ONE MORE DAY

It's been such a blessing watching these kids learn and grow this week. They have been singing the "Thank You Lord" song before lunch every day, and every day they sing it so loudly that people need to cover their ears. They have been excited to sing and do the handmotions on stage, too! They have been memorizing their Bible verses, preparing for the upcoming Bible verse memorization competition. Although it's been a physically-taxing two weeks, it has been very fulfilling and we're sad to see it go by so fast.

Learning a new Bible verse

Singing "Thank You Lord" with Uncle Tom

Today's morning devotion was very emotional, courtesy of Patricia ahyi's touching testimony about her family. Through her testimony, we were reminded that our faith will constantly be tested through various trials and hardships in our life, and that standing firm and trusting in the Lord is what should be done.

Since it's Thursday, it's also the last full day of class! The Bible story was about the crucifixion of Jesus, where the children learned about Jesus' death and resurrection.

Hearing the Crucifixion story

Compared to yesterday, most of our classes were behaving much better, so praise God for that! (Especially since so many of our teachers are getting more and more sleep-deprived). Angel class has been very restless lately, but listened well to directions. Faith class was noticeably less chatty, although still just as spirited. Grace class was easier to settle down and eager to practice the bible verses, while Praise class had less negative attitudes and backtalk.

Making tissue paper fans in Grace class

After classes ended, we had one home visitation today. Kelly from Rejoice class was super excited to see her teacher Lydia, and we spent our time memorizing verses (am I seeing a pattern here or) and telling jokes in Chinese! (lol)

When we returned from the visitation, we also had our thank-you dinner out at a restaurant today in honor of our last full day here in Hualien. Tears were shed by (guess who?) .....Pastor Lin, that's right! Previous year experiences were shared, cards given, and new memories made all those who participated.

Thank you dinner with Pastor Lin and Zhang

Some prayer requests would be for us to finish up our week strong, without any casualties or sleep-deprivation related incidents (haha). Also, for the Bible verse competition to go well and for the parents that are coming tomorrow to watch their children perform- for their hearts to be soft and open to your presence,

Pray for us as we head (literally) into the very last day of this camp!

TWO MORE DAYS

 WEDNESDAY, JULY 13

I can't believe we only have two more days!!! Praise God for all the work He has done here in this church - through us, through the pastors, the TAs, and even the students. There is a 1st grader named Michelle (Rejoice) who actually lives in Fremont, California but is in Taiwan visiting for the summer. Today was her last day at the camp, so Pastor Lin called her up for everyone to say goodbye to her. We knew that she was here with her cousins, but Pastor Lin told us that although Michelle is very young, she is not afraid to share her faith and she is the one who invited her cousins to come join her in this English Camp. We hope that other children can be like her and be bold about their faith and the love of Jesus Christ!

We are all sad to see Michelle go, but we hope to see her again in California someday!

Lunchtime! (Obviously she's a crowd favorite)

Michelle with her teacher, Lydia

On the real though, this week has been tough. Praise class was even more rowdy today, and Sean's attitude does not seem like it has improved. Also, the students in Grace class were still taking their own breaks whenever they felt like it. However, we need to trust that God is still working in the midst of these things and that there is still so much good being done here.

Students are very excited about doing handmotions on stage!

It's so cute watching these kids pray! "Bow your head, close your eyes, fold your hands."

 Kerry (Faith), Grace (Rejoice), and Kelly (Rejoice) are best friends!

Kids lining up to play with Uncle Tom!

This is yummy ai yu dessert that the women of Dong Hong Church have prepared for us!

The kids wait on the steps for their parents after lunch is over

These kids are so adorable and it's such a blessing to be able to spend this time with them!

There were also two family visitations today. The first was with Kerry from Faith Class. Her family goes to church on and off, so the pastors know them. Her dad is a Chinese herbal medicine shop owner, so he made soup and tea for us. Kerry has been made fun of multiple times because she is half Vietnamese. Please pray that she would be proud of her heritage and that the other kids would understand that there is nothing wrong with being Vietnamese, or any other ethnicity for that matter.

Here are some pictures from the visitation:

The second visitation was with Charlie (Grace Class). He is only about to be in second grade, but his English is good for his age. His grandpa dominated most of the conversation at their house, so we didn't get to talk to his mom much. Charlie is very close with his grandpa, but he is an atheist and has never been to church. So Pastor Lin asked him to come to Dong Hong Church on Friday to watch Charlie perform with his classmates, and he said yes!!

Lastly, we ended the night with a very abundant dinner with the TA's. We were treated to pizza and fried chicken by an elder of the church, Elder Fang. There was also a large variety of fruits and vegetables provided by Pastor Chang's mom! Yuummmmm!!

Prayer Requests:
- Please pray that Charlie's grandpa will show up on Friday!
- Please pray that we will not be discouraged by the students when they don't listen to us, and that God is working in their lives in a way we just haven't been able to see. Pray that we will be able to see all the good He is doing instead of focusing on stressful things.

TWO MORE DAYS

Thank you so much for your continuous support ♡

CHOOSDAY

TUESDAY, JULY 12

Hello everyone!

This is Eric, the boy who got sent to the hospital yesterday. It was good to see him back right away and still smiling! Please continue praying that his arm will heal quickly!

Today, Pastor Chang and Pastor Lin were both at a meeting, so we had to take care of everything without them. Our classes were much more rowdy and harder to control, and a lot of the students wouldn't listen to us today. Some students in Grace class would even take their own breaks during class time. 

One student from Praise class, Sean, has been very sensitive lately. He has been sulking after losing games and talking back quite often. It is also very easy for him to be irritated by other students. Please pray for his attitude towards learning as well as the people around him for the rest of the week.

Although some of our students have been acting up, they are still a blessing to be around. Here are some pictures of our students doing handmotions and crafts today!

When the pastors came back, they brought mochi for us! (Specialty in Hualien)

Uncle Tom got a LINE today, and we spent some time in the afternoon in a conference call with each other and some TAs (we were all in the same room lol), Pastor Lin, and Jasmine and Judy from the Chiayi team! Although it was hard to hear most of the time, it was fun!

We went out to a restaurant for noodles tonight and talked about how Uncle Tom and Auntie Patricia met ;)

Lastly, we had one family visitation tonight! This is Ben (Grace) and Eva (Rejoice). After talking to their mom, Pastor Lin discovered that they don't seem like they are interested in continuing to go to church, since their life is pretty "put together." However, they have come to the summer English camp multiple times. Please pray for their family, and that they would see the importance of God's presence in their lives.

We were more stressed out today since our classes were more rowdy, but we know that it is just because they are comfortable with us. Please pray that they will continue to respect us and that we will be able to enjoy the remainder of the week with them. There are only three days left to spend with them so we hope to make the most of it!

Thank you for your continuous support <3

WEEK 2

MONDAY, JULY 11

We have officially started Week 2! We can't believe we're already halfway done!

Today we taught them about the birth of Jesus and our Bible verse was John 3:16. Although this verse is a bit long, the important thing is that they understand it. We hope that through this week, they will know who Jesus is and about His great love for them.

The students are getting more and more comfortable here, but they were running around a lot today during break. One student named Eric (from Grace class) hit his wrist on one of the hard benches in the sanctuary and fractured a bone in his right forearm. He was sent to the hospital and has been told that he has to use a cast and cannot use his arm for two months. Please keep him in your prayers!!!

Some of our classes did a tissue paper fan craft today! They used card stock and a popsicle stick and glued on tissue paper to make their designs :)

Here is the fan that Howard (from Praise class) made!!!

#twinsies #unintentionalmatching

We also had three family visitations today! 

1. One of them was with Leo (Angel), Kelly (Faith), and Jason (Faith). Although the other two were quiet, Leo showed us a bunch of tricks that he taught himself. He can bounce a ping pong ball on a paddle 238 times, and he is very talented with the chinese yoyo! After we started playing games, Kelly and Jason also started opening up a bit more.

2. The second was Linda (Faith) and Jane (Angel). Their parents are divorced and their dad is in the army, so their grandmother takes care of them, along with two other children. Although they have a broken family, they are still very happy, and their past has only brought them closer together.

3. The last one was Sean (Angel). He has a learning disability but his parents are very supportive of him. They wanted to send him to church to help him interact with other children, so please pray that the children at church would be kind to him and not laugh at him for speaking slowly.

For all of these students, there is a large chance for them to come back to church so please keep that in your prayers as well!

Linda and Jane and their grandma

As the week goes on, we hope to reach out to our students with as much love as we can give. Some students are more active and outgoing than others, so please pray that we will also be able to reach the quieter ones. Pray that we will be more attentive to who is on the sidelines. Although there is still much work to be done, we have seen so much of God's power and love working in these kids' hearts already during the past week. We're excited for what's to come!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- Please pray for our student Eric to heal quickly, and for his family not to harden his heart against the church.

- Please continue to pray that we will get through to our students and that their hearts will be open to the gospel. Pray that we will spend more time with them and that we will know what to say and how to reach them.

- Please pray for the upcoming family visitations as well as the ones we've gone to the past week. Pray that they would allow their children to continue going to church after this week, and even that they would begin to come.

Once again, thank you for your continuous support! :)

SUNDAY FUNDAY

SUNDAY, JULY 10

This morning's devotion was about how everyone goes through challenging times in their lives, but for Christians, God's grace is sufficient and He is greater than our struggles. We must rely on God and not our own strength whenever we face obstacles.

After breakfast, we began preparing for the kids to arrive. They are going to sing for their parents and the church congregation today! We sang It's So Good to Know and Wanna Do Right. Although the students sang very loudly when we practiced on Thursday, they might have gotten a little shy when they saw all the unfamiliar adults watching them this morning. But they still did a great job!

It was nice to spend some time outside of class with the kids, and to also get to meet their parents :)

After service, there was a magician act, and then a delicious lunch provided by the church. Then we were treated out to shaved ice, thanks to Martin and Albert's parents (two of our TAs - brothers)!

We decided to go out for a movie with all the TAs before we wouldn't have any more time to do so. So we watched The Secret Life of Pets! Here's an elevator pic :) 

We then went to the night market for dinner! It was Angela's first time!!!

Stinky tofu fries!! ^^^

Lastly we went back to the church to prepare for Monday. It's been a fun, relaxing weekend but it's time to get back to work! We're excited for this coming week and hope to make a lasting impression on our students. 

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- For us to give 100% of our effort and energy to the students and their families this week

- For us to rely on and trust in God fully on this mission

- We will be sharing the stories of Jesus this week - from birth to death - so please pray that the students will understand and believe what we teach them and that God would open their hearts.

Thank you and much love from the Dong Hong team ♡

DAZE OFF

FRIDAY, JULY 8

To those of you who were waiting for a typhoon update, I apologize for the late blog post.

The typhoon actually didn't hit us very hard in Hualien. We heard some super heavy rain at times but it was on and off throughout the day. Some of our members were even able to get outside and go to 7-11 for coffee in the morning! (I guess we weren't actually locked in that well because Uncle Tom was able to take out the metal bars. Lol!) Anyway, the typhoon detoured and headed southeast. There has been some heavy damage in Tai Dong, which is south of Hualien, so please pray for the people there.

Since we were stuck inside during the typhoon and no one else could come in, we decided to have a little fun as a team! After morning devotion and breakfast, we spent most of the day playing a game called Rummikub, but we took a little break to open up the EV Dong Hong Salon! Lydia gave Tiffany a trim while Angela did everyone's eyebrows. #AngelBrows

 Check out our before and after photos:

In the evening, some of us went to a family visitation. The students we visited were two brothers named Sean (Praise) and Orange (Angel). These two kids are notorious for being very energetic during class and they played with us very roughly when we were at their house. We came back to the church with bruises and bitemarks! This is not a family of believers, but we found out that when Sean and Orange went home, they started saying that they should pray before meals. They also asked to pray for the typhoon. Praise the Lord that they have learned the importance of prayer! They also wanted to look up the songs that they learned with us :) We ended up helping them with their homework at the visitation, which was very touching to their mom. Orange has been diagnosed with ADD, so she was moved when she saw him working so diligently. Originally, they had not planned to join us for church on Sunday, but we are praying for them to change their mind because it is obvious that Sean and Orange want to come.

Although a super typhoon may not seem like a blessing at first, we're glad we were able to rest and relax a bit and bond as a team before the second week begins. It was also a prayer answered for the weather to be calm enough for us to go to the visitation at Sean and Orange's house.

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SATURDAY, JULY 9

We woke up early (for a Saturday) this morning for our devotion about how Jesus Christ is the one thing that bridges us to God. There is no way we can achieve that on our own. It was a humbling time and a good reminder of how much we need Jesus.

After breakfast, we got ready for a day out with the TAs! We took a tour bus to see some tourist-y sights in Hualien!

Our first stop was Lin Tian Mountain (林田山). We roamed through some nature and past some buildings and saw a lot of intricate wooden carvings!

There was even a cute little dog!!

Next up, we went to the Guang Fu Sugar Factory (光復糖廠) to eat ice cream! :D

After the ice cream, we visited a cow farm called Rareseed Ranch (瑞穗牧場). On the way to see the cows, we saw an ostrich!!

When we were done at the cow farm, we went to find noodles (玉里麵) for lunch. While we were there, we saw some European-looking men standing outside. After talking and laughing about it for a while (and a little bit of interaction), we decided to talk to them. Turns out, they are from France! Their names are Paul, Samuel, and Benoit (Ben), and they are in Taiwan to volunteer at a Catholic church. How cool is that?! I think it's amazing how God brought us all together to meet.

After lunch, we drove by the ocean side and ended up at a bat cave called Ba Xian Cave (八仙洞). Apparently the cave closed up in the middle so the bats were on the other side and we couldn't see them, but that might have been for the better lol. There was this little building next to the cave and some of the TAs climbed up the stairs to see what was inside. No one was home, I'm assuming?

Next, we went to the marker of the Tropic of Cancer (北迴歸線). Apparently Taiwan is one of the countries that lies ~23.4° north of the Equator!

And here's the view of the Pacific Ocean from the Tropic of Cancer marker!

Lastly, we stopped at a Mochi Factory (阿美麻糬) since mochi is Hualien's specialty. We got to try a bunch of free samples there! Yum!

After that, we went back to the church and played Rummikub and Jenga with the TAs. We then ate pizza and pot stickers for dinner with them!

These past two days off have been really rewarding. We got to explore Taiwan, spend time together, and try new things together. However, the weekend is coming to a close and we must get back to business. There isn't much time left and we must use our time with these students to reach out to them and share Jesus with them. One more week to go!

PRAYER REQUESTS:
- For us to prepare well for this coming week
- For us to sleep earlier and get more rest
- For us to be more prayerful about our students rather than trying to figure out how to handle them on our own
- For the families to see changes in their children at home, and thus change their hearts towards the church

Thank you all so much for your prayer and support!! <3