Hope so meeting her was the most incredible way to start my missions work here! 

From there we took the train south to Tainan, which is where ROH is located. For now I am staying on the 3rd floor of the ROH's Bedwell Mama's home. The 3rd floor has 6 individual bedrooms and then shared bathroom and showers, living room, and kitchen. It's a brand new building so it is really nice and it was totally the goodness of God that it was given to ROH. Essentially a man was so touched to hear about what the organization was doing to help women in need and so he decided to donate the building free of charge to ROH for 10 years - what a HUGE blessing!

I got the "Pink" room

Our living room, which has the most comfy couch in the world! 

Our kitchen

Our dining room

My roommates here are two moms (post-delivery and post-adoption - for obvious reasons I won't be posting info or pictures of them but they are wonderful), one seminary intern named Isuz who is here until January, and two Bible college students Lupi and Yahan who are here for another two weeks. It has been so wonderful to get to know all of them and despite my limited Mandarin, it has been a fun, never-ending game of charades/pictionary/taboo! Since I never had sisters growing up, this has been a really fun experience and I feel like I have gained not just new friends, but new Mei-Meis ("little sisters" in Mandarin).

Other than that I've had tons of fun hanging out with the girls and meeting lots of new people including my roommates, the rest of the staff at ROH, other missionaries, and people from my new church. I'm getting to be a pro at riding on the back of a scooter as we navigate our way through the busy streets and am starting to familiarize myself with my surroundings. I spent a night teaching the interns how to bake and another night checking out one of the local night markets to try their local fare. The more I travel, the more courageous I get in trying new food. I can't say it's all good but I also can admit that some of it is actually good. So far my diet has included pig intestines, stinky tofu (the smell is absolutely horrendous but to my surprise it actually doesn't taste that bad), 1000 year old eggs, and chicken feet. Yes, chicken feet. I think I'm turning Taiwanese, I think I'm turning Taiwanese I really think so!

A lesson in baking cookies

Isuz, strumming along as she sings one her native tribal songs with her beautiful voice!

Delving into a plate of stinky tofu 

So far I am liking Taiwan other than the fact that it is REALLY hot!!! I checked The Weather Network today and it said that it was 36 degrees but that it "feels like" 47 degrees. Are you kidding me? All I can say is thank God for air conditioning because as much as I love sitting in a pool of my own sweat, I would rather not!  If you ever wish that you had warmer weather in Canada, you can check out the weather in Taiwan here 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/taiwan/tainan-shih/tai-nan and see what kind of temperatures I'm dealing with!

Culturally, Taiwan hasn't been too much of an adjustment from China, Korea, or Japan in that no matter where I go, I will always still encounter multitudes of Hello Kitty! This was just a little welcoming gift from one of the staff at ROH - a Hello Kitty towel and face cloth :)

Getting settled into my environment and the new culture is only the first part of my adjustment - the next part is learning all about the work that I will be doing here for the next three months.  Check out the next post and I'll share a bit more about Ray of Hope and the difference it is making in Taiwan. 

Love you all and miss you!! 

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