Mother's Day in July

Yesterday afternoon, Esther and I slipped into "Make Believe" world for two hours. Esther and Elizabeth (via video camera and photos) treated me to an elegant English Afternoon Tea party at a local British-style tea house. It was a belated Mother's Day gift, and I'm pretty sure it was the best $20 USD ever spent on a mother. Sometimes, amidst the sights, sounds, smells, and stresses of everyday life in a foreign country, you forget just how refreshing dressing up, sitting across the table from your beautiful 17 year old daughter, smelling rose "everything", and slowly, quietly sipping tea can be.
The food was tasty. The rose-scented potpourri was amazing. The decor was fantastic. And, the relaxing chat with my daughter was priceless. (Elizabeth will visit us in December, and then, all three of us can have this magnificent experience together.)

Thank you girls. I am truly honored to be your mother. May we have many more of these opportunities in the months and years to come. To HIM be all glory and praise.

Hakka Celebration

This week, I (Esther) was invited to attend an all day Hakka celebreation. Although I did not know what that would entail, I whipped out my camera, joined my friend, J, and her mother, P, and set out for an adventure! Before we arrived, my friends explained that the Hakka people are an Asian minority group that have lived on this island for generations. Best known for their colorful handicrafts, unique language, and delicious foods, I soon discovered that I had a lot to learn about these beautiful people! While we were waiting to pick up our tickets, lion dancers paraded down the street to announce the beginning of the day's festivities. Following behind them were several government officials who are running for office this year and a drama group that performed ancient folklore skits. Another exciting event of the day was making traditional, blue tye-dyed handkerchiefs. Even though I ended up with a blue, tye-dyed thumb, I was fascinated by watching the professionals create intricate designs of cranes and flowers on their cloths.Of course, what is a celebration without food? The picture above shows all the tools necessary for the Hakka men to make the well loved dessert, Mo Chi. The dough for the sticky rice cakes must be pounded with the large wooden hammers to crate the perfect consistency. Then peanuts, strawberries, or other toppings can be added to make a tasty treat!Here is my friend, J, eating some wonderful peanut Mo Chi. Yum! There were even booths with games and prizes for anyone who wanted to practice speaking Hakka. I think I pronounced my words incorrectly, but all of the Asian people were quite interested in hearing the white girl try to speak.
All in all, the Hakka celebration was fantastic! I loved learning more about this remarkable culture. As I heard their stories, I thanked the Creator for making such a unique people group. I just hope that the Hakka people will also come to know how much He loves them!

VBS 2010

This year, our BIG national clubhouse stepped out in faith and chose to host two sessions of VBS each day. By making this decision, we were able to host over 400 children at Saddle Ridge Ranch (and yes, it is possible to turn an Asian island into a western dude ranch and Asians into cowboys and cowgirls).
Esther and I spent 10 hours a day working both morning and afternoon sessions all week. It was VERY hard work, but the dividends are definitely eternal with over 200 children making decisions for HIM. Now, the real work of follow-up with entire families begins.

The week was greatly enhanced by all of the donations from our friends in WV and TN. Thanks so much for all of the "leftover" supplies that you sent our way. It definitely added to the theme.

Esther helped out in the Craft site and with one of the first grade classes. I worked with 3rd graders.

Over 1/2 of these children had never attended any kind of VBS-type event before. Pre-registration filled the 400 slots within days of opening. We were so happy that six of our children from the orphanage were able to attend.

I think this photo best describes the entire event: I will give my life, I will give my all, I just want to be like HIM! We were so honored to be able to work alongside our national brothers and sisters who definitely gave ALL they could give this week so that these children had the opportunity to find answers in HIM, both now and in the future.

Off To A Great Start

We just finished up an incredible week of work with a HUGE group of 31 from Kansas City. The team, consisting of adults, teens, and children, got involved with almost every aspect of our ministry...children's events, youth events, BOOK distribution, sports EV, and the orphanage.
For five mornings, they led a Children's English Camp at our little national clubhouse. About 75 children attended, and 15 made decisions to follow HIM.

Each evening, they led a youth event at our little national clubhouse. One night, the group participated in a photo scavenger hunt. This activity really cemented the relationships between the national youth and the teens from the USA.

The highlight of the week was the formation of an on-going weekly youth group. We had our first meeting last night with 25 teens participating.

We will be using 40+ chronological stories to lead these teens through an overview of HIStory during the next year. Seven teens made decisions to follow HIM during the weeklong youth events. These teens are already involved in Sunday morning service and Friday night youth group at our little national clubhouse, and Saturday English Youth Group that Esther leads in our home. We are really looking forward to seeing them be discipled into servants for HIM.

The KC group also had two opportunities to distribute BOOKS to Mainland tourists, to participate in sports EV at the local elementary school and park, to PRYwalk local temples, and to make daily visits to the orphanage. We are grateful for their investment in strengthening and expanding our existing ministries. We praise Father for all of the lives they touched for eternity.

Almost Heaven, WV 6

We have just experienced twenty days of "almost heaven". Once again, WV came through and sent us a great team of workers. This particular association has been supporting us for many years, sending us a summer "m" worker to MT in 2002, the same summer "m" worker to the Mainland in 2006, eight workers to the Mainland in 2008, four workers to our little island in 2009, and six workers to our little island this summer. Four of the six were "newbies" to our little island; so, of course, we initiated them with a traditional trip to the hot pot restaurant.

The shepherd of the group is also an artist. So, he used his talent to draw and tell the C2C story fourteen times in six days.

He shared in elementary, junior high, and university classrooms; private homes; our little national clubhouse; parks; and apartment complex courtyards.

Everywhere he shared, he was well received. Many heard HIStory for the first time. Several were very interested and asked lots of questions.

Some accepted, including a father of 4 teenagers, a grandmother, and our 13 year old neighbor.

We could not have done it without the help of co-workers, national brothers and sisters, and lots of translators.

Then, it was on to English Camp #1 and English Camp #2. Again, doors were opened into public schools through national brothers and sisters.

The highlight of English Camp is always the recreation time, including basketball, football, and other games.

As always, we used holidays to share the C2C story: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and Valentine's.

Special thanks to everyone who helped gather supplies. The children really enjoyed craft time.

We even recruited co-workers to help us tell HIStory. It was literally "all hands on deck" as we shared with about 75 children in English Camp #1 and about 100 children in English Camp #2.

Each child was given several gifts to tell HIStory: a copy of the BOOK, a coloring book, a comic book, and a dvd. Please ask that the children will use these items at home to share HIStory with their family and friends. May the seeds that were planted quickly come to harvest.

You Can Do This # 2

This past Monday, we had an opportunity to go to another tourist spot on our island and help a co-worker distribute BOOKS. We had a great time and were able to distribute about 800 copies of HIStory in a few short hours. It's pretty simple. YOU CAN DO THIS!
First, the buses arrive, filled with tourists. They unload at a pier on this famous lake.

Then, the tourists go out on the lake for about a one hour cruise, enjoying the beauty of HIS creation.

As they leave the boat and head back to the bus, we greet them with a free copy of HIStory.

They always immediately open the gift bags. It's very exciting to see how eager they are to read the BOOK.

Some of us get the materials ready to be distributed. Some of us hand out the materials. And, some of us talk to HIM about them. Please remember these distributions. Remember the tour bus drivers, the tour companies, the tour guides, and the tourists. May all be changed by this encounter with HIM. The tourists are here, every day, all year long. Think about coming over to help us get the WORD out. YOU CAN DO THIS!

You Can Do This!

About 3000 tourists from the BIG country visit our island every day throughout the year. While they are here, we want to give them a gift, a copy of HIStory. We have the BOOKS, we have the place, we have the people....now we just need the volunteers to distribute the books. YOU CAN DO THIS!
First, find the places where the tourists shop, eat, sleep, or explore. Wait for a tour bus with about 40 folks per bus.

Set up a sign stating: FREE BOOKS. Hand out the books and bags with dvds and booklets.

Hand out the materials as quickly as possible. While they wait for their tour buses, chat with them. Ask if they have any requests for HIM. Talk to HIM with them. Talk to them about HIM.

Watch them immediately begin to read HIStory. The tour buses come to this spot every afternoon, every day of the year. In about three hours, you can easily see hundreds of tourists. Yesterday was Day # 1 for this outreach event in our city. Yesterday, we used national siblings to distribute. Yesterday, someone's life was changed for eternity. We'd love to have someone distributing in this spot every day of the year. YOU CAN DO THIS!