Week 2: Jan. 2 - Jan. 11

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 for the previous experiences of God-led team building as that gave us the ability to live together peaceably (imagine having snorers above, below, and beside you)!

YWAM Taichung graciously provided our housing and this week we hit the ground running, helping TKC Church get their branch started. It was hard work on limited sleep, but they fueled us with some incredible Taiwanese cuisine!

We were eating very, VERY well!

And work hard we did!

Our arrival was a sight for sore eyes, as the newly formed church branch still needed a lot of work to get ready for Sunday. We spent our week scrubbing, washing, and tiling!

Beyond cleaning, we spent the rest of our time doing good ol' fashioned street evangelism. Meeting homeless, youth, and businessmen alike, what surprised me most was their open-mindedness, humility, and complete unfamiliarity of the gospel. It was akin to an orange-robed, bald-headed monk approaching stragers at Union Station, asking if they would like to learn Qi Gong... foreign and even a bit amusing to them.

Most notably was a conversation we had with 2 homeless gentlemen who gave their lives to Christ! They were outfitted with Bibles and plugged into the local church.

By the end of the week, we also held a cultural exchange at a local high school (representing 8 nations within our group), being asked a smorgasbord of questions by students who had never met a foreigner before in their lives!

At Sunday service we wore many hats: helping them with sound, lighting, camera work, translation, and I even got on stage to sing in Mandarin!

We press on...

23 "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

Colossians 3:23-24

"I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement."

1 Corinthians 1:10

Your brother in Christ,

George