Back in the Taiwan groove

Hi again!  So it has been about 2 and a half months since I returned to Taiwan and for many reasons it has taken me a little more time to get settled in this time around.  Prolonged jet lag, overcoming the flu, starting school right away, getting to know new people, learning my role at Ray of Hope, figuring out the culture and language, as well as being more independent to find my way around town are just some of the things that took some time to adjust to.  I definitely can say that I now have a new found understanding of the numerous challenges that people who have moved to a different country, culture, and language face!  But thank God that He helped me through it all!  He also placed such wonderful people in my life to help me.  I don't know where I would be without my family, good friends, other missionaries, my co-workers at Ray of Hope, my classmates, an incredible church in Calgary, a wonderful church family here in Taiwan, and even random Taiwanese people.  With each passing day, I felt God's grace to adapt well to life in this beautiful country and to also understand His purpose in all of this.  Praise the Lord!

Last year when I was helping at Ray of Hope, I mostly worked with pregnant moms who were in a crisis pregnancy and helped to take care of them.  This year I am working in a supportive role for a couple of the women who are a part of the Mama's Training Program.  This is the program I described in one a previous post, that assists women after they have delivered their babies.  The women live at the Bedwell Home and Ray of Hope helps them to get back on their feet again by providing them with ongoing counselling as well as helping them with setting goals and planning their future, learning practical life skills such as budgeting and cooking, and giving them on the job training and work experience.  I also help out at Ray of Hope's Thrift Store one day a week.  The more time that I spend with these women, the more I realize that each woman has their own specific circumstances and challenges and that the decisions that they face are incredibly difficult.  It's not an easy area of ministry but God continues to guide me and give me wisdom.  With time, patience, and a loving and supportive environment these women are able to let their hearts be healed.  They are champions in my eyes, for having the courage to face adversity and to be willing to learn and change.  

It really has been an eye-opening experience for me.  Through all of this God is continually teaching me to love like He does - unconditionally, impartially, without judgment, without holding back.  I thought I had a pretty good idea of what love is but now I realize that I have hardly scratched the surface in discovering the unending ocean of His love.  He's teaching me to see people how He truly sees them, like a little baby in the arms of a loving Father.  A baby who has nothing to give but is still loved just because.  I don't always get it right when I'm trying to help these women.  I make mistakes and don't always act lovingly but then God reminds me that I, too, am like a little baby in the arms of my loving heavenly Father - loved just for being me and not because of my good works (or lack thereof).  What an awesome God He is and I give thanks every day that I will know Him for all of eternity!