June 2, 2010

dancing in the orient - day five-

THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2010 …..9am TT

Quick Sketch:

· Abi’s beauty opens doors for praying for young childless Taiwanese couple

· Morning children’s ministry: translated swim pool guards!

· Afternoon: freetime-- beach volleyball, jumping Pacific waves, etc.

· PingPong Tournament: The 50 yo’s pass the baton to the younger generation:

o Lulu Chen: women’s champion

o Joshua Tseng: men’s champion

o The rest of us learn to love the game, not just the win!

Trip Diary:

Dear Friends and Family,

Our last full day at the Howard Resort passed with lots of fun, connecting and celebrating our new friends. The time here has allowed us to unify as a team, get needed rest, gain perspective of a larger world of missions, and-as Stanton says- “drop our anchor” for the ministry ahead. We so much feel your prayers over us and are indebted to you all stateside, recognizing that we are a part of a much larger team than just us.

While Abi and I lingered over our tasty and abundant breakfast, a young Taiwanese couple sheepishly pursued us and motioned that they wanted a picture with us. We gladly complied, but quickly recognized that this was more than a photo op session; so we pulled in John & Mary Ho, and Haesung Choi to connect with them in their native Taiwanese tongue. The gist of the conversation was that they were attracted by Abi’s beauty and wanted a pic with her. After finding out some of us were dancers from the US, they were thrilled to get a free DVD. I ran upstairs to get it , but what was supposed to take 5 took 15 min. But, God’s timing is perfect-always. Downstairs, Wang Ping Tu (wife) waited with John Ho at the morning worship session. By the time I arrived, her heart was tenderized, and John had pursued her heart, finding that she wanted prayer for inability to conceive a baby for the past 6 years. I arrived with the DVD, and together we prayed that Jesus, who was there at the creation of the world, would prepare not only her womb but her heart and home for the child that He would be surely giving them. We exchanged emails. She said that she will send pics of the baby when he/she arrives. And all this from Abi’s beauty!

Most of the morning for the team was either playing with the conference children—this time swimming in the pool— while others rehearsed for future dances in Japan. I am proud of the team—serving with joy, fitting in well with the conference attendees, being flexible.

The afternoon and evening were times of celebration—the teens for the first time, were able to relax without responsibilities with other teen conference attendees : jumping the waves and beach volleyball. They returned to the hotel, a little more color on their cheeks, and light happy hearts.

While the teens were having fun; Jenna and Yutaka opened a free medical clinic for the All Nations missionaries. It was their pleasure to accomplish this together. Future times?

The evening was filled with the ping-pong tournament – about 15 women/girls and 15 men/boys competing in double elimination competition. Even Grandma courageously entered! Stan, Kimberly, and Ashton chose to serve with the frustrating job of referees and scorekeeping. As the evening progressed the intensity increased also. The Taiwanese/Chinese/Thai/Japanese, yes and the Germans (Juergen Kramer) take their sport seriously! The results? The 50 yo’s passed the baton to the younger generation, at least this year---

· Lulu Chen: women’s champion

· Joshua Tseng: men’s champion

Our prayers needed—

  • Bus trip back to Tainan: goodbyes
  • Friday travel day: lots of smooth transitions, favor for international customs, etc
  • Team connect

Much love to all!

Sue Kawase for all

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