Dear all, two essays below one from the youth another from Zuwei, please enjoy both. Group pics were not processed yet – my apologies. Thank you, yong
Dear Prayer Warriors for TMT 2024,
Thank you so much for following along with our journey and supporting us! This is Rachel, Angelina, and Max for the daily update 😀 Today is Sunday and our last full day in Ershui. Four big action items: Elder Chiu house for breakfast, Sunday service at ErShui PC, shopping at 大潤發at 員林, and then the Lukang tour!
Our day started super early with a devotion led by Pastor Ziyi at 6:45 AM. We meditated on 1 Peter 2: 2-3 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. Ps Ziyi encouraged us to cling on to God’s words more, now that we’ve experienced God’s provision and blessing in this STM
We walked to Yuanquan station to catch the 7:45train for the next stop, which is ErShui station 5 mins away. The commuter train is very modern and welcoming and we’ve got to experience the community in a very special way. For one thing, people identified Ps Ziyi on the street! For another, we saw the water adduct runs through the town and right by the ErShui PC.
We were warmly received by Elder and Mrs Chiu and their Son David at David’s Workshop and Restaurant, a family business named after the son – how cute. We enjoyed a delicious meal of fresh fruits like mangoes and dragonfruit as well as scallion pancakes and noodles. We were so grateful for Elder Chiu’s hospitality and numerous help throughout the week! May our Lord bless their service in His name.
The ErShui PC is just on the other side of the ally! We were warmly welcomed by their congregation who conducted the service in Taiwanese. It was a privilege to be able to experience their Sunday routine in their local language. We were invited to perform two songs, Peace Like a River and 雲上太陽 (The Sun Above the Clouds), both were very well received.
We concluded the church visit with some group pictures before we stepped out to wait for our bus at a 7-Eleven down the street. Some parents mingled with the locals in the shop explaining why we were there! The parents/grandparents thanked us for coming to teaching their kids English and invited us to come again! What a great encouragement – God is at work!
We then drove to a shopping center in Yuanlin 員林 for lunch and to explore! We split off into smaller groups to explore all three floors it had to offer, including two food floors and a whole supermarket. It was an exciting way to spend time together (especially for the teenagers) before our busy afternoon sightseeing.
At 3:00 PM, we started a tour at Lukang, visiting places like a Taiwanese temple and many streets filled with local shops. It was super, super hot, but we still had a good time! We got to visit a store (獅公館）dedicated to lion dancing masks by Yong’s recommendation; it was really intriguing to learn about all the nuances that go into making a mask.
Finally, we arrived at a night market after walking around town for two hours. We split off again to sample the food from the various food stands and indulge in the tiny markets with lots of cute items. Our haul included a humongous stuffed goose that Angelina bought and a couple of capybaras (lol). We regrouped at 6:10 to return to Ershui Junior High School (二水國中) and enjoyed a very enthralling movie on the bus where people crashed cars off of cliffs and through buildings. Our night was concluded by a massive cleanup of all the areas on campus that we’ve used for the past 10 days, including the classrooms, the kitchen, the meeting room, the bathrooms, and our dorms.
Overall, we were very grateful to have such a wonderful day to cap off our stay in Ershui! It was a great way to get one last glimpse into the culture here before we make our way back to Boston. Though we will miss all the new connections we made here, we still hope to be able to make it back home safely.
We are very thankful for this opportunity, for all the time that we got to spend here. It is thanks to your support that we have been able to have so many good times to write about and remember fondly. Hopefully, we will be able to come again next year 😀
Thanksgiving:
1. A successful week of teaching English and bonding with the students
2. Safety throughout the week both at school and the afternoon activities
3. Beautiful weather and amazing time spent with the Ershui students and the RenLun youth on Friday (Yong’s note: Sorry but Friday Part 2 is yet to come – it’s simply too invaluable to write it off in a rush. But we promise you it’s coming soon)
Prayer requests:
1. Saying goodbye to ErShui JH tomorrow morning
2. Team members’ travels to Taoyuan or other locations tomorrow Monday by charter bus or train.
3. Smooth transfers in Seattle for those who are taking Delta.
4. Followup with ErShui JH about the students’ Exit Survey asap.
Thank you!!
~ Angelina, Max, Rachel
(Edited by Yong)
Below was contributed by
祖偉（TMT家屬，5/12晚入住）
7月14日：今天是主日，也是 TMT在台灣集體活動的最後一天。團隊步行15分鐘從二水國中到達附近的源泉普通鐵路站，乘坐鐵路5分鐘到達二水鄉鎮中心的二水站。然後步行10分鐘至邱長老的設計精美的日式小餐館用早餐，並與長老和邱師母有很好的交談。TMT成員們借此機會瞭解台灣城鎮地區的教會情況。
隨後團隊步行1分鐘來到邱長老所服侍的台灣基督長老二水教會參加主日活動。教會的敬拜和洪牧師的講道都採用台語。這應該是團隊中大部分來自大陸的成員第一次聆聽台語講道。雖然聽不太懂，但至少可以閱讀幻燈片的中文。牧師也偶爾用國語強調要點。今天牧師講到了如何禱告，強調要情真意切的向耶穌提出最迫切的需求。
團隊成員們在牧師講道後獻上兩首敬拜歌曲，一首英文歌曲peace like a river, 一首為中文歌曲【雲上太陽】。第二首歌曲很明顯也是台灣教會所流行的，會眾們很友好的打起拍子。隨後的自由交流時間成員們與教會牧師和牧長以及會眾多有交流，瞭解了更多教會的情況。教會有一些年輕會員，但總體面臨老齡化的問題。這應該與教會地處工作機會較少的地區有關。
與二水教會告別後團隊乘坐專用巴士去員林大潤發購物中心用午餐並購買伴手禮，然後驅車去鹿港，開啓鹿港老街半日游。鹿港乃台灣早期第二重鎮（一府二鹿三艋舺），寺廟繁多古剎林立。在嚮導的帶領下我們參觀了建築藝術優美的龍山寺，穿過了鹿港老街，最後到達古香古色的鹿港地標天後宮，也就是羅大佑的歌曲【鹿港小鎮】中提及的媽祖廟。我們在廣場合影後分頭四處覓食，盡興而歸。
當巴士載著團隊回到二水國中時，隊員們都知道這將是在這裡的最後一個晚上。大家忙碌著打掃衛生，其中一個重大的任務就是清理垃圾。發揮人多力量大的優勢，今晚大人孩子齊上陣，不怕髒不怕累，重新歸拾了一下我們所有的垃圾，正確分類，並帶到回收站。我們終於把我們宿舍的樓道恢復到入住時的清爽！我們本領學到家了，卻要走了，小傷感。
似乎是最後一個晚上帶來的淡淡的傷別離，今天晚上男孩子們一改往日睡前之喧囂吵鬧，早早的熄燈睡覺了，令我在黑暗中，聽著他們微微的鼾聲，寫完此篇日記。願神祝福每個孩子都有收穫，大家都有平安的回程，明年的TMT會更好。
祖偉
