July 17, 2009
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
Greeting from Hou-Li! It’s still very hot here and gnats are still everywhere. But none of our team members is complaining.
Our second camp is over now. As I mentioned previously that at the beginning of the camp the students here are very well-behaved but very reserved. We had trouble in getting any response or reaction from them. Rickey Crews went around classes clowning around to get them laugh. But as soon as he left, the class would be quiet again. But the teachers at each class devised some ways to get the students to open up. At the end, the students were responding very well. They also started to joke with teachers. At the closing ceremony, students were yelling and screaming. I hope that their principal didn’t get upset.
Talking about the principal, she actually has been very supportive of our camp. She made sure that we had everything we need. Whenever she was at school she would come to visit our camp. She gave a very good, inspiring speech at both the opening ceremony and closing ceremony. I can tell that she wants her students to be the best. She is an excellent educator in my opinion.
Today, a lot of students came to us, teachers, asking for our autograph as if we are some VIP. A lot of students told us that we have to come back here. Some students even ask if we can stay. It is very heartening to see how we affected these students. At the closing ceremony, students were hugging their teachers or shaking hands with their teachers. The principal told the students that we were here because of our love for Jesus and for them. Our Rev. Chen led everyone singing “The True Meaning of Love”, the lyric is from 1 Corinthians 13, to close the camp. The ceremony was really very touching and heart warming.
The camp closed at around 12:45 PM. We came back to the church and rush through lunch. Our youths with Rev. Chen and Rickey went out around 2:00 PM to help a widow harvest grape. The widow is a friend of the school principal. She is in a financial hardship and couldn’t hire workers to harvest. Our youth after hearing the story, they volunteered to help. It was really hot but they enjoyed it. After that, they went to school to move 130 chairs to the church for Sunday’s dedication worship service. The church is expecting a big crowd of guests coming. At around 4:30 PM, they went to Taichung night market to eat dinner. They just came back from Taichung right now, 10:30 PM. They don’t seem to get tired al all. I only wish that I were at their age.
I’ll be back in the U.S. early next week. This will be my last report from Taiwan.
In conclusion, I would like to say that, by God’s grace, we have two very successful camps here. We have 75 students in the first camp and 50 students in the second camp. I’m sure we have sown the seed of Gospel in their heart. Please pray that these seeds would one day sprout, grow, bloom, and bear fruits. May the Holy Spirit work within them!
I’m sure that our team has made the name of our Lord Jesus Christ known here. I’m sure what we did here these two weeks have glorified our God’s name!
Thank you all for your prayer support!
--
Immanuel
Andrie Chen
陳啟宗
