Taiwan ~ Bible School
Taiwan is a very unique and enticing culture. As of 2009 it boasted of the tallest building in the world: Taipei 101 Tower, yet in other places it also is still very much old world culture and living. It has breath taking beauty and expanse and also quaint and small streets, stores, and towns overflowing with people and character.
One of the best culture experiences of Taiwan is their food culture. With many different foods that you can imagine, down most every street and corner are street vendors selling some Taiwan treat. From some of the best fruit I've tasted to strange creations of squid on a stick (not my favorite), you can taste much of the culture. Stinky tofu (self explanatory) to a foot tall ice cream cone. Noodles of every kind and some of the best breads ever. They truly have a variation of everything.
But out of all my experiences - the food, the beauty, the language, the markets, the historical and artistic buildings and places- my favorite thing about Taiwan was the people. They are a very family oriented, kind and generous people. As much as we tried to give out to them, they always returned much more blessing to us. God blessed me to make many friends and acquaintances among these people.
I was in Taiwan 9 months and in this time we not only studied bible but we had outreaches to the communities we lived in. We found many ways to share the gospel from street evangelism to cafe ministry, a surfing outreach to nursing home care. We witnessed and prayed for people in hospitals and we regularly visited a large university to minister to students in many ways. And for many of us we were always amazed at the conversations God would open up just by our encounter with people in restaurants or on the train or street. God was faithful to draw people to himself and we were always so blessed to be a part of it!
Taiwan is largely a Buddhist country in their religious beliefs and a form of that is ancestor worship. I don't understand a lot about this religion but what I did perceive were many people who were still seeking for peace, love, and purpose in the midst of their Buddhist worship. Somehow it did not matter what we understood about Buddhism but what we could share about Jesus. The people we encountered who accepted Jesus into their lives made evident changes of joy, peace, purpose, and an excited understanding and accepting of how much Jesus loved them.
One thing God was teaching me during this time is that the love of Jesus overrides our felt need to understand all religions and debatable points. We must strive to be humble enough to neglect our pursuit to be perfect evangelist, and just witness (scatter many seeds). God uses us to share his love and message as long as we are willing. God is faithful that the efforts we put forth for Him are never in vain.
I loved Taiwan. God loves Taiwan. Would you pray today that more Taiwanese people will come to know Him?