If there's one thing I love, it's traveling. Combine that with the opportunity to share God's love in one of the coolest countries ever, and you get one incredible experience that I'm at a loss for words to write about. Sometimes God speaks to people indirectly through these moments of sharing, and other times, it allows us to relive what has already happened in a new, profound way.
[I've shared about missions trips before... you can read about it here or here.]
So the trip started off with me heading to LAX and then from there, straight to Taipei.
The view from the plane always amazes me:
EVA Air, holla!
We had a youth camp in Hualien my first week:
This was the view at the train station:
Our campsite was at a seminary school. The entire place was built on a mountain, so to get anywhere, you had to take multiple flights of stairs. Climbing up to the dorms the first time was pretty devastating as I found out how out of shape I was after hiking for about 10 minutes. The second day, a kind coworker volunteered to drive us up the hill every morning and evening. I couldn't have been more thankful.
This is the view from the main meeting room, sort of at the bottom of the hill, but still a ways up from the main road. I really enjoyed standing out here and admiring the view, because I knew it would only be a little while before having to go back to Taipei and back to AZ and back to normal life.
I wish I could just look out my window and see this every morning. Certainly wouldn't get tired of it!
I'm thankful that I got to serve at such a place at such a time. Although I may not realize all that God was trying to show me, I know that seeds were planted in people's hearts and little by little, God was also changing me. Hualien round two was much harder than it was for me two years ago due to jetlag, weather, and lots of other small inconveniences, but I'm thankful for all the hardships that led me to count on God that much more to be transformed more like his Son.
After the Mennonite camp in Hualien we traveled back to Taipei
Lots of rain brought the temperature down quite a bit!
Da An Forest Park:
I didn't realize this until we were at the park, but it's actually really close to the Taipei 101:
Asparagus, tomato, omelet curry:
This picture was taken at 228 Peace Memorial Park, where we went for street evangelism:
I thought this sign was funny:
Church in Taichung:
I was in tiauchung for a couple of days, then back to the airport I went. But before taking off, I had to get my favorite Taiwanese specialty - xiao long bao!
Aaaaaand back on the plane:
