Let the Studies Begin!

SBS 2016 Has officially begun!

Pictured above is the very first day of teaching. I had the privilege of teaching Bible Overview and the Inductive Method Overview to our class of 28 amazing students. They have been here only a few days, and already the staff are thrilled by the interaction we see from them.

As we prayed for the school, the staff felt that God was speaking the theme of 2 Corinthians 5:17-21. This passage talks about the fact that as believers, we are a New Creation! And as such, it is our job to take the good news as ambassadors for Christ and reconcile the world to God. We were really excited to see that God was placing a heart of evangelism over us as a school. Our heart is to search the Scriptures to know Him, so that we can represent Him well to a lost and dying world.

Our Campus is in the middle of a frontier mission field. There are Buddhist temples all around us, including right down the alley from the apartment that I live in. Click on the link below to watch a short clip of what it looks like to be involved with YWAM Taipei, right here in Danshui.
YWAM Taipei Video

SBS Staff 2016

Please pray for this school!

Pray for us as a school as we enter an intensive inductive study of the Bible for 9 months. Running this school in the middle of a nation that is only 2% Christian is spiritual warfare in itself. Pray that we would tangibly sense the grace of the Lord in our school, and that we would encounter people who are ready to hear the Gospel when we are outside of the classroom!


Pray for the missionaries here - there is a growing desire to see more people reached for the Kingdom of God, and we need to seize the opportunities given to share the gospel.

Pray for the lost - for a softening of their hearts to receive Christ.

Luke 10:2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

New Year. New Me.


I am definitely one of those people that loves to set unrealistic goals for the new year.

This year I was ready - by January 1st, I was actually ahead of myself. I had a Bible reading plan picked out, a friend had given me a brand new planner, and I was ready to implement so many things I knew would make this the best year of my life - so far.

It was an amazing start, honestly. I was ready to become a morning person, and the jet lag I felt coming back to Asia boosted my goal of being wide awake at the crack of dawn. For that first week, I was up at 5:30 or 6:00 with my coffee and my goals. I felt amazing. I knew that I couldn't always rely on jet lag though. I was desperate to keep going with my newfound routine.

Then when the jet lag wore off, I kept some goals, but the mornings weren't quite the same. Turns out, being a morning person doesn't just happen because you want it to. I understand now why it is called 'a discipline' to wake up early enough to sit and be with the Lord before anything starts.


It is February, and I have been back at work in Taiwan since the beginning of January. There is no SBS running at this point, and staffing looks different in between schools. I normally go to the office, or work from home on preparations for teaching, getting caught up on reading, or doing some communication work with supporters. Mostly, it is quiet and relaxed. I am grateful for different paces in different seasons. This season, however, is mostly rainy and cloudy. I don't get to see the sun very much in these months, and that has been more difficult than I remember. Before, I didn't understand why some people say they get seasonal depression... Honestly, that seemed fake. Now, I realize it is probably a very real thing.

I don't have seasonal depression, but without the vitamin D or warmth of the sunshine, I can honestly say it was hard to desire to get out of bed to do anything.

 I did it - but it was like moving with weights attached to my limbs.
I felt like I was re-learning to choose joy and choose things that were practically really helpful if I were to function. I decided that I needed things like Vitamin D pills to supplement my diet! It's interesting how practical a solution can be. In addition, taking the necessary steps to tend to my spiritual well-being was essential for my mood and attitude as well.

Since coming back from the holidays, I was also able to take a trip to the southern part of Taiwan to teach english and the Bible to kids, teenagers and adults. This trip was a bit last minute for me, but it was exactly what the Lord had in mind for me to get my heart and mind set for the upcoming year. I got to serve my heart out... We had 9-12 hour days of ministry - most of those days were english classes, but it was time also of planting seeds of the gospel into lives that desperately need Jesus.

Most of the children we taught in english camp come from really broken homes and low-income situations. It was a week-long holiday in Taiwan, and while these kids have off from school, it also means that a majority of them don't eat during that week because their schools provide them with food. We noticed as the week progressed that they were much quicker to grab the bread on the tables before we started english camp. The lady that oversees the kids programs would also serve the families in helping the children shower and cut their hair as they came for camp.

The Teenagers in the older youth group we got to teach in Taidong

We also had the privilege to give tools for inductive Bible study to a group of adults working at the same church. I was thoroughly refreshed to be able to pass along what I have learned from staffing SBS. My heart is full, and it gave me a renewed sense of purpose.

This year is going to be a wonderful one. I will continue to make goals for myself, but I will also lean into the Lord's mercy and grace to help me see Him as I see myself with my weaknesses. I will learn to have mercy and grace in those areas, because I know it will also effect how I treat others. Looking ahead to marriage, I also want to extend that grace to my future spouse someday... that 'someday' being closer than ever... I'll save more of that story for next time. :)

My fiancé and me in Taidong