Monday was a long busy day for us. We did some sightseeing in Taipei before we boarded the plane for a long trip home. We visited some interesting places and yes we all made it to the top of the Taipei 101 building! It was an incredible sight. Tired and sad to leave we had one more dinner with Angela and Eric (navigator missionary) and Cara Lee and Jeremy at the airport before we boarded the plane. It was a bitter sweet dinner with them. New friendships were made and old friendships were strengthened.
We made it home after several hours of flying and some delays at DFW, as I reflect on the trip I wanted to post a reminder to pray for our friends in Taiwan we we left behind Angela, Cindy, Mark, Frank, Andy, Easter, Joseph (professors at the University) all of these wonderful people are Christians and want to share the love and hope of Christ to their friends there in Taiwan. Please pray for these as they continue the work of spreading the gospel. Glenda, John and Heidi, Eric, Woody and Martha are all missionaries there who are working to make friendships with the people of Taiwan so they too can share the gospel message of Christ pray for them as well. Pray for the friends we made that have not yet repented of thier sin and received the grace and mercy of Christ that He will open their eyes and hearts to the message that our friends we left behind so graciously want to share with them. It was such a prilivage to meet the Christian and non christian friends and we pray for them all that God will reveal himself to them and keep them safe as they minister to the people of Taiwan. We were so blessed to be a part of this trip and thank you for your prayers for us as we were gone.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Posted by Jeff Higley
Wow, Last day in Taiwan, the time has really flow by. We are packing up and preparing to leave for Tiepei where we will spend the day before catching our 12:00 am departure flights back to the good ol' USA. We are going to Tiepei 101 wich was the tallest building in the world until recently. We are planning to go to the top. You should google this building and see how tall it is. I am terrified and I wish my big brother was here to enjoy the experience with me. We are also going to a (can't spell it) memroial which is similar in Tiennan(?) Square in China, and to the Palace. We will eat lunch there and hopefully it's the last rice I will eat for a while. We are getting ready to go the the college one last time just before we leave to say good bye to the friends we've made. Everyone keeps asking if we will please come back next year. What an experience it's been and I just want to say THANKS ! ! ! for all your prayer support. See you soon.
Friday, May 29, 2009
posted by Jessica
Just a quick story today before we start out. We had prayer walking on Friday since most of the students have gone home for the long weekend. It was a great experience to walk the streets and pray for the people of Taichung. As we passed people and they looked at us and wondered what are these people doing here, I prayed that God would open their eyes to the truth. It saddened my heart to watch people burning money in their pots so that their family members that have died. My heart aches for them they are blinded to the truth. When we finished up the walk Jeff and I went to the "resturant row" to eat lunch and found a buffet style place to eat. When we sat down I noticed a couple of women at another table and they looked like they were praying. We prayed and ate our lunch. When we got up to leave one of the ladies said "excuse me, are you Christians? " I told her we were and they were so excited to meet other Christians. Ielene and Rachel were their names. We had a good visit with them, and found out about the church they attend. We are off to ride the high speed rail more on that later.
Wednesday evening we had a worship service here at the apartment complex where we are staying. There were probably 25-30 students from the university who came to the service and heard the gospel presented clearly. Five of them made profession of faith in Christ. Yesterday we went to a Christian camp up in the mountains. We took about 50 of the local students with us and were able to serve them luch, play games with them, and then present the gospel to them. It has been a great couple of days. Since this a holiday weekend, the Dragon Boat Festival, the university is closed today and most of the students have left the campus and gone to their repective homes so it's been a slow day. We had another prayer walk today thorough the confucius temple, the university campus, and the surronding neighborhood as well as some of the Budahist temples. The said there are more temples per capita in Taiwan than any other nation. Tommorow we are going to Kaohsiung which is on the south end of the island of Taiwan. Its on the coast and is suppose to be a beautiful city. We are taking the high speed train which is suppose to take about 40m inutes to make the 150 mile trip. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
Jeff Higley
Jeff Higley
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Today we went to the National Taiwan Institute of Technology and met with a freshman composition class. After class some of the students invited us to go have lunch with them. We had a great visit. Then they wanted us to come to their ping pong class. One of the students wanted to play against Jessica and I. She said she was an "OK" player. She said that she usually plays against the coach and that she someties beats him. She took it pretty easy on us and still killed us. She taught us how to play the way you see the typical Chinese players play. The grip was backwards from what I'm use to but we started getting the hang of it. We have a worship service tonight and have invited several of the students that we met to come and join us. They will have an opportunity to hear the gospel presented. Yesterday we had a huge lunch with probably 75-100 students from the National Taiwan Sports University, and 2 of our students and one of the Christians from Taiwan got to share the gospel with them. Our prayer is that the truth of God's word will penetrate their hearts and that God will open their eyes to His truth. Plese continue to pray for the Taiwan people to come to faith.
Jeff Higley
Jeff Higley
posted by Jessica
Yesterday we had a wonderful opportunity at the PE college they allowed us to come in and have a program at lunch time where we feed the students and played some games with them. This is huge as they have never done anything like that at all. We had a time of singing and then we had a couple of students share the message of Christ. It was a great time and there were several students that came and participated and some who just watched from a distance.
In our afternoon class which was speech class the professor asked the students what they would change about Taiwan. Several students spoke about the ecomony and money. One student Cindy who is a beliver was so excited to speak and she told them she wants to change Taiwan by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. She asked them if they knew what gospel meant most were confused so she told them it is the good news of Christ. It was exciting to see her passion for wanting her fellow students to share in the joy that she has.
Jeff and I went to the NTIT school today to an English sentence writing class. The girls that were in my group were glad that we were there because the class is boring. :) I learned a new card game and met some very fun girls. Several of them are interested in how we celebrate Christmas which was a great opening to share a little bit about the birth of Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. After class Jeff and I went to lunch with his group at their favorite resturant.... you guessed it McDonald's!! Even though it is not my favorite it was a nice break from rice and noodles to have a cheeseburger and fries! We were not scheduled for another class but the girls wanted us to come to PE with them and play ping pong. They said we did good, I think they were being nice, but we played for 1 hour and 20 minutes. We had a good time making friends and are sad that they are leaving today to go visit their familes. Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival so they have a long weekend and a lot of the students will be leaving today. We are going to the Dragon Boat Festival tomorrow in the mountains and the good news is we are taking about 55 students with us. Woody and Martha who are missonaries here are preparing lunch for all of us for tomorrow. We are looking forward to the trip.
In our afternoon class which was speech class the professor asked the students what they would change about Taiwan. Several students spoke about the ecomony and money. One student Cindy who is a beliver was so excited to speak and she told them she wants to change Taiwan by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. She asked them if they knew what gospel meant most were confused so she told them it is the good news of Christ. It was exciting to see her passion for wanting her fellow students to share in the joy that she has.
Jeff and I went to the NTIT school today to an English sentence writing class. The girls that were in my group were glad that we were there because the class is boring. :) I learned a new card game and met some very fun girls. Several of them are interested in how we celebrate Christmas which was a great opening to share a little bit about the birth of Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. After class Jeff and I went to lunch with his group at their favorite resturant.... you guessed it McDonald's!! Even though it is not my favorite it was a nice break from rice and noodles to have a cheeseburger and fries! We were not scheduled for another class but the girls wanted us to come to PE with them and play ping pong. They said we did good, I think they were being nice, but we played for 1 hour and 20 minutes. We had a good time making friends and are sad that they are leaving today to go visit their familes. Tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival so they have a long weekend and a lot of the students will be leaving today. We are going to the Dragon Boat Festival tomorrow in the mountains and the good news is we are taking about 55 students with us. Woody and Martha who are missonaries here are preparing lunch for all of us for tomorrow. We are looking forward to the trip.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Posted by Jessica
As I was getting ready to prepare for the prayer walk this morning, I went back to read the passage that Phillipp used Sunday morning at Beitun which was Isaiah 29. While I did not know what Phillip was preaching about to his congregation I asked God this morning to show me something in this passage and these things were very evident to me. As a beliver we must first know who we are in Christ refer to v 16. Know that He has a purpose for us and a plan for our lives. Second for us as believers we need to make sure that our worship is not only rules made by man but out of the joy in our hearts for the grace and redemption of Christ on the cross. Verse 18 says "In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll and out of the gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see." This is my prayer for the people of Taichung that God has brought this group of people at this time to this city so that we can be a light to the blinded and offer them the words to hear and in His time bring them out of the gloom and darkness. As we walked this morning through the streets of Beitun and saw the temples they was so dark and gloomy it brought the scripture back to me. We had opportunity to give a couple of cards to some monks at the temple, we traded cards for their tea. Our prayer as we left the temple was that of praise we were able to plant a seed with them. Please pray for the group as we spread the Light of Christ.
As I was getting ready to prepare for the prayer walk this morning, I went back to read the passage that Phillipp used Sunday morning at Beitun which was Isaiah 29. While I did not know what Phillip was preaching about to his congregation I asked God this morning to show me something in this passage and these things were very evident to me. As a beliver we must first know who we are in Christ refer to v 16. Know that He has a purpose for us and a plan for our lives. Second for us as believers we need to make sure that our worship is not only rules made by man but out of the joy in our hearts for the grace and redemption of Christ on the cross. Verse 18 says "In that day the deaf will hear the words of the scroll and out of the gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see." This is my prayer for the people of Taichung that God has brought this group of people at this time to this city so that we can be a light to the blinded and offer them the words to hear and in His time bring them out of the gloom and darkness. As we walked this morning through the streets of Beitun and saw the temples they was so dark and gloomy it brought the scripture back to me. We had opportunity to give a couple of cards to some monks at the temple, we traded cards for their tea. Our prayer as we left the temple was that of praise we were able to plant a seed with them. Please pray for the group as we spread the Light of Christ.
Posted by Jeff Higley
Jessica and I just returned from a prayer walk through the Beitun District with 2 other students. What an amazing experience to just walk the streets of Taichung praying for them to come to know Christ, that God would reveal His truth to them, that the blinders would be removed from their eyes. We went to several temples and saw so many people involved in burning insense and bowing down and praying to their idols. You could sense the hopelessness and emptiness in what they were doing. Please continue to pray for the work that is being done here in sharing the gospel with these people.
Jessica and I just returned from a prayer walk through the Beitun District with 2 other students. What an amazing experience to just walk the streets of Taichung praying for them to come to know Christ, that God would reveal His truth to them, that the blinders would be removed from their eyes. We went to several temples and saw so many people involved in burning insense and bowing down and praying to their idols. You could sense the hopelessness and emptiness in what they were doing. Please continue to pray for the work that is being done here in sharing the gospel with these people.
Posted By Jeff Higley
I wanted to share a great story about one of the WTAMU students who planned to come on this trip. His name is James Chandler, he's the place kicker fot the WT Buffs. The Saturday before their Sunday departure, all his luggage, money, and passport were stolen. He is not a U.S. citizen, he is from England. He was told there was no way possible for him to get a replacement passport in time for him to make the trip. He called his group to inform them and asked them to pray. He found out on Tuesday that there was a chance to get a temporary passport so on Wednesday he flew to Houston to the British Embasy where he was able to get the temporary passport. Then he was able to get a seat on the same flight we were on from LAX to Taiwan. The flight was completly booked making it evident that God's hand was in this for James to be here. He is such a neat kid who is really on fire for Christ. It is evident to me why satan worked so hard trying to keep him from coming. He has really connected to some of the students here.
We had a great experience at the church we attended this morning even though we could not undestand what was being said. We really felt a connection with the people in the church as they sang and worshiped. Please keep them and us in your prayers.
I wanted to share a great story about one of the WTAMU students who planned to come on this trip. His name is James Chandler, he's the place kicker fot the WT Buffs. The Saturday before their Sunday departure, all his luggage, money, and passport were stolen. He is not a U.S. citizen, he is from England. He was told there was no way possible for him to get a replacement passport in time for him to make the trip. He called his group to inform them and asked them to pray. He found out on Tuesday that there was a chance to get a temporary passport so on Wednesday he flew to Houston to the British Embasy where he was able to get the temporary passport. Then he was able to get a seat on the same flight we were on from LAX to Taiwan. The flight was completly booked making it evident that God's hand was in this for James to be here. He is such a neat kid who is really on fire for Christ. It is evident to me why satan worked so hard trying to keep him from coming. He has really connected to some of the students here.
We had a great experience at the church we attended this morning even though we could not undestand what was being said. We really felt a connection with the people in the church as they sang and worshiped. Please keep them and us in your prayers.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Sunday in Taiwan
Posted by Jessica.
Just a short catch up. On Saturday Jeff Higley (which will be referred to as Jeff 1) and I went to the college and watched a rehersal of a dance program. When they were finished we had a chance to visit with the instructor and a couple of the dancers. They invited us to come see their program on Tuesday night, it will be dance and some chinese opra. Will post more on that later.
Last night we had game night with the college students. There was a good turnout, we had snacks and played some games then had a time of worship and sharing. On Sunday morning we split up into groups and went to several different churches, some here in Taiwan and some in a neighboring town. It was my first experience in a worship service where I could not understand the language. It was so exciting to watch and listen even though I did not understand I did feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as they sang songs of praise. The excitement on the pastors face was so uplifting to watch as he preached in his language to the congregation. At the end of the service the children's choir sang Jesus Loves me. Hopefully we can put the video of this on here.
The pastor had to go to a prayer meeting for global prayer day so he was not able to go to lunch with us but his wife and sons took us to lunch and we spent about 2 hours getting to know them. They are a wonderful family and very exicted about the church and how it is growing. They have two services at the same time due to the fact they do not have enough room for everyone one at once. They are moving to a new building soon and hope to build a basketball court and rock climbing wall. Phillip and Sara ( the pastor and his wife) are excited about our second group that is coming to work with them in July.
We have enjoyed trying the food here and learning to eat with chopsticks! I never thought I would eat a fried egg or spahgetti with chop sticks but I can say I did a pretty good job!
Tomorrow we go to the NTIT national business school and start our first group activities with the students. Pray for opportunites to share with the students and friendships to be built.
Just a short catch up. On Saturday Jeff Higley (which will be referred to as Jeff 1) and I went to the college and watched a rehersal of a dance program. When they were finished we had a chance to visit with the instructor and a couple of the dancers. They invited us to come see their program on Tuesday night, it will be dance and some chinese opra. Will post more on that later.
Last night we had game night with the college students. There was a good turnout, we had snacks and played some games then had a time of worship and sharing. On Sunday morning we split up into groups and went to several different churches, some here in Taiwan and some in a neighboring town. It was my first experience in a worship service where I could not understand the language. It was so exciting to watch and listen even though I did not understand I did feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as they sang songs of praise. The excitement on the pastors face was so uplifting to watch as he preached in his language to the congregation. At the end of the service the children's choir sang Jesus Loves me. Hopefully we can put the video of this on here.
The pastor had to go to a prayer meeting for global prayer day so he was not able to go to lunch with us but his wife and sons took us to lunch and we spent about 2 hours getting to know them. They are a wonderful family and very exicted about the church and how it is growing. They have two services at the same time due to the fact they do not have enough room for everyone one at once. They are moving to a new building soon and hope to build a basketball court and rock climbing wall. Phillip and Sara ( the pastor and his wife) are excited about our second group that is coming to work with them in July.
We have enjoyed trying the food here and learning to eat with chopsticks! I never thought I would eat a fried egg or spahgetti with chop sticks but I can say I did a pretty good job!
Tomorrow we go to the NTIT national business school and start our first group activities with the students. Pray for opportunites to share with the students and friendships to be built.
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