last days in Taiwan...

hi there, it's me again :)

tomorrow is our last day here, then we're off to the philippines!

this past couple of weeks in taiwan has been really great. also one of the most stretching, challenging, and growing times for me. never in my life did i think i would preform for 4,000+ people in two weeks! 

our schedule has been crazy. our busiest day we preformed at a school, then each of us taught 3 different english classes, and after that we had 3 more performances back to back. that's not including all the extra stuff we did, such as eating huge meals with new friends and visiting the principal's house! 

we've grown a lot as a team, figuring out how to communicate and work together to show the love of God through our performances. we've ministered to many grade schools, a military school, a prison, a nursing school, a coffee shop, churches, and more. we were even on tv! 

personally, this has been a time of stepping out of myself and learning to trust the Lord to be my strength. before now, i had never even given my testimony to a group larger than 30 people. now i'm speaking in front of hundreds. starting out i was scared out of my mind, but this has grown me even closer to Jesus because he is my comforter and he gives me the words to say. eating up the bible and praying is all that keeps me sane. now when i get up in front of a crowd, i'm excited to share because the joy of the Lord is my strength! i've found that sharing with kids is my favorite ministry. especially middle schoolers/early high schoolers. i remember exactly how it felt to be that age and my heart goes out to them. i want them to find their confidence and identity in Christ. 

the other day we ministered at a youth group which had a lot of girls who are from broken homes. they're being kept at a shelter right now because living conditions at home are too bad. after the service, we had a time for prayer. i got to pray for a lot of them. it was amazing to see how, even though there's such a big language barrier, that means nothing to God. many of them were moved to tears through our prayers for them. it touched my heart to see some of the girls opening up and asking questions about God. i loved getting to share the heart of God with them and see their faces change when i told them about who he is and how much he cares about each of them.

it's been awesome seeing the Spirit move through us. we bring so much joy to crowds of people and i love watching it happen! my favorite time was the nursing school we went to. 600 energetic young women, ecstatic about us being there, all hanging on every word we spoke. they made me laugh so much. before going i was feeling a bit burnt out and tired, but they totally changed that for me. i get such a high off of feeling the energy of a crowd watching you preform. it's gooood! :)

yesterday was pretty hard for me. my best friend ever got married and it killed me not to be there. even though i was able to skype it (THANK GOD for skype....), it was an emotional day. i wanted more than anything to be home. it reminded me of the story in the bible when John the baptist was beheaded and Jesus wanted to be alone to morn, but instead he ministered to the people. that's what i had to do... thankfully Kaitie wasn't beheaded hahaha but it was one of the most important days of her life and i wanted to be there more than anything. God is good though, and his grace is powerful! he is the best comforter.

this experience here has been one i will remember forever, for sure. 

tomorrow we enter a very different atmosphere and very different ministry. i'm excited. God has shown me some visions for the philippines and i'm looking forward to what he has planned for us there. looks like we'll be constantly surrounded by little children! :)

not sure if i'll have internet connection there...most likely not... but i'll update my blog again asap.

prayers are very appreciated for the next 3 weeks as we do the work the Lord has prepared for us in a new country. 

thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting!

love and blessings!!!

stephanie

In the fastest elevator ever in the 2nd tallest building ever!

Angel and me at the military school

Military School

on a train!

on a train. I got to give a printed copy of this photo to him :) he loved it!

Francesca and me doing a skit at the nursing school :)

Ni Hao Ma!

HELLO from Taiwan!!!
It's beautiful here. So full of life and color. I love it!
Our ministry is going great so far... we're off to a good start.
We're mostly working in schools, sharing the love of Jesus through dramas, testimonies, and music. We have a band! It's so easy to play music with this group of people and our worship just flows out of our hearts in the form of lovely sounds :) I'm really enjoying stepping more into the performing arts. It's always been something I've enjoyed... even though it scares me to death sometimes I love overcoming fear and using my gifts. So now I get to do it for Jesus! It's awesome!
This country is very free as far as religion goes. The Taiwanese are open to talk about religion and accept your opinion. There is still a lot of idolatry though. There is a spiritual battle going on for sure.
These people have such sweet hearts. They really value relationship. I wish I had more time to get to know them, but we're only spending two weeks here before moving on to the Philippines. I hope to come back one day.
I want to see breakthrough here! Pray that more and more people's hearts are opened to accept the perfect love and salvation of our Lord.
Sorry I can't go into much more detail. I'll update again soon :)
Enjoy some of my photos!
Peace!

Right outside my doorstep :)

countdown!

So, I'm leaving my beautiful New Zealand home in three days....
I have such mixed emotions about this! I have been very nervous about leaving and not being prepared for outreach but in the past couple of days God has been giving us all a sense of excitement and readiness that can really only come from Him. I'm learning to understand the fact that He equips the unqualified. It's scary to think about preforming dramas and music, and sharing testimonies and sermons in front of thousands of Asians over the next 3 months. But I know for a fact that His Spirit in me is what qualifies me to do that. When trying to prepare for this I stress myself out way too much. It shouldn't be something I try to pull just from my own knowledge...because if that were the case the whole outreach would be a failure! The Lord has been teaching me to trust Him to guide me and give me the words in the moment. And in the mean time, soaking up as much of the Word as possible is key. It's a learning process, but I'm feeling more confident everyday. 
Everyone is packing up, and I don't know what to think about it. I can't believe three months has gone by. I have loved living here and getting to know these people. It's weird thinking about the possibility of never coming back here. I hope I do one day, but I'm preparing not to. In three short months I have gotten so much out of this place that I will carry with me the rest of my life. I have also sown into this community and all over this country. It is part of my inheritance! So I'm having a little bit of a mournful experience preparing to leave. 
Excitement is overshadowing that feeling more and more though... I'm about to take a huge step out and shift gears completely, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for the next 4 months of my life before returning home.


So, while I'm gone, I will try to update my blog with some photos and maybe a story here and there, but unfortunately I won't be able to talk about what I'm doing in detail or where exactly I am. Once I'm home and I can personally share with you my outreach experience, but until then I have to keep everything on the DL. 
If I ever coveted your prayers, I do now more than ever! Your prayers are VITAL to this outreach. Please keep my team in prayer as we go out to be the hands and feet of Jesus and trust Him to guide us. My team is so talented, and I know God is about to use us in huge ways. The unity we have, the love, the joy, and the peace we emanate is powerful. It will affect many lives. So pray for us! We want to give people a taste of Jesus's perfect love. We're about to take all that was poured into us during this lecture phase and pour it out in Asia! If you'd like to pray for the individual people on my team their names are: Adrian (leader), Becky (leader), Francesca, Aaron, Allie, and Ruben. 


Also, if you feel led to donate to me or to our team, that is a BIG help. It's a way to sow into the Kingdom! Your donations help us keep going :)
Oh, on that same note... 
Our school received over $60,000 NZD in just over one week, which covered everyone's outreach fees. God is so faithful! He provides!!!


I'm saving up some money for after travel, which will be in Israel, Greece, and Italy. Judy and I will be traveling together, doing a little ministry in these places for a month before coming home. If you're interested in helping us out with the funds for that, you're awesome! Pray about it :)


Okay, that's all I have until I'm half way around the world. AHHH!! PRAY FOR ME!!! 
Thank you everyone, so, so much. I LOVE you!


Stephanie