Well I have been here in Taiwan for two months and it has been about a month since I last posted. I will give a glimpse into my life as what I am doing but there is something more weighty that I want to write about.

First the glimpse. Monday through Friday I am at work from 2 until 9, which means I have to leave my apartment about 1:30 on my scooter and drive up to Gangshan where I work. I spend roughly a hour and half preparing for my classes, that is all four for you teachers, eat you heart out. I get 30 minutes for a break to get something to eat then I spend an hour listening to students work on memorizing spelling words and sentences. Then from 5 to 9 I teach four different classes; they range in age between kindergarten and junior high, and each one of them has its own personality, both the students and classes. After I get home I will either pick up something to eat from a local “restaurant,” or I will cooks something simple for dinner. I will also play a game on my computer or watch some movie that I was able to get my hands on to relax. If you are wondering about my morning schedule, well there really isn't much of one. I will get up anywhere between 8 and 10, depending on how tired I was from the day before and also depending if I have a appointment that day. I will take some time to do my devotional then I head out the the local coffee shop where I check my email, though that will change soon because I have finally gotten my ARC, Alien Residence Card, and will be able to get phone and internet in my apartment. Once I finish checking my email and surfing the web I come back home, do a few things around the apartment, have lunch and prepare to got to work. As far as the weekends are concerned, well my schedule is even more non existent, I think I have done the same thing on the weekend only twice or three times since I got here, but that will be for a different post.

Now for the more weighty matter. In the last month I have seen two things have have just about made me cry and for two different reasons and in two different ways. The first happened about a month ago as I was coming home from checking my email on a Sunday evening I say what seemed to be a parade. I just made it to the bottom of my apartment building when I saw them coming down the street. Since my apartment looks over the street I thought I would just watch from my balcony. Over the next forty five minutes to a hour I watched the procession of different groups pass along the street as they were wearing beautifully decorated costumes that were highly detailed in their color and how they were made; also a number of different musical troupes passed by with either some kind of wind instrument or drums, you could hear the drums echoing through the streets for what seemed like miles. Yet despite all the beautiful colors and rhythmic sounds I did not enjoy watching the people as they passed by; for everything that was being expressed in the parade seemed to have some link to Buddhism. Buddhism is not a religion of peace and tranquility as some would try to lead you to believe, but of fear of demons always tying to find ways to appease the gods. If you ever go into a Buddhist temple you will be struck by how the people inside burn incense and other 'offerings' to various gods hopping to gain their favor.
Seeing people like this did not bring out any joy or happiness, but a deep sense of sorrow for them, and it reminded me that without the good news of Jesus there is no true hope.

The second thing that I saw just today did not make me want to cry tears of sorrow but of joy. At the church I have been attending since I got here, three people were baptized, one of them is a friend. To see the contrast of people who have no hope and people who have found hope is just overwhelming.

As I end this message I cannot but think of anything more important than the words of or Savor and Lord when he said in John 4: 35, 36 “do not say that it is yet four months, and the harvest cometh; lo, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and see the fields, that they are white unto harvest already. And he who is reaping doth receive a reward, and doth gather fruit to life age-during, that both he who is sowing and he who is reaping may rejoice together;”

Goodbye to a friend

With all the burdens and needs there are out there it might seem strange to want to take time to stop and shed a tear over the passing of a dog, but when that dog has been your pet for over thirteen years, it is less of an animal or pet and more like a friend or member of the family. Killa came into our family when I was still in high school and before my brother went off into the Navy. As a pup we kept her in the garage and as she grew up we would let her stay inside the house while we were home and the we would put her in a small pin in the back yard until we returned. It was always comical to watch her burst out of the pen when I got home because she had so much energy pent up during the day while I was at school. Even though she was a pit bull, she was more playful and loving than anything else, in fact she would rather play keep away with a ball or stick than bark at anyone. As she grew up she saw herself more as my mother than as my pet I believe, because the only time you could get her riled up is if she felt that I was threatened. It would be humorous at times when my girlfriend would come over how Killa would do everything possible to insinuate herself between us as we would sit together on the sofa.

When I went off to college mom would tell me of how she would mope for days, but when I came home she was only excited to see me and ready to play as if I had never left. As I was away for school or when I was in China I was noticing that mom was collecting more pictures of the dog than of me. As she started to grow older and was not able to play as much that did not stop her from showing her enthusiasm of seeing me by wagging her tail and wanting to sit by me so that I could scratch her and she never grew tired of licking my arms even when I got tired of her doing it.

Even though you might say she was just a dog, she was one of the most loyal and trusting friends I have ever had. She made me laugh, she would sit quietly by if I needed to cry, and she was always happy to see me.

She was my pet and friend and I will miss her

Bye Killa

Quick recap

As I sit down to write this letter I am amazed to think that I have been here for one month. There are two ways in which I mean that. One is that I am amazed that only one month has passed; in the four weeks I have been here I have rented an apartment, found and started working at a job, bought a scooter, and done a host of small daily tasks. One day I was wondering why it was taking so long to get some paperwork done so that I can get my residence permit, then I realized that the paperwork was not taking long, it was just that everything else was going so fast.

On the other side of the coin I am also surprised that it has been a month since I arrived. With how busy I have been the time has just flew by. All the adventure I faced on my way to get here are still fresh on my mind. From my impromptu garage sale at the church, to heading down to Texas and having my car break down on me, spending time with my family my, and a long and safe travel from Texas to Taiwan. Hey that last part rhymed, maybe there is a rhyme and reason why I am here.

I look back over the last month, two months, even six months, even the last couple of years and I am amazed how so many things just worked and pushed me in this direction, and I can only praise God for His goodness. Even though not all things are like I expected, I can see that I have been placed here for a reason. While I have my own opinion and ideas why I am here I have a feeling that I may only know the tip of the iceberg of why I have come to this corner of the world.

Sorry I don't have any pictures this time, but I am still without a digital camera, and I have been a bit preoccupied to look for one.

As usual blessings and I pray that the God of our fathers' be with you and keep you

Joshua

Smokestakes, School, and Scooters

As I get settled into the "routine" of daily life one thing is certain and that is my routine is not boring. With that said, I the reason I haven't updated my blog in the last week in not for lack of material to speak about, it is filtering what I enter. I am not trying to censor my comments based on anything except I do not want to inundate you with basic information. Plus I guess that so many things that I am encountering are either things that I expected or that I do not think that much about. Even at home we all find different things noteworthy.

As I get up and start my day I have the wonderful luxury being able to look out over the city I live in, because I live in a building that is several stories taller than most buildings in the area. So as I gaze upon the city where I live I am struck by the sheer number of smokestacks from the oil refinery and plastics plant that are in this city. Now I will not be so bold in my sarcasm to say that it is a beautiful sight, mainly because you cannot hear the inflection in my voice. Also it reminds me of where the money is coming from that is paying for parents to send their kids to school so people like me can have a job.

I am reminded how connected we are with each other because these plants sell material all over the world, the greater percentage most likely being sold to the U.S.. For all the money we are investing in this country, I wonder how much am I investing in the people so that they have a greater reward than a paycheck at the end of the day.

I have started teaching at my school and I believe that I will enjoy working there. I am fortunate that I have teaching experience and have also worked with kids so I am not starting from scratch, but I had some humbling experiences already that has shown me that I still have much to learn about teaching.

As far as my teaching schedule, I get to the school at 2, spend about an hour and a half preparing for my classes, from 4 to 5 I work with the students as they have to memorize spelling vocabulary and grammar phrases. From 5 to 9 I teach my classes, I have four different classes that I will teach and all classes are at different levels. Making the changes definitely keeps me on my toes, plus my classes will go back and forth between different floors.

Now I almost forgot to mention that my school is not actually in the town that I live in but about 30 minutes away by scooter. Yes, among the things I had to do is get a scooter so I could get to work. I would not mind taking a bus to work, I did that often when I was in China, except there are none in the area that I live. Dashe is a "small" city just outside Kaohsiung, so there is no public transportation to speak of. But I digress. So every day I get on my scooter and make my track to the school where I teach. One of the good things about where I teach is that most of my ride is out in the country so I don't have to constantly fight with traffic. Now I could make many comments about my scooter ride to and from work, and I guess as I continue to make the trip and have more exeriences I am sure that I will in later bloggs. For now I will just say I enjoy getting on my pigglet, at only 125cc's it is not quite a hog, and zooming up to school. It gives me time to metaly prepare for teaching and at the end of the day it helps me wind down and release tension.

I guess this is where I will leave you. I will add some pictures as I can, but for now all I can do is borrow my roommate's camera and take select pictures. Most you you already know I have a facebook page and I have posted a few more pictures there.

I hope to hear from you soon and I will continue to update you as events here continue to unfold.

Blessings

Joshua

Long update for a couple of long days

I first want to apologize for what will seem like an endless post but when I get started I sometime have difficulty in editing myself. In the shortest abreviation of my situation I arrived safely and am staying busy.

I arrived as scheduled on Saturday morning and to say that Saturday was a big day would be a bit of an understatement. I was picked up and took to the apartment of another OMF partner to set my luggage while we ran some errands. Since it was 10:30 when we got to the apartment and I hadn't eaten for some time, I asked if we could go some place for a bight to eat. He took me to a local restaurant and we ate and spoke for some time. (Jerrod, I just want you to know that I was thinking about you when I ate that wonderful bowl of noodles) At 1:00 we had appointment with the manager of the complex to look at an apartment that I and another partner could rent. After looking at the apartment we signed the papers, made a down payment and was able to move into the apartment that day.

I guess that you could call the apartment bare bones as far as furniture: at least it had a washer, sink and stove, refrigerator, small end table, coffee table, bench that could be used as a couch, two chairs, bathrooms with western toilets, and bed frames. When I say be frames I am talking about twin size boxes that were built about a foot high and as wide as a twin mattress, but if you caught it already there were no mattresses.

OK back to the story, the people whose apartment I dropped my stuff at, had a few things they loaned us until we got the necessary amenities, among which was a small mat that I could put on my box; now I will say that the mat was better than just sleeping on the box alone, but I would not say that much better. I chose a room, unpacked my stuff and thought about going for dinner. It was only about 4 or 4:30 when I got my stuff unpacked and I know that I did not want to go to sleep until around nine to help adjust to the time change, but my feet were sore and slightly swollen from being on them for so long so I laid down to allow better circulation. Nine O' clock when I wake up from my impromptu "nap" I decided I might as well just try to force myself to sleep all the way to the next morning to get adjusted to the new time.

Oh yeah I almost forgot to tell about how after 30 plus hours of travel and stepping into 85% humidity I was ripe for a shower, so after I get my stuff in the apartment I turn on the shower to find that there is no hot water. Now the water was not ice cold, but I can most assuredly say that it lacked any heat, yet despite cold water I grit my teeth and take my first of what ended up as 4 cold showers.

Between the hard bed and the jet lag which I was enjoying, I got up at 4:00 in the morning knowing that I just wold not be able to sleep until I was tired. I did my devotional, took my second cold shower, and started to piddle around my empty apartment. Not having food in the apartment I went out and got breakfast. After I got back and did a few other things on my computer until my roommate finally showed up. He spent the night with the people he had been staying with. We spoke a bit and he got unpacked.

I went to a local Chinese Church that morning and afterwards I was hoping to do some shopping but because a typhoon was landing on Taiwan I had to adjust my plans and stay in for the rest of the day. I had a great conversation with my roommate, whom I will tell you about later.

On a side note, which seems to be half my writing, there are to things that have struck me as being different from China. One is there are very few internet cafes. I was expecting not being able to get internet services for some time so I thought I would be able to go to a local internet cafe, but because Taiwan has developed so much in the field of technology most people have their own computers, so most there are relativly few internet cafes. The Second difference that struck me that I wasn't expecting is the amount of scooters there around here. I knew that there would be less bikes and more scooters, but the truth of the matter is there are hardly any bicycles and a tremendous amount of scooters here. I may elaborate more on that later.

Anyway, I go to bed, fortunately a friend brought us a couple of extra padded mats to loan to us, and while it is still a far cry from a bed that we are accustomed to sleep on it was also much better than what I had slept on the night before. I got to bed about 9:30 but between jet lag and new allergies that were now plaguing me I once again woke up about 4:30 Monday morning. I spent the next hour in a futile attempt to clear my sinuses and get back to sleep, but resigned to the fact that I would not be getting back to sleep, so I got up, did my Bible study, prayed, and did some work on my computer.

The coordinator for the partner program, David, picked me and Chris up and we met another partner who we had lunch with. Afterwards we were going to go to IKEA to get some mattresses and furniture for the apartment, but David got a call from someone and found out there is a teacher who is leaving Taiwan this week and he has an apartment full of furniture that he was just going to leave behind. We call him and ask if we can have his furniture and he says if we make the arrangements to pick up the stuff then we can have it. So I thank God in How he provided for that need. We do end up going shopping at Costco, yes they have one here, for some basic needs such as food, then come back to the apartment. After we get back I go with David and another person to visit a school for a possible job. Now I live in a small city outside of Kaohsiung called Dashe so there are not to many jobs here; so we drive 30 minutes to where the school is and interview with the director\part owner. I was thinking that I would get a scooter about two or three months after I got here not thinking for a moment that I would be in need of one my first week. I tell the person that I would like a couple of days to think about the job and get back to him. I return home, do some more work on my computer take my 3rd or 4th cold shower, I've lost count by now, and go to bed.

By Tuesday morning my allergies had subsided a bit so I was able to sleep all the way to 5:30. After I got up I did my Bible study, listened to sermon and took a half warm shower. We learned that the water heater needs a battery to light the furnace, so we got one and it started to work. After Chris got up and took care of some things we went out and had an early lunch. He needed to pick up some pictures that are needed all kinds of different identification papers; one our way back we stopped by a bakery that I had seen earlier and wanted to check out. As I was looking over their selection of delectables, we noticed that people inside were using their computers, so we attempted to inquire if they had internet use. After making some gestures and getting even strange looks from the people who work there we were given a card with the word "broadband" on it. With great excitement we made our way back to the apartment, grabbed our laptops and returned to the coffee shop to get connected to world wide web.

I was able to make contact with some people, but I had to leave because of a prior appointment. Since there was no way to get in direct contact with us, David and I went to a couple of different phone companies to see if my cell phone could work with a local service provider. Unfortunately it does not so I had to buy a cell phone. When I got back to the apartment I ran into another partner and made plans to meet her and another couple for dinner. Afterwards I went with them to a Bible study. By the time back it was around 9:30 and I was thoroughly tired. So I take another warmish shower, then turn in.

Praise the Lord I was able to sleep until eight, so I get up and literally praise God for the rest I was able to enjoy, I am still not fully recovered from my allergies but most definitely much better. I get ready for the day, do my devotional, have breakfast then David picks us up to take us to a hospital for a physical examination, a needed step to get resident visa. After we got back Chris had to go to his school early for some training time, and I crashed for a couple of hours. David calls and tells me that he has gotten a hold of someone who we can talk to about a scooter. We head out check out a local school to see if they need a teacher but they are to small to provide full time work. We go look at a couple of shops and finally decide on a scooter to purchase. We make arrangements to pay and pick it up tomorrow, then we both head home. I go to my apartment grab my computer and come to the coffee shop so that I am able to let you my wonderful friends know what I have been up to.

Over the last couple of days there has been many things that have happened, I have definitely had highs and lows in just the short time I have been here, but as I have said before God has been faithful and as I look to balance a few things out I know that as I seek His face He will provide.

As always blessings in His holy name

Joshua

The Journey Begins

It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, what about a journey of 10,000 miles? I understand the meaning of saying, but let me tell you about the first couple of steps that I have made so far and some of the trip up that I have encountered.



Last Monday I set off from Northwest Arkansas to head down to Temple to spend time with my mom, then I planned to see my dad for the weekend in San Angelo. In Isaiah God say that your plans are not my plans and your ways are not my ways. Now understand that it was God's plans for me to spend time with my dad first because when I was almost halfway through my trip the transmission on my vehicle started to act up.

With my Transmission not shifting into 3rd I could not accelerate beyond 50 without doing any more damage than what was already done. After 2 hours of driving at what seemed like a crawl, I made it to the Oklahoma Texas state line. I pulled into a dealership and had them test the transmission to see what they could find. After another hour the mechanic told me that the problem most likely is internal and any repair would cost around two thousand dollars, I'm sorry 2,000 dollars. OK now my car is not worth 2 thousands dollars.

After getting the news I tell the mechanic that I need to make some calls and figure out what I am to do. I call my dad and he tells me that he will come from San Angelo to tow me back to using a car trailer. I drive to the nearest Walmart and spend an hour walking around, thinking and praying, and realizing that I am not good at waiting I contemplate slowly making my way in his direction to cut down on the distance we will have to tow the vehicle. After more prayer and confirmation from my dad I head out. So over the next four hours I drive for 30 to 40 minutes stop at local Walmarts for about that amount of time and then start again.

At nine I find myself waiting at a Starbucks on the far West Side of Ft. Worth; now remember I left at nine in the morning for what should have been a 8 hour trip, and I find myself 4 hours over the scheduled time at about half the distance of the scheduled trip.

My dad picks me up and we get to San Angelo late that night, or should I say early the next morning. I spend a couple of days with my dad then my mom comes and picks me and my stuff up and brings me to Temple. My joke now is that that is the furthest I have ever driven to avoid having to drive through Dallas.

So here it is, the day of my departure, I have all my bags packed and everything ready to go. I have learned a bit about waiting on the Lord and also trusting Him in both the small and big steps. I also learned that I cannot always do it all in one big step, but that there are times that I need to take small steps, rest, reflect on where I have been and plan on where I will be going.

In it all I have found God to be faithful, and as get ready to travel I am assured that He will be faithful as I take the next couple of steps.

Blessings in His wonderful Name

Joshua