Sunday, January 15, 2012

muerte...


Sad news, tragic even... we've lost a member of the family.. one of our two bowls was broken when a pot landed on it's face yesterday.
We are sad to see it go.
Bowl is survived by it's twin brother Bowl, and older sister Plate.
Time and unforseen pots befall us all.

Monday, January 9, 2012

Ports and Bicycles

Sunday after the meeting I had the privilege of witnessing at Suao Port. My friend Bara (from Prague) stayed with us for the weekend, so we joined up with the brothers going out to coast for their monthly trip to Suao. On every full moon they have been making the trek to the East coast to find fisherman. (Full moon= bad fishing, so this is when they dock) We all piled into the back of a brother's little 4wd van on the floor and drove an hour and a half out to the coast. It was a lot of fun. When we arrived it was dark and raining and of course none of us was equipped with an umbrella. But we didn't mind being soaked to the skin, because within 5 minutes of being there we placed 4 bibles, several magazines, a couple Bible teach books, and extended several invitations to the bible study meeting that was about to take place. As soon as you talk to one of the Filipinos, they go and find their buddy and bring them to you so that they can get some literature too. Then that guy will find two more of his buddies to talk to, etc. Some come up to you and wave and say 'Hi sister!' and they will pull out magazines that they've been keeping in their coat pocket from the last visit. Others have never even seen the magazines, so there's plenty of work to be done.
The amazing thing is, one of the elders in the congregation that has been taking the lead in the port witnessing at Suao, managed to find a restaurant near the docks where the owner has graciously allowed us to use the upstairs portion of his restaurant to hold a bible discussion open to all the fisherman. Now, the Filipinos and Indonesians are not highly regarded here in Taiwan. Sadly they are usually ignored and treated rather badly, like scum or slaves. But amazingly, this Taiwanese restaurant owner has allowed these poor, dirty, fisherman to come inside- during business hours, without needing to order anything, not having to pay any kind of fee, and use the restaurant to study the Bible with the brothers. This is no small feat, only by Jehovah's spirit would this ever be possible. And the beautiful thing is, the fisherman that come to join the study bring their own study material, they highlight every scripture in their Bibles, ask questions, and fight over who gets to read the scriptures. And without a word from any of us- after the study is over, they all put the tables back the way they were, and start mopping the floor. They are so incredibly respectful and enthused, it's really heartwarming. We had the chance to talk to quite a few fisherman that were wandering around, and got their phone numbers so that on the next full moon they can come and join the study too. We are currently waiting for the 'okay' from the branch to start conducting a public talk out there once a month.

*Last night, Melissa and I took our clunky, rust bucket, bicycles out for their first endurance test. We rode through the city and out of town to a river that winds down along side of Taipei. There is a bike trail within an enormous, awesome park that runs for MILES down the river. It was so nice to go for a real bike ride again! The park was mostly empty (because it was dark and starting to rain), so we had it all to ourselves. There is a spectacular view of the city all lit up and reflecting off the river. I think we found our new favorite quick get-away. Pictures below.

*The next couple weeks should be quite busy- I have my first talk in my hall on Thursday, in a little over a week Melissa 1 and Melissa 2, and I are flying to Hong Kong for visa runs (which should be quite an adventure especially because it's right smack dab in the middle of Chinese New Year), and we have our C.O. visit the day we come home from China. So, expect lots of stories and experiences to come soon!

...visual aids....


A few of the unique publications we have here that I had never seen in the states...


This is our literature drawer at home, I have to keep around 8 or 9 different languages stocked at all times to be prepared for field service.


Our bike ride along the river in the rain...




The car ride on our way to the coast in the back of a van on the floor. (Come to think of it, we had people from 5 different countries crammed in that van: Australia, USA, Czech Republic, Taiwan, and Philippines- all here to help the English field)
(Front seat passengers not pictures obviously)




Monday, January 2, 2012

Assembly

This weekend was my first Circuit Assembly in Taiwan- Let God's Name Be Sanctified. And since the English circuit is the entire country, we had brothers and sisters traveling from all over the place. It was cool to finally meet some of the other English congregations that we'd only heard about before. We traveled nearly 3 hours by bus to get to the city where the convention was held (which was in the gymnasium at an elementary school in Taizhong) Melissa and I stayed with my former room-mate Angela at one of her previous Bible studies' homes. It was really interesting and fun. Me, Melissa, an elderly British sister, and an elderly Taiwanese bible study- I kept thinking... only in Jehovah's organization would this group be having a slumber party together. hehe.
Here are a few of the highlights...

- I thought that my congregation in Taipei was diverse, but getting to meet people from all the English congregations was like going to an international convention. There really are people from every corner of the globe here helping in the English field.
- These are two of my favorite experiences from the assembly. First a brother from Australia that serves on the HLC here was interviewed. He informed us that although at times his work on the HLC can be emotionally taxing, he has seen great improvement in the way the local hospitals work with the witnesses. Even calling us 'Jehovah's Witnesses' now as apposed to 'The Jehovahs'. But the biggest news was that the brothers held a discourse for the public to explain blood alternatives and JW's stand on the issue. Over 300 people showed up, over half of which were doctors, surgeons, and nurses- all of whom received a witness of Jehovah's name.
The second experience was an interview with our friend JR from Hawaii. He, and another brother (John) moved here a year or so before I left Maui. This was our first time getting to see them since we've been here which was great. His experience was regarding the work witnessing from ship to ship. Their congregation put into motion port witnessing in Taiwan, and it has proven to be a gold mine of people looking for the truth. They visit the ports every week, and can hardly keep up. On average they conduct 14 bible studies each time they go, and start another 4 or 5 new studies each week. The interest is so huge that they actually have to keep a roster with names and notes indicating where each person left off in the Bible teach book, and when they last studied so that no one is neglected. They preach to fisherman from all over Asia in many languages. These fisherman have some of the worst lives of anyone in Taiwan. They are verbally and physically abused by their employers, in constant danger, sometimes even watch their shipmates die, and spend nearly a year out at sea without a day off and away from their families. So when the brothers preach to them they are so appreciative of the kindness and warmth they have been shown, many times the brothers listen and cry along with them as they express what they're dealing with. Although the territory is fruitful, it is also hard for the brothers because they usually only have a two month window to give them as much spiritual nourishment as possible before they have to see them go out to sea again for 10 months to a year, and sometimes they never return. But their hearts are warmed when ones who they have preached to before do come back, well worn magazines in hand, eager to find the nearest witness to get their Bible study.
- There were quite a number of Bible studies at the assembly, and I had the opportunity to meet one young lady that traveled all the way from Khaosiung (over 3 hours train ride away). She moved here from Haiti, by herself, to attend school and began studying with the witnesses. This was her first time attending an assembly. She was a little shy, but very friendly. And I noticed that she had been introduced to sisters from America, Taiwan, Canada, Mexico, Czech Republic, and Africa throughout the assembly. By the end of the last day when she was leaving the assembly hall with our sisters she was in tears because she had never felt so welcomed and so loved by a group of strangers in her life.
- We had a peak attendance of 517 and 8 baptized- 5 of which were from my congregation.
- The report for Taiwan English Circuit showed that last year the number of bible studies being conducted exceeded the number of publishers... 360 bible studies being conducted by 312 publishers... more than one per pub. on average. (Which means about 200 'other' people filled the seats at our assembly- think about that!)
- If you've ever wanted to serve in a circuit with some true spiritual pillars- this is the place to come. Each English Congregation has a healthy supply of special pioneers, traveling missionaries, Bethelites, Gilead graduates, MTS graduates, etc. There is a wealth of experience and some great examples to look up to. Not to mention the majority of those who serve in the English congregations have traveled here from other countries, each having their own story of how Jehovah helped them get here. Talk about a thriving environment.

Well, that is a quick recap of my first Taiwan assembly. I hope this 'report from a distant land' has been of some encouragement, I know it has been for me. A thorough witness is being made here in Taiwan, and the response is incredible.

SO... who's ready to come over??? (^_^)