Reflections on the Trip

(For those of you who haven't figure it out, almost all the unsigned posts in this blog were written by me, Joshua Chen. It was my intention to keep all my posts anonymous, but apparantly my writing content and style were too obvious.)

As Taiwan trip came to a conclusion, I can say I had very mixed emotions. Happiness, from all the wondrous things God had done, but sadness also at the realization that it’s all over. Though the things we did were powerful, the bonds we shared with each other shall be eternal. While I miss the amazing VGM program and the awe inspiring Saturday altar call, the people I grew closest to in Taiwan will be the ones I long for the most. I have met so many amazing people, all with incredible stories and a strong love of God. Their stories have inspired me and have influenced me to live a life filled with God. In the short two and a half weeks time, God united us together as one, to help in His ministry. Then, we all went our separate ways, possibly never to meet again until heaven. These next several people I list are a few of the many who made a strong impact on my life and I’ll list them in alphabetical order because I can’t figure out any other way to order them.

Jack- I entered the first week’s camp two days after everyone else, yet I was extremely warmly welcome anyways. Something about Jack stood out to me though, out of all the people, God’s love seemed to be overflowing out of him. I don’t know how we managed to get to know each other that quickly, but by the end of my first day, we could joke around and hug each other like we had known each other for years. Jack was a mentor to me that week and still continues to be. He was probably one of the oldest co-workers, having just graduated from college. Funny thing is, he barely understands any English. That night before STM was supposed to leave; Jack and I spoke for an hour or two about life. He shared his testimony to me and it was powerful. He’s only the person he is today because of God. We talked about other things, but what I’ll remember most is that it is possible to live a Godly life. Despite circumstances and hardships, God still loves me. I need to follow His example in everything I do. Jack, to me, was an example of what God could do if you let Him. After we left to go to the second camp, Jack went up to Taipei with us for Sunday worship the last week, even though the drive was a couple hours long. Sitting in the airplane, Jack was the last person I talked to on the phone, up until the flight attendant told us to turn our phones off seconds before the plane started moving.

Martin- Martin was one of my co-teachers the second week of VGM bilingual camp. Through the week, I realized Martin and I were quite similar. We were similarly tall, and loved sports. He even told me to throw baseballs at him as hard as I could as he was a high school catcher. However, what will be the most similar about us is the experiences we’ve shared. Somehow, God destined us to be partners. We shared the gospel to our students together. I would attract them because the students liked talking to some foreign American guy and tell them all I could about God. I had to speak in Chinese though and I struggled with some vocabulary. Every time, Martin would just pick up where I couldn’t continue and share exactly what I had intended. God used us together to preach the good news as neither one of us would have ever been able to do it alone. The most powerful experience we shared is the last Saturday’s altar call. Before it began, I pulled him outside with me to pray. We prayed; him in Chinese, me in English. We prayed for all the students, especially for Vicky and Joe, and then we broke down crying, touched by God. We re-entered the room and stood in the back as the altar call began. We prayed our hearts out and waited, waited for Vicky’s hand to rise. One call passed, then two. No response from her. We prayed even more intently. Finally, her hand raised slowly on the third call. We broke down crying again as we prayed, “Thank you God” in our respective languages, over and over again. We had seen a miracle. As we parted later that day, and again when he visited us right before STM went to the airport, I was greatly saddened. He might be the only person on earth who knew exactly how I felt, having experienced the same thing. I don’t know if I’ll ever see him on this world again, but we’ll certainly have some nice life stories to tell in heaven.

Rita- Without a doubt, Rita is her own very unique person. She’s had an incredible impact on the STM team, especially Andrea and I, and we still keep in regular contact. I don’t know why, but seeing Rita makes you happy somehow, though a possible factor may be watching her laugh so hard she can’t stand up. Rita has the capability of comforting you when you need it and joking around with you when appropriate. She is also incredibly accepting of who God made her to be, despite some pretty troubling times. Just looking at Rita, you can see on who lives her life entirely for God. She uses her past as a comfort for others, instead of allowing it to be constant pain. When I needed Godly advice, she happily provided it to me, even though she had to stay up until 2 AM because of time zone differences. I am very grateful for all she has done, both for me, and the rest of the STM team. (I could go on and on about Rita, but I won’t.)

Yutting- Her life story was an absolute encouragement to everyone. Yutting was one of the co-workers from the first camp. She grew up in the village we went to the second week and attended the very school we stayed and worked at the second week. When she was in middle school, she attended one of VGM’s camps. What she learned that week stuck with her as she became a Christian. What an absolutely remarkable thing it was to meet her. The common problem with short term missionaries is that we rarely get to see the fruits of our labor, yet, there she was, living proof that what we were doing was not in vain. Throughout my stay in Taiwan, her story encouraged me to share the gospel every chance I get. I had no idea where the next Yutting would be, nor who him or her would be, but I knew that what I was doing really had an effect. There was a tangible goal, something to work towards because of her. We were really blessed to have Yutting there with us. As if her story by itself wasn’t enough, God also placed her among us to impact us through what she did. In essence, she acted as our STM translator on stage. In partnership with her, I was able to go onto stage, to share God’s love. She was also one of the members of the first week’s team that visited us the second week. That visit brought much needed encouragement during a stressful time for some of us. I still keep in contact with Yutting and am very grateful for everything she’s done for us.