Little Eyes See A Lot!

The other day I came across a poem, “When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking!” by Mary Rita Korzan, which is a very good reminder that little eyes see a lot. I quote it here verbatim for all parents, grandparents, and any other person acting as a role-model for children, whether they are aware of it or not. Hope you find it useful:

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don’t.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it’s all right to cry.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn’t feel good and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I learned most of life’s lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.
When you thought I wasn’t looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, “thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn’t looking.”
Little eyes see a lot!

Grand Children Again!

Our favorite subject; they grow up so fast!

KSP: Super Kristen

SEL: Ring Around the Rosie

NCP: Finds his voice

Have we No Rights?

As we interacted with the SEND Taiwan missionaries, I recalled a small book I read years ago, written by an OMF missionary, Mabel Williamson, “Have We No Rights?” (Moody Press, Chicago, 1957). It’s on some of the rights missionaries give up when they committed themselves to spreading the gospel to lands where His name is not known. Rather than summarize the key ideas, let me just give you the chapter titles so you can see what the book is all about. Missionaries give up the right to:

1. What I consider a normal standard of living
2. The ordinary safeguards of good health
3. Regulate my private affairs as I wish
4. Privacy
5. My own time
6. A normal romance, if any
7. A normal home life
8. Live with the people of my choice
9. Feel superior
10. Run things

Why? Because if they had insisted on their rights, it would be a hindrance to the gospel. Paul said in 1 Co 9:4-6 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living? The apostles had rights, but they gave them up for the sake of the gospel. Love is sacrifice, the giving up of your rights.

The last chapter, “He Had No Rights”, gave the author’s reasons for why she gave up her rights:

He had no rights:
No right to a soft bed, and a well-laid table;
No right to a home of His own, a place where His own pleasure might be sought;
No right to choose pleasant, congenial companions, those who could understand Him and sympathize with Him;
No right to shrink away from filth and sin, to pull His garments closer around Him and turn aside to walk in cleaner paths;
No right to be understood and appreciated; no, not by those upon whom He had poured out a double portion of His love;
No right even never to be forsaken by His Father, the One who meant more than all to Him.
His only right was silently to endure shame, spitting, blows; to take His place as a sinner at the dock; to bear my sins in anguish on the cross.
He had no rights. And I?

What about you? What about us? If we are still insisting on our rights, may be we don’t really know Calvary’s love.

Air-Raid Drill: Readiness

Since we did not have TV, we were not aware of the annual Taiwan air raid drill being conducted in the afternoon that day. It wasn’t until E. attended a Bible study that morning that other ladies informed her about the drill. At 1:30 pm, the siren would sound for a couple of minutes. All traffic, including trains, subways, and buses must stop. All pedestrians must clear the streets and stay indoors. The whole city would stand still for the next 30 minutes. Then at 2 pm the siren would sound again and everything would return to normal.

Taiwan had been conducting such drills every year since 1949, in preparation for a possible air strike from mainland China. The biggest threat is a missile attack, as China, which is only 160 km away across the Taiwan Strait, had up to three thousand missiles pointed at Taiwan at any point in time. Taiwan wanted to be in a state of readiness at any time, hence the drills.

[Photos downloaded from Associated Press]

Police stopped all traffic

Even escalators come to a stand still

Police cleared streets of pedestrians.

Christians should also be ready:
• Mt 24:44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. See also Lk 12:40.
• Lk 12:35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning,
• 1 Pet 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But unfortunately many are too mesmerized by this world, or deceived by the Enemy, and do not watch and pray. Not only are they not ready, some even become stumbling blocks to others who desire to know God. The way the world is going, I believe the Lord’s return to be near. May God help us to be ready.

Are you ready?

Missionary Essentials

Traveling light

Light –> Happy!

One small thing recently reminded us of two qualities essential to missionaries, or for that matter all Christians – travelling light, and flexibility.

Because this is the high season for conferences and short-term missions, there are many missionaries coming and going and staying at the guest house: missionaries going on furlough and home assignment, short-term teams, and conference attendees. Our hosts tried to make us comfortable by giving us more room, but to accommodate as many people as possible, we have to move to make room for others during our first few weeks in Taiwan. Counting the initial couple of days in Taipei, then Taichung, plus two overnight trips to Chiayi and Min-Xiong, to-date we have moved a total of 11 times and slept in 9 different locations. Not that this mattered, the accommodations were all very comfortable. We have learned to travel light and live out of our carry-on luggage, a few days here, a few days there, leaving our check-in luggage at the guest house until we depart.

We’ve learned that we don’t really need that much to live on, and that the way of the pilgrim is a good, biblical way to go (Ps 84:5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.) But in order to do that you have to be flexible, the number one practical rule for a missionary. If you are a rigid person, who find it hard to adjust to changes, especially at the last minute, or don’t want to try new things e.g. foods, or can’t sleep in new surroundings, you will find it more difficult to be a missionary. The same is true in our life pilgrimage. Discipline is good, but if you can’t accept other points of view, alternative ways of doing things, you will find it hard to get along in life. We need to stand firm on the foundational truths, but to be very flexible when it comes to secondary issues. Don’t waste your time and energy over non-essentials. Focus your energy on your life mission, where it really matters.

No. 1 requirement for a missionary.

If you want to grow, you need to be flexible.

Night Market

We visited Feng Chia or Fengjia Night Market, the largest of its kind in Taiwan, as a cultural experience. The large ones are usually near a university, as many students cannot afford high prices but consume a lot, and the mass appeal of night markets makes them very popular. Feng Chia spans several blocks, and has stores/stalls selling food, drinks, clothing, and miscellaneous merchandize. It reminds me of the Hong Kong night market decades ago on land reclaimed from the sea, only more upscale. How time flies!

Feng Chia Night Market

There are all kinds of food stalls selling Asian and Western snacks e.g. noodles, chicken cutlet, pork chop, “milk” tea.

10 grilled “lazy” shrimps for 60 NT, about US$2, so-called because you’re too lazy to peel & eat them with head & shell.

Roast duck in steamed bun, similar to Peking duck wrap

Marbled steak barbecued with blow torch

Stinky tofu, but we like the HK kind more than the Taiwanese variety

It’s not only food. This one specializes in clothes with monkey designs.

Big Cat backpacks

Forfeiting Idolatry

Ba Gua

One senior we met turned from being a staunch idol worshipper to a follower of Christ. Her story began with her mother getting sick. She went to the local temple for a cure, and the fortune-teller told her it was because the “feng-shui” (wind and water, a Chinese superstition) of her house was bad. “Close off your front entrance,” she was told, “and your mother will be healed. She did that, asking some brick-layers to seal off her front door completely, using only her rear door for entry and exit. But instead of being healed, her mother got even more sick and died.

After that her husband fell ill. Again she visited the temple for direction. This time they said, “The karma is too bad for you to change by just sealing the door; you need to move to another house.” Even though she could not afford it, she complied and moved in order to heal her husband, going into debt in the process. But he got worse and died too.

Then her son became sick. He had not been a good son, picking up bad habits such as drinking which destroyed his health. But he was the only son she had, one who can continue the family line. Since she knew no other way, she asked the temple overseer for instructions again. He said, “Even though you moved, your neighbor’s house across the street has a sharp corner pointing in your direction. You need to deflect the bad karma emanating from it back to itself. Set up a “ba-gua” (an eight-sided mirror) to reflect back the bad vibes, and your son will get well.” She did as she was told, but her son got worse and worse and finally died.

Furious, she took all her superstitious paraphernalia, her family altars, and everything that she relied on, but which brought her no peace, only tragic disaster, and threw them out. “I will not trust you again. You lied and have brought me nothing but trouble!” She was left only with her adopted daughter, who had cerebral palsy. It was then that she met our missionary hosts, who introduced her to Christ, and she trusted in Him as her Savior.

Sometimes God uses even the bad experiences in our lives to awaken us to Himself. Often our spiritual eyes are blinded by the Enemy, and we do not see through the lies and deceptions propping up pagan religions and cults. Pray that our countrymen will wake up from the spiritual darkness and turn to the Light of the World.

Hakka Church

Front entrance of four-storey building

Ground floor sanctuary

Second floor hall

Third floor parsonage

Fourth floor storage

Hakka is one of the unreached people groups in Taiwan. Of Taiwan’s 23 million people, only about 600,000 or 2.6% are Protestant Christians. However, if you lower the microscope to Taiwan’s 4.3 million Hakka people, only about 15,000 or 0.35% are Christians. The Chinese Christian Evangelistic Association (CCEA) counted 100 Hakka churches in Taiwan, but many of them are small, with less than 25 in worship attendance. This implies that a large proportion of Hakka Christians are not in church on any given Sunday. That’s why the Hakka had been identified as unreached and targeted for outreach.

Our missionary hosts’ calling is to call the Hakka to Christ. They partnered with a dying Hakka church, and with God’s grace revived it from the ashes. Originally the church had a thriving congregation, but the church building was destroyed during the 1999-9-21 earthquake. The members tried to rebuild the structure at the original site, but after spending a lot of money on two different architects, the structure remained unfinished. The congregation dwindled as the building was finally completed, and by the time our hosts arrived at the scene they were down to only one couple plus a senior. However, before they commenced their first service the senior died, leaving a congregation of two! So essentially they started from scratch.

But bit by bit, by the grace of God, they slowly rebuilt the people. Different means were tried to draw newcomers, but what proved to be attractive was worship dance. Some of the participants joined a Bible study, were led to the Lord, then discipled, and formed a core group for service. Our hosts trained them to feed themselves when they had to return to the US for a couple of months, and they managed! Even though the congregation is still small, they have grown to a point where they can survive when their missionary pastors leave. This is as it should be. Just as many adolescents do not really grow up until they leave home and fend for themselves, sometimes churches do not grow until their pastor leaves and they have to mature quickly.

Worship dance

Performing at community center

Large audience

Do we need to plant more churches? Most definitely! But just as important is not only the quantity of churches, but the quality. You need reproducing churches, churches that are not only self-governing and self-financing, but also self-propagating. God bless the church planters who had trained the lay leaders to take over the ministry after they are gone.

Earthquake Remnants and Museum

We visited two of the remnants of Taiwan’s largest earthquake, 921, which struck on Sep 21, 1999, killing 2,415 people and injuring 11,305. The first is Shihkang Dam, near Dong Shih. The second is the Earthquake Museum in Fongyuan. The latter site used to house a school, which was flattened by the earthquake. That earthquake traumatized some people, so much so that they feared uncontrollably when a heavy truck rumbles the ground or when they hear loud noises.

921 memorial plaque at Shihkang Dam

Taiwan year 88 = 1999; earthquake struck on Sep 21, 1:47 am

Longitude, latitude, 7.3 on Richter scale, at depth of 8 km

Earthquake destroyed dam and disrupted fresh water supply

Running tracks on athletic field lifted by earthquake

Bridge torn by earthquake

Three-storey building collapsed onto lower floor, crushing everything.

Classrooms caved in. Good thing it was 1:47 am and there was no one in school.

The visit reminded us of how puny man is and how great God is. Man is so arrogant that he shook his fist at God, yet even a tiny earthquake or tsunami, an insignificant “act of God”, can wipe out entire civilizations. Repent and believe the gospel before it is too late.

Filling Needs

Some churches in N. America do things the way they’ve always done it in the last 50 years, and they wonder why their membership keeps getting smaller and smaller. They did not realize that times have changed, and both the people and their needs have changed. They do ministry to satisfy their own needs, and they wonder why they don’t grow.

To reverse the trend, you need to begin where the people are, with their needs, not yours. How do you know what their needs are? Ask them. If you regularly distribute tracts and flyers in your community, do your own informal surveys as you go from door to door. Train your people to share the gospel and their testimony as the opportunity arises.

Or you can do a little public relations and interview like-minded people serving in the community. There are social workers, school counselors, principals and teachers, other agency workers who are knowledgeable about the needs they deal with on a daily basis. You need ministry partners to mobilize more people to multiply your impact, why not start with those who are already engaged in the work? Some may be too busy or not willing to help, but some might become core members in your project. You will never win if you don’t ask.

Everything depends on relationships. Start building relationships with the community, with the leaders, and you have the beginning of a ministry that may grow like a mustard seed to transform the community.

Find a need and fill it.