Friday, December 16, 2011
Dear Prayer Warriors,
I’m feeling very Taiwanese as I sit here in a striped
brown and black shirt, dark blue jean skirt, black knee high socks with gray
diamonds, and brown shoes. Only in Taiwan! I got dressed in the dark, and when
I saw myself in the light, I was going to change. -But, alas! Life got busy.
What an amazing week God has given us! was our first week
having two camps at once, and what a blessing to have good children. These children
are amazing! (The CEI teachers here
would call them “angels.”) At first,
they were so quiet it was a little creepy to be in class, but as the week wore
on, they warmed up and have become a lot of fun to work with.
One of the classes have a very strict teacher. We found
it very difficult to get them involved in anything. They seemed overly timid
and cautious. After we knew more about the culture at their school, we
understood them more. By the end of the week however, these children were
confident and happy, even asking the
teachers for hugs. A little love and attention makes a big difference!
In one class, where we introduce the idea of “Christmas,”
the children were full of questions. Christmas is not a holiday here, though
some people do celebrate it. At the very end, we teach the word “nativity” and
explain why we have Christmas. “Christmas is someone’s birthday. That person is
so important that everyone wants to honor Him, so they choose to celebrate His
birthday on Christmas.” At this point, the children usually guess correctly “Yesu!”.
But, in this class, a child asked, “What’s His English name?” When we answered,
he sat there a little confused. “Then, who is Yeshua?” he asked. We were shocked to have such a question from
a country where God’s name is not common. Taking the children to the big map in
the back of the class, we explained that Jesus is God’s English name and Yeshua
is the name given to Him when He was born, in Israel. Wow! What a teaching
moment!
Again, the Christmas party is the highlight of the week.
Starting with, “Are you here for a party?
Are you HERE for a PARTY? ARE YOU
HERE FOR A PARTY?” The children shriek with joy and laughter. They usually
behave better for the party than any other class. These children were country
kids and were very excited to be invited to a Christmas party. For many of
them, it was their first Christmas party, first time celebrating Christmas, first
Christmas cookie, first Christmas present, and first candy cane. Can you
imagine? And, yes, we have Santa. If
there is one thing the children know about Christmas, it is Santa Claus, so it
would be terribly disappointing without him. However, we teach that Santa was a
real person of very good character who lived a long time ago. Today, it is fun
to pretend he is real, but he is really just a reminder of the spirit of love,
giving, and good character. 
Merry Christmas All!
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