Next Adventure: Taipei, Taiwan

           My emotions toppled and tumbled over each other as I took my first look at Taipei, the capitol of Taiwan. This city was soon to be my ‘home’ for the next two years. I gazed up at the towering sky-scrapers and the unique buildings with their cool Chinese-style roofs, I looked at the Chinese characters pasted over everything in sight, and I stared at all the traffic and the hundreds of mopeds stopped at the stop light.  I admired the beautiful, rolling hills of jungle right outside the city. “What an amazing place!” I thought. 

            “We are here!” someone from our ‘welcoming party’ announced. We walked over to the second van that was packed to the roof with our luggage. The heavy, dense humidity made it hard to breathe for a second. It reminded me a lot of the Philippines. Now, we had to somehow lug 20, 50-pound suitcases our carry-on and backpacks out of the van and down the 97 steps that led to our house. Phew! Was that a job! Thankfully, we had a team of 11 people to help us (counting our family).

            Inside our house we were encountered with a pleasant surprise. Some of the church members had bought us all sorts of important stuff; towels, silverware, dishes, pots and pans, food, and lots of other necessities. We were touched by their kindness. 

            After they left we went right to work. I walked in my room and started unpacking … and thinking. The house was really nice, the people were really nice, and the city and all that I had seen of Taipei was beautiful. “I think I’m going to like it here” I thought. At the same time though, I was very homesick for my family in Wenatchee. I had had mixed feeling over the whole trip. I knew this was God’s will, and Taipei was wonderful but … Wenatchee was my home and I missed it and all my friends.

            That night as I lay in bed under my fan, I told God, “You know what? Taipei is a wonderful place filled with wonderful people. Even though I didn’t necessarily want to move, thank-you for telling us to. There must be a reason why I am here. Even though I miss Wenatchee terribly, I know it is Your will that I be here and I’m going to make the best of these two years. Thank-you for being a great God that cares!”