Taiwan Trip

I went to Taiwan on a missions trip with my church.  Here is what I wrote about the trip. :)

There is so much to tell you about the trip Team Taiwan went on to Banner Church! The day before we left I actually was quite scared, because I could distinctly feel that God was calling me to give my all on this trip. We always say in church that we want to surrender our whole lives to Christ, but do we really? I knew God was calling me to have my actions match my words. I have always felt entitled to getting a full nights rest but there was only one night on that trip that I actually got that. Most night I only slept 4 hours. I was officially sleep deprived, but my tiredness made me so much more dependent on God. It reminded me to pray more, because I knew that I knew I could not do it by my own strength or energy. God tangibly taught me that when I am weak He is strong and that it is only in loosing my life that I will find it. It was in those early hours of the morning that I was able to lift up the day in prayer to God and the members on my team. I almost didn’t even go on the trip due to my fear, but to have missed out on meeting the people of Banner Church would have been to miss out on meeting my family I feel. I fell in love with the youth and staff of Banner, despite the short time that we were there! I plan to visit and partner with them in ministry every summer for the rest of my life thanks to this trip.

There were tons of opportunities to serve in our time there. Our first ministry was visiting a personal/private high school there called Ling Dong High School. We sang songs, played games with the students and I was able to give my testimony. It was the first time most of the students had heard anything about Christianity! I initially felt called to Taiwan because I can identify with their culture. The people work very, very hard there. Academics and grades are everything; students literally attend school from 7am until 6pm! I have always been an honors over-achiever student so I knew I could understand their drive to succeed. The youth of Banner Church were not only brilliant but incredibly talented! It seemed that all of them could sing, play one or two instruments, and act or dance.

The biggest growth experience for me was our ministry to a Disability School in Tai Chung. We went into the building with absolutely no plan as to how we would minister to them, but God had a plan. We were sensitive to his leading as we were there; like clay under a potter’s hands, we surrendered our time of ministry to him. While we sang songs and prayed for them God’s Spirit was poured out in the place phenomenally. One of the cell group leaders for the camp that we were helping out with said she took pictures of her group at the beginning of the camp and at the end to see if there was a change in their expressions. If we could have taken pictures of each person in that room from the time we arrived to only an hour later the difference would have been as drastic as night and day. At first their looks said, “why are you here?” But when we were leaving there was so much of God’s love and peace in their eyes! It seemed that not one person was untouched by God’s love. One man there had apparently not spoken for a long time (we still do not know for sure if he was technically unable to speak) but when one of our team members, Angela, prayed for him she said, “thank you” and he said “thank you” in return!

Another beautiful snap shot from our trip was the last night of the youth camp. Pastor Samuel of Banner Church had an altar call and about 100 students raised their hands to receive Christ for the first time! About half of the 350 students went to the front as well to receive prayer for various things. The whole time the worship team was playing. By the time it was over I felt as if I had literally had a massage I was so relaxed. God’s abundant, unfailing love was being poured over his people that night. We were all soaking Him up and basking in His glory. God changed a lot of lives during our time in Taiwan, including our own.

The day before we were scheduled to leave Taiwan it was predicted that the biggest typhoon they had had in two years would hit and possibly delay our return home. I couldn’t help but think, “Is not God bigger than typhoons? He can stop it.” My faith was greatly increased in Taiwan in seeing God work in so many lives. Indeed God did stop the typhoon in time for us to have safe traveling the next day. This trip taught me to depend on God more than anything else, including myself. Going into it I was a bit of a control freak. I was a planner to the extreme and I thought I had prepared for anything that could have happened, but God wanted to mold me and shape me. I had to learn how to be flexible time and time again. I had to learn what it means to have Jesus take the wheel of my life. “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more beyond all that we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”