Dear Prayer Warriors for TMT2024,
Hope everything is well! We are very thankful for all the prayers and support we receive, as it helps us keep going even through our troubles. Here are today’s updates!
We began our day with breakfast and devotions at 7 led by Team 3. Today’s passage was 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, which talked about just how a body needs all of its parts, each member is crucial and contributes to the overall function of the church. It also highlights how if one member suffers, then the entire body suffers, and if one rejoices, the whole body rejoices. This passage was so fitful to our current state: the further we go with this mission, the more we realize NO one is dispensable! The team broke into impromptu shoutouts just to honor each other.
Our classroom teaching continued to grow strong. As the students have got to know us so much better, many of their masks are gone! Classrooms are becoming so lively (pictured). In other storylines, Jan and Yong got to visit Headmaster Wu’s office for the first time to discuss about the upcoming events and logistics, and Ps Ziyi couple got to chat with some teachers over tea with some evangelism intents (pictured)
After our morning lessons, we enjoyed our second delicious lunch at the 源泉社区 YuanQuan Community Center. This time they served us noodles, fried pumpkins, eggplant, and pork, with a refreshing 仙草冻 grass jelly drink! We gifted our team t-shirts to the hosts, our biking tour guides from yesterday, as well as their professional photographer Yucheng, who is merely 18 year old! (pictured)
Following lunch, we had the opportunity to create 笼仔篙小夜灯. It was very well explained and was a great way for the team to learn more about the community’s traditions and craftsmanship. The lanterns all turned out so beautiful (pictured), and we will be sure to cherish them for a long time!
Later, they led us to the rice paddies to play tug of war in the mud. It was a first experience for all of us, and even though we got really dirty, it was very fun! We were also very glad to have more of our students joining us! (pictured)
We returned to school to do laundry and rest briefly before having a takeout dinner from McDonald’s – the buns taste a little different than what we have in the US. As we ate conveniently in the school kitchen, we served ourselves loads of mango, guava and wax apples!
In our evening debrief, Jan shared a story about a boy named Dan and his journey guided by God’s hand. This led us to reflect on our own paths and write letters to Jesus, strengthening our relationship with Him. We also nominated our top participating students – we Team 5 chose Yuzen after confirming our internal consensus with other teams who had also interacted with Class E.
As we conclude today, we are fully committed to finishing well tomorrow for our last day of teaching, when we will have all the students with us for a full-day for the first time. We are all super excited about tomorrow’s campfire party 5:00-8:00pm. We are confident that our Lord God will guide us through each and every step!
Praise:
1. We thank YuanQuan Community for their delicious meals and engaging activities like making 笼仔篙 and the tug of war. They also shared with us our event pictures via Fb very effectively!
2. Today’s weather! Although it was hot as usual, we are very grateful that the rain didn’t interrupt our activities.
3. Students were more engaged in classroom activities as they got to know us better.
4. Students joining our afternoon activities and dinner, and even getting to hang out with us in our dorm!
Prayer:
1. A fun and memorable experience for both the students and the TMT team during tomorrows campfire and activitie
2. Zee and Lucas’ safe return to Boston tomorrow noon.
3. Preparations for Friday and Sunday activities, esp the coordinations with Elder Chiu and Headmaster Wu.
4. For our personal gifts and cards to convey Christ-like love to each every ErShui student.
Love,
Aliza, Maggie, Ian, and Lucas
