Chiayi City Prayer

I have been in Taiwan for 1.5 weeks and in Chiayi City for about 3 days.  I really like it here.  It is not rural like I thought it would be, but it is a smaller city than Tai-chung.  The team here is also smaller, but they are very nice.  I got my schedule which was quite a bit less packed than my first week.  I have regular events that I can plan on and prepare for. 

I was mostly traveling on Monday and resting on Tuesday, so yesterday I jumped in.  Normally I have Sunday and Monday off to prepare, rest, visit with people, and do my own thing.  Tuesdays and Saturdays I will be teaching an English class, which I am a little bit worried about because I have never taught ANYTHING before.  Also on Tuesdays and Saturdays before class I meet with a language partner to get my help in Chinese and to help her with English, and then she helps translate for my class.  

On Wednesdays I visit high schools with some of the other missionaries and they either present the gospel or do crafts or have lunch and chat in the school-advised Bible Clubs.  The way we have to present the gospel is very different though because they have no concept of a creator god and no concept of a kind, loving god that would want to know them, in a good way.

On Thursdays my mentor and I will prayer walk through the city (except it rained today and we didn’t) and then tonight we have a women’s Bible study.  Fridays my mentor and I have a personal study going through Galatians and then I work with the youth all evening at the Gospel Center, doing whatever. 

Saturday night is when they have church after my class, so I am anxious to see what the church service is like.  Already my ideas of a traditional worship service have been thrown out the window because of the culture and the resources here in Taiwan.  I will give you one example in the way that they pray in church here.  No one closes their eyes and they all pray, out load, at once! It’s great though! 

After 2 days of working with the people here I have had many good situations and lots of good time to think and discuss about the missions here.  Here are some prayer requests you can keep in mind as I approach this coming month:

1. Pray for continued patience as the days are long and tiring

2. Pray for adjustment to the new and even hotter weather in Chai-yi (91 degrees and 70% humidity today, 94% humidity last night)

3.  Pray for confidence in me teaching English :-/

4.      Pray for confidence in general, to know that it's God's work and not my own

5.      Pray for a good friend here is Chai-yi that I can communicate with

6.      Christian women greatly outnumber men both in terms of converts, ministry involvement & willingness to lead. Pray that God would raise up godly working class men to lead the church

7.      Pray for the local churches to accept the house church movements for the working class

8.      Pray for more workers to come to Chai-yi for long-term service

9.      Thanks for fans AND air conditioning in my room and the gospel center

10.   Thanks for the short-term mission team coming in July after I leave

11.   Pray for all the high school senior's college entrance exams that may determine their future

12.   Pray for my adjustment to the food and help me to find something healthy to eat that I like

13.   Pray for me as I write an article for the Missions in Motion e-zine due June 23

14.   Thanks for some words from God in Philippians that have encouraged me

15.   Pray for unity among the staff here

16. Pray that my motives for working here be completely selfless