The eagle has landed!
September 15, 2018
Hello my dear brothers and sisters,
May of the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I thank God for the blessed opportunity to know each and every one of you. Thank you so much for partnering with me in prayer and giving. These past couple of weeks have a been a whirlwind — I have been learning so much.
Training with Eyes Set on Eternity
During our first week here in Danshui, we spent some time doing orientation and listening to lectures on Hearing God’s Voice. I had previously heard stories from the Bible about hearing God’s voice, but I don’t think I’ve been taught much in the church about hearing God’s voice. It was so refreshing to be reminded that we have received the Spirit by the hearing of faith, not the works of the law (Galatians 3). It’s about coming before the Lord as a daughter of God who is already loved, not needing to earn His love. I do and act out of faith and out of God’s love for me.
Our school’s theme, which the staff prayed about, is to “Be Still and Know God / 安靜，認識神.” This is a life verse of mine, because I can tend to be like Martha constantly keeping busy instead like Mary resting at Jesus’ feet (Luke 10: 38–42). During class, we were asked to be still and ask God to speak to us. I have been going through a season of doubt, so I didn’t know what to expect. But God reminded me of the song “As the Deer” — that God just wants a heart that yearns to worship and seek Him in spite of what I’m going through. I shared more in depth about this during my Devotional Sharing.
This past week, our second week here, we learned about the Gospel. I have read and heard the Gospel in bits and pieces, but have never read an entire book of the Bible in one sitting. We read aloud the Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, outloud, which normally took 2.5 hours for each book. Granted it was sometimes tiring, but it was also amazing to hear about the beautiful life of Jesus, and what our Father and Jesus sacrificed for us. Our lecturer shared this quote which really stuck out to me:
To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God.
It is so easy for us to fill the God-sized voids in our hearts with other people or things. I do it all the time, but it never lasts. It is only through Christ I have been able to find freedom from worrying too much about what people think of me, and find an “inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Peter 1:8).
Living in a Diverse Community
This experience is also teaching me a lot about living in community. I live in a room with seven other students, sharing one bathroom, which I have never done for more than a couple of days. Out of the eight of us, we come from many mixed backgrounds and cultures — America, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Korea and Thailand. It is so beautiful to be in such an environment where we can love each other with God’s love, learning to yield to one another to make sure we all get the rest we need.
All of the lectures and group activities are bilingual with Mandarin and English, which I love. Since there are only a couple of us who are proficient in English and Mandarin, I am compelled to step up to translate from English to Chinese and vice versa. I haven’t done much translating before, so this definitely helping me with my goal to become more proficient in Mandarin.
Ministry and Outreach Locations
In deciding where to go for outreach, all forteen of us students took time to pray for four countries the staff had previously prayed for. I’m going to Changhua, Taiwan for our one week outreach, N country* and a country to be determined in Eastern Asia for our two month outreach!! (*For security purposes, I can’t say the name.) I’m so excited to share the love of Jesus to those who haven’t heard of the Gospel before. Also, for the next five weeks, I have decided to do ministry at Tamkang University, which consists of setting up a table with games and activities, and sharing the Gospel to the students.
Partner With Me in Prayer
- Please pray that God will continue to reveal Himself to me in the midst of whatever doubt or anxiety I may have. May God rule over it all.
- Please pray I may learn to rest at the Lord’s feet, and find strength and satisfaction in Him alone.
- Please pray that I may be bold enough to spread God’s love to the Taiwanese people I meet at Tamkang University or wherever I go.
Thank you again for being my family and along the ride for this part of my journey. Please update me with your prayer requests and updates as well! Thank you and to God be the glory, honor and praise!
In His Everlasting Love,
Rachel 韻惠
