The Long Goodbyes

Today is our last day of readings, as well as our last party. It seems unreal; we've gotten so used to life here and the people here that leaving Taiwan is far from easy. It won't exactly be a quick trip to make in the future if we get "homesick." We may only have grown an attachment of six weeks' worth, but that seems like enough considering the relationships we've made.

The party tonight will be hard; goodbyes aren't often easy here, even when you're meeting up with that person again the next day. To read with these people five days a week for six weeks and suddenly stop is a strange feeling.

I don't think we knew how much we would take back from this trip before we started. I've met and gotten to know people that I probably won't be able to see again soon, if ever. These six weeks have done wonders to my experience as a human being, and more importantly, my faith. Working with the Bible every day (even if it's the same story) and with members of the church here has been nothing short of good for me, and I hope it was good for those I worked with as well.

Thank you all so much for helping us get this far. We look forward to relating our experiences with you all when we return!

-Briannon Trimm

Pizza Hut...

...is better in Taiwan than America.

Last weekend's party was Mexico-themed! While pizza has nothing to do with this, I felt the information vital, but not long enough to be independent.

Our last party was hosted by Ginny Flores, incapacitated due to a sprained ankle, and Ben took over the role of teaching the "cumbia" dance.

Mustaches were distributed and faces were (not) slammed into birthday cakes. We met a young child named Jimbo who proceeded to own everyone at pin the tail on the donkey. He won the donkey.

Seeds

This past Sunday, Ben delivered the morning's sermon to the church, with the help of another church member's interpreting (Mantex Hsu). He spoke about his experiences doing mission work. We're very thankful that the congregation wanted to hear from us, after all they've done for us here already. We'd like to ask you guys to pray for their success and that they grow in the future. They've been nothing short of amazing so far.

-Briannon Trimm

Communication not Spoken: Kindness

As I was waiting for the bus today it was raining. I did not have an umbrella with me, because with the crutches it makes it inconvenient to carry an umbrella also. (I hurt my ankle last Monday while ice skating, but it's only a sprain) I was waiting and the lady next to me grabbed my arm and pulled me next to her to be under her umbrella. She was sharing her umbrella with me! She continued to help me as I got into the bus and when we arrived to our destination too. We have encountered so many different people who have shown us kindness like this lady showed me today. I am deeply going to miss the people of Taiwan.

-Ginny Flores

You guys might want to know where we live....

Here're two views from our apartment. We have this great mountain of a hill to climb each day to get here (given no justice through my photo, of course). We're really close to a hospital, so you guys don't have to worry too much about us. And we certainly know how to press buttons that say "emergency" on them in Chinese, even when we don't mean to.

Week Four is Here!

At the beginning of the project, the six week wall towered above us, with so much time to get to know the church and our readers. Now that we're moving toward the middle of the fourth week, we're all looking for the proverbial brakes here to slow us down! Conversations with our readers have recently become deeper and have covered things beyond the lessons; each of us are asked questions often that we're not even sure how to answer. We certainly have more things to ponder that we haven't thought of before.

Some of our readers have dropped (many are traveling to America, and one to Germany), but we're still blessed with a surplus to draw from. The church here is doing great work bringing all of these people together for this project.

Ben and I will have a total of three new readers (as well as one that signed up in the beginning but only started to come now)! Two will begin today.

Please continue praying for the project; all the help you have given us has done wonders!

-Briannon Trimm

And the Winner Is...

Everyone!

Yesterday was our "Silly Olympics" Party, hosted by Ben Hocher! Our readers competed as teams for tiny plastic medals that don't fit over their heads, and it was fun! The competitions included bouncing chopsticks into bowls, face oreos, malt ball bridge, cup stacking relay and a human knot! The competition ended with bean curd ice cream (thanks, Grandma!) and heavy rain.

Our project continues to be blessed with a surplus of readers, and as the third week begins on Wednesday, we feel our individual relations deepening, and conversations become more meaningful.