Week 7: Feb. 9 - Feb. 16

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 we had to split our team in two after being asked to run the Sunday school program as well. Luckily, we had 8 TKC youth members helping and a huge facility to spread out in.

It still amazes me just how nuanced each one was. Every camp had kids from different backgrounds, levels of English, understanding of God, and program methods tailored to each community.

Yet the theme of "Jesus Is Love - I Am Loved by God" carried through in every single one. This showed me how important a prayerful vision is, as it becomes the foundation for every other response to unlike situations.

And I only felt further confirmation of this when Kate, our translator, gave us all a card that she prophetically painted a month earlier. Amazingly, it contained the core verse for all of our camps!

"...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love..."

EPHESIANS 3:17

There were so many humbling "God-incidences" on this trip, that by the time this one came along, I wasn't even surprised - I just smiled and thanked God for His goodness.

NO RESTING ON LAURELS

So the race was won, the mission complete - right? I got a text on our day off from one of our first friends, "Tim" in Taichung, asking me to take a bullet train down to visit before leaving. I wasn't very motivated, so I asked Adrian to pray about it with me and we both got nothing from God. Adrian, however, challenged me in the best way possible. He said, "if there's any chance something could happen, we need to go for it."

So it was settled. We grabbed a Bible and a going away gift for Tim, and made the 2 hour trek just to see him for about an hour. He was incredibly touched - as were we, in discovering that Amy (also from Taichung) was making a long drive to join us as well! Tim was so piqued by the love Amy showed, that he asked more about YWAM and her church, and how he could get connected.

For me this was the moment I felt my whole mission trip coming together, tied off with an unexpected, yet beautiful bow. We don't always get to see the fruit of our labor, but man, when we do? There's nothing more satisfying. Praise God, Whose masterful providence weaves the thread of His love and salvation between us like a tapestry.

And the reunions wouldn't end there. We frequently saw familiar faces like Ryan from Miaoli, our our Canadian chef friend, Vito. It was precious have a few more moments of prayer between us.

ONE FINAL TRIP

I had the great opportunity to check out the Linkou YWAM base, and was stupendously hosted from leaders, Nathaniel and Linda. What amazing people and joyful worshipers! Here I was able to get greater clarity for next steps once I returned home.

As I sit alone with my thoughts, I'm overwhelmed by this beautiful land, its incredible people, and God's love for them.

We started as strangers from across the globe to answer God's call for Taiwan; God's raw ingredients. Yet, now that this chapter of our lives in complete, I see that the seeds planted to bring God's work to fruition have only just begun to sprout.

We will move out of the YWAM Tamsui base and onto Taipei, then back to Kona for processing and debriefing.

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, and his steadfast love endures forever!"

Psalm 107:1

24 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners fun, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable."

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Your brother in Christ,

George