Our Last Day With Students

Tomorrow will be our last day with our students. We've had to modify our program quite a bit for this week’s students. The kids we're working with are largely from very disadvantaged families. Some are aboriginal, some are from families where the mother was pretty much a mail order bride from another southeast Asian country. Only a few are from what we would consider functional families. They have been involved in a summer program at a local church who cares for such cases. The church provides supervision, lunch and some educational help during the summer break. The parents are thankful that their children have a safe place to be while they can continue to work. We’re talking very low income situations here. It’s hard to imagine that we have might have any meaningful impact on their conditions but the church we’re partnering with will continue to care for these kids after we leave. Except for the work of Christians, there is literally no support for the underprivileged in this region of the world.

Well, it is unlikely that we’ll be updating our site from Taiwan again. Although we’re very fond of this land, we’re all looking forward to crossing the pond and landing on familiar ground again soon. Until then, this is Chuck for the team signing off.

Yao with her small group

Yao, we love you!!!

Starting our week in Taoyuan, Taiwan

Once our second week of camp started last week both teams has been busy from morning to late at night. We’ve wanted to update this blog but have just not had the time necessary to do it justice. After arriving at our third destination we didn’t have internet access for a period of time and once we did we learned that Joe’s dad’s condition has deteriorated. We’ve made arrangements to get Joe out on the first available flight, which is tomorrow morning (Tuesday, July 31, 2007), however his flight will take about 36 hours before he lands in Roanoke. There simply are no available seats to the US mainland so Joe is being routed through Hawaii, San Francisco and Dulles. We are very saddened by the news and want to get Joe back to his family as quickly as possible.

Preparation for the third camp as not gone as smoothly as the first two camps. The have been many logistical issues that have prevented us from getting a solid grip on the number of students and their ages. In addition, there have been significant last minute changes to the curriculum that has put an additional load on the overseas counselors. We’re doing our best to get up to speed and I believe that we’ll have everything in order as the activities begin to unfold. (Although we may only be a little bit ahead of the students, at least we’re ahead.) This has added an additional strain on the team and we need an extra measure of patience and humility to help make this a successful event. We’re still very excited to be involved and just need a little more stamina to get us through the week.

We know you will be praying for Joe and the team. Thank you so very much. For the team, Chuck

Pictures from Team A, Week 1 in Chigu

Allison with co-workers: Sophie and Iris

Check out more pictures from Team A's last camp here!

What's for lunch - Karelyn Ribbe

Eggplant

Cabbage w/ Baby Shrimp

Stirred Fried Peppers

Sausage

Bitter Mellon

Rice

Team B's Second Camp - By Joe Kelley

Sunday, July 22.

The ending of the first camp was very special for us our students, with many tears and goodbyes. I was especially attached to three of the boys that I visited in their homes earlier in the week. We know of children that made commitments to Christ during the last week, so this makes our time here even more encouraging.

On Saturday after camp was over, we drove to the next site to begin preparations for the next week of camp. Moving to the second week of camp in a different town has been quite an adjustment. There are 11 adult men sharing one room on the fourth floor of a townhouse type building and the men's bathroom is on the first floor. There is no hot water for the men's showers, but it really doesn't matter. The temperature was 90 degrees this afternoon in the men's room. Fortunately it has AC that we turn on when sleeping.

Please pray for our adjustment to this new house, some of the new coworkers that we don't know yet and have limited English. The school we will work at is about a 20 minute walk or 5 minute drive away from our house. We had meetings this afternoon after a Chinese/Taiwanese church service to begin planning this week's camp, so that is helping us to get settled in with our new group.

Thanks for everyone's prayers ... please continue to pray for our stamina and patience... there are so many differences in daily life here that it can be overwhelming, but the strength God is more than sufficient for our needs. All of the believers here are very welcoming and gracious so that helps immensely.

Transition Time

Hi All, this is Andrew checking in for Team A. It is now Monday afternoon at our second camp here in Yu Min. We finished our last week in Chigu on Saturday with a follow up meeting. It was very well attended by the children, (of the 65 in camp, there were about 50 at the follow up meeting). We had the opportunity to present the Gospel in a very clear way that our Taiwanese coworkers were not free to do. In the area of Chigu, traditional ancestor worship is very strong, and so there is very strong opposition among parents and grandparents to children leaving the traditional beliefs, because they view it as a sign that their children don’t love them since they don’t want to “take care of their parents after they die”. Last year after the follow up meeting many parents came to the principal of the school and asked that the English Camp not be allowed back this year. The Lord overcame, and camp was held again this year, but with strict orders on the level of Gospel presentation allowed. We were also asked that if we do come back again next year to not even do a follow up meeting by the principal. However it’s not their fault they can’t control those crazy Americans J. So we presented a “Sin Chair” mime, which shows how sin traps us, and the only way to be free is by praying to God. One of our coworkers whose job here in Taiwan is actually translating and writing notes for a Chinese Study Bible explained the meaning in a very clear way to the children. We then made 5 color bracelets with the children to illustrate the Gospel and explained it along the way as we went.

Now about our current week; our coworkers are made up of a smattering of people from all over Taiwan very few of them knew each other prior to this camp, and I think the most that attend a single fellowship are four (most camps in Taiwan are run by a single church or college fellowship group and therefore know each other well prior to camp). Many of them are older (mid to late 20’s, as opposed to most groups that are predominantly comprised of college students), and the level of English among our coworkers is quite low. So a prayer request is that communication would not be a hindrance to the work here. This is the first time that an English Camp has been held at this school and there is no church in the surrounding area (another prayer request, that God would use this camp to help start a fellowship here for children that are touched by the camp). A teacher at the school who is a Christian and lives about 30 minutes from here is the one who arranged for the camp to be held. It is a very neat opportunity for us to help establish a work in this community, because only the Camp Leader has ever been involved in a VGM camp before, and all of us have done at least one camp before (last week), and for three of us, this is our sixth VGM camp, so we are able to provide a lot of helpful suggestions and tips based on experience. I believe that this will become even more of an opportunity for us to minister to our fellow coworkers as the week progresses and things begin to get more hectic and off schedule. I’ve already gotten quite long with this post, so I will finish with a few more prayer requests. With this being the first time a VGM camp has been held at the school, the school is quite concerned about us presenting the Gospel, so pray for wisdom (especially among our coworkers since they do most of the talking with the students) in presenting the Gospel, and pray for the message to find soft hearts. Also pray that we would present a good testimony to the school, and they would be excited to host more VGM camps, and even to request other camps to be started in this area.

The "Green-Shirted Pale-faces"

Claire's update - camp!

Hey Everyone! It’s Claire, from Team A. We just finished our last official day of camp in Chigu. It’s been a long, tiring, and challenging but fun week.

Each of our groups has been different, but I think that Andrew’s has been the most challenging. He has a group of crazy and hyper boys (as well as a few quiet girls) that runs around all day and rarely sits still. Andrew and his co-workers have been challenged the entire week just trying to get through the English lessons. Maybe I can get Andrew to write more about his group later.

Everyone else’s group seems pretty good in general. I know that my group is very well behaved except for 2 boys that decided that they don’t want to participate or do anything we ask them to do. They’ve pretty much run wild the past 2 days because we had problems controlling them.

Our days here have been much like how Joe described in his update. All VGM camps are all run generally the same way, so not much differs in regard to activities and such. The things that vary are the people and the kids that we work with. Our days are usually long and hot, spent running around with kids, playing games, and teaching English lessons. Our evenings include worship, meetings, eating, and talking on the rubber track outside. =)

Please pray for us tomorrow (Saturday) because we have our gospel meeting. The spiritual situation here is fairly delicate. Last year, the team that held the camp at this school was very bold in sharing their faith, and it caused some problems in the community. It was only by God’s grace that VGM was allowed to return. Consequently, we have had to be very cautious in talking with the kids this week. For our gospel meeting, we sent home today a permission slip for the kids, informing the parents that the gospel will be presented here tomorrow. The parents have to sign the slip for the kids to come tomorrow. We’ll see how many show up! We are praying that God will touch their lives and that they will be forever changed.

Thank you once again for all your prayers. They make a big difference!

More thoughts and impressins from Joe

Wow - So much happens in our day as a team that you can't put into an
email... the cultural differences, language differences, sights,
sounds, smells, food tastes, rituals and traditions of Taiwanese
culture - and of course the 90 teenage kids that surround us before
camp officially starts each morning.

The camp has raised quite a stir in the town as we got front page
exposure in the local newspaper with a picture of our team. The
headmaster of the school took all of us out to dinner last night at a
seafood restaurant a short distance from the ocean. Although the
camp has existed for four summers, this is the first time the
headmaster has extended this invitation. Maybe more about dinner
later :) The first day of camp was designed to meet the teens through
games, conversation, and skits and begin building friendships. The
camp is well organized and the material thought out to help the kids
get to know us and vice-versa. The children are quite inquisitive
about the "foreigners" in town and although most are shy, many ask
questions about our life. I think Karelyn and I are the only two who
are totally clueless during Chinese-only conversations. Other members
of the team at least know some of the language. Although a bit
difficult at first, I'm becoming more comfortable each day.

Today, the second day, was designed to help the teens think about
their future and their dreams. After opening activities, we broke up
into our small groups and did English role plays about different
occupations. In the afternoon, the BCF team performed a skit
explaining the dream of Martin Luther King to end the injustice of
racial segregation. Later in small groups, we asked the teens to
think about their future, hopes and dreams. The teens in my group
seemed to seriously consider the question and most shared serious and
thoughtful answers. The four-day camp is designed to build
relationships with the teens and then, on the optional fifth day,
explain the scriptural principles of faith in God and the work of Jesus
Christ. I'm very impressed with the hard work many local university
students (our co-workers) put into each day in planning, preparation,
and activities. I'm also amazed at how much the kids have begun to
trust and befriend us in just two days - I'm sure a result of the
prayer many have put into this effort.

Matt's First Day of Camp

Ok so today was the official first day of the camp and man what a day!! My group of eleven children (seven girls and four boys) is called the Spiders!! After an opening of games and some very active songs, we began our classes. Though I’ve never taught formally I thought I was pretty good…or maybe not. The children were very quiet at first and received three gold awards for good behavior, but then I tried to be more casual with them and I soon became their big brother. This meaning that I was now their human target, punching/kicking bag, and the “Interesting Teacher”. As one of the older groups, the children have Ok English but they primarily used it to call each other names. The afternoon games and activities were a lot of fun… with water!! Almost everyone was either soaked or going to be very soon. During that time, each group would go from different activity stations and “pay” for the fun by doing their group cheer. Unfortunately for the Spiders, their group leader had only made up the cheer ten minutes before. Let’s just say that the children were not more comfortable with doing a weird dance that had to do with yelling “SPIDER!! SPIDER!!” over and over again. The lunch break consisted of the kids snickering at me as I attempted to perfect the chopsticks. Overall, the day was a success and I believe that the children learned a lot. The camp ended and Andrew, Allison and I challenged some of the campers to a game of basketball. It was not pretty.

We're here!

Hey Everyone! It’s Allison from Team A checking in to let you know a little bit about what is going on where we are. We arrived in Chigu Saturday afternoon and immediately jumped into preparations for the camp which will begin tomorrow morning (Tuesday). It did not take our team long realize that we face much opposition to gospel here.

Saturday afternoon the local pastor gave us a tour of the surrounding community, and we visited several temples. Chigu is deeply entrenched in idolatry and so the villagers openly object to Christian groups reaching out to their children. Many made it clear that they did not want our camp to take place this week.

I think the temples left a great impact on us as a team. These buildings are the most ornate and elaborate I have ever seen, and yet are still completely devoid of any true power to save. The pastor pointed out one wall on which were hundreds of small lights, like votives. Worshippers pay a lot of money to have their names etched on the glass so that the temple god will remember them and protect them. It grieved me, knowing their attempts are so futile.

I then remembered what the Lord says in Isaiah 49:15-16: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” What a God that we serve!! He loves us and protects us without us ever having to remind Him of our existence. I need not set my name before a light in a temple; He has engraved me on the palms of His nail-scarred hands.

As we work with the children of Chigu in the next four days, please be praying for us. Pray that the one true God would be revealed to these kids. Pray that they would be redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to them from their forefathers, and find life through the precious blood of Christ.

Joe's Update - First Impressions

So far so good as far as food and such. Last night we visited a "night market" in the town we are in (Suantou) which is an open street fair - like Stepping Out - except every night. Most of the food is deep fat fried and the Taiwanese college students we are with bought all kinds of food for me to try - candied tomatoes (small tomatoes dipped in hard candy, fried squid, fried fish patties, fried oysters or oyster balls with sugary syrup on top. This was our "dinner". Everyone is very kind and helpful in the church and team we are a part of. People usually stare at me and children at the market came up and asked me how tall I was. I'm learning a few Chinese phrases to ask them their name... I even have a part in a Chinese drama we are practicing for Tuesday's opening of the camp. I have one line that I'm memorizing over and over.

We are housed in a rented storefront facility that has air conditioned rooms we sleep in - I'm not sure how effective I would be during the day if our sleeping quarters weren't cool. I got close to eight hours of sleep last night, woke up only once after the a/c died and it was sweltering and I was sweating. The room Chuck, Tim, and I sleep in doesn't have any windows, not that that would help. Feel good today and have hopefully gotten over any jetlag.

The church we are working with is tiny - it has two storefront rented facilities, the smaller one is about the size of our kitchen, the larger the size of the high school Sunday school room. There are idols in many of the homes (the doors are all open and most of the homes have a room clearly devoted to idol worship). There are stores where you can by incense burners and other things for setting up your own altar in your house. A common practice in homes we walk by is to have a charcoal burner outside to burn “money” to your ancestors. The team we work with says that one reason they invest in this community is because of this practice that has most people captive - to convert to Christianity means you stop doing this and so "disrespect your elders". This is a big stumbling block to the gospel.

The believers here are very sincere and devoted... the local pastor was a business man in the US who moved back to live here and work. Pastor Joseph is his name.

With two teams we can double our impact

This year we were asked if we could provide two teams. Apparently one or two of the other supporting churches decided not to send teams to Taiwan and the VGM was facing the cancellation of some of the planned camps. Because we have a lot of experienced team members returning this summer, I (Chuck) was excited that we might be able to help keep the VGM English camp programs moving forward. The executive summary is that we have divided the 11 BCF team members into teams A and B.

Team A

Mathew Broomell is an upcoming high school senior with big summer plans: to serve Christ and the villages of Taiwan. He’s not afraid of sweat (good thing), different foods (no other options), felling a little out of the loop (normal) or getting his hands dirty doing hard work. Matt was on the short-term trip to Friendships with Joe and Chuck in 2004. He is athletic, fun loving, patient and flexible; all important character traits for a short-term missionary.



Yao Cheng has been on two other BCF Taiwan trips (2004 and 2005) making this her third; we must be doing something right. She is artistic (her major), humorous (in a Yao sort of way), alert and extremely bright. She comes from a Taiwanese family and Team A will find her understanding of the language and culture an indispensable asset.

This will be Andrew Hall’s third summer trip to Taiwan with us. Although he doesn’t fit in well into airplane seats, rollout sleeping pads, buses or minivans, he’s a shoe-in when it comes to spending time with young people. Having been a YoungLife leader for five years he’s very adept at relating to campers. He’s developed a taste for the food and has been studying Chinese on the side! 加油!!!

Also a third time returnee, Claire Lo fits in everywhere. In fact it’s more like total immersion for her. Claire is always where the action is, exercising her special gifts in music, drama as an encourager and teacher. She brings a special sort of excitement to the party. (Should a summer mission trip be that much fun?)

This will be Allison Mock's first trip to Taiwan but not her first mission trip. Allison has served in South Africa with Tim and Leslie Black, ….. She is an upcoming sophomore at City College (PA) where she’s studying ….

Team B

Even though she's spent many summers in Taiwan, this is Frances Cheng's (sister of Yao Cheng) first time going on the mission trip. (She still hasn't gotten used to the heat .) She's a freshman in high school, and lives in Fremont, California. Frances enjoys reading, drawing, and talking with her two siblings. BTW, Frances is the smile on the left.

Tim Gao is a rising senior at Blacksburg High School with a keen interest in math. He's made many trips to China but this is his first to Taiwan.

After unfolding from the 18 hours of seating in Boeing seats designed for 5'2", 95 pound travelers, Joe Kelley will be serving for the first time in Asia. He's been to Africa on other short-term mission trips but normally he's an elder at Blacksburg Christian Fellowship, one of the leaders of the high school ministry @ BCF and various and asundry other important things, including husband to Wendy Kelley.

A recent addition to the team, Iris Lin is an upcoming junior hailing from the far away kingdom of Huntsville, Alabama. Having been raised on a mostly Taiwanese diet, she is in love with all foods Taiwanese (except starfruit soup, which is truly disgusting). This is her first mission trip, and she looks forward to working with the rest of the team.

Karelyn Ribbe is a senior in Giles High School and a well recognized athlete there. She brings a smile, a willingness to tackle any task and a good sense of humor to every event.

Chuck Schumann is partly to blame for this escapade. He has ‘lead’ teams to Taiwan to work with the VGM for the three previous summers. Having studied in Taiwan during his junior year in college he has caught the bug for missions amongst the Chinese in general and in Taiwan specifically. If you have interest in joining a future team, he's the man to talk to.