Date:  Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Day 84 of 180

Hello again, it's Wednesday!  And for the most part life is good.  The Fall season has officially arrived, and the weather is absolutely amazing now, not that it's ever been particularly poor.  Temperature usually hovers around the mid to high 70s in the afternoons and evenings and gets up to the low to mid 80s around noon.  Technically, it is still typhoon season; as such, we were bracing for a particularly large typhoon last week.  However, at just the last moment is swung north avoiding Taiwan completely, praise God!

As you may have heard from my post last week, adventurous outings each Monday have become the norm each week, and this week was no exception.  This time though we decided to travel less far and go to a local mountain to drink in its famous view of Taipei's skyline:  Yangmingshan's famous Zhongshan Bei Lu overlook.  The vista afforded to us by the trail was absolutely stunning, though getting to them required the hiker negotiate an impressing stairway complex that rivals the Great Wall in its difficulty, and its ability to wind the most fit of hikers.  But such challenging resistance made the reward that much sweeter, quite the anecdote on the Christian life.

Now I think I should update you all on what has all been happening here, aside from my weekly excursions.  Some of you may remember that I have been waiting to here back from a high school I hope to volunteering at; well, I received word, and I will be starting tomorrow, Thursday,  October 4. It's been a long time coming, but I will finally get the opportunity to turn my theoretical knowledge into practical experience.  This comes as an answer to prayer that as begun ever since arrived to Taiwan.  God is faith to answer prayers in His timing.  It was no mistake that I was accepted now and not any earlier.

In that note, it has been amazing watching my faith in God mature and increase during my time here in Taiwan.  Learning to trust in the LORD and wait for His timing is a lesson we all need to learn.  The advantage of an experience such as mine-spending an extended amount of time outside your comfort zone-is that you learn quickly that you cannot operate on your own.  You cannot survive on your own, and you learn quickly that in order get through the next day, week, month, etc, you must rely on God.  This is why I have been so adamant that everyone should go through similar experience.  You learn so much about yourself and about God.  Your faith quickly becomes a reality not something that you speak of having occasionally to other Christians on Sundays.  Faith becomes the lifeline upon which your very existence depends.  God is no longer distant and impersonal, but becomes your best friend, He becomes the hope to which you live for and if necessary die for.

It is all too easy to lose sight of the promises of God if you are constantly being cuddled and cushioned.  But step outside your comfort zone, take a step of faith, and suddenly the promises become real.  Passages that once seemed so odd and confusing now appear as gold.  Once a commodity is now a precious possession.  The Bible is no longer a mere book, but a living and breathing entity capable of providing all manner of peace, hope, and comfort.  Prayer is no longer a chore, but the very medium through which you converse with the God of the universe, your friend and companion.  Well I think I'll step down from my soapbox.  Please let me know what you think about my opinion.

But being in Taipei has definitely opened my eyes just how closed minded the Western world view can be.  And as a result I would love to travel to other countries and experience God in new ways.  Next on my list might have to be South America, maybe Brazil or Argentina.  I think Roman Catholics get a bad rap here in Protestantism   So many of us don't fully understand the differences between the two perspectives and just to unfair conclusions.  We go far as to categorize Roman Catholics as in same camp as other world religions forgetting that they are redeemed believers as well.  Sinners saved by grace just as we are.  It would be amazing to spend time in a monastery or remote chapel somewhere in South America.  But that's for another time.

Living for the taste of Grace expressed differently Culture to Culture,


David Leong