this is incredible!!!
July 1st
Today was an awesome experience to say the least. We headed to the west buddhist temple; there are 4 in total that surround the whole city of Taipei (north, south, east, and west). As we got off the subway and walked up to ground level, I could feel the darkness. We walked through this park and there were a lot of men sitting there; some drunk, some playing chess, others checkers, etc. It was very sad. As we approached the temple there were hundreds of people, some going in and some going out. Michelle (from Taipei) was leading us and proceeded to tell us to start praying in tongues under our breathe before we even walk in and so we did. As I walked through the temple I sensed a heaviness and I believe the others did as well. The smell of incense was strong and the prayers and singing from the people were loud; so much darkness. I walked by people of every age from young to old. They were standing there worshiping a statue; my friend Benson told me how the different areas were for different things. Like if you wanted good grades students go to one of the statues of a certain god and if you need health or prosperity you go to pray at another statue, to thT specific god. My heart broke for these people and I began to cry. I saw kids lighting incense and bridging it to the statues while chanting prayers of some sort. Sister Henson told us how college students put their I.D. in front of the statue hoping they’ll be remembered and recognized. There were tables all throughout the temple covered with food. People would bring the food early in the morning and leave it there; some left it there as a sacrifice for the gods and others came back in the afternoon to pick it up after the gods blessed it. Such hopelessness; there are old old people who come to this place every day doing the same thing and ending with no results because they dont know the true living God. As we left I continued to pray; this temple is huge, reaches at least 4 blocks all around. It was in this moment that I began to feel God quicken my heart for the people of Taiwan to the point where I began telling God that if He wants to send me back here I’m willing. Today my heart broke for these people and nothing compares to seeing how they worship false gods than seeing it face to face. History books, teachers, the Internet doesn’t justify anything. My prayer is God will break the chains of bondage over this country one Buddhist temple at a time.
After the temple, we grabbed lunch down the street and had some amazing white rice and pork then some shaved ice with different toppings like we had beans, bubble tea, peas, and jello. After this we headed to Taipei 101; the 3rd largest building in the world and as we headed upstairs we found an international book store and of course a bunch of us bought stuff there!!
Later on after we took a rest we headed to the Friday night prayer meeting at Church In The River of Life. Everyone takes off their shoes and sits on the mats; my new friend Sarah and her husband Pastor Samuel were leading worship in Chinese and the presence of God was so strong in that place and there was such freedom!! People were singing, dancing and worshiping Jesus. It was one of those nights where there was an open mic and if anyone had a Word from the Lord or a scripture to share they could. This was no American prayer meeting where everyone is quietly praying in their corners and only the weirdos pray out loud or speak in tongues; these people love God and their unashamed of it. All of this is a reflection of their leader; Pastor Wong is an incredible man of God and he began to give words of knowledge tonight to people. Then Sister Henson got up on the platform and God had been speaking to her and she called forth everyone who wanted more of of God and she walked past the first row of people standing there and they fell out in the Spirit. The second row lined up with the catchers behind and one by one God began to minister to each person. It’s something I haven’t seen in a long time in America, something new was sparked in my heart tonight. She then called all of us Zion students to line up and as she laid hands on me I was overwhelmed by the presence of God and fell out. Later on, Dr. Henson shared a quick word about the baptism of the Holy Spirit; at the end of the meeting people who wanted to receive the baptism were called forward. One of the youth Jack got prayed for and ran back to Dr. Henson and in his broken English he asked “Am I not suppose to know what I’m saying?” Dr. Henson asked what he meant and Jack began to tell Dr. Henson that he was speaking some language but it wasn’t Chinese or English! That’s the power of God!! Great things happened tonight!! God is so good! All glory and praise to Him.
June 30th
this morning, we got to sleep in and then Pastor Wong and his leadership team took us out for lunch to an incredible Japanese restaurant. We got to try new things and Brian, aaron and i got to know Pastor John (the youth pastor) a lot better and we met some new friends also. After lunch all of us headed up the mountain to Ming where we got to see a volcano. We were so high up, we met the clouds; we experienced what Kim Walker sings about in the song ‘Show Me Your Glory,’ we literally saw a cloud and stepped in. haha. It was an amazing sight. We then went down the mountain a bit to a scenic point which overlooked all of Taipei city and we began to pray and intercede on the behalf of the people here that God would break chains and the Holy Spirit would fall like fire! It was a long, hot and sticky day so after we rested a little back at the apartment we met up with the youth/young adults at the church and they took us to Shilin Night Market; their largest, most popular night market. We met some new faces and instantly we all clicked with one another; us zionians discovered that we have Taiwanese parents which were these new friends of ours. Haha. They took care of us and made sure we were safe at the market (orders by Pastor Wong). There was daniel. Jack, esther, leila, elizabeth, stephen, elvis, sarah, and cheri; awesome people! As we walked to the subway, Bekah and I began to talk a little bit with our new mom Esther and we could not stop laughing because our mother is a perfect fit for us. Throughout the night this joke carried through but deeper than all the laughter, little by little relationships were being built. As we reached our destination i was in awe of all the little shops and clothes/food stands as we passed through these huge crowds; it reminded me of NYC but a lot cleaner. Captain stephen, as we call him, took us around to all the best clothing shops and food stands and so the craziness began. After we shopped around, more fun continued with some food tasting (I uploaded a video to facebook); first stop was stinky tofu and the name represents it well because that stuff smelled gross, not my favorite but we all had to try it; after though I had chicken foot, pig ear, and chicken butt all of which were actually very good! besides experiencing the night market for the first time, I also got to see some very dear friends of mine that I haven’t seen in 13 years who now live in Taiwan. Getting to see Dumile, Tiv, and their mom was more of an honor than anything; these girls are incredible women of God and it was so good to catch up a bit in person for once instead of always through Facebook. Ha. They prayed over me before we had to leave and it was such a God-ordained point in time, only He can do these things. As the night came to a close everyone went their separate ways to their homes and we ended with some 7 eleven. The greatest thing about this day was being able to pray over Taipei and build relationships with our new friends; God’s hand is on this church and the people because they are obedient and faithful to Him in all things.
praying on top of the mountain over the city of taipei & over all of Taiwan.
