Greetings from Taiwan!
July 24th, 2010For some of you this may come as a surprise, since the last newsletter that we sent out indicated that we had additional support to raise and it might be a while before we could return to Taiwan. We were so excited that within two weeks time, the Lord answered prayer by providing the necessary funds that were needed. We were able to purchase our airline tickets for July 7th and began feverishly trying to pack up and prepare to leave. We regret that we were not able to visit everyone that we would have liked to, so we hope you will understand.
We must say that our journey back to Taiwan was an adventure (or should we say nightmare). It began with a two-hour delay on our flight from Greenville to Houston, and we missed each connection thereafter. By the time we reached L.A. at 1:30 am all service counters were closed, and we waited in the international terminal overnight so that we could get our flights rebooked first thing the next morning. After going back and forth between service counters and making phone calls, we finally mid-afternoon were able to get our flights re-ticketed. The only hitch was that we had to fly back to Houston, spend the night and leave the following morning to fly to Tokyo and then to Taipei. Since we had been up for 38 hours, we didn’t much care what the details were….as long as we knew that we could have a bed to sleep in for the night and would be on our way to Taiwan the next day. So….we finally made it to Taipei Saturday night (after having left Greenville on Wednesday night). However, our eight pieces of luggage didn’t. The people in baggage claims at the Taipei airport were able to trace them down the following day (They were still in L.A.) We finally received our luggage late Monday afternoon, and as far as we can tell nothing was missing. Well, there you have it…….our travel saga (the abbreviated version). Seriously though - we are thankful that we could rest in knowing that our God was in control, and we could be thankful for things like…being assigned to exit row seats so we could stretch our legs. What a blessing!
So, what’s been happening since we arrived? Of course, the first several days we were dealing with big time jet lag and had lots of boxes to unpack. One of our short-term teams from a Chinese church in Chicago was still here and staying in our guest facilities. We really enjoyed getting to visit with them before they left.
Also, we had the opportunity to go to a large “Urbana-type” mission fair at Zhong Tan Christian University in Zhongli. On the first day, we helped set up the room that was assigned to SEND. The next day Buddy went back with fellow missionary to help distribute information packets, chat with students, and then help pack up the displays. It was exciting to see the interest that these students have in global missions.
Here are some of the praise and prayer items that we would like to share with you this month:
· We praise the Lord for His provisions and allowing us to return to Taiwan.
· It has been good to reconnect with friends and co-workers. Many of you have prayed for Scott since his serious scooter accident in May. He is doing better but is still experiencing double vision and pain from his shoulder injury and surgery. He tires easily and has been having trouble sleeping. Please continue to pray for healing. He and Leslie have been a tremendous testimony of God’s grace. They have been trying to reach out to the teenage boy who was involved with Scott in the accident. He comes from a very troubled home and desperately needs the Lord.
· Pray for us as we transition back into our life and duties here. The heat and humidity is especially draining. Also, pray for our safety as we travel daily on our scooters (and car occasionally) in Taiwan traffic. It’s always a little overwhelming at first.
· Please remember family members who are experiencing health issues.
· Pray for the Lord’s guidance in which Chinese church we will be attending and serving. We will be visiting churches over the next several weeks.
· The Lord has been answering very specific prayers for loved ones and our heart is overflowing with praise to Him!
Blessings,
Buddy and Joy Vaughn