TAIWAN TRIP
On September 8th, I departed on my 57th
overseas mission trip. Happily, the trip
was uneventful and I arrived safely in Taiwan after traveling for about 21
hours. Brother Jao picked me up at the airport and took me to William and
Yolanda Chen’s apartment.
After a pretty good night’s sleep on
Wednesday, we went around town on Thursday morning taking care of some things I
needed to get done to begin my time in Taiwan. Later in the day we went to
visit with students to invite them to the gospel meeting we were conducting in
their school building. We also enjoyed a meal with some of William’s friends.
On Saturday afternoon, we begin a two day gospel meeting at a new location in
Tucheng. William is hoping to begin a new work there in the future. There were
20 people present for the service that afternoon. On Sunday morning, we had
Bible study and worship at William and Yolanda’s house. There were some
regulars who were not able to attend, so they number of those who attended was
quite small. After eating potluck – Chinese style, we went back to Tucheng for
the second session of the gospel meeting. We did not have as many in
attendance, but still had some visitors to attend.
On my last day in Taipei, brother Jao,
the Chens, and me went to Yeliu Geo Park in Keelung. In all the years I lived
and visited Taiwan, I had never been to this place. We hiked up to a gazebo at
the top of a hill. There was a fantastic view of the harbor and the ocean.
On Tuesday morning, I boarded a train for
Hualien – a two hour train ride. Brother and sister Wang met me at the train
station and we took the luggage to the church building then went to lunch.
After lunch, we went to make a few visits in the city.
During the night and into the early hours
of Wednesday, a small earthquake woke me up. That is the first one I have felt
in a few years. During the morning, brother Wang and I went to the assisted
living home and visited with various people living there. We reminded them of
the Bible class to be conducted on Thursday. Then we had a Bible study with one
of the men living there. I taught the lesson in Mandarin and brother Wang
translated into Taiwanese. In the afternoon, we went to visit a lady who works
taking care of someone in the local veteran’s hospital. On Wednesday, I spoke
at the midweek Bible study at the church building. After the evening service we
went to visit a lady who had been in a traffic accident and is currently
homebound. Brother Wang is hoping to study further with her in the near future.
On Thursday morning, we headed back to
the assisted living home for mid-week Bible study. There were about fifty who
attended the morning Bible study. As usual, I spoke in Mandarin and brother
Wang translated into Taiwanese. In the afternoon, we went to the second
assisted living home, where we presented another lesson – I spoke and brother
Wang translated. Thursday night was the first night of the three night gospel
meeting. We had a number of visitors to attend the service.
On Friday morning, because brother Wang
was helping his older sister with a serious family problem, I taught one of the
men at the assisted living home without translating into Taiwanese. His
Mandarin was good enough for him to understand me. Friday night was the second
night of the gospel meeting. Again, we had a number of visitors and hope the
lesson was helpful to them.
On Saturday, I spent most of the day
working on bi-lingual projects for future use. Saturday night was the last
night of the gospel meeting.
Sunday was a very busy day. It started at
6 A.M., when we went to the first assisted living home for morning worship.
There were about 50 in attendance for this service. We then moved to the church
building for Bible study and worship. On Sunday afternoon, we went to the
second assisted living home for worship there. The two lessons at the assisted
living homes were translated from Mandarin into Taiwanese. The two lessons at
the church building were in Mandarin only.
On Monday morning, brother Wang and I
began our train journey from Hualien to Tainan. On the way, we dropped off my
bigger piece of luggage in Taichung, where I would return in two days. We were
met by Jared and Tracy Brzozowski. We spent about an hour visiting with them,
the boarded the High Speed Rail train to finish our trip to Tainan.
We went first to brother Wang’s sister’s
house for lunch and to pick up brother Wang’s parents to take them back to
their house. Later I the afternoon we headed to Yu Jing for visits and the
planned evening service. There were about fifteen in attendance including five
members from Kaohsiung. A day that began at 6:00 AM (leaving for the Hualien
train station) ended at about 10:00 upon arrival at brother Wang’s parents’
house.
On Tuesday, we left the house about 8 AM
and began our day of teaching and visiting. Our first stop was to have a Bible
study with a prospect in another part of Tainan. Most of my lessons were about
an hour each time I spoke.
After that
Bible study concluded, we went to visit with another family. After lunch,
brother Wang went to look at a vehicle that could be used in tract distribution
in Hualien. In the evening, we went back to Yu Jing for the Tuesday service.
The brethren from Kaohsiung were not about to attend, so we had fewer in
attendance.
On Wednesday morning, brother Wang, his
parents and I boarded the train heading northbound. I got off the train in
Taichung. Brother Wang and his parents went on to Hualien. Brother Yo met me at
the train station and I began my last week in Taiwan.
After lunch, we headed for the prison
where I taught two classes. The same students were in the two classes. The
first class was fifty minutes and the second class thirty minutes. We then
headed back to Taichung to run some errands before heading back to brother Yo’s
house. Taichung does not have midweek class on Wed., so I had a chance to catch
up on my reports – including my written report and my PowerPoint presentation.
On Thursday, I was able to start my
walking again. I had not had the opportunity to do that all week. It was good
to be able to visit with John and Michelle Yo again as well. We tried to find
one of the old Japanese prison camps near Taichung, but were unable to locate
it. I was also able to connect my computer to the internet and post some of my
pictures to Facebook for brethren and friends to see.
On Friday morning, we had a Bible study
with a regular visitor to the services. After the Bible study, we had lunch
with brother Jang. Brother Jang was born in 1926 and has lived in Taiwan since
1953. He is the oldest member in Taichung. On Friday evening, we had another
Bible study with one of the members and her family.
On Saturday morning, we visited with a
woman from Indonesia. She is working for a Chinese family taking care of their
children. There are a number of Indonesia and Filipino workers living in
Taiwan. After the visit, we had lunch with brother Paul Liao. We then made
another visit in the afternoon to a couple who has a son that is struggling
with drug addiction.. On Saturday night, the gospel meeting in Taichung began.
We had a small group to assemble for the first night of the service, but we did
have two visitors to attend the service.
On Sunday morning, we conducted a worship
service at the Assisted Living Home near the church building. There are three
members of the church living there. After that service, we went to the church
building for Bible study and worship. I presented a two-part lesson on
“Setbacks in Life” in Mandarin. There were about thirty who attended the
morning services. There were six or seven visitors who attended the services.
Sunday was “Mid-Autumn Festival.” On Sunday night, several of the members and
friends assembled for a potluck and fellowship.
On
Sunday night, I received a message from Delta Airlines of a schedule change for
Tuesday’s return flight home. The reason: an approaching typhoon. On Monday, we
watched the weather reports to see what would happen to affect my flight out
the next day. The services Monday night continued as scheduled. We had good
attendance in spite of the weather. The wind was very strong during the night
Monday night.
Early Tuesday morning, William and
Yolanda Chen took me to the airport and I found out my scheduled flight had
been delayed and I would miss my connection in Tokyo. Helpful Delta and Eva Air
agents worked to rush me to a flight on Eva Air that would let me make the
connection. One of the ground staff actually took my luggage to the gate to put
on the plane so that it would also make the connection. Because of their help,
I was able to get home on schedule. After getting home late Tuesday afternoon,
I worked until 11 PM to get caught up and put things away.
On Wednesday morning, I worked on getting
my China visa application processed. It should come back about ten days before
I leave for the trip.
Thanks to everyone for your prayers
during this trip. It is greatly appreciated that you remember me in your
prayers during all of the traveling that I do.
– John M. Grubb
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