Personal Reflections From Taiwan

My wife Barb and I spent three weeks in Taiwan in October. The purpose was to teach at a YWAM missions school, teach in other areas, and generally seek to be an encouragement to the workers there. That was the original intention. After months of study and preparation we went trusting in God’s wisdom, love, and sovereignty. We did have the joy of teaching and encouraging but God seemed to have others things in mind as well. One aspect of the Christian life I focus on in teaching is how God brings pressure into our lives in order to reveal our hearts to us that He may progressively change us and make us holy (Hebrews 12:1-15 is a key passage that makes this very clear). That is what I teach others anyway. What I began to see is that extreme pressure seems to do more revealing. We experienced the extreme pressure of seeking to minister in another culture. It probably would have been much different if we had gone there on holiday. That way we could have designed our itinerary with our personal comfort in mind. And if any situation became uncomfortable and stressful, we could just retreat to our nice, comfortable, air-conditioned room and watch the one or two TV channels that broadcast in English. Or we could simply return home early. The personal comforts we decide we have a right to were not there. We had to navigate at times in towns where very few spoke English. We ate food we could not always identify. Every one of our five senses was assaulted daily. We had difficulty adjusting to the thirteen hour time difference. We had been there before but not in this capacity or for this long. We did not sleep well. As a result what is in the heart eventually comes out (Luke 6:43-45). This is the principle of inescapable influence. We can usually avoid situations that begin to reveal the impurities and idolatries of our hearts. But it is much more difficult to do so in another culture. There the pressures seem more intense. So not only were we enabled to serve, we were enabled to see our hearts and know what God is seeking to change in us. In the pressure of much that was foreign to us, the Lord proved His faithfulness in not leaving us alone. Psalm 129:8 was very evident: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” The Creator of all was in the midst of all we encountered. He was in the midst of our lives and ruling every moment. So, would we do it again? Yes, because as the Apostle Paul learned, our weaknesses (and there were many we were not aware of before) were moments when God proved His strength and provided sufficient grace (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). He was actively present in our every moment and actively loving us as well. As our Father, He really does know best and is always working in us for our best blessing and for His glory.