comin' at ya from the other side of the world...

Hey y'all. So we've been in Taiwan since last week and our second week of ministry is quickly coming to a close. Things have been going as well as they could I suppose. There are definitely some things that God has been showing and reminding me of through my time here.

There is one thing that God has constantly reminded me of through the entire time I've been here.

One of the things I noticed as we travel around here is just how dirty everything is. The first day I was here, I was really taken aback by the sights I was seeing and the smells I was smelling. There is this one scooter mechanic's shop we pass by almost everyday as we walk to downtown Dan-shui... and inside of the garage bay, there's just heaps of junk everywhere. Broken scooter parts, cracked pulleys, etc... stuff that in America, I wouldn't hesitate to toss out. And stinky tofu! I had only heard things about it... and as a trained chef, I try to have an open mind to food. But man does that stuff stink! One night, we were just going up and down the night market in Dan-shui, I kept smelling it and was determined to figure out what smelled so bad. And then we passed by the booth and I actually saw people eating it. There's tons more examples of this. And there's some of us on the team who are "going native" with this too as CTI calls it... Just the other day, as we were walking up a mountain to go to a Nursing, Medical, & Management college, it was raining fairly significantly. And one of our team members happened to spot a half ripped and broken umbrella in the midst of some brush in a gutter on the side of the road. And he picked it up and used it. It obviously wasn't worth using... the Taiwanese person who owned it didn't even think it was worth keeping. But this guy was OK using this broken umbrella. And even though the rest of us were telling him that it wasn't worth the effort to continue using it, he wouldn't hear anything of it and used it until we got to the school.

Here's what God showed me and reminds me through these experiences. These people don't see this stuff as junk. They cherish it. They'll keep heaps and piles of it. I can tell them all I want that the things that they have are worthless... and I'm sure that if it came down to it, they'll go out of their way to prove to me that I'm wrong like my teammate did with the umbrella. They'll eat tofu that smells like dead things and they find such joy in it. But if you think about it, how different are they than we are? We cling to things that we think are valuable... maybe it's not material possessions. Maybe it's what we value. Or how we spend our time. And a lot of times, don't we go out of our way to prove people wrong about what they think of our "treasures"?

To tell you the truth, the first few minutes roaming the streets in Dan-shui, I was disgusted by the dirtiness and smelliness of it all. I couldn't believe that people were content living in what I thought was a pretty dirty and ghetto place. Now don't get me wrong, it's not all that bad. There are places I've been that are a lot worse. But I kept thinking, "A lot of these people think they're living a pretty good life. At least in Tampa, the people who live in the ghetto know that there's so much more."

In contrast though, Jesus Christ, in His everlasting mercy and grace, came down to the slums of earth. He walked in the dirty dusty roads. He was friends with tax collectors and prostitutes. He healed people, taught people, and after living 33 years without even an ounce of grumbling, He died the most shameful death for us. "Not my will but Yours be done." He could have easily had the same reaction I had... "these people live like this?!" and yet, He chose to serve us and made a way for us to have that relationship with our Father. And that my friends, is what what we should treasure.

The bible tells us to become more like Christ. And I hope that the little time I have remaining in Taiwan, I can continue to shed this attitude and humble myself more as Christ did so I can serve the people here. And even as we go back to the states.

There's lots more that God has shown both me as well as my teammates and I'm sure that He'll continue to show us more things.

Keep praying for us! Miss all y'all back home. =)

Cheers,
Jon