SUPER TYPHOON

THURSDAY, JULY 7

First of all, we would like to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for us in regards to the typhoon. This afternoon, we were so touched to see Alli's post on Facebook with all of its comments, as well as Pastor Joe's email letting us know that he was praying for us. It's just so amazing to know that our brothers and sisters at home are thinking of us and actively caring for us on the other side of the Pacific Ocean ♡♡♡

An update on the typhoon thus far (on Thursday night): We are safely locked in the church. The worst of the storm should be hitting just after midnight on Friday and leaving on Friday night. We have stocked up on food and snacks to last us until then. Class has been cancelled on Friday, but will resume as normal on Monday.

Pastor Chang setting up metal bars to keep the doors from breaking open.

Prior to being locked in, we had an eventful day!

This morning's devotion was about looking to Christ when we feel discouraged, and after some sharing about discouragements on this trip, it was reassuring to hear Uncle Tom share encouraging words with us. Throughout this past week, we have been feeling a lack of spiritual growth and realized that we need to refocus and rediscover what we are here for rather than to just go through the motions of planning and meeting and teaching. In all honesty, it's been hard to feel like we know what we're doing since most of us are new on this team, including our leaders. However, God has really blessed us with each other and the people at Dong Hong Church so things have been running pretty smoothly. Please keep this in your prayers. Pray that we would keep God at the forefront and Jesus at the center, and to be mindful of the Holy Spirit.

The students and their families have been invited to join us on Sunday for service. They will be performing two of the songs they have learned with us. Since there will be no class on Friday, we spent some time practicing for that today. The kids were singing really loudly today and doing the handmotions with us, and it makes us so proud! :')

Students practicing for their performance on Sunday

Pictures we took with the students today!

After class, we still had a visitation in the afternoon. We originally had two more scheduled for the evening, but those were both cancelled.

We visited Michelle (Rejoice), Celeste (Praise), Danny (Faith), and their siblings today. They are all cousins. Michelle and her brother are from Norcal but they are currently in Taiwan on vacation and decided to join our program!

The teachers played Big Wind Blows with the kids while the adults talked downstairs.

We then went to Carrefour (sort of like Wal-Mart) to stock up on food!

Ready for hibernation

We felt like dog food would be a good choice hehe

On the way back to the church from Carrefour, Pastor Chang asked if we wanted to see the waves at the beach (since there's a typhoon coming, the waves were HUUUGE!) and naturally we all said yes! The beach was blocked off (rightfully so) but we all got off the car to take pictures :)

When we got back to the church, we had an abundant meal of fresh dumplings that we picked up on the way back, and meats we bought from Carrefour. We also found lots of snacks on the table with a note saying someone had bought those (+ice cream bars) for us!! We are so blessed to be taken care of so well, and for all these good things in the midst of a storm.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
- For everyone to stay safe in the typhoon
- For us to use our free time tomorrow wisely
- For us to have more spiritual growth and be more focused on the right things on this mission
- To not be discouraged if things aren't happening the way we hoped they would
- For our team to communicate well with each other
- For students and their parents to join the church for Sunday Service this weekend

Thank you and much love from the Dong Hong team ♡