A little trip

Last week I went to Taiwan for some meetings and a few days of vacation. I was deeply encouraged in so many ways which challenged me to push harder in language learning and in my walk with Father. While there I got to experience a lot of things that I miss a lot. One of these being eating American food!!! After our first day we went to the second tallest building in the world, the Taipei 101 and then headed to Chilli's!!! I was so excited to have the taste of those dang good southwestern egg rolls,my stomach was satisfied after leaving. I spent each day from 8-5 in meetings and then went out after with everyone. We did everything from movies to food to night markets to food and food, food, food. Did I mention Mexican food, because ya that happened! My most favorite part was spending time with friends who I hadn't seen since last summer. We shared so many stories and had a lot of good laughs which did a lot for my soul. After the week ended I stayed with a few friends for some action days where we relaxed at the beach and did some shopping and just hung out watching movies. I was so thankful for the time I got to spend with my friends. On Sunday we went to a gathering and I was hit with so many emotions. My heart was so overwhelmed to be a part of service with the locals worshipping in their native tongue. I couldn't stop crying thinking how I wished it could be like this where I am. I hadn't been to a service like this in a year and to see and here how the Sp-rit was moving was a beautiful thing. My hearts cry is to see the people of my area be moved by Father and to fall on their knees before the one who is greater. All I could think of was "my heart is overwhelmed" by Hillsong "Your love has set The broken captives free Your love released The chains once binding me I'm found in grace In love's embrace My heart is overwhelmed I stand redeemed Your spirit now alive withing my heart I walk with you all of my days I shall live to glorify you G-d Hear my soul rejoice." I cry out that the people know of His love that will set them free.

CB WHAT CB WHAT!! CBU

Recently we had a team come to our city for three weeks. There were nine of them who came all the way from California to teach english at the University. I cannot express how thankful I felt to have them come, not only was it a blessing to me but to a lot of the students they came in contact with. They had a loaded schedule set before them and they worked extremely hard to be the hands and feet that Father called them to be. I had the opportunity to hang out a lot with them and meet a lot of the students that they met. They were able to meet about twenty seven students and spend a lot of time with them getting to know them and sharing the love of Father. Some of the students were very receptive and wanted to know more. Two students came to trust in Him during their time here and one other after they left. During the three weeks after they headed back home I had the opportunity to meet up with about half of these students and get to know them a bit more. One friend in particular who came to trust Father after the group left was RM. i met her while the team was here and after they left contacted her to meet again. She was very different from the first time I met her. A few of the girls from the team left RM with a DVD which she watched on her own and after watching chose to grab ahold of the "fishing pole" and cling to it for dear life. When I met with her there was a difference in her. She was extremely happy and ran to me and hugged me, (which is something that they don't usually do here.) we went to a coffee shop in the library and she began to tell me of what happened while watching the film. I got to talk to her a lot about what she experienced and she immediately shared of how she wants to share this with her friend and family who don't know. I was so excited for her and so thankful the Father moved in her heart. We will begin studying together when she returns for the new school year!! Father is the ultimate Author of our lives and I'm so thankful that He moves in mysterious ways. I'm thankful that I can serve Him and be a part of His journey. Instill have many more students to meet with and continue sharing this great love with. Thank you CBU for your hard work! "What then is Apollos? What is Paul?servants through whome you believed, as the L-rd assigned to each. I planted, apollos watered, but it was G-d that gave the growth.so neither he who plants or he who waters is anything, but only G-d who gives the growth.he who plants and he who waters are one,and each will receive his wages according to his labor.for we are G-ds fellow workers. You are G-ds field, G-d is building." 1 Cor. 3:5-9

Been A While: Random Happenings

I have been really horrible at keeping up to date with how life is going here. Lots of things have been going on the last few months. I started school and it has been going pretty good. Most days I'm completely lost and confused but I'm getting through it. At first it was real embarrassing when I would get called on and have no clue how to answer but that feeling has faded and I press on through those moments. Today in class we finished one of our books and I had a test where I had to meet my teacher 1-on-1 and she asked questions and I had to answer. I did fairly well only missing 3 questions. Getting around town has definitely been really easy and I can do just about anything by myself now without the help of others. Recently I got a bike from a friend here who just had a baby and can't ride for now. Riding it for the first time along the river was so freeing. I can't tell you how much I miss driving and this is the closest I have come to it and it was the greatest feeling ever and surviving the roads was a big accomplishment 8^). A  little over a month I had to take a 3 hour trip to see a dentist for a tooth ache and wound up having to get 2 teeth pulled which were baby teeth and under one had an infection which was causing my pain. It took me about a week to fully recover because the infection got pretty bad. I recently went back and had to have braces put on my teeth which I'll have to wear for a year. It's almost been a week and I'm still getting used to them. Trying to eat has been a task. Well that is about all the new things going on. My life for the time being is wrapped around language study and will be the case for a while. The weather is getting so much warmer and everything is starting to blossom which I'm loving.

I am about to hit the 7 month mark. I can't believe it has already been half a year since I arrived. Time is flying by fast. I have had my ups and downs and it has been incredible seeing how Father has pulled me through and revived my spirit. I am excited to see what Father is going to do through this next month and the many more that are to come. I have 2 friends I've been meeting with, I'll call them J&J, and we've been going through T4T which is teaching them about how to walk with Father. We just went through pr@yer and they learned what it looks like and what the Book says about it. They have prepared a topic that they want to talk to me about so keep this in your thoughts as I meet with them sometime next week. It is amazing seeing how they are growing and reading the Book. Well that is about it for now, I am going to try and do better at posting more, I know I know, I say this all the time.

Blessing to y'all

Hardships that come and go.

I know I know, it has been an extremely long time since I last wrote on here and I apologize for my laziness. Most of you received my monthly update through email so I will steer clear from writing about what you already know. I am going to be completely honest wit you and say that I have been having a hard time in this last month or so. My heart has just been overtaken by missing the comforts of home. Students are gone and have been since the end of December and my mind has been processing so many things like missing family and friends and missing the comfort of being home and my everyday life back in the states. Don't get me wrong, I know I am where I'm supposed to be and am so thankful for that and for Father. I'm not trying to complain or anything but just want to get how I really feel out. I miss seeing my friends everyday and making funny videos with them, I miss the feeling if sitting on campus on Thursdays after dinner and feeling the air around me as I sit outside as the sun is going down. I miss the sound of a lawnmower (yes a lawnmower) and the smell of fresh cut grass. I miss hanging out with my family and most of all I miss driving. That feeling of driving for 10 hours with my music blaring and my windows down. I have recently found out that these feelings I'm having are normal. For so long I didn't want to say anything because I thought I was being selfish in some way but I know that I am not. Some nights I don't sleep very well because I have been having so many horrible nightmares that I feel completely exhausted the next day and all I want to do is sleep. Father definitely has reminded me of his steadfast love and protection over me while I sleep. These thoughts will not keep me down but push me to going forward. Father has a huge task that is at work here and that is what drives me and keeps me going. Life will be better once my friends return for the 2nd term here in a few weeks. A verse that has helped me is from 2 Cor. 12:9-10 "But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Ch-ist's power may rest on me. That is why for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak then I am strong." My heart will gladly rejoice in my Father in all of my days.

Tis the season!!! What's that you ate?

So it is almost Christmas time and I'm excited to welcome some friends coming from America!! They will be here in a week and will stay for about two weeks. I'm pumped for them to come and join in on the work here. The week of Christmas I will be hosting three Christmas parties so be lifting up those who will come and here The Story and conversations that will happen.

So this past week I took part in eating something that I swore I'd never do. (Dog lovers you may want to skip this paragraph 8^)) I went out to eat with some friends on Tuesday night to a Korean BBQ place and my friends ordered our meal. We had beef, pork and tofu cooking on our small grill and another dish that was placed in front of me. This dish had meat, egg, rice and other vegetables in it. As I began to mix it all together and take a bite my friend said this is dog meat, yes that's what I typed, dog meat. All I could think about was my previous pet dogs, but I continued to eat. I don't think I will be eating this kind of dish anymore, hopefully.

Language study is continuing to go well. I finished week 3 today and am still not talking. It's great!! I am improving a lot in my listening skills and my tutor is absolutely amazing. I have never felt so encouraged by someone before. When I can't seem to point to where the word is that she is saying she tells me "I wont tell you but I think you can get it." And when I do get it she tells me "very good, so smart." This helps a lot with not getting frustrated and keeps me motivated.

Today I went on a little adventure to a park here in my city with a friend named Dan Dan. We met at campus and took the bus and along the way she told me different facts about our city which was neat to learn. When we arrived at the park I was blown away at how big it was. We had a good hike up the mountain and when we reached the top we could see the whole city. It was so beautiful and cool looking to get to look over our whole city. We had so many good conversations and I'm definitely excited about our new friendship.

That's all I have for now. Below are some pic's from the park. (sorry no pic's of the dog)

View from kitchen window

Office View

Park entrance

 Gazebo

Made it t the top

Dan Dan and I

About to climb to the top

to get on roof. Way too many 

stairs inside

View from the roof

Our city and the river 

Monkey's (There's a zoo)

Fighting over chip bag

Big furry tractor (bear)

Frozen lake

The Weather Outside is Frightful!!

It's been a while since my last post on here and I apologize for that. Not a whole lot has been going on here. This past week I started a new language curriculum with a  new tutor which I like very much. She is a sister and is so encouraging. The first 100 hrs of my training I am not allowed to speak, just listen. We go through about 25 to 30 vocabulary words a day using tangible objects like toys or drawing pictures. This is right up my alley of learning. She never tells me the answer and no english is spoken which is good for me because it forces me not to speak english. I think this is going to go very well and she will be able to work with me for the 2 years I'm hear. Father definitely answered that Pr-yer. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and I had a small dinner with some friends from my team and my tutor. We had chicken, sweet potato casserole, home made crescent roles and some mixed vegetables. It was very good and on Saturday we will have a big get together with all the foreigners in our city and have a big meal which, I'm pumped about. I've been doing a lot of painting and decorating my apartment. A few weekends ago I had about 6 friends over at my apartment and we watched the movie Soul Surfer. After I was able to share about Father's strength and how we can do anything through Him. They seemed to really understand and it was going through their mind. I am really excited about these new friends and it's been good getting to know them. I will start studying with my tutor soon from the book so she can grow more. She is like minded but wants to study deeper in His word which I am very excited about. The temperature is dropping fast here. The high has been about 28 degrees and will be getting lower soon. In December we will hit the negatives which usually hits -20, uhhhhm cold much?  N-e-who well I gotta get going now. I'll try and post again soon, I am thankful for all the pr-yers being lifted up.

Blessings and Hope you all had a  happy Thanksgiving!!!

My tutor and I

New painting

More pic's

These are some pic's of my apartment and over by the River. Enjoy

People usually hang out and play 

games in the afternoon time.

Friendship Bridge

Neighbors

Kite flying

Lots of fishing

Friends

Friendship bridge to our neighbors

My couch

Lil chair

My desk

My bedroom

The closet

Table and kitchen (front door entrance)

The living room

My table and wall art painted 

by Katie Denten

My new wall art that I painted