In August we returned back to Taiwan from our summer in America. We wanted to thank everyone for our time there. It was so great to connect with our sending churches, our family, and many friends. 5 days after we got back, Elliot and Ezra had to go back to school. We felt bad for them because they weren't completely over jet-lag but they were troopers. Currently, it is only us here. Our coworker left in September to go and do his DTS (Discipleship Training School). We were sad to see him leave, but we are also excited to see how God uses him and to see his growth after the school. For us, DTS was a key part in our lives and we grew a lot in our walk with Jesus. Since right now we are the only ones serving in our ministry, on nights that the Rock is open, we need to take our kids with us. The kids have been doing so well there and the people that come to the Rock seem to enjoy talking with them. Having the kids at the Rock does have its challenges, but overall it has gone better then we thought it would. Usually we kept the Rock open until 10pm but since the kids need to get to bed earlier, we have been closing earlier. Over the next few months, we will be hosting a few different outreach teams, and when they are here, we can operate with our normal schedule.
This year Elliot is in second grade and the Chinese reading and writing was becoming too challenging. However, we really wanted him to continue in public school. Magan was able to have a meeting with his teacher and discovered that his school is set up on an individual education program system. This means that each child can have their education track tailored to their needs. We were able to share what we want for our children's education and the school is working with us to create his education track. Basically this means that he is doing a little less Chinese, so that we can incorporate more English reading/writing into his education.
While Magan was in this meeting, Elliot's teacher shared that he is such a blessing to her. She said she recently share a video in class of the earthquake in Japan. In the video, some buildings were collapsing and the other students were saying "cool!", (because they are second graders) However, Elliot started crying and couldn't stop for a long time. He was upset because he knew that people had gotten hurt. His teacher said that she has been so touched by his compassion for others. We were able to share with her that God created him with this compassion and it's because of God's love. Elliot is being a light in his classroom and we are watching him grow in his own personal faith in Jesus.
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| BBQ with our church |
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| Having fun at the Rock! |
What's Next?
Over the next 3 months, we are hosting 4 outreach teams back to back. The holiday season is always a fruitful time for ministry here. We are able to share the gospel very easily through Christmas activities especially. We are looking forward to working alongside these teams as we go into the public schools and chat with people at the Rock.
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| Soon after we got back, there was a trash cleanup held by a bunch of the schools in our area. Elliot really wanted to be involved with this so Keith and Elliot signed up to help. |
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| One of our outreach teams helping another ministry "Taiwan Sunshine". They are a ministry that focuses on helping people with special needs |
