Hello Everyone!
We wanted to write another update for all you guys. It's been almost a month since we last posted! It's crazy how much time has flown by. As you can see we posted some pictures. About a week ago we and two other couples and their kids drove down to another part of Taiwan called Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan is completely different from Dan Shui(our town). It took us about 3 or 4 hours to drive there and we all rode (all 9 of us) in one van! It was a great experience. We went to see a family that one of the couple's had grown to know. As you can see in the pictures we had a great time! First we got to meet a Christan lady who owned a nice restaurant. This lady is wanting to use her restaurant as a place of ministry so she was asking how we operated the YWAM Coffee Bar in Dan Shui. It was such a neat time and the Lord really encouraged this lady through our prayers and the meeting. As of right now she and one other woman are the only one's who are going to staff this ministry. We drove from there to the countryside where we would spend the rest of the weekend. Allison and I really enjoyed being out in the country. The people were so hospitable and it was great to see open space! We even saw cows, oxen, and goats! It's funny that that is a big deal to us now because Dan Shui is mostly city and as you go further into Taipei it's all city.... So it was a different environment but a good different. We then met up with the Pastor(Mu Shi=Pastor in Chinese) of a church YWAM has partnered with. And this pastor actually visited DTS(Dallas Theological Seminary) but decided not to go there. Allison was feeling a little tired from the journey so this Pastor(she was a woman) completely loved Allison and showed her a room where she could take a nap! She understood how Allison was feeling for her and her husband just had a little baby boy. The Pastor then took us around to many of the people's homes who come to this church. I think Fang Yuan is one of the poorest counties/towns in Taiwan and also unchurched...As we drove you could see the little kids racing on their bikes or running to come see us. It was awesome to see the whole neighborhood(very different feeling of "neighborhood" than in the states) coming to see why all the "foreigners" were here. The church was handing out fliers to the children. The church I believe, for this was said all in Chinese and Taiwanese, helps the children on weekends with their homework. Here in Taiwan all the schools are in Chinese, but most people speak Taiwanese and Chinese. Here in a very poor area there are a lot that might only speak Taiwanese, or only SPEAK Chinese but can't write, so the church has a place for these kids to get help. There is so much more that I could write but it would be too long!! The rest of the night we hung out with many of the people from the church and for dinner we went to a huuuge family gathering! I don't think we have ever eaten this much food. It was so good. They had a lot of kids from their youth group that were there and many more people. It was the father's house so his 3 son's families, all 9 of us, and one more family were all there sitting around round tables and eating some good Taiwanese food. After we ate our fill and much more we then went to the place where we were going to stay. It was a very traditional Chinese 3- sided home that someone turned into a business. It's comparable to a "bed and breakfast" in the states. We made tea, talked, laughed and finally went to sleep. The next morning we went to the church. This church has such a great ministry to the kids because the elementary school is right across the street from the church! I and one of the other husbands named Brent, became very popular. All the kids would say "Whoa, Ta hen gao!" Which means "Whoa he's really tall!!" . All of these kids loved basketball, so after church, in our church clothes we had a couple of good basketball games with these kids. The church provided lunch and we hung out until we left. The picture at the top with a bunch of people is taken in front of the church. As we were leaving we met up with another pastor and his wife. They had turned a kareoke bar into a church. We really enjoyed meeting this couple. In both places God was definitely working! The pastor and his wife had just started this church maybe one year ago and their only "members" were basically kids for such a long time. They ran english classes although they can't speak English that well, they taught them how to cook, helped with studies, and the kids in turn helped the pastor and his wife with farming and other things. They said that some of the parents are now starting to come because they see such a change in the kids lives!!! Praise God! We all prayed together took pictures, they actually prayed for Allison and I, and then we left. Over all it was a great trip and we are waiting for another opportunity to go down there. We love all of you and are thankful to God for your support and encouragement! God is our hope, and those who put there trust in Him are anchored and cannot be shaken!
The Seitz
