Real World Taiwan

RIP - Little Lisa

2006-10-14T18:00:00.000+08:00

Unfortunately, I told many of you about the little 7th grader at our school that passed away due to cancer about 2 and a half weeks ago. As I said before although Lisa is gone praise God that she was baptized just weeks before going to her Eternal home. She did not have any Christians to speak of in her family but God works in strange ways when the little girl began to here stories about Jesus she decided that she loved Jesus and while in the hospitial two weeks before her death she decided that she wanted to be baptized into God's family.

About a week or so after her death her mother said something to Lisa's teacher about a little note that she found on Lisa's desk. The note was the only thing on her desk, the note read "For God so loved Lisa, that he gave his Son Jesus for Lisa, so if Lisa believes in Him as her Savior from sin, Lisa shall not die but Lisa shall have eternal life" What a great promise that God makes to that little girl. It turns out that this summer when we had some students from Concordia Seward visiting they went to my classroom and shared that verse with my students Lisa being one of those students took comfort in God's words and promise.

Please continue to lift up in prayer Lisa's family as her mother was greatly touched by the note that she found and also her classmates. Pray that God would use this terrible death to bring others closer to Him as their Savior!

Pung Hu Vacation

2006-10-14T17:35:00.000+08:00

Over the last weekend I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to a couple of Taiwan's other Islands, mainly Pung Hu and a small island just off of Pung Hu called G-bay island, that is not the correct spelling of the island but simply the way that it is pronounced. Myself and seven others, two americans Mark and Emilie, two Taiwanese co-workers Demi and Emily and three of Demi's friends Derek, Tz Tz, and La Lan.

This was truly one of the best vacations of my life, it was cheap, fun, full of new experiences and best of all full of friends. It all started with an hour long boat ride from the main island. I was a rather long ride for a few of my friends who puked a couple of times on this short journey due to sea sickness. But once we arrived on the island we went straight to the ocean and went snorkling. I have never seen so many beautiful fish before it my life, I can't imagine what it would be like to actually go scuba diving but hopefully I will have that opportunity also. One the way back to our home stay we made a little stop because of a flat tire on one of our scotters but it is all about the experience, spending time with friends even when you are sitting around waiting for a scotter to be fixed. Later that evening we went back to our home stay and had a good old fashioned Taiwanese BBQ which is an experience in it self.

We awoke the next morning to go to G-Bay Island and do some water activities such as riding on a banana boat, tubing, riding on jet skis and more snorkling with more beautiful fish, one of which our friend Emily caught in her hand. We then went and got our first taste of Cactus Ice Cream it was great! From there we experienced our second flat tire. After fixing the flat tire we went to little village on Pung Hu where all the homes and everything else was made out of coral. Pretty Cool! Appartently everyone in this village was related and all had the same sir name, Chen. From there we walked around downtown Pung Hu went out to eat at a hot pot restaurant and then went back to our hotel for a good nights sleep.

The next morning we went to the oldest temple in all of Taiwan, appartently it is about 400 or 500 years old. After that we walked around the older part of town looked into many shops. Finally, we returned home by boat but this time no one got sick. Anyway, hopefully in the next day I will have some pictures posted our most excellent vacation.

Kittens and Puppies!

2006-10-14T16:21:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone just thought I would publish a couple of blogs in one day to let everyone know how things have been here in Taiwan.

First, I'll tell you all about the animal house. Also known as where Kevin, Mark and James live. It all started about three or four weeks ago when one of our Taiwanese co-workers came to our door at 6:00pm with a very cute little kitten in her hands. She looked at Mark and I and asked if we would be willing to watch a kitten for the night until she could find a home for the cat in the morning. Unfortunately, the next morning are co-worker was sick and no one wanted the kitten. So we thought no big deal one more day is not the end of the world. The next day our co-worker returned to work made some phone calls and still nothing. At this point we are getting a little concerned that some how this cat was going to be at our home for a while. The next day I decided to take the cat out and show the cat to the students to see if anyone wanted a cat. As it turns out all the kids loved the cat but no one really wanted to take the cat with them. So we would have the kitten for yet another day. Finally at the end of the day on Friday one of the students came to our office and said her mom would be okay with keeping the cat for the weekend and then they would let us know if it worked out and thankfully she has not returned to the English office with the cat yet.

As many of you know I am much more of a dog person than a cat person anyway. Maybe I have mentioned the fact that we here at Concordia have many dogs that live on campus. One of my favorite dogs recently had puppies, seven of them. In the beginning no one really saw these puppies only the mother occasionally until one day when we returned home from our Pung Hu vacation we were informed that there were seven puppies and a mom living right behind our house. They are really the cutiest things ever and we with the help of Anna and Emily have begun caring now for a mother dog and 5 little puppies unfortunately two of the originial seven did not make it. Well I have to run now and go play volleyball. Hopefully when I return I will blog more and tell you all about my trip to Pung Hu! It was awesome.

New Beginnings!

2006-08-07T11:56:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, I have arrived safely back in Taiwan. It is kind of a strange feeling being back but also very exciting to see so many students and smiling faces. Oddly enough it seems as if a lot has changed in the month that I was gone New Buildings, New Restuarants, New People.

I spent much of the week helping move the English office to its new location. We also had the task of moving all of the foriegn teachers things who were not here. Not to worry the only thing we broke were a few Star Wars Collectables (Sorry Mike)!

Teaching Junior 1 or 7th grade English definitely has its challenges as there is a big difference between the best English in the class and the worse. Last week we did numbers 1-100, colors, and about 40 nouns that deal with the school and the classroom plus in, on, under, over, by and at. This week we are doing days of the week, months, this, that, these, those, etc . . . All in all most of the students seem to have a great desire to learn and grow.

Next week we will also begin our week long basketball camp with the students. Unfortunately, we got our camp t-shirts today and they misspelled the word "Christ" and it is Chirst instead.

Please pray for the rest of our team which will be arriving in the next few weeks. Pray that God would bless them with safe trips and bless all of us with ready hearts to serve Him.

All Wet!!

2006-06-02T15:24:00.001+08:00

It all started last Sunday morning when it was raining on the way to church. Although we had rain coats it really did not make much of a difference as the rain was relentless. All we could was laugh at ourselves. As the cars would zip through puddles splashing and soaking us the entire time. By the time we arrived at church we were soaking wet, so wet that when we arrived at church we had to dump the water out of our shoes and wring the water out of our socks. In the end it was just more comfortable to where dress shoes and no socks. Today is Friday and it has rained everyday since Sunday. Right now I am sitting the office waiting for it to stop pouring so I can make a made dash for my home which is maybe a quarter mile away. Should fun!

Let me tell you about the highlights of my week as I wait for the down pour to stop. Monday was a very interesting day as I had the privilidge to sub for our Kindergarten teacher. It was truly a delight to have twenty-seven five year olds listening and reading. We worded on the "an" sound with words like can, fan, van, ran and then sand, band, land and so on. They caught on very quickly and were so cute.

Tomorrow I will be having an end of the year party pizza party for all of my students. Unfortunatley only about 30 will be coming as many of them have cram school classes or don't have a way home after the party. Anyway that is my week sorry for any miss spellings the rain has really did down gotta go!

Narnia!

2006-05-26T12:09:00.000+08:00

Sorry everyone for my failure once again to blog regularly! Just want to give you a quick update on how things have been over the last two weeks. For our Thursday Night Fellowship Night we have watching the movie Narnia and last night we finished the movie and had a discussion that followed. While the small group discussion that I had with about 18 junior one boys went very well the even more exciting part was the discussion and questions that their dorm father had. While their dorm father is not a Christian I have had several opportunities to talk to him about God. He always seems to be interested in the topic and seems to sincerely want to know more. Last night he told me that he is reading through the book of Acts and has already read through the four gospels. He also expressed a desire to attend bible classes with my students. I quickly offered to go to dinner with Paul to discuss what he has been reading and what he thinks. Hopefully this will lead to regular time of meeting with him to discuss faith and life. Please remember to pray for Paul as he continues to seek to know more and more about Jesus Christ. Pray that God would use me and the many other Christians that he comes into contact with that we might be the vessels and instruments of God.

As the semester nears its end please keep all of the members of LCMS Missions in Taiwan in your prayers. Pray that we might be able to keep a since of focus during this last month of classes and that we might continue to share Christ love with those he places in our path.

Pray also for Anne, Anna H., and Chuck who will be finishing their time here and going on to other areas of ministry. Pray for God's continued leading and guiding of their lives. Pray for the new members of team Taiwan (Elton, Jenny and Emily) who will be joining us in August.

God bless you all, I pray that I might be able to see many of you upon my return to the states for the month of July.

An Exciting Weekend! A Weekend Of First!

2006-04-30T21:09:00.000+08:00

This weekend each class of Junior One or seventh grade students did readers theater, each Junior Three and Senior One class did an English Drama. I have to say that after watching the Junior One and Junior Three students I am truly amazed by their English ability. I really enjoyed just watching them practice for weeks and then perform. I would love to be able to speak a third language as well as they speak English. You see almost all Taiwanese students already speak two languages, Chinese and Taiwanese. English is the third language that they learn.

This weekend was also a weekend of first. It was the first time that I actually ate Sushi. Before this weekend eating raw fish was certainly not something that I looked forward to or ever wanted to do. Needless to say that I was certainly not looking forward to dinner on Saturday night. To my surprise, the sushi was great, I loved it!! I also drank bird saliva, not exactly something I want to do on a regular basis but it was not terrible. Apparantly it is supposed to be a pretty special thing. The other first I had this weekend did not go very well at all.

I was scheduled to pray in Church this Sunday. Now we are always told you can pray in English or Chinese. Since all the foreigners who had prayed in church before me prayed in Chinese, I felt it was also something that I needed and actually wanted to do. I decided to pray in Chinese also. I had been practicing, memorizing and learning this prayer for a week and a half. I must have gone over this prayer twenty times before and during church today. I was ready! So I begin the prayer and everything is going well and then suddenly I am frozen. I can't think, my mind is blank. I stop and think, afraid, like a deer in headlights and for the life of me I can't think of the next word. After standing there frozen for about ten seconds I gave up and said Amen, having only finished half my prayer and in mid-sentence. It was truly a humbling and horrifying experience. But some how everyone was very supportive of my botched prayer.

Well after telling you that story, I guess I should also tell you that the weekend was not completely discouraging. Saturday after the English Drama performances I was talking to one of my former Junior One students. A lot the classes have the own t-shirts that they have created just for their class of fifty and her class was wearing their t-shirts today. So I was asking about the t-shirt and what everything was on the t-shirt. Earlier in the day someone had pointed out to me that it looked like they had a cross on their class shirts which in America might not be strange for a Christian school but in Taiwan where less than five percent of the population is Christian it was little strange. So I asked "Is that a cross on your shirts?" "Yes" she replied. Then I asked "Why?" "We believe God, you taught us that!" she replied in broken English. Well, truly all credit and glory is due to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit for leading this child to recieve Jesus Christ as her personnal Lord and Savior. Praise God for the amazing work He is doing here in Taiwan!

Outdoor Worship!

2006-04-27T12:10:00.000+08:00

Sunday, Salvation Church held their annual Outdoor Worship Service which was attended by over two hundred and thirty people. That was about 100 more people than last year from what I am told. I was really great and amazing to see so many young people in attendance. After worship we enjoyed a Mongolian Barbeque with friends followed by a treasure hunt for all of the children plus a couple of games of Eagles Nest. We also had the opportunity to throw around the frisbee and play a little volleyball. Please pray that all those who were in attendance may feel welcome to join us for regular worship on Sunday mornings and that the Holy Spirit might be opening their hearts and minds to His saving messege. Thank you to Immanuel Lutheran Church in Elmhurst, IL, for their generous donation to help make such an event possible. Pictures will be posted on the Kevin's Photos link soon.

Please continue to pray for and lift up our Thursday Fellowship group with students who live on campus as it is another opportunity for us to share our faith and lives with the young people here at Concordia. Continue also praying for all of our students who seem to be having more and more questions about Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has done! Pray that the Holy Spirit would be leading and guiding us to answer these questions.

Taiwan Professional Baseball!

2006-04-22T15:31:00.000+08:00

Well, I had an exciting opportunity last night to go to a CPBL Baseball Game. I think CPBL stands for Chinese Professional Baseball League but I am not sure. I actually got to ride the school bus with all the students because I was attending the game with one of my students and the game was in his home town. It was about an hour from the school's campus by bus. It was interesting to see the looks I would get from some of my students when they saw me on their bus. I think the stadium that the game took place in was maybe a little bit bigger than the average minor league park. I would definitely say that the environment was quite different than I am used to. There were no vendors walking up and down the aisles selling hotdogs, beer and other things and actually not a lot of consessions elsewhere in the stadium either. Although you could bring in your own food, and beer as you please plus there is a night market right outside where you can get whatever you need to snack on. The game itself was a lot like any other game that I have been too although the crowd is a little different. Most of the game the crowd is banging together two large plastic objects and blowing into a plastic horn. The other interesting thing is the teams do not have home fields where they play all there games, instead they travel around Taiwan from city to city and town to town never really having a home game with a home crowd. One other difference was the two teams fan bases were divide by where you sat. The first base and right field line cheered for one team and the third base and left field line cheered for the other team. Anyway, it was great experience and one that I will not soon forget. Thanks Cormac!

This week of classes has been quite exciting also. For bible we went over Good Friday with our students and after hearing about Jesus Death many students had questions and some good discussion have followed. Please pray for additional opportunities to share what Jesus Christ has done for these students and that the Holy Spirit might give me the words to speak and open the hearts and minds of these students.

Our students also have enjoyed watching an episode of the television show "Lost" and writing about a character from the show, using adjectives to describe the character and then giving examples of how things this person does that show this adjective. We are working on Character Development in our writing classes right now.

Please lift up in prayer our outdoor worship which we will be having tomorrow, pray that good would be opening the hearts and minds of the 200 plus people who are expected to attend.

Jesus Christ Is Risen Today! Welcome To The Family!

2006-04-16T13:10:00.000+08:00

Hey everyone, Happy Easter! It is so awesome to sit and celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord and Savior with the Family of God. Worship today at Salvation was truely a blessing as welcomed three more people to the Family of God through baptism today. Please remember Teacher Hu, Angela and baby Lily as they were all welcomed into the family through baptism today. Pray that the Holy Spirit might continue to lead and guide them in their lives and in the One True Faith. We had about 20 first time visitors at church today some Christian and others non-Christian. Please pray for those who have not yet recieved Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior yet.

Pastor announced in church today that we have 210 people signed up to attend our Outdoor Worship Service next week. That is about 4 times the size of our regular worship attendance. Please pray that the Holy Spirit might be present in our words, thoughts and actions that we might reflect Him for all to see. Pray that the Holy Spirit would be opening hearts and minds to who He is and what He has done for all people in His Death and Resurrection! Pray also for good weather as the weather has been quite an issue in the past for Outdoor Worship.

Have Blessed Easter Celebration.

HE IS RISEN!

A Week In Review!

2006-04-14T11:25:00.000+08:00

Well over the last week there are several things that have gone on that I would like to tell you about. Saturday morning began with the school science fair and the excitement of all the students preparing their projects. The most exciting part was the rocket contest, where students created there own rockets and launched them down the soccer field attempting to hit a target. All in all, it was just a really good chance to walk around and build relationships talking to students and watching there excitement as they compete.

This week being Holy Week we have had and will have plenty of opportunities to share the story of Jesus Death and Resurrection. In our bible class we have been going over Maunday Thursday and then in the following two weeks we will go over Good Friday and Easter. Last night, at our regular Thursday Fellowship with students we watched the movie "The Gospel of John." Today the school had an all school chapel and Easter service over the first two class periods. Tonight we will have our Good Friday service at Church and then Easter services this coming Sunday. A week later we will have our Outdoor Worship service in which we will invite everyone who attends Friday Night Bible Study with us and also all who attend Saturday School. Please keep all of these events and happenings in your prayers as we continue to point the way to Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of ALL!

Have a Blessed Good Friday as we remember the Savior's Death and reflect on how his Death was for us, so that we might have life!

Tomb Sweeping Day!

2006-04-05T17:08:00.000+08:00

Today is Wednesday, April 5th, and here in Taiwan April 5th is a holiday called Tomb Sweeping Day. It falls on 105 day after the winter solstice, and marks the 15th day after the beginning of Spring. On this day people go out into the countryside to clean their ancestral tombs, pay their respects to the dead and have a picnic by the tomb. It is also customary in Taiwan to hang and scatter colorful rectangular paper banners on the ancestral tombs on this day, serving as a marker of the annual visit. Various offerings are made to the ancestors, which, after worship, are distributed by the head of the family to all present to be shared in communion. Eggshells are also placed on the tomb, to symbolize the eternal force of life ushering out the old and welcoming the new, ever pushing through old limitations and creating through the successive flow of generations.

Strangly enough at Friday Night Bible Study last week one of the church members asked "How do Americans remember their dead?" Interesting question! I would say that Americans remember and honor their dead through visiting their grave sites, and remembering them on Memorial Day and on other special holidays. By talking about them with are friends and loved ones. I can appreciate a lot of what Tomb Sweeping Day stands for except for the worshipping of the dead but I also think it is very important to remember our loved ones who have gone on before us and show respect and honor to them. As Christians we also remember our dead on All Saints Day when we remember the Saints who have gone on before us and are now in Heaven with God.

Hopefully, soon I will be able to post some pictures of the three on three basketball tournament, talent show and some of my students bible projects. Right now I am having some computer problems which will hopefully be fixed soon enough. Hope this blog finds you all doing well.

Never be lacking in ZEAL!!!

2006-04-02T20:35:00.000+08:00

Working backwards over the last few days, Pastor preached an excellent sermon today on Romans 12:11, "Never be lacking in zeal but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord!" His point never lose your desire to serve God especially by telling others about Jesus Christ and who he is and what he has done for us. We have the greatest messege on earth to share. It was just really a great encouragement to continue going and telling.

Well before church about 6 of us went and ran in the Chai Yi City, 3,5 and 10 K race although all of us ran in the 5k. It was amazing to see thousands of people there ready to run. I actually ran into three of my students at the race who informed me that they run everyday at 5:00 AM. Now that is dedication! Or just plain craziness. While waiting for the race to begin one of my teammates began jokingly dancing to which I responded by dancing but unfortunatly I was completely unaware that the news crew was filming me dancing. As many of you know it is very rare for me to dance but to dance in public and on camera that was going way to far. Please pray this footage will not make the nightly news and if it does that not one of my students will have seen it! Anyway, running in the race itself was exhillerating although my time was very slow I had a great time running and chatting with a friend while encouraging others as they ran. It is definitely an experience that I would love to have again.

On Saturday morning Mark(one of my housemates) and I went with all the Junior 1 students just under 500 students in all to a Taiwanese farm. It is kind of funny because I had half of all the Junior 1 students in my bible class last semester so it was not a big surprise that they invited but Mark had never taught any of these students so it was kind of funny that they invited him. But the truth is everyone knows that all the Junior High Girls and basically Senior High girls to think Mark is so cute. They love his blonde hair and blue eyes. Anyway, it was a fun and tiring day hanging out with 7th graders going from animal to animal and place to place.

All in all it was a very busy yet fun-filled weekend here in Taiwan!

March Madness!

2006-03-30T13:20:00.000+08:00

As the madness of March seems to be finishing up in the states it seems to have just started here at Concordia Middle. You see all of the Junior High students have begun their three on three basketball tournaments during school lunch and nap time. It is so cool to see the students crowded around the basketball courts by the hundreds, each screaming and cheering for their classmates and friends! While the skill level is a little different than the states I would say that quite a few of these students are very good and they really seem to enjoy playing the game. Some of us voluneers have actually thrown around the idea of having a basketball camp for the students following summer school.

I have to say that after blogging and complaining about the weather last week today is an absolutely beautiful day outside. The sun is shining brightly and the temp. most be in the high 70's just warm enough to feel good and not so warm that you are hot, and sweaty!

My students this week have been presenting their bible projects to the class. They were divide into groups of 3-4 and then they picked a parable from the choices of "The Rich Fool", "The Good Samaretian" and "The Lost Son". This week they presented either a poster, comic strip or drama about the parable they had chosen. As with any group of students some were very well done and others obviously were thrown together at the very last possible moment. After the presentation I asked them questions about what their parables meant and for the most part they seemed to have a pretty clear understanding of the meaning of those stories.

On a personnal note I started Chinese lessons yesterday. I had been taking Chinese lessons with a group first semester but I have come to the realization that it is much more beneficial for me to pay for individual lessons where I can learn at my own pace and also kind of direct where the lessons are going.

Tonight we will have our Thursday Night Fellowship Night with the students who live on campus please continue to lift this important ministry opportunity up in prayer as we continue to strive to point the way to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of ALL!

A Great Day!

2006-03-25T01:15:00.000+08:00

Through all the rain today and it is still raining now, today has been a great day! First, I had a great day watching some b-ball on the internet after chapel as I only have two classes to teach on Fridays. Duke lost that was great, Texas wins at the buzzer AWESOME! UCLA beats Gonzaga at the down the stretch kind of indifferent but what a great finish to a basketball game.

Tonight at Friday Day Night we had a talent and testimony night. The talent show was awesome people singing songs in Chinese, Japanese and English and people playing such wonderful instruments such as the Erhu and the Chinese Zither. But best of all was one of my former Junior One students or 7th graders playing the piano like a baby Mozart! She has only played for two years but she was absolutely mind boggling. Then she told me later that before Junior High she would practice 6-8 hours a day. Okay that explains a lot! All that being said the best part of tonight was the testimonies. We had seven Taiwanese people come forward to tell their stories of faith and it was amazing. What an encouragement and Christian witness they were for everyone there tonight. What an AWESOME OPPORTUNITY we have to tell the world about the Amazing Love of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

A quick prayer request for a young man named Michael who I do not know very well, but the prayer request is that he simply who come to know Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior from Sin, Death and the Devil.

Rain, Rain, Go Away Come Again Another Day!

2006-03-24T09:28:00.000+08:00

Guess what? It's raining! After about three or four months in the dry season and having very little rain it has now rained four days in a row and let me tell you that it is a little annoying!!

Anyway, we led chapel this morning with the 8th-12th grade students. We were very excited to see a much bigger crowd than normal. We normally expect around 200 students and today there were probably over 300. We had planned on handing out braclets with beads on them that tell the story of Christianity. Gold for Heaven and the perfect creation that was in the beginning, Black for Sin that seperates us from God and ruins His perfect creation, Red for the Blood of Christ that was shed for you and me, White for the Forgiveness that we recieve in Christ, Green for continuing to Grow in Faith and Gold again for Eternal Life that we recieve through Christ work in our lives! God is Good! The students seemed to be very receptive to the braclets and seemed to flow along quite well as we explained each bead.

Please continuing praying for the students and teachers here at CMS and CELA who do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior!

God is Good! Praise God!

2006-03-11T11:02:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a very exciting day! First Matt and Dee-Dee our coordinator and his came back from Taipei with the news that the decided to adopt a little Taiwanese girl. Praise God for answered prayers and please continue to lift up Matt, Dee-Dee and little Lily as they continue the adoption process.

At our Friday Night Bible Study last night we did the Easter Story. It was so awesome to celebrate the Savior's resurrection with so many people of different races. It was awesome to see our friend a Taiwanese National from a local college bring about 5-7 of his friends with him to the Easter Story and Celebration!

Since I have last blogged we have also had the opportunity to have to Thursday night fellowship nights with the students that are going very well.

Please continue to pray for the students and teachers here in Taiwan, as they continue to hear the Word of God may God's Word be planted deeply into there hearts.

Thailand Vacation!

2006-02-11T12:13:00.000+08:00

Well, I have returned from Thailand rested, relaxed and ready to start a new semester. Thailand was a lot of fun, our hotel was awesome, the food was great and everything was dirt cheap. Buddism is the major religion in Thailand so we visited a couple of Wats or Buddist temples, as they are huge tourist attractions in Thailand, we also visited the Grand Palace which is the former Palaca of the King, and the city of Ayuttia which is the former Capital of Thailand before it was invaded by the Burmese who came in and attached the city, cutting off the heads of all the Budha's. I also got the opportunity to visit an old college friend who lives in a town three hours north of Bangcock called Nakhun Sawan. It was an excellent time to see an old friend and renewing that friendship. You can see all the pictures linked to my blog. The link is Kevin's photos and the album is called Thailand vacation. Well Tuesday is back to work for me and I can't wait to see my students again and begin teaching. Hope you all are doing well!

Chinese New Year!

2006-02-02T22:32:00.000+08:00

Hi everybody, this has been a very exciting and busy week for me. It started with going on a class trip with one of the 9th grade classes. Went up to Taipei to see the sights. We visited an amusement park called Leo Foo Village. It was pretty cool but definitely nothing like an amusement park in America, but they also had a small zoo a this amusement park. That night we went out to eat and were interviewed by a news crew who was doing a special on the restuarant that we were eating at. The next day we went to a WARF and hung out in a small town near Taipei. Later we went to the Planetarium and then to E Ling E other wise known as Taipei 101 the biggest building in the world. It was pretty cool and very big but unfortunately it was extremely foggy on that day so we did not go to the top of the building. The next day we left Taipei and on the way home we stopped at a local farm. For pictures of all of these exciting events please see my pictures the album is called J3-D class trip.

My Chinese New Year vacation continued with a trip to Isabella's who is the Dean at CELA. Fellow missionaries Michelle and James joined me. In Isabella's hometown Hsinchu we experienced a traditional Chinese New Year which involved lots of food and family. It is tradition for the entire family to meet at the home of the oldest person in the family. Chinese New Year is full of rich tradition and superstitions. One of the traditions is that the children in the family receive red envelopes full of money to celebrate Chinese New Year. If you are grown and have a job you must give read envelopes to your parents.

One of the other traditions or superstitions is that on Chinese New Year Eve , the cruel and ferocious monster Nian would come out and devour people at random. It is said that Nian was sensative to loud noises and afraid of the color red. For this reason on Chinese New Year Eve people set off fireworks and paste red paper to their doors to keep Nian away. On New Years Day after everyone wakes up everyone says "Gong-Xi" or congratulations to celebrate surviving the night.

Also all cleaning should be finished before Chinese New Year Day to sweep away any ill fortune. On New Year's day using a broom or duster to clean the house is not allowed. If someone sweeps or cleans on this day good fortune will also be swept out of this home. Taking out the garbage is also forbiddin.

One the first day of the New Year children wear new clothing to get off to a good start to the new year. Also many people visit the temples to pray for good luck for the new year. On the second day married daughters return home, they are forbidden to return home on Chinese New Year Day. It is believed that if they break this rule they will bring poverty to their family. The fourth day it is believed that deities come down to the earthly world. Every family prepares offerings and delicacies to greet the gods. Incense and candles are lit, paper money is burnt and firecrackers are set off to welcome them.

Well that is it for now! I am off to Thailand on Saturday and hopefully will have lots to blog about when I return.

End of Semester One

2006-01-22T15:07:00.000+08:00

Well it has been a great five months here in Taiwan and time has really flown by. We did evaluations of for our 7th grade Bible class which we will not be teaching next semester and it was very interesting to get so many different responses to the Gospel. It seems that at this point in there lives so many of these students are willing to consider Christianity and what Jesus has done for them. Please pray that these seeds that have been planted may continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts and minds of these young people.

As the semester also comes to an end of the 9th grade English class that I have been teaching it is always encouraging to see improvement in their writing abilities through out the semester. While the 9th graders don't seem to be as receiptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I beleive a lot of that has to do with the fact that they have heard these things now for 2 1/2 years and unfortunately many of them have already decided if they are still interested in Christianity and desire to learn more or if they are completely uninterested in hearing anything to do with Christianity. I am greatly encouraged by the relationships I have been able to build with so many students please pray that the Holy Spirit would use those relationships as an opportunity for me to share Christ with these people over the next 5 monthes.

Well tomorrow I will be off to Taipei for a 9th grade class trip and then Wednesday night off to another part of Taiwan with friends to celebrate an authentic Chinese New Year. Have a blessed week!

In Christ,

Kevin Foley

Blogging Again!

2006-01-15T14:22:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone so sorry that I have not been able to blog in a long time. I just wanted to let everyone that I just posted some of our Christmas pictures. Some of the pictures are of the campus and students as they had tree decorating competitions and singing competitions. Other pictures are of CMS Christmas skit, the CELA Christmas program and some Christmas Caroling that we did. Hope you enjoy the pictures and I think I will also be trying to post videos of some of the things that we have been doing also. Please keep my decision about whether or not to stay a second year in Taiwan in your prayers. I will be making a decision by the end of January. I will be trying to post blogs once a month in between my monthly newsletters. Hope everyone is doing great!!

In Christ,

Kevin Foley

Busy, Busy, Busy!

2005-11-13T19:36:00.000+08:00

Wow, hi everyone just wanted to check-in with my weekly or bi-weekly blog! As you can see from my title things are getting just a little bit busy around here. I'll start by telling you about my weekend!

Yesterday was a very relaxing day that involved practicing for chapel that we will be leading next Friday, hiking up Dullie Shon, Shon is translated mountain and Dullie is the name of the mountain which is translated Independent! I went with Mark, James and Anna plus a bunch of youth from a church that invited us. It was great hike except for the rain and fog. Although some of my pictures turned out great! I am not sure if I will have time to post the pictures just yet! The evening ended with a bike ride to Pizza Hut for their Buffet!

Today Sunday we went to church returned home and began working on a skit for something called life education. Basically they are skits and presentations that we do for some of the students that teach them about life. The topic we are addressing for this life education is bullying. It should be great and lots of fun but many hours and hours of work need to be put into it. Now tonight the CMS staff is discussing out Christmas skit for the students. We watched last years skit and the bar was set pretty high. The skit needs to be 15-20 minutes long. In a few minutes I will be off to Ablasia practice because we are leading music for the conference in a week and a half.

With November already seemingly coming to a close, I can imagine a very busy six weeks leading up to Christmas. We have a chapel to plan for next Friday, then we go Hong Kong in a week and a half. When we return home from Hong Kong we have monthly test to grade, two up and coming chapel services which we have not even began to plan yet, a 15-20 minute skit to plan that we must perform twice, another Christmas drama to perform for Friday Night Bible Study, a Christmas Eve Extravagansa to sing for, and I also have the pleasure of planning the Christmas Bible Study for Friday Night Bible Study. These are just the things that I am involved and there are many other things that everyone else is also involved in.

Please pray that God would be using all of us here in Taiwan to communicate His love and message of Salvation in everything we do. Pray also for an extra measure of energy and patience during this most wonderful time of the year.

Please don't take this blog as me complaining but merely painting a picture of how busy things we be getting around here. I am actually very excited to be involved in all of these things and praying for God's message to be communicated through us His humble vessels.

God's blessing on all of your Christmas plans!

Track meet and halloween!

2005-10-30T22:12:00.000+08:00

Following those monthly test the last two Fridays and this Saturday the students had track and field days which each class of fifty students competes against the other classes in their grade. There are 10 7th grade classes 10 8th grade classes 9 9th grade classes 6 10th grade classes 7 11th grade classes and 6 or 7 12th grade classes. You can see why this event would take three full days. The most exciting events for the students are the 30 person relays. That’s right, each classes places 30 students in their 30 by 100 relays and the students go nuts cheering on their classmates. The other big events are the teacher races. The English department won the 4 by 100 with ease. Luckily, they did not ask me to run with them. This morning I ran in the 1500 meter race with about 20 other teachers. I finished 13th but it is just really awesome to run around the track and have hundreds of students screaming for you. Mike and Mark two of my housemates finished First and Second in the race. Then we also had the cutest thing ever. The Preschool and Kindergarten relays. Trust me it was really cute and lasted about twenty minutes. I think they had their own thirty kid relay race.

We have also been preparing hard for Halloween. The students at CELA were out and about trick or treating all week. Tonight, Saturday, October 29th we will be hosting a Halloween party at our home.

Check out the awesome pictures under my links click on Kevin's Photo's

Another Week In Review!

2005-10-18T16:30:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, just wanted to check-in with another blog. Wow, after yesterday the 17th of October I have been in Taiwan for two months now and time just keeps on flying by, day by day! Anyway, hopefully many of you have already viewed my pictures from Kaoshung, they are from last Monday 10/10. The CMS staff went to Kaoshung for a two day trip and saw many interesting things. But also had a ton of fun goofing around as you can see from the pictures. All in all it was great trip and we had a lot of fun.

On a more spiritual note, I had a student in one of my class ask me about becoming a Christian, he also expressed a desire to be baptized. But he is also quite concerned about the reaction of his grandmother and mother. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to work in his heart and life and if it be God's will that his grandmother and mother accept his desire to be a baptized Child of God!

On a lighter note this week has been a very restful and easy week for me so far but not for my students. Students here in 7th-12th grades have monthly test or test every six weeks that are essentially like final exams in America. So when students in America complain about final exams students here in Taiwan are taking those same test every six weeks and three times a semester.

Weather wise is still in the mid to low 90's everyday around here, although mornings and evenings are absolutely beautiful if the sun is not out. We also had very minor, little, tiny earthquake the other day. It did not do any damage, just shock the house a little bit. Appartently, it is better to have a bunch of little ones than one big one. Anyway, things are going great here, do forget to check out my pictures under my links. Just click on Kevin's Photos!

God Bless You All!

It Has Been A While!

2005-10-12T08:02:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, sorry that I have not blogged in over two weeks now! I guess I have been fairly lazy lately. But a lot of that has to do with how busy we are here. It seems like every evening is feeled with something from Bible Study, to Chinese Lessons, to a college age ministery at the local university, to FNBS (Friday Night Bible Study). Although things are very busy everything seems to be going great! I am still loving teaching my classes. I am actually enjoying it more and more everyday. Please continue praying for my students and their spiritual lives. Pray that the Holy Spirit would open their hearts and minds to who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for them. Be sure to check out the pictures that I have posted of my 9th graders or J3 students under Kevin's Photo's. Anyway, things are going great here hope this finds all of you doing great also.

A Week In Review!

2005-09-24T11:50:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, I have just completed my third week of teaching, and it was another enjoyable week. The first two weeks of teaching as great as they were, were a little slow and my third week seemed to just zoom by. We were making wordless books for our 7th graders that tell the salvation story, each color or page representing a different part of the story. Yellow representing Heaven and how the world was perfect when God created it. Then black representing our own sin and how that sin ruins our relationship with God, next is red representing Jesus suffering and death on the cross for us and how he shed his blood for you and me. White representing the cleansing we recieve through forgiveness and how we are made clean. Green for continuing to learn and grow in our faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Then back to the yellow the color of heaven, representing the day Christ comes back and takes all believers to heaven. They really seemed to enjoy making the books and seem willing to listen to the message. I also enjoyed another week of teaching my 9th graders English, and bible. Please pray that God would continue opening the hearts and minds of the Taiwanese, especially those who are students at Concordia Middle School, Concordia English Language Academy, teachers and all those who are involved in Friday Night Bible Study and Saturday School.

Last weekend was a very busy weekend for us, starting last Saturday night we went to the home of someome from church "Sunrose" is her English name. We enjoyed BBQ and fellowship. The next day we had missionary worship at 4:00 pm where all the missionaries from Taiwan attended. We then proceeded to host a BBQ at our humble home. It was a lot of fun to fellowship and socailize with fellow missionaries. Thursday night myself and house mates hosted at Family Worship event for Salvation Lutheran Church where we have been worshipping on Sundays. This event was attended by about 25 people. Last nights Friday Night Bible Study went quite well we had over 40 students there most between the ages of 12-25.

So Hong Kong? We were informed yesterday that we would be going to an Asia Ablaze! Conference in Hong Kong over Thanksgiving weekend. We are all very excited about this great opportunity.

Please also check out the pictures I have. Go to my link titled Kevin's Photos

Breaking News: When Animals Attack!

2005-09-15T22:37:00.000+08:00

I know this is the second blog of the day, but we have exciting news about Rats and Cobra snakes. This is not a slam on Taiwan or where we are living. But . . . . . . we have caught three rats in three days and then today they caught a Cobra snake in a classroom. Exciting, Huh? Anyway, have a great day!

Weekly Update!

2005-09-15T20:29:00.000+08:00

Hi Everyone, just wanted to let you know how everything is going. Well I am finishing off my second week of school and will have been in Taiwan a month on the 17th. I have lost at least 10 pounds since being in Taiwan or about 5 kg. The foriegn teachers at CMS have begun playing badminton for about an hour a day in a very, very warm gym. We are not very good yet, at least compared to the Taiwanese people who are also playing. We are also playing basketball a couple of times a week with students.

Classes are still going great! My Junior 1 or 7th grade students are studying the Creation story while my Junior 3 or 9th grade students have been studying the birth of Jesus. I am really excited about teaching both classes.

I will also soon be meeting with small groups on a weekly basis, for Bible Study and English conversation practice for the students. Hope all is going well!

Better Than I Ever Imagined!

2005-09-10T04:08:00.000+08:00

This past week of teaching has been absolutly AMAZING! I could never, ever have imagined my first week of teaching going this well. I love my classes. My Junior Three students or 9th graders have been awesome, they are so respectful, kind and I really think they want to learn and are open to at learning about Christianity! My Junior One classes are much more reserved and shy. Plus the difference between what they all understand is huge. Like some don't know the English Alphabet and others understand every word I say. So maybe that explains the look on some of there faces this first week. I am so thankful for God's amazing goodness this past week, I know that without Him, this week would not have come anywhere close to what it was.

Please pray for the Holy Spirit to open the hearts and minds of the Taiwans, especially those teachers and students at CMS and CELA and those who attend Friday Night Bible Study and Saturday School at Salvation Lutheran Church. God is truly doing AMAZING things here in Taiwan. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to use all the missionaries here with Team Taiwan as His Vessels and Instruments for spreading the Gospel. I hope this blog finds you all doing well.

I am so excited that at Midnight tonight I get to watch Notre Dame - Michigan on the ESPN GAME PLAN that two housemates and myself went in on. GO IRISH!!!!!!

First Day of School!

2005-09-06T06:15:00.000+08:00

Well everyone, I am 3/4 of the way done with my first day of school. I had classes at 8:30, 10:20, and 11:15 and then one final class at 4:05. The first three classes were Junior 1 or 7th grade bible and the last class is Junior 3 or 9th grade English. The kids have been very nice so far. No need for "EARL" yet!

The typhoon that we experienced on Wednesday night and Thursday morning was quite interesting as I mentioned before this area of the country does not get too hard by typhoons because we are protected by the mountians, the damage from this typhoon on campus was about 15-20 trees that were severly damaged some lost large limbs and branches one of which landed on a teachers car and others were completely pulled out of the ground roots and all. I will post pictures later.

Sorry I have not blogged lately we have been without internet since Friday morning because of another storm, and still do not have internet back in our living quarters. Right now I am blogging at the office. Hope no one sees me!

I have heard a lot about the hurricane in New Orleans and the South and our typhoon does not really seem to come anywhere close to that much destruction. My prayers are with all those who have family and loved ones affected by Katrina.

Hope this blog finds you doing well!

TYPHOON DAY!

2005-09-01T12:06:00.000+08:00

We were told yesterday that there was a Typhoon headed for Taipei. So I in turn looked at the weather which predicts rain for the next six days. Luckily we are covered by a mountain which keeps the typhoon in these parts to a minimum. Mainly just pretty strong winds and pouring down rain. Sort of like a bad thunder storm, except the rain last for days. The last typhoon they had it rained for six days non-stop, I am told. So we were all eating dinner and the Kindergarten and Elementary teachers were planning for Thursday and someone came in and told us that there was no school tomorrow due to the typhoon. The place erumpted with cheers. Although i only had meetings tomorrow. Please pray for the people of Taipei as they brace themselves for a large Typhoon.

One of the stranger things about Taiwan is that is gets dark at 6:30 pm during the summer and 5:30 pm the winter. Although the sun comes up around 4:30 or 5:00 am. We are not on daylight savings so I am sure that has some impact on how much light we have and surprisingly all of main land China is in the same time zone as we are.

The last couple of days have been very relaxing as all the Junior High and Senior High staff have been off. So we have spent a lot of time traveling, playing game and hanging out and just when school starts tomorrow, we have a typhoon day. FUN!

Hope this finds everyone doing well.

Some pictures of Taiwan and Concordia Middle School

2005-08-30T13:42:00.000+08:00

This is not nearly all of my pictures, I will be posting more pictures soon!

Archary at the local night market!

Local night market in Chia Yi!

Ghost money being burned during ghost month
in order to appease deceased relatives whose
spirits come out during Ghost month. A Taoist
and Buddist tradition as well as Chinese folk
religion tradition.

Picture of the street right outside of Campus!

Ason EVERYONES favorite Monkey!

The Chapel at Concordia Middle School

Missionaries sitting in the livingroom of the
Practice Hotel where most of the missionaries
are staying. Worshipping God!

Shocking News, When Spiders Attack!

2005-08-29T05:09:00.000+08:00

We have had two interesting experience recently at the Hanson Manor (named after its former inhabitants) On Monday night one of my housemates named James caught two HUGE SPIDERS running around our house. When he caught one and put it in a jar it proceded to hatch what seemed to be hundreds of little eggs. We are not really sure what kind of spiders these were. Then on Friday morning I discovered that if you stand at our sink barefoot and touch anything metal you will be shocked. Something to do with a loose wire or the stove or something.

Well, I've been here a week and a half now and I am really beginning to feel at home. A group of us have been trying to practice Manderine at least every other day. I am also becoming familiar with working in the office.

Those who are teaching Kindergarten and Elementary School at CELA (Concordia English Language Academy) start school on Wednesday the 31. Please keep Anne, Anna H., Anna M., Michelle, James and Michael in your prayers as they prepare for classes. The Junior High and High School at CMS (Concordia Middle School) begin school on Friday the 2nd. Please also pray for Sam, Mark, Andy, Mike, Noel, Molly and myself as we begin teaching.

Yesterday we went to a resort in Tai Nan which is about 50 minutes from where we live. The trip was for all of the Jr. high and Sr. high teachers plus the foriegn missionaries at CELA. Basicly we went on a train ride, a boat ride, saw some wild monkeys on a tiny Island and went swimming.

We just got back from church and it is a very interestimg to worship God when the service is in another language but we have most things translated for us and the liturgy and music in English. Tonight we will be going to an International Church that is in English and has Contemporary worship.

Please pray for the people of Taiwan and especially the young people at CELA and CMS that God would be using the staff here and opening there hearts and minds to His saving work.

Greeting From Taiwan!

2005-08-24T13:38:00.000+08:00

Well, we have now had two days in a row without rain! We got our class schedule today. I will teach class 22 times a week, but only 4 different lessons per week. Seventh grade religion I teach one lesson 10 times a week, 9th grade religion I teach one lesson 4 times a week and 9th grade English I teach two lessons 4 times a week each. I was a little concerned about teaching kids how to write because as you can see from my blogs, I don't always write in the best english. Maybe I'll learn something while teaching. Please refrain from reading my blogs and sending them back to me with gramatical and writing corrections.

Today, I played basketball with a bunch of kids from school and my eye was fine but my neck is a little sore. Maybe my body is not quite ready for that yet. I have been working on my Chinese lately and I am feeling encouraged by my progress. I also picked up the guitar and started playing it again not very well but getting better. We had american food for the first time today so that was very nice. Not that the Chinese has been bad, it has actually been pretty good but I am not ready to eat it everyday. Hope everyone is doing well! I will blog again soon!

I Corinthians 13 Cross-Culturally

2005-08-21T19:10:00.000+08:00

"1 Corinthians 13... Cross Culturally"If I speak with the tongue of a nation, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I wear the national dress and understand the culture and all forms of etiquette, and if I copy all mannerisms so that I could pass for a national, but have not love, I am nothing.If I give all I possess to the poor and spend my energy without reserve, but have not love, I gain nothing.Love endures long hours of language study, love is kind to those who mock his accent. It does not envy those who stayed home, it does not boast about the way we do it back home, it is not proud of his national superiority. It does not exalt his home culture, it does not seek his own ways, it is not easily provoked into telling about the beauty of his home country, it does not think evil about this culture.Love does not delight in criticisms of this new culture but rejoices in its differences. It always adjusts, always trusts, always anticipates being at home in this place, always endures all inconveniences. Love never fails. But where there is cultural anthropology, it will fail; where there is contextualization, it will lead to syncretism; where there is linguistics, it will change. For we know only part of the culture and we minister to only part, but when Christ is reproduced in this culture, then our inadequacies will be insignificant.When I was in America, I talked like an American, I thought like an American, I reasoned like an American. When I left America, I put American ways behind me. Now we adapt to this culture awkwardly; but He will live in it intimately. Now I speak with a strange accent; but He will speak to the heart.And now these three remain: cultural adaptation, language study and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Another Rainy Day!

2005-08-21T14:30:00.000+08:00

Hi All, I don't know what the weather has been like where you are but it has rained for 5 straight days here! Personnally I'm a little tired of it. A couple of things that I have seen and learned since I last blogged: My Address is:
Kevin Foley
Concordia Middle School
31 Chien Kuo Road, Section 2
Min Hsiung, Chai Yi County 621
Taiwan ROC

Something else cool that I learned is that Taiwan is the in the time zone furthest ahead of everyone else. Except for few remote islands even further West of Taiwan. But we get experience everyday, year, and hour first ahead of everyother time zone. Sort of cool. The students even in Junior High and High School get 35 minute naps everyday after lunch. Yesterday we went on a bike ride to the nearest large town, which is Chai Yi is about 250,000 people. They have the most beautiful arcitecture in their Taoist temples. But I learned they actually never really have worship services but people come in and out daily for prayer and meditation to different gods. I believe I told most of you about Ghost month it is in the 7th lunar month which this year is pretty much August. They believe that spirits of the dead come and live here on earth for that month so in the middle of the month they burn money to appease the spirits of the dead. That was Friday! I have some pictures I will post once I get it all figured out. Next week we go into our offices and basiclly spend the week preparing for our classes. Hope this blog finds all of you doing well. I have also posted some links of the other people who are in Taiwan with me plus a couple of other missionaries that I have meet through training.

Day 2

2005-08-19T07:40:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, I probably won't be blogging everyday but right now everything is so new and I have so much to talk about. It is now Friday morning I've been here for less than 48 hours and it seems like weeks. I got breakfast this morning for 60 american cents. That is $20 New Taiwanesse $. We have like 6 outdoor basketball courts, a pet monkey, a reptile zoo, on campus at school with Baby Allegators, Cobras and other poisonous snakes, turtles frogs and other slimmy creatures. Plus a pack of stray dogs that run around the campus, and tons of other stray dogs all over the place. For some reason I feel as if I should have gotten that rabbis shot. They also have like 10 ping pong tables all outside. They acyually have ten minute passing periods between classes and run outside to play ping pong in between classes. We also have a track, soccor field and lots of green space for bucketball, I'm still on the DL for another month. It truly is a different world out here. I'll check in again in the next few days!

Arrived Safely!

2005-08-18T08:32:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, I arrived safely after three long day of travel. I got to O'hare airport at noon on Monday and arrived at our school at like Noon on Wednesday. I slept about 3 hours from Monday 7 am til Wednesday 9 pm. So I was dead tired last night. I still only got 8 hours of sleep which is great but I have a feeling I needed more than that. This morning when I awoke to shower and there was a Gecko in the tub already. Talk about culture shock! I am living in a house with 3 other guys because the house where everyone else lives is full. I have had to Chinese meals already since being here and they were pretty good. Anyway we have training in twenty minutes, gotta run.

Ready To Go!

2005-08-14T01:57:00.000+08:00

I went to the doctor on Wednesday. He said he found other facial fracture including a scull fracture but they were all non-displaced fractures meaning there is no need to do surgery. Praise God! So as of right now, Saturday, the 13th I am still leaving on Monday the 15th. I have sent a lot of time saying good bye to a lot of friends since Wednesday but unfortunately I won't be able see all my friends before I leave. Sorry! Because I was so shocked the doctor said I didn't need surgery and I could leave on time, I am quite a bit behind in my packing and preparing to leave, which makes this weekend even more stressful. Thanks again everyone for all of your prayers and encouragement. Please continue to pray for the healing of my fractures! Thanks!

OOCH!

2005-08-09T03:56:00.000+08:00

I am sure many of you know about my fall already. But on July 29th, only 3 days after turning 30, I took a serious fall. From this fall I received about 20 some odds stiches around my left eye, have sereval orbital fractures which may require plastic surgery, and a bunch of bumps and bruises. But I am also very thankful that this fall was not as bad as it could have been! I find out on Wednesday if the fractures will require plastic surgery. If they do my trip too Taiwan will be delayed 6 -8 weeks. Something to do with air pressure and flying! IF I don't need surgery it looks as if I could be leaving for Taiwan on the 15th as scheduled! Please pray for my upcoming doctors appointment. Other than that not too much else going on.

Turning 30!

2005-07-28T06:16:00.000+08:00

I can't believe I have been around for thirty years! That is such a looonnnngggggg time! Even though 30 is OLD I did have a great time at my birthday party. Thanks for adding to the excitement Priscilla! I could not have asked for anything more" (Where are the Carlton's)! I am particularly excited about my Web Cam! Thanks Lori and Silas or should I say Chelse? I have noticed that since I turned 30 I am tired a lot more often! I guess it comes with the territory. Thanks for the party Lara it was awesome! I can't believe I will be leaving for Taiwan in 19 days! It so exciting, scary, sad and overwhelming. Anyway hope you all enjoyed my blog.

God Bless!

Back Home

2005-06-28T00:28:00.000+08:00

As much I as enjoyed being in MN for two weeks of training. It is equally as nice to be back home, seeing and talking to old friends and just relaxing and catching up on sleep. I have also been studying my Manderin Chinese and learning Bo-Po-Mo-Fo, that I should have been learning at training. oops! I really can't wait to go to Taiwan and begin this new adventure that God has planned for me. One and a half months seems like such a long time to wait, especially when you don't have a job. Please keep myself and Team Taiwan in your prayers. Members of Team Taiwan are Anna M., Anna H., Anne, Michelle, Sam, James, Michael, Mark and myself will be the new ones and we will be joining Matt, Dee Dee, Molly, Noel. Mike and I think I am leaving someone out (Sorry).. Anyway, I should be running hope everyone is doing well

Real World Taiwan

2005-06-21T23:09:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone, still trying to get used to this blogging thing. Our joke lately has been Real World Taiwan we think we will try and sell it to MTV 15 Missionary Americans from all over the country go to Taiwan and live together for a year. Will they survive?? I also like the name Real World Taiwan because it can easily become Real Word Taiwan. Real Word being God's word and taking it to the people of Taiwan anyway. Hope you all enjoy my site let me know what you think. Check out my verse for the Day!

Dt. 31:6

In Christ,

Kevin Foley

Training

2005-06-21T07:39:00.000+08:00

I have been at the Campus of Concordia University St. Paul (CSP) since last Sunday for training for my trip to Taiwan. When I arrived here I was excited to see so many other people that will be going on a journey with me to Taiwan. I am even more excited to say that the people of Team Taiwan are simply awesome and I am sure that we will have a great year together It is also nice to see old friends in the Minnesota. Training is going great I am learning lots of new and exciting things about going into the mission field and about teaching English as a Foriegn Language (EFL) Some of the more exciting things that I have learned are that we have pet monkey at our school. I think his name is Osna? maybe? I will be teaching 10 seventh grade religion classes once a week. With as many as 50 kids in each class. You do the math! Plus 4 classes of 9th graders 3 times a week twice a week for English and once a week for religion. Luckily those class will only be 17-18 kids per class. Anyway, I think I will close this blog now.
I love you all~ Pray for me!

Romans 1:16

Kevin Foley