Intro

I wish to thank you for viewing my blog and please let me know what you think or if there are any questions, e-mail me at zacruble@yahoo.com. Also be sure to check out Harvester Baptist Church's website about the trip at http://www.fbch.com/missions/Asia/Taiwan/2006/index2006.html. Also visit http://www.hakkaharvest.com/ for info on the Hakka people in Taiwan. This has been a wonderful experience and I wanted to share it with everyone. God bless each of you!

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Taiwan – the place where everything (supposedly) is made. It’s a good-sized island 1,100 miles off of the coast of China and really is quite a beautiful place filled with beautiful people. Meinong, where we resided and taught, is surrounded by gorgeous mountains, immaculate temples, fields of rice, palm trees, and mopeders (word invented on the trip for those who ride mopeds).

Why Taiwan? That’s what I kept asking myself the entire time I was there. Why come to a land I know little to nothing about? Taipei, Taiwan is approximately 7,589 miles from my home in Saint Louis, MO. I felt every mile during our flights … and then a few. Our journey getting to Taiwan consisted of four flights instead of the normal three –

1) St. Louis to Atlanta, GA

2) Atlanta to Los Angeles, CA

3) LA to Taipei, Taiwan

4) Taipei to Kaushiung, Taiwan.

The number three flight was by far the longest. Thirteen hours, one flight, and an hour bus ride later, we met our gracious hosts at the airport which was made up of three missionary couples and then viewed one of the most beautiful sights in all of Taiwan – our beds. Well, it was at the time anyways.

The team: Rex Alexander, Don Akers, Megan Bernard, Jean Brandon, Doug Carrington, Melvin and Katie Graham, Ilda Kennon, Wendy Lee, Kristina and Rob Simmons, Megan Taylorson, and Heather Wood.

The missionaries: Wes and Danette (with kids Autumn and Trey), Dana and Karen, Norm and Teri, and Jon and Jen.

Typical days in Taiwan were spent teaching both children and adults Bible stories using English (yes in this order, not vice versa) and prayer walking in the Hakka villages.

What follows is a sort-of “journal experience" of being in Taiwan.