Taiwan-- the good, the bad, the ugly

Outreach.... where to begin?

It's hard. Much much harder than I was expecting.

Let's start with the good. Taiwan is amazing. Its' nature is just stunning with mountains on one side of the island and ocean all around us. The place just takes my breath away it is so freaking pretty. The people here are very welcoming and friendly. They do tend to stare at us a little but who wouldn't? So far we have stayed in two different places and visited several more. For the first week or so we were living in Danshui about 30 minutes outside of the capital. It was very urbanized, a large city with tall buildings and lots of shops ad restraunts. There we had the opportunity to do some street evangelism and prayer walks. I enjoyed the city life but I like where we are now better. Currently, we are staying in a village called Aodi about an hour and a half away from Taipei. Here, we are sandwiched by mountains on one side and the beach on the other. You can see both from our apartment. This place is much more chill with a lot less people and a lot less hustle and bustle of the city life. It is much quieter and calmer here and anyone who knows me knows that's more my style. Here, we are doing more teaching English in the schools and more prayer walks which are both more my style and things I enjoy doing more. I love my team and we are all getting along pretty well.

Some cool stories?

We have already had 4 salvations in the 10 days we have been here. We have had the chance to go into three different schools and interact with the kids while teaching them a little bit of English. They were so excited to see us and enjoyed just listening to us talk with them. We also had the chance to do prayer walks in two different cities and on a college campus as well as evangelism in three different places. We worked with ministry called Sole 30 that provides shoes, clothes, and bags for children in Africa. On top of that, they let the places they deliver those things to keep the giant metal storage containers that they turn into schools which I think is absolutely amazing. Some of us went to help with a ministry called Gangster Ministry which is a government required, church run organization that kids who have been arrested fro various things have to go to. We got to sit and talk with the kids and tell them a little bit about ourselves. Overall, we have been busy but it has been good stuff.

The hard parts?

Everything else.

Spiritual Warfare is so real. The enemy is so real. And he is in full attack mode on our team here. Taiwan, along with many other Asian countries, are Buddhists, practice idol worship, and practice ancestral worship. All of those areas create such a darkness and a heaviness in their hearts. In the place we are in currently especially, it has hit our team hard. This village has a much older population who are very much into all of those things. On every corner, every bridge, every village, there are temples with idols inside them. Even in the building we are living in, the seventh floor is a temple for idol worship. It is a dark place. For our team, some of us are feelers which just means that we can feel the presence of this darkness and demonic forces at work in the lives of these people and the temples, and it just means it hits us hard, some more than others. So spiritual warfare, it is very real. But the thing is, it has no power over us. Because of the blood of Jesus, we are covered, we are protected, and we have authority over all of it because of the power of Jesus. "Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world." "For I am convinced that neither death not life, nor angels, nor demons nor anything can separate us from the love of Christ."

There are a lot of other things that are a battle for me. Food, being around people all day, a sense of not being able to do enough, etc. All of these things make some days harder than the other. I very much miss the luxuries and food of America.

So yeah, outreach is hard. Everyday I have to make the choice to focus my eyes on Jesus because if I focus on anything else, if I take my eyes of Jesus, I begin to drown. There was one day here, only a couple days in, that I was very much ready to buy a plane ticket and fly right home. I was done. I was done with my team, I was done with the food, I was done with the ministry we were doing, I was just done. And all day I dwelled in that place and I felt like I was suffocating. I felt like I couldn't do it. But the moment I focused my eyes back on Jesus, I could breath again. I was no longer drowning but I was walking on the water with Him. Anything less than that and I can't do it. Everyday it is a very conscious decision to spend the day with Jesus, letting Him sustain me, letting Him be my strength, letting Him be my everything.

I had to come to moment where I cried out to God. Being in His presence and feeling His love was so easy in Orlando. Life was easy, we were constantly having moments with Jesus. But here we aren't always having intentional moments with God. So I cried out to God one night, so freaking done with this and I heard Him say, "Reagan, I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. I am the same God that was with you in Orlando. I am the same here as I was there." That moment helped shift my perspective. The same God who gave me so many visions in Orlando can do that here. The same God that spoke to me there speaks to me here. The same God who loved me there still loves me here. He is still filling my cup. He is still dumping His love on me. He is still giving me peace, patience, gentleness, all of that. He is the same here and there and wherever you are. It doesn't take a DTS to really know God. It doesn't take a crazy worship experience. It doesn't take church to connect you with God. All it takes is a willing and open heart to sit and listen to the good good Father who sits in Heaven ready to talk to you, ready to love you, ready to listen to you, and ready to be with you. So take a moment, put on some music, and just sit and breath and listen to God. Invite His presence in. We serve a God who doesn't force Himself upon us but instead longs to be invited in. Invite Him in. Be open to hear what He has to say. Be ready to encounter Him.

Crazy opportunity happened last night. Head Pastor Bill Johnson of Bethel Church was here in Taiwan only about 1.5 hours away from us speaking in a free church conference that my team got to go to. He talked about a couple of things and it was amazingly good and exactly what I needed to hear.

He started out talking about how the Great Commission isn't the greatest commission. The greatest commission comes in the Lord's prayer where it says, "On earth, as it is in heaven." Our greatest job is to bring heaven here to earth. We as Christians are commanded to go to the nations and make disciples. We are commanded to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, love one another. All of those things are aspects that bring Heaven to earth. There is no sickness, no death, no demons, and no hate in Heaven. When we pray those things over people we are bringing the Kingdom of Heaven down to earth and making it a reality. God could make all of this reality happen right away but instead He INTENTIONALLY CHOOSES to involve His beloved sons and daughters in relationship. We are commissioned to bring the entire planet under the authority of Christ.

Then he started talking about how we can't discover who we are by studying who we are. We discover who we are by studying who God is. And we do that by studying the promises He gives us. The ENTIRE Christian life is fueled by the promises of God. The minute we lose sight of those promises is the minute we begin to sink. Those promises are the bridge to get us to all that God has for us, all the things He promises us. The Israelites were promised the promise land. But first, they had to go to war to get all of their enemies out of that land. But because of that promise, the could fight that fight because they held in their hearts the PROMISE OF GOD that that land would be theirs. Those promises of God are what we go to war with to reach the promises God has given us. We can use those promises to remove the flaming arrows of lies the enemy shoots at us.

So yeah, I needed to hear that. All of the promises God has given me, both personally and in the Bible (the ones He gives all of us) are the ones I need to cling to in my life.

"I will never leave you."

"I will never foresake you."

"I will protect you." "I love you." "I am with you."

"I am your God."

"My grace is sufficient."

"When you are weak, then I am strong."

"I live in you."

"You have overcome the evil one."

"Nothing can separate you from my love."

You are my child

I am greater than he who is in the world

I am love

My perfect love casts out fear

I am your shepherd

AND SO MANY MORE

So today, cling to those promises of God. They are not moving. God is not a liar. He does not live to disappoint. He is gracious and merciful. He loves you. Cling to those promises. Use them to remove the lies the enemy throws at you. The best promise?

"I have come that you may have life and have it to the full."

Most of these pictures I took as the team photographer! Learning a lot and having so much fun doing photography here!

Yeah, just keep praying for our time here and for seeds to be planted as well as fruit to grow! Also of course, be praying against any schemes the enemy is using to create disunity and other issues! Much love for all of you back home!