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

Settling in ...........

We haven't written much lately because life is falling a bit into place. Nothing too extraordinary to tell or show. The kids have been fighting colds and Jake has been running a slight fever. We have been warned that they might be sick more frequently due to a new environment. I certainly hope not. We do not have our trusted pediatrician over here to help us out.

Some of you have asked about the van and how it is handling. In general we are managing with it OK. I took it out the other day to Nanzih and it really gave me a hard time but I was eventually able to get into reverse. I went to a grocery store that is huge and I got lost inside the store. I know it sounds silly but the parking garage is many levels and so is the store. I could not get myself oriented. I just kept praying and eventually found the car. Needless to say, I am not eager to repeat that experience any time soon.



Rachel and Jake got a phone call to do some more modeling this weekend. I think they asked for Jake because the last time we went he was alot more excited to get his picture taken than Josh. The pay was pretty good and they like, it so we went. There are a few pictures of the experience here. Also there are pictures of us eatting dinner with our new friends the Muirs. They are from Saskatchewan, Canada. The kids get along really well and we like the parents alot too.






Prayer Concerns:
The closing of our house is scheduled for Friday at 9:00. Please pray that the deal goes through and we are relieved of the mortgage payment.

We are trying to settle on a church. Neither of us has ever had to choose a church so it is a big decision. The kids have already cast their vote and Matt and I are still unsure.

The kids get to model. On Saturday we drove north to Tainan for the kids to model for a local pajama add. The photographer ended up using Rachel in quite a few shots and Jake for a few. They made about 30 dollars an hour and they might have a chance to do it again. On the way Rachel got a kick out of Taiwan's version of traffic direction.










In these pictures our friend Regan Muir is "playing" the dad. We were amused that the photographer planned to superimpose a model's head over Regan's in the final shoot. That didn't do alot for his self confidence.

A Few Chapel Pictures~








Here are some pictures from Friday's Chapel. Rachel's class led the worship and acted out a skit about Noah. Here she is onstage with some of her classmates

Here is the elemenatry classes gathered for worship. Josh and Jake were proudly displaying their Tennessesse connections- Go Vols!!!!

Some Great News!!!!
This is the final results- what a well groomed family! The barber asked us to take her picture too.





Matt is recovering from the loss of his manliness. Jake is a "little" nervous about the straight razor.








Rachel's stylish hair do


We are happy to report that we have accepted an offer on our home, PRAISE GOD! We are so blessed to be relieved of this concern. Our closing is set for September 22nd and then we will be poised and ready to focus our complete attention on life in Taiwan. Thank you so much for all your prayers and also thanks to our West Morris Street friends for faithfully cutting the grass. I am sure it made a big difference in the home's presentation.

I am also including a few pictures above (please forgive thier placement I have not yet mastered these technicalities) from our first visit to the barber/beauty shop in Taiwan. Our Chinese teacher graciously agreed to accompany us overcoming the language barrier. Unfortunately she had to leave early before we unsuccessfully tried to convince the barber NOT to cut Matt's beard off. She was very determined. Rachel also got her hair washed and styled, Taiwanese style, great fun. In the future we might try to do the cuts at home but it was a neat experience.

Some pictures~

Just wanted to show you a few pictures from our new home. Our ability to upload to our computer from our camera has just recently been restored.

Here is the view from our back balcony towards the school. It is about a five minute walk.


Also from our back balcony, here is the view of the playground in our yard. There is plenty of play room from the kids

Here are some pictures of the school from the entry and then back looking at our building.

Here are a few shots of Matt's class.




Above is Matt leading after school activities.

Matt's After School Activities~

Yesterday was the beginning of Matt's afterschool activity program. The bad news is there were definitely a few glitches. The good news is the Morrison staff stepped up to the plate in an unbelievable way. Matt describes it this way: "there were all kinds of loose ends and everytime I turned around someone was tying them up without even being asked". The team spirit is strong at this school and it is really encouraging. Adjustments need to made but for the most part it is up and running and shouldn't take too much of Matt's time until the new quarter rolls around in October, then we start the planning process all over again.

Also on Tuesday the Morrison School Board officially convened at the Kaohsiung campus. The board consists of missionaries stationed throughout Taiwan. New staff had an opportunity to meet with them. This was a great time of fellowship and encouragement. The school board members welcomed us graciously and prayed for the sell of our home. Maybe if missionaries are now praying God will have to listen, right? Just kidding. It is a comfort knowing they are lifting up our need to the Lord.

We are planning to add more pictures of Matt's class and some of our new friends soon, stay tuned!!

A Few More Firsts~

Sunday night out
Sunday night we drove into Kaohsiung to visit a new church. We drove our own van and followed some friends from our building. The evening turned out to be really nice. We enjoyed the church service and then on the way home we stopped and ate dinner at a local restaraunt all on our own. This may sound silly but when you don't know the language or the driving etiquette it is a big deal. The food was great at the restaraunt. Our entire family loves beef stir fried with onion and peppers and most of us like beef fried rice. Even though we had a little trouble ordering, it was fun and cheap. We then stopped on the way home for a "Bing Tza", a frozen smoothie. They are made with fresh fruit and very delicious, also cheap. We were so excited to have a family evening out on our own. It was a taste of independence long forgotten back in the states.

Driving 101
Today, Tuesday, was also a first for me. I drove all the way to Nanzih and back with my friend Karen, about 20 minutes one way. Many of you know our van is a manual and very tempremental, especially reverse. We drove to the grocery store and drug store. It was an interesting drive to say the very least. Talk about being vulnerable around new friends...try stalling in the middle of a few intersections, it adds new meaning to the word. Fortunately Karen and the other drivers on the road were very patient and by the end of our outting I was doing well with everything but reverse. I guess I will just have to avoid the need to drive backwards at all costs!! There are some nice parking lots in Dashe and Nanzih and for now I think I will just pay the extra fee to use them. As you can imagine having the ability to get around on my own is pretty important to me. I thank God that the van looks like it might work out after all, if we can get it to pass inspection.

Prayer concerns:

Matt's first day to coordinate afterschool activities at school is today, Tuesday.

Caleb is struggling a bit to stay organized in his new intensely academic world.

We have an interested buyer for the house, "May God grant us the sell of our home"

Boulderhopping, Taiwanese Style

Today we were treated to a trip to the mountains by our School Superintendent, Tim McGill, and his wife Bonnie. The took us and the other new staff, the Aldag family, to a mountain stream about an hour away. This kind of outdoor activity is a family favorite, but what an adventure in a new country! The mountain area we drove to is home to the aboriginal people of Taiwan. This group is related more to Polynesian ancestors rather than Chinese. Thier appearance and art reflects this difference.


After a few washed out roads, we found a good place to picnic and play.
The kids enjoyed jumping off rocks into the cool water and building a dam. Unfortunately Charlie Aldag fell and hurt his knee pretty bad so the day was cut a bit short. Still, a good time was had by all and we hope we can find the way back by ourselves for another family outting.

Prayer Concerns:

Please pray that the afterschool activities Matt is coordinating go smoothly. They start up on Tuesday.

Our house is still not sold. We heard this week that the Indianapolis real estate market is the second worse in the United States, not very encouraging.

Meet the teacher night.

Tonight was had our "Meet the Teacher Night" at MAK. Matt participated as a teacher, meeting parents and explaining his 5th grade class. I attended as a parent. There were definite language barriers for both of us. The parents are so apologetic about their English language skills. We are so impressed considering our sad, sad attempts at Chinese. A highlight of the evening was meeting Rachel's new friend Winnie's mom. She was so excited to meet me she would not let go of my hand! It is flattering to feel so honored.

We learned from our kids teachers, mostly our new friends and neighbors, that our kids are adjusting fine for the most part. Just the normal struggles of starting a new school year seem to be evident. Josh's teacher did share that he will sometimes get teary if he senses his effort is not up to par. We are thinking once our family routine is set, especially bed time, this should improve. Caleb's schedule definitely reflects the middle school change. His classes are going to be tough, he will have to step it up a notch.


All seems to be going well for our kids both socially and academically.

Just the Two of Us
A wonderful couple in our apartment asked us out for dinner tonight. Very cool! It was needed break without the kids. Regan and Holly are from Canada and great people. It is weird however how similar Regan and I are. I mean a lot!! I thought I was the only one God made with my model. Anyway, here are a few pictures of this evening. Oh, the food was awesome!!!! Susan even liked it.

Please pray that God gives us strength over the next several days. Tomorrow concludes the second week of school, and we are all getting tired. Friday is also "Meet the Teacher Night" at Morrison. I am nervously preparing to meet my student's parents, many don't speak English or it is broken. Thank you!

Susan will fill in the gaps tomorrow about today, your evening. Thanks for your support.