Week 6: Feb. 1 - Feb. 8

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 be forgotten!

ARRIVING IN KIAOSHIUNG

After debriefing at the station, we were picked up by Pastor Rose, the Sunday school teacher Alice, and the rest of their team, who were very humble and kind. In these next cities, I was refreshed to see whole families of Christians, and we so appreciated their committment to the Lord with radical hospitality.

When our luggage was dropped off, we had to lug it up 7 flights of stairs! The following day we got oriented with a city tour and a visit to their incredible coffee shop; free for university students and the gospel center.

" THE HEART "

Our team hit a turning point this week. After spending so much time together, we finally honed our ability to lean on and lend each other's strengths in the places of weakness. Each day we grew more confident, and it would prove to make the Kiaoshiung kids camp the best one yet!

We led the children through "The Mirror" (explained in Week 5), and introduced "The Heart" skit, where we depicted Jesus' ultimate sacrifice in a powerful, yet relatable way.

Below is a video of the meaningful activities and experiences we shared with these wonderful kids:

We had an amazing time!

The church campus was a nice place for us to play with the kids, then debrief and unwind afterwards. Some days we did street evangelism out in the community, where Kathy and another teammate even witnessed the healing of a 93 year old woman's leg followed by her salvation! Praise our God who is so alive and working miracles!

Mid-week, we hosted a cultural exchange event where anyone from the community was free to come by and meet us. Every contact we made with locals would lead to more conversations. And each conversation is potential for either a seed planted, or even better, a prayer of salvation.

And I got to spend the day teaching children to draw Russian cartoons!

5 "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."

Colossians 4:5-6

SUNDAY SCHOOL

We were thrown one last curveball in taking care of Alice's Sunday School program - something we'd never done. We followed the theme from that Sunday's message on the loaves and fish, taking extra care with our story time and crafts. We got to exercise some creative control, and ended the program with a magic trick, where one kid would give Adrian a piece of candy and it would "multiply" into enough candies to share with the whole class.

The most amazing moment occurred when Dave asked the class if they knew who Jesus was. A staggering number did not, so Dave asked if anyone would like to accept Christ... and 8 did!

Pastor Rose, Alice, and the rest of the families here all hosted us with astounding generosity. As we waited for our taxi vans, we ended our with prayers and blessings over them and their church. It was no easier saying goodbye here than it was elsewhere. Alas, onward to Tamsui (again)!

Your brother in Christ,

George