Fun in Kenting !!! We traveled this week to the beaches of Kenting with two families from our building- the Laythams & the Muirs. Here we are on the front steps of our "hotel" the Hotel California.

Rachel standing on the main strip of Kenting. Along the strip there are restaraunts, shops, and hotels. At night it really gets exciting.

Here is Rachel having fun on a trampoline with a bungee chord harness.

This is Josh along the strip with the fresh catch of the day!!

We enjoyed our first meal at a Tai food restaraunt. YUMMMY!!!

The view along the Pacific Coast- incredible ~~Josh and Rachel on the beach

Getting ready to snorkle at the coral cove ~~ Regan,Matt, and Chad after snorkeling

This week was very fun for us. The Taiwanese take off the week of October 10th because it is their independence day and so we drove two hours south to enjoy the beaches of Kenting. The Muirs and Laythams were excellent tour guides and alot of fun. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon around one in the afternoon. Our hotel was very "interesting" ( Japanese style ) but cheap. We spent the afternoon on the beautiful beach. The kids really had a good time with each other. That night we had our first taste of Tai food and we loved it. Wow, we had no idea what we were missing by not trying it sooner. Later on we bumped into many Morrison faces along the strip. Rachel had a chance to show off her gymnastic abilities on a trampoline and we ate some more delicious food.

Wednesday we drove to the Muir's "secret" cove to snorkle and swim. A few years ago a missionary friend had shown them this spot away from all the vacationing crowd. We actually stopped along this coastal road, parked in the grass, and hiked through a jungle to get to the cove. It really reminded me of something out of a pirate movie. The water was so blue and it was perfect for exploring, better than any water park. The kids were in heaven. I thought about how much they enjoy rock hopping along the streams in the Smokies and how this was so similiar and yet so different. They actually captured an eel for a brief time. The cove was great for snorkeling. Matt is now hooked and the kids loved it too. We did not have enough gear for everyone so we now know what we want for Christmas, ha ha. Later on we drove to another beach where most of the Morrison crew was hanging out and watched an amazing sunset. We ended up eatting at another Tai place that night. Thursday we packed up and drove along the Pacific side of the Taiwanese coast. You really cannot describe the beauty. The pictures do not do it justice. We were in awe. Please come visit because I personally cannot wait to share this amazing scenery with you all.

On Friday morning we got up at 5 a.m. to take a bus to Taichung, the main Morrison campus, for system wide meetings. We stayed with Heather and Scott McGrew. The kids had fun in the pool and Heather and I enjoyed foot massage. What fun! It was a nice change of pace from our daily routine. We also spent time with the group that we experienced Pre Field Orientation with at Houghton. We discussed our challenges and successes. It was nice to renew those friendships. Overall we are all adjusting pretty well. The concesus was that we all loved our new home, we want to learn how to live well here, but mostly we see the hopelessness of the people and we want to make a difference- in our classroom, in our churches, and in our communities. We learned that two Morrison staff members actually preformed CPR on a young man swimming on the very beach we swam at later and he died in thier arms. The next day his family returned to the site to offer sacrifices to help him in the after life. What an evil spell has been weaved into the hearts of these people! This was a time to renew our commitment to serving the Lord here.

As we get ready to engage in our weekly routines it is important that we have been reminded of God's mission for us in Taiwan. Sometimes we are so involved in how we are doing things we fail to remember who we do everything for.

Praises:

• For a great break full of fun people and incredible experiences.
• Susan has been invited into an accountablility group.
• The van proved reliable on our trip.
  

Prayer requests:

• The van has to pass inspection this week in order for us to drive it legally. It already failed once.
• Jake needs glasses and getting a good prescription here has proved difficult for some of our friends.
• Our house hasn't sold
  

This Week Has Been a Test........

Our family has had it share of hard knocks lately. For those of you who don't know, the deal for our house fell through last week. I was disapointed but this was especially difficult for Matt. Trying to live on such a drastic drop in salary is stressful enough, but when you are worried about paying a mortgage back in the U.S. it can be overwhelming. We are just pouring out these concerns to the Lord and trusting Him to provide for all our needs. We do have a bit of money in savings and we are thankful for that. I am also tutoring now so that will help as well.

Also, Josh and Jake have been enduring an unusual set of circumstances. A kindergartener accused them of physically bullying him during recess. No teacher or other adult actually witnessed the incident. However, there was visible evidence of injury on the child and his claim was taken seriously by teachers and administrators. Josh and Jake were adamant that they had nothing to do with the child being hurt. They have no history of lying to us so we believed them. The child's parent insisted they apologize to her son and would not be satisfied with anything less. She then spread the story to many parents warning them that Josh and Jake were bullies and they should keep thier kids away from them. Of course Matt and I were very concerned. As representatives of the school and Christians we had to be very careful how we set out to defend our boys. This was truly an exercise in self restraint. Our friend Holly prayed for the truth to come out and that Josh and Jake would be exonerated. I must confess I was doubtful this could happen but on Friday the boy accused them again of hurting him. This time his story did not add up because the boys could not have been where he said they were. Holly's prayer was answered and the boys now are free of this accusation. We are unsure why this happened. The boy's mother is really close to believing in Christ and one of the teachers suggested that spiritual warfare could be involved. God is so good to protect them and to assure us of His care for our children.

There is also a fair amount of illness spreading through the children of staff in our building. Rachel has been pretty sick for four days with fevers around 104. We will probably have to take her to the doctor on Monday. I don't look forward to this. One of her friends is in the hospital with unexplained high fevers. A newborn of the technology director of the school is in ICU for breathing problems. Our principal Bob Walters is also facing a double bypass surgery in the next two weeks. Holly Muir had a car accident. She is safe bu the driver who hit her (a buddhist monk) fled the scene and now the Muirs have to pay for thier car to be repaired. As you can tell, we have much to pray about here in Kaohsiung.

On a much lighter note.......Caleb and Matt drove to Taipei on Friday to spend the weekend at a volleyball tournament. Caleb's team came in 4th place out of 8, not too bad. Caleb has never played volleyball before and Matt said he did a great job. He is a pretty good server and is learning to volley. I wish I could have seen him. Matt also got a good look at Taipei. The mountains surrounding the city were beautiful. It was very crowded and the weather was cooler than here. He was chaperoning and helping with the tournament so he did not really get to sight see. Hopefully we will get back there soon.





In conclusion please pray for us right now. We know we are in the right place, doing what God would have us do. Most days when I am teaching Bible I am amazed at the presence of the Holy Spirit right there in the classroom. Many of these kids love Jesus and want to understand how to live for Him. What an opportunity!! We are studying Joseph right now and how he had to stand up under false accusations, does that sound familiar?? Little things like that bless me everyday. A big blessing is the support of new friends here who really want to see our familiy flourish here and our teaching ministry succeed. We are also keenly aware of all the prayers on the other side of the Pacific you are lifting on our behalf.

Prayer Requests:

• The sale of our home & financial stability
• The protection of our children (physically, spiritually, and emotionally)
• The health & safety of our staff at MAK