Missions Updates

On February 20th we arrived back in Kona. A lot has happened these past 2months , and I'm amazed how fast the weeks flew by. Ministry on this scale can feel like being plugged into a big "God machine" where He's working at lightning speed with little time to actually comprehend all that's happened. It's said that "outreach" is also "in-reach", meaning that so much of the transformative work also happens within. This is why these final days were critical for us to slow down a

Last hurrah in New Taipei! At long last, we made the drive back to Tamsui where it all started. It felt so special to see the same beautiful small streets after all we'd seen and experienced. Here, we would host one last kid's camp in TKC Tamsui church branch. Look familiar? This is where Pastor Francis prayed over us our first week. LARGEST KIDS CAMP YET We had a massive amount of sign ups as many families were back home for Lunar New Year. There were so many, in fact, that

Goodbye Taichung. Hello Kiaoshiung! We arrived back in Taichung for a couple days only to pack up and head off to our next city: Kiaoshiung, to help their TKC church branch. We were quite emotional as we shared a beautiful meal and prayer time together. Mei Wei and Amy would give us gifts they'd prepared along with some prophetic prayers. With many tears, we finally boarded our next train. These dear sisters in Christ poured out so much of themselves to us, and will not soon

Disclaimer: This week was a doozy! TOUFEN, MIAOLI, AND A SPECIAL SURPRISE Our team was asked to help two separate churches with their youth camps. We didn't know too much about either, nor did we know how exactly to "do a kids camp". It was God's grace that we had two Norwegians on our team who knew quite a bit (and would primarily lead our camps, structure-wise, moving forward). After a half-days rest, Sunday evening we packed light and headed straight to Toufen House Church

As we reached the halfway point in our mission, more cracks were starting to form. In what could have been a very tough week, I see now that when we have no more of our own strength left to give, God shows up and does what He wanted to do all along. "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5 Dave, praying for TKC Church youth as we pushed into the end of the week. At

For our third week, we had more cultural experiences, completed some housekeeping with a pastoral visit from our WYAM Kona base leaders, and had more intimate prayers/conversations with recent converts. Praying for one of the new believers, a businesswoman who treated us all to a nice meal. Our base leaders flew all the way from Kona to check in on us in person, offer us prayers and guidance, and joined us for our team times where we visited Taichung's exquisite museums and o

Where's Waldo, er... George! We began the week with a huge shindig at TKC Tamchung Church, Taichung . Something striking is their practice of leaving an empty red chair front and center in every branch. This is to symbolize Christ as the real head of the church. Upon arriving in Taichung, I could already feel a new layer of culture shock as we adjusted to a more industrial and bustling city. We crammed into our 2 bedroom townhouse meant to host 14 people! I was so grateful fo

Our first arrival in Taiwan: We went from Taipei airport to New Taipei, Tamsui (a small town feel from the big city.) Our first day was Christmas together: a group of then-strangers, now missionaries, far from our homes, exchanging gifts and laughs. We spent these precious first days in picturesque and narrow streets, learning more about the local people and culture. I'm glad we did! In addition to our culture shock, we went through an earthquake, and an apartment flood! Yet,

Hello Higher Ground family! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a bright New Year! As for myself - it's been an incredible December. The lectures are over and I'm thrilled to announce that I'm writing this from Taiwan! IRREPLACEABLE FELLOWSHIP Over the past three months, our class formed a close bond, making goodbyes bittersweet. From trekking Mauna Kea to sharing Thanksgiving, a Hawaiian Christmas parade, and our final departure, these moments

Hi everyone! Thank you again, as always for your support and prayers. There is only one month left until my field outreach begins! My mission team! GOD'S PERFECT TIMING I had no clue I would be sent here. I get goosebumps learning this is where I would be sent as I had a ludicrous amount of "spiritual breadcrumbs" leading up to this moment. Amazingly enough, 7 years ago, God used one of my churches to encourage me to learn conversational Chinese, and I distinctly remember fee

Hello everyone! I've been sick the past few weeks, but am just now coming out of it with some energy for an update (by the way, thank you for your continued prayer). There are so many terrific classes, volunteer opportunities and many wonderful people to meet. I feel in the same sense that Hollywood is to the movie industry, or Nashville to music, Kona seems to be the pacific missionary hub. I have met with all kinds of experienced people from over 15 nations so far! I have l

Meet George and learn about his upcoming training with YWAM