Am I the only expat that thinks that a successful trip to renew a passport or Alien Registration Card should result in taking the rest of the day off and celebrating with a feast at Chili’s? Successfully renewed passports for these 2 today…

I think that 3 typhoons in 3 weeks is enough. Yes… we had one 2 weeks ago… a bigger one last weekend… and a chance of another one this weekend. Please… no.

I like Facebook. In fact. I love it. I even love the “new” Facebook. This is the greatest networking app of all time… so far. Friend me, OK?

It’s a great talk in so many ways (unless you are one to throw the baby out with the bathwater) and it will be exciting to see what is discovered when they fire that baby back up again in 2009 after encountering a problem with one of its magnets a few weeks ago shortly after they fired it up. I’m sure they aren’t going to find God in the LHC tests… but this verse seems more than a little relevant.

“All the beads just randomly fell off!” says Mollie, surrounded by 1.35 billion little perler beads that used to be on the flower template that is still in her hand. Here’s Mollie with Zi-ying.

Apparently I have shingles. Yeah… not the roofing kind… but this kind.

We aren’t really sure, but it seems to most likely be the problem.

On the Sunday night that Sports and English Camp began, I knew I was in for some trouble. I did not sleep more than 30 minutes at a time that night and was usually wakened every 10-15 minutes with a horrible sore throat. I felt horrid on Monday AM, but prayed and asked God for strength to minister to the kids and staff that week of camp. I felt like the Lord granted this request so I just moved forward in faith.

All during the week, I knew my body was not well, but God continued to give me strength and so I just kept taking each day as it came…

Saturday morning brought the end of camp and almost immediately when my camp responsibilities were over, my strength was fading and my entire body was wracked in pain. I was able to drive 2 hours from Taichung back to Taipei, but then collapsed for the rest of the day.

I had noticed a few spots on my belly and arm, but Angie noticed a more prominent spot on my leg in a place where I wouldn’t have seen it… it *did* look like chicken pox, but I had it as a child and have been exposed many other times since then so it really couldn’t be that.

The pain throughout my body was shockingly bad… I really couldn’t believe the pain. I also had a fever. Our house church was meeting at Joe and Daphne’s at 5PM and then Audrey had to go to the airport at about 7PM. There was no way I could do any of that, but Angie was running everyone around and also thought I should get to the doctor. Her thought was that he might be able to give me something to bring my fever down so I could rest.

We drove by Dr. Wang’s office and saw that he was technically closed… but that his pull down door was half up… someone was in there! Angie called his office and when he learned of my status and that we were just outside, he agreed to see me. He also said it was chicken pox and he gave me some medicine and also a shot which brought down my fever and gave me rest within an hour. Mr. Wang is a Christian and we thank God that he just “happened” to stop by his office at the time we were seeking him out!

I’ve been totally and completely useless this week. Actually I was able to get some stuff done yesterday and today, but I’m a zombie… emotionless and in constant pain. That intense pain is one of the symptoms of shingles so although I don’t have a big rash, we are still pretty sure that is what I have.

Shingles is an interesting illness… it is caused by the same virus as chicken pox and researchers believe that the virus usually doesn’t leave the body, but remains dormant in the nervous system. Sometimes something will trigger the virus and it attacks the nervous system which is why the pain is not limited to where the rash breaks out.

So… I don’t have much of a rash… but I’m in constant pain… right now mostly my calves, thighs, and fingers.

I’m glad to have gotten through a good week of camp, but I was looking forward to spending this week catching up with my kids… not like this…

I’ll try to post more about Sports and English Camp later… it is more important than my sickness… but I wanted y’all to know my situation.

Last week was the Taiwan Missionary Summer Conference. Drs. David Roadcup and Darrell Bock paired up to make the week memorable in so many ways. I have not looked at the list of past speakers through the 56 previous conferences, but I’d guess that these 2 men brought a combination of wisdom, scholarship, straight talk, passion, and grace beyond any other pair of speakers in the history of the conference. They were not only excellent from the stage, but also in casual time and meals together and in Q and A sessions. All attendees were especially blessed this year.

My co-worker, David Atkin, was the conference chairman and did an excellent job. He was able to institute a number of small changes and tweaks to the workings of the conference that were a benefit to all.

Another co-worker, Chad Edwards, was responsible for leading most of the music and did an outstanding job. I’m always blown away by his talent… which is to such a high degree and so naturally obtained that he himself usually doesn’t realize just how talented he is! I’ve played guitar and percussion with Chad on numerous occasions and he makes us all look and sound good. Last week I played bass guitar for the first time on stage or before more than about 15 people (mostly family and co-workers) and it went well for the most part. I’m very new to the bass, but have the sense of rhythm it takes to play it passably. Outside of a couple major mess-ups… I felt pretty good about playing the bass last week.

I spent quite a bit of time during the week with administrative responsibilities related the the TMF organization. I’ve been on the TMF administrative committee for 3 years and enjoyed my term. At this point, I could leave the committee, but I’m not sure I will do so. I’ve been asked by several people to assume the position of administrative committee chairman, but am still in prayer as to if this is God’s calling or not. I would appreciate your prayers in this matter. I have a deep appreciation for TMF and have many ideas that I think would prove helpful to the organization and to all missionaries in Taiwan, but our primary work besides family is to plant churches… I’m not clear yet whether taking the chairmanship will help or hinder our church planting efforts. I may have more to say on this later, but will leave it at a plea for prayer at this point.

The 2008 Sports and English Camp is upon us!

I’ve got my camp t-shirt on… and it is allowing my skin to breathe nicely in the sweltering heat that we find ourselves in at this time of year.

There are 115 youth registered… some won’t come, but most will and it is a great opportunity to influence and instruct some of the Taiwanese youth in sports, English, and life. Several have come from the USA to help as staff… but most touching, to me, is that several Taiwanese brothers and sisters have taken vacation time to serve the young people at camp this week. Maybe there will be more time to share about them later. Foreign workers can do some things… but it takes nationals to build a church planting movement and bring about lasting improvements within a nation. These Taiwanese servants are the key people in their nation’s future and well being. Will you please pray for them and for all of us?

My “in-between” time is basically gone… I have about 10 minutes and need to spend most of it packing up my stuff and walking across campus to join the worship service at the International Community Church of Taichung (as I *think* it is called).

been totally swamped lately.

I was glad to get to go on a bike ride last week and on a hike the week before. It is such a help to a weary body and mind.

Our summer intern, Kayla, is here now. She’s great… doing great… and going to do great. Her dad is on the staff at one of our supporting churches – Christ’s Church of Oronogo. She’s been getting over jetlag while observing some of the things we are doing here in Ankeng. She’ll be here for 7 weeks.

Next week we plan to attend the Taiwan Missionary Fellowship summer conference in Taichung. We always enjoy this conference and it seems like it will be another good one this year.

The week after that we plan to go to the Sports and English Camp… also in Taichung. Bethanie is old enough to attend as a camper this year and she’s excited about that. In addition to leading a family group, Angie will help with drama and music, and I’ll help with basketball and play bass.

Angie and all the kids… including Kayla… have been out dodging raindrops at the CKS memorial hall and Handicraft mart. I’m about to leave to meet them at Mellinda and A-bin’s house for dinner. It has been a while since I’ve seen Mellinda and her son Michael and even longer since I’ve seen A-bin. Mom… if you are reading this… you went to their house when you were here in 2005.

I’ve got a lot to do this week… including renewing our ARCs. Alien Registration Certificate… like a visa… so we can stay another year. We have to renew these every year.

Lots of other stuff too.

Our JUNE Monthly Report is available for download.

In this edition…

• Li Baba – This is the story of the father of one of our Christian sisters.
• Zach’s birthday

Clicking on the image below will open the PDF newsletter directly (about 608kb)

Although there is much to do… I need a bit of closure and I’m hoping this will help.

Captain – 隊長
June 2002 – May 28, 2008

After spending 2 restless nights (due to anxiety about Captain and dreaming of him when I was sleeping) and 2 sad days… and after an early morning conversation between caregiver and pet… I knew that that time had arrived for Captain to leave us.

I took him to his first vet (in Yonghe) this morning at 10AM when he opened his doors and only a few minutes later, he was gone.

Here’s 2 things I’ll remember most about Captain:

• For most of his life, he would go crazy each night sometime between 9PM and 11PM. He would run throughout the house leaping up on the couch or the back of a chair or onto a bookshelf. Sometimes he wanted to play… sometimes he just wanted to go crazy I guess.
  
• He always knew when someone in our family was sick and he would remain with them throughout their sickness. This wasn’t always welcome… like when you already had a fever… and now had a hot furball cuddled up beside you… but he learned to be “present” without interfering.

A good cat… and although some will roll their eyes… a good friend, too. He was the only one who lived with me who could even come close to staying up as late as I usually do.

Some have asked if we’ll get another cat. We don’t plan to… for a few reasons. One big reason is that we plan to go back to the USA for a few months starting in November and would have to find someone to watch the new cat. Although we’ve done that in the past with Captain, it will be nice to not trouble with that this time since our trip is relatively near.

I can tell you for sure though… that if any of you that read this have a cat… and we see you (whether you live in Taiwan or in the USA)… we’d love to play with your furry pets.

Here’s my all time favorite picture of Captain… followed by some others we like and a slideshow at the end. Thanks for indulging me with this post.

Besides physical abuse, I can hardly think of anything more destructive to an 11 or 12 year old girl than to draw attention to her in this manner. We plan to talk with the director of the dance company next week to help us determine how to proceed. We let it simmer for a while… praying and trying to determine if we were overreacting… but we feel we must take some steps to address this attack on girls’ self esteem.

The other day, I read this post by Susan on a blog I follow…

A Blog of Redemption: For my Daughter

In it she also mentions young girls in dance classes…

I recently visited a good friend of mine who teaches dance classes to kids of various ages. She was telling me that some of the girls in her classes as young as 10 years old were already demonstrating some behaviors that reveal a poor self-image. She said she has observed these girls looking in the mirror critically and making comments like, “I am so fat!”

Susan shares more about her friend’s take on this sad situation and then makes some personal application as well… all worth reading. She is writing with moms in mind, but moms and dads need to always be aware of the messages they are sending to their daughters by their words and actions. We also must remember that we are responsible to keep others from harming their self esteem, too… even well meaning dance instructors.

This nutjob is the poster boy for all of the bad impressions people have of Christianity… if you think that Christianity is about: money, power, control, hypocrisy, charismatic figures, tradition, social status, etc etc etc… Benny Hinn should be your very best friend because he embodies ALL of those things.

He should definitely be your #1 strawman when you argue against Christians. Some others you could use would be: Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, Robert Tilton, Paul Crouch, Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, Jack Van Impe, and Paula White… and if you are really desperate… Joel Osteen and Joyce Myers will work to a lesser degree.

But this post is really about 2 things…

1. The Trinity Foundation and their excellent magazine The Wittenburg Door has posted their latest article about Benny Hinn entitled Why Benny Hinn Became Our Wacky Neighbor. I cannot tell you how much I love Ole Anthony and the Trinity Foundation’s work in exposing frauds like Benny Hinn.
2. Unless Hinn’s advance people find this post… which would ruin my chances, I’d guess… I’d really like to find a way to work for his crusade here… behind-the-scenes-like. Does anyone have a way to get their hands on some super secret hidden camera or audio equipment? Does anyone have ties to the Linkou Stadium or the National College of Physical Education? If you’d like to join me in trying to get behind-the-stage access… please contact me. If you’d like to join me, but aren’t sure you can pull off the “church-speak” necessary to get past screeners (if they have them)… I’m pretty rusty myself, but could probably pull together a lesson or two. lol

Read the article… join the crusade…

Our MAY Monthly Report is available for download.

In this edition…

• In the Midst of It (some ways we serve in our apartment complex)
• TMF Spring Retreat for Ladies (or maybe it is the TMF Retreat for Spring Ladies?)
• The Thankful Pigeon

Clicking on the image below will open the PDF newsletter directly (about 105kb)

This is prayer. You do not have to speak. Do not let anyone tell you that you must speak. You may speak if you wish, or you may simply listen in the darkness.

Of course… we all like it when we hear things we agree with…

I spend hours listening… sometimes I hear from God… sometimes I rest… sometimes I talk a little… sometimes I worship… I almost always feel less busy…