A God of Abundance

Being in quarantine was quite a roller coaster. Most people know, but I really do not enjoy being alone! So the idea of having to spend even four days by myself, was really intimidating. But I actually had a really pleasant time. I phoned the boys in the other quarantine house and we had lunch and dinner together, which was really great to have virtual company. I also learnt that it is okay to be alone, and that I can be comfortable with myself! I also listened to a lot of worship music which was really uplifting. After being in quarantine for three days, I got a knock on the door and there was a girl and two guys standing there with a bunch of suitcases. I was really confused and I had no idea how I was going to explain in Chinese that I am in quarantine and that they are at the wrong house... however, this was just the start of the blessings that occurred in quarantine. It turned out that I had the dates wrong and this was the student who was meant to join me, and then in less than an hour, the doorbell rang again and I got a second housemate, one of the girls who is also doing my school, who is from America! I felt really overwhelmed, but it was such a blessing! Human interaction!

The girl who is not doing my school is from Singapore and it was incredible to have someone who could read Chinese (I was having a very fun time translating Food Panda with google translate, but it was quite tedious). She was such a great help, and we tried our best to eat different kinds of food each day. She also enjoys cooking and often made food for dinner which was the sweetest thing (and

something I had actually been praying for, haha, I really wanted to live with someone who enjoyed cooking). Anyway, that was just some of the many blessings. Overall, the three of us got along really well. They are both introverts and needed alone time, but they were really accommodating

in terms of allowing me to have extrovert time. They spent a lot of time listening to all my stories, and letting me verbally process things. We had so many great conversations about our home countries and cultures. We made routines of eating meals, studying, laughing, telling stories, and watching church online together. While we were in quarantine, we used Zoom to attend class with the rest of the group. Different people dropped off homework assignments, school supplies, and even homemade chocolate chip cookies outside our door! I felt really loved and appreciated, which was something I feared about being in quarantine. I was worried that I would feel forgotten, but that was definitely not the case.

Of course, quarantine was not always a field of daisies. It was frustrating being inside on off days, and not necessarily having new things to do. But as a group we came up with some fun activities to do together, including ordering bubble tea (which is a really popular thing here) to treat ourselves every now and again.

Now, for some bigger picture details: I am in a formal school called the School of Biblical Studies (SBS), where we are studying our way through the entire Bible in 9 months. The past three weeks have been packed full of learning how to use the inductive study method, how to complete our assignments, and then studying Philemon, Titus, Ephesians and Mark. In short, the inductive study method involves observation, interpretation, and application of a text - in this particular order.

We spend the majority of our time reading what is in the Bible and getting an understanding of what the words meant to the readers at that time. We look for repeated words/ideas, comparisons, figures of speech, who and when words, descriptive words, etc. To understand the historical context, we do research - both within the Bible itself and using other Bible dictionary sources. As example of this - when we were doing Ephesians, our staff created a “walk through Ephesus” experience for us to better understand what life would have been like for a person in Ephesus around 60AD. We then spent time doing our own research to learn about the specific things we saw in our walk-through experience. Only after observing what’s in the text and interpreting what it meant to the readers at that time, do we then move to application. At the end of each book, we walk away with some timeless truths that we’ve discovered in Scripture that transcend time and culture. We then spend time praying and asking God what He wants us to take away from our study that will personally impact our lives. I know that some people were really confused about how it is possible to spend so much time studying the bible, but to put it into perspective, I we finished Ephesians last week, and it took me 25 hours to complete the assignments for this book, which is a book that takes 20 minutes to read out loud. So yes, I’m keeping busy over here.

On my first off day out of quarantine and I went with Josef to go explore the city. It was lots of fun! It drizzled most of the afternoon, and because of the virus, the streets were pretty empty. We wore masks the whole day, and only took them off to eat and take a few photos. I am really grateful that I am still able to go out and explore, even with the virus. Taiwan has done a really great job of controlling the virus! I have heard that they are one of three countries that have not closed down their schools. I am so grateful that God called me here. We are the only YWAM location that is doing SBS in person, and its so great to know that God knew that this would happen before hand, and that I get to be here, doing SBS.

I have managed to meet quite a few Taiwanese people on the street. They have come up and started conversations with us while we are out. I think one of my favourite meetings, happened on my first day out of quarantine. Josef and I were sitting down by the river before class, and a lovely woman with a cute dog came up and started talking to us. She then offered to take us around the area and show us some great places to eat, and different places to see around Danshui. We also found out that she was Christian, which was really encouraging for me to hear! She was really sweet and bought us two different types of breakfasts before showing us how to get to our class!

For Easter we gathered as a class and had some time in worship together. We then had a feast, where we all brought different foods. It was lovely trying food from other student's countries.

We have also gotten our work duties and ministries for our time being here. I will be baby sitting three little boys once a week, and taking part in ministry at The Rock Cafe where we give out free drinks to people in the evenings. It opens up an opportunity for them to practice their English while we chat to them, which is a great place to share about Jesus.

Last bit of exciting news! We have got news from the Taiwanese government saying that visitors have been given a 60 day visa extension! This means that I will not have to leave the country until August! So we will be able to complete at least two thirds of this school! God is good!

I am hoping to write a bit about what I have learnt so far in my next update! It may take me a while to compile it, but hopefully I will post something once a month! Thank you for all the continual support, love and prayers, it is much appreciated!

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Prayer requests: - for good time management, and to get enough rest. - for God to give me deeper understanding as I read through His word. - that those with visas will be able to do a visa run in August, and come back and complete the school.

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