11/10/2009 by paul.

Well Friday (T25) was a very quiet day. It was a bit like a day off, with time to sleep, and then I put together some things for an English Class on Saturday (T26). The English class is for teenagers who are studying English at school. I think I’ve already described on my blog how children here are put under pressure to pass exams and often go to evening school to learn more. There is some hope that with the church holding an English class the cycle might be broken. I was therefore determined to make the class fun and interesting, and, I hope, quite different from school. But as I was preparing I had no idea of the level of English of the teenagers who would be coming. So in the first week I decided to go with a vocab quiz, a grammar quiz, watching the trailer to Harry Potter (all the kids here have seen the film) and (don’t laugh, but it was ll I could find online) reading ‘The Wind in the Willows’.

So Saturday night came round and the class went really well. The kids have a really good grasp of Vocab, so next week can be much more difficult (hahaha!) and their grammar is pretty good. Listening and conversation was much harder so I’ve even got something to work at! After the class I went to the young people’s group (20-30’s-ish). They talked about one of the books that they had been reading together. Afterwards I had some good conversations, and they asked me to lead a session in a couple of weeks.

The other thing that I began on Saturday was a translation (Greek -> English) of Ephesians, which, if I’m feeling brave will appear on here at some point.

On Saturday I also went for a nice walk by the Keelung river. To get to the river you need to walk through a 15 ft high metal gate, which protects the city during the monsoon season. I read the notice very carefully to make sure I wasn’t going to get shut on the wrong side of the gate. As you walk along the river I heard random splashing from the middle of the lake. At first I couldn’t see what was causing the noise, but eventually I saw that it was flying fish making their way up stream. I tried to capture one with my camera, but alas my photography skills need more work. Instead I took a picture of the Taipei 101 building which looms above. It looks so impressive here, and yet it is about 2.5 km away!

Posted in Paul's diary | No Comments »

09/10/2009 by paul.

Today has been a busy day. It began with me giving thanks at the 6am prayer meeting that I had managed to wake up every morning and spend time with God! After a quick tidy round my room and breakfast, I joined the students for our last devotions together. Their reading for this morning was Psalm 55, and when I was asked to share with them I focussed on verse 22 and the last part of verse 23…

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous fall….

But as for me, I trust in you.

It seemed like a good passage with which to leave them for a day of tests and exams! It was also a privelege to pray for the school and the kids.

And so we headed to the car and to Taichung station to get me on a High Speed Train to Taipei. I was looking forward to the journey, because, unlike my previous journey, it was light so I would be able to see the countryside. This little video I took is the view of the countryside flying by - in this 35 sec video we travelled 3km!

When I got to Taipei I treated myself to a taxi to the church. I finished my preparations for the Bible Study. There were about 20 people gathered together for the study on Nehemiah 8. As you might have gathered from my constant referring to me trying to work at it, it has been hard preparing a study for people who live in a different culture, and who I don’t really know that well. But I decided that meant that I need to try and stick as close to what the passage says, rather than try to give too many applications and examples. Hopefully people will be able to do this themselves.

We talked about how the people gathered to hear from God’s Word - that it was the people who told the priest, Ezra, to read (not Ezra telling the people to listen). I think that deep down in most Christians know that they should be reading and understanding the Bible. We also talked about how the passage (v.2) includes men, women, and probably children (those who could understand). We talked about how this reflects that God’s Living Word, whilst containing difficult and tricky passages, can speak to all people in their own situations. We then see the atittude that the people had in coming to God’s Word. They had:

1) Patience (to stand and listen for hours in v.3 & v.7)
2) Attentivenes (v.3)
3) Respect (standing upon and letting Ezra stand up high while he read v.4 & v.5)
4) Responsiveness (turning to worship God (v.6)
and they listened to those who had been trained in the scriptures (v.7 & 8 )

We talked about how these attitudes might help us in our time with the Bible. It is good to try and read the Bible everyday, but doing so is quite a commitment. We need to have patience - we might not understand everything straight away or, as Paul might say, ever!). We need to be attentive - for me that means not trying to read the Bible at 6 every morning or at midnight! We need to have respect for God’s Word - this doesn’t mean standing up or performing rituals, but it does mean not ignoring the boring or difficult parts of scripture, and it does mean prioritising the reading of God’s Word in our lives. We need repsonsiveness too - if we are to gain from our reading, then it is no use reading for five minutes a day, shutting our Bibles and then carrying with our daily lives, we need to spend time thinking, responding and listening to what God might have to say to us.

We then talked about the inner transformation that can happen when we are dedicated to hearing from God and his Word. The people in the passage

1) Wept (v.9)
2) Were told to have Joy (v.10)
3) Were told to have Strength (v.10)
4) Were told the day was Sacred (v.11)

This reflects some of the inward changes that occur when we learn more about God. Sometimes this will bring up some raw emotions, can lead to crying - perhaps this is what was meant in Hebrews when it says that the Word of God can cut right to the core of our being, to our soul (Heb. 4:12). Reading about God gives us Joy - not just a temporary happiness and wamr feeling inside, but much more holistic peace and contentment. Reading about God gives us strength and confidence. In a World that is often telling us many things about God, or trying to disprove that God exists, reading the Bible does give us a confidence that God is real and that our trust in him is not in vain. Reading the bible helps to make our days more holy, in fact I have experienced how reading the Bible helps me see what is is sinful in my life, and so I can act differently, making myself more holy, more pleasing in God’s sight - what a wonderful motivation for reading the Bible.

Finally we talked about how these things lead to an outer transformation of people and society. The people:

1) Celebrated and had Fellowship together (v.12)
2) Discovered afresh God’s commands (v.13 & 14)
3) They shared God’ Word with others (v.15)
4) Their community sees growth numerically and in joy (v.16 & 18)

So the people share together. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if on a Sunday Morning in church, we were really keen and eager to share with each other what God had said to us through reading His Word? Wouldn’t that cause us to celebrate together as we learn more of each other and of God? The people found something in the scripture they had forgotten, a command from God to build booths during one of the festivals. Because of their reading they discover something practical that God wants them to do in their lives that will bring more glory to him. The people are so enthused by reading God’s Word that they go out in to the towns and countryside around Jerusalem sharing God’s Word with those that we meet. Wouldn’t it be great if we were really proud of the Bible and had no reservations in going out and sharing it with those that we meet in our homes, in our work places or on the street? Finally the commmunity see growth both spiritually in their joy and numerically (more people join them). It is wonderful!

We quite like the final results - its hard not to get excited by them, but it all comes down to our daily reading of God’s Word. The everyday questions of when and where we read the Bible, for how long and the priority it has inour lives can make a big difference to us hearing God and working for God’s Kingdom. Soli Deo Gloria

Posted in Paul's diary | No Comments »

08/10/2009 by paul.

Well today is my last day at Tek-Tung, before heading back to Taipei tomorrow on the HSR. After the excitement of having afternoon tea yesterday, today was pretty realxing in comparison! After prayers and breakfast I spent a little while in front of my laptop, and then headed out on foot with my camera in hand to try and capture as much as I could of Tek-Tung town and the church. In the afternoon I met with the ministers and we prayed for each other. It was a wonderful time to share, encourage and offer ourselves to God once more for him to guide and lead us. After my daily tabletennis match (my ability didn’t quite turn up today!) the church met for a prayer meeting. It was another inspiring time. I was asked to sing a couple of songs and say a few words towards the end of the meeting. The theme of the prayer meeting was to focus on walking closer with God and knowing him more. I sang ‘In Christ Alone‘ and then after I talked about one of the readings and prayed for the people in the church, I sang ‘All I am and All I have is yours’ (this is the song as it should be, not how I did it, in case you couldn’t tell )….

Because today was a bit quieter, I had the opportunity to think about something that’s been on mind for a little while here in Taiwan. My walk this morning added to my thoughts. You see there are many things that you do in Taiwan that are the opposite in the UK. For example, when the sun comes out, in Taiwan, everyone goes inside to the safety of shade and air con. When its hot, everyone closes the windows in the house. If you want to dry your clothes quickly, you bring them inside to where the air con works to remove the humidity from the air. Not to mention making sure you get on the right (or is that the left?) side of the road when you jump in the car. But there is another thing which is really the opposite of the UK, and that is the religious presence in many towns and cities. Tek-Tung is a small town/village, perhaps about the same size as Knaresborough (where my ‘home’ church is). This is the main religious building in Tek-Tung:

This is in sharp contrast to any town or village in the UK in which the main central religious building would be a church. When I showed the children at the school a picture of Durham Cathedral, they were gob-smacked that a church could be that big. There are currently many theologians in the West talking about and investigating Christendom, or more precisely post-Christendom. What exactly (post-)Christendom is, is also a contested question. But generally we’re talking about an official capacity of the church that was established when Constatine, after a vision of Christ, won a battle to become Roman Emporer (without my book by Stuart Murray I’m guessing, but it was about 325AD). He then made Christianity THE official ’state’ religion. From this beginning Christendom went on to have some particularly nasty streaks. Clergy became powerful people, and huge churches were built to show the money and the power that the church had (has). Often the church would force people to attend, and society became ‘Christian’. This label still exists in the UK today, the majority of white western Britons will tick the box that says ‘Christian’ on a census form. Mission in Christendom became a matter of extending the geographical boundaries. The crusades were typical of mission during Christendom. Many theologians in the UK think that christendom has just about run its course, and that post-christendom is on the horizon. They are asking what form the church will take in an environment in which the church can no longer claim a monopoly in the spiritual market-place, and perhaps more importantly how mission and evangelism will work in this new environment. But in Taiwan things are very different. If anything you get the impression that the main-dom is actually a Buddhist-dom or Taoist-dom (the two religions are quite inter-mingled here). Hence the large three-storey temple in a relatively small place. But what is really interesting is that the church here has not had the luxury and comfort of being a state religion. The church only has a voice when people think it has something useful to say, rather than random news articles seeking out the opinion of an archbishop or two. I also think that it makes the church here much more mission and evangelistic minded, which can only be a good thing. Whilst post-Christendom may well be different from a church under Buddhist-dom, there is much for the church in the West to learn from the church outside Christendom. The ideas of power, mission and respect mean different things, as do inter-faith relationships (or, perhaps I should say, the lack of them). More to ponder….

I hope that this will not be the last time that I see my new found friends and Christian brothers and sisters in Tek-Tung, I have learnt so much, have much more to gain from spending more time with them.

Posted in Paul's diary | No Comments »

07/10/2009 by paul.

Well Monday brought a new week and the school kids back to lessons. On Monday I found the time and the God-given inspiration to finish my Bible study and prepare all the handouts and powerpoint slides (in two languages!). I’m looking forward to Thursday when I meet with the church members in Taipei to study Nehemiah 8 together - it’s a wonderful passage. If you’re struggling to pick up the Bible and read it, you might find some wonderful hints and ecouragement from the passage, as well as seeing what the outcome might be! In the afternoon I took the piano class again. I never thought that I would be teaching people how to keep time, but alas there was I talking about getting four beats in every bar! The good news of the day was that my tabletennis skills have improved somewhat, and I now have quite a compatitive partner who comes to the after school club. He’s worked out that if he gets here five minutes early we have time for a match before everyone else arrived for tea. It’s amazing the things that can be used to communicate - we have a great fun time, with hardly a word shared between us (or at least ones both of us can understand!).

In the evening I went to the supermaarket to prepare for the following day. Tuesday (or T22!) was celebration day and in honour of the fact I was here the kids got out of the English class to have afternoon tea! After the wonderful mooncake tea, I offered to make an English style tea, and so with a phonecall to my mum (thankfully I worked the time difference out correctly!) I found out the weight of the ingredients I needed. But there was a flour dillemma. They don’t do self-raising flour in Taiwan. They do plain (of which none is available at this time of year!), bread and cake. I plumped for a mixture of bread and cake flour with a estimated few spoonfuls of baking powder. Thankfully my mornings work was a success when the strange oven thing produced 28 very English-looking and (suprisingly) tasty scones. The school cook who had watched my every move seemed suitably impressed that I didn’t use yeast, or knead the dough. I told her it was my mum’s recipe and if she had any questions to ask her.

So after lunch I made some suitably English sandwiches, and even found some tea that ressembled good old Yorkshire Teabags (one bag makes two cups, or in this case ten bags makes twenty cups). No-one was too impressed with the addition of milk, but then again I wasn’t too impressed with the hard-boiled egg yolk in the middle of my mooncake! The headteacher had decorated the table tennis table so that we could all sit round and enjoy tea together…

After we had eaten I was presented with a huge card with greetings from everyone, and the students gave Jo a little present. Some of the students, as part of their vocational training, having sewing lessons, and they gave me one of the handbags they made for Jo, which was very kind of them. After this, the choir, recorder/flute group and those that like dancing gave a wonderful little concert. It was a wonderful afternoon and everyone seemed to have great fun. Praise God that food and music transcend language (as does He and His goodness!).

Posted in Paul's diary | No Comments »

05/10/2009 by paul.

Well Sunday brought some welcome rest - prayers began at 7, so I got an extra hour in bed. After prayers I went to the manse for breakfast and prayed with Rev. Chuang. I quickly went back to my room to change, before heading to the church for 8.45. Rev. Chuang had arranged for me to play for the service, to give the usual piano rota a rest! The various groups involved in the service meet at about 8.30 to practise and prepare. Then from 9 till 9.30 there is silent preparation in the church for worship. From 9.30 till 10.00 the women’s fellowship led songs of praise and prayers. At 10 the service began. In many senses it was similar to services in the church at Taipei, with hymns, prayers, a creed and response readings. The text for the morning was Hebrews 4. In the sermon Rev. Chuang talked about the promises of God, either being accepted or rejected by people (v.1 & v.6); the nature of the Word of God as ‘living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword’ (v.12); and, finally having the confidence to approach a throne of grace (v.16). Talking to him beforehand, it was this final point which he wished to emphasise for this congregation, and in particular to lead into the celebration of communion which followed. Rev. Chuang had asked, however, if I would sing in the service and given the theme I decided to sing Chris Tomlin’s arrangement of John Newton’s Amazing Grace. Chris Tomlin’s version has an extra bridge which adds wonderfully to the old famous words of John Newton:

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I’m found
Was blind, but now I see

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine

When I was preparing to sing this song, I thought it best to avoid the reference to God’s mercy being like a flood, given the recent events in Taiwan. I hope I kept the sense and Chris Tomlin doesn’t mind the slight alteration!

After the service everyone (around 90) stayed behind for lunch in the school and we had a great time of sharing, and more table tennis with the youth group! In the afternoon we relaxed and then went to a superb fish restaurant for tea - we even got our own dining room!

What a wonderful day - I pray that God is still working the hearts and minds of all those I worshipped with today.

Posted in Paul's diary | No Comments »