Settling In

Hey guys!

Let’s see, what is new since we last updated…

We have been here for five weeks already!  Time crawled by before while we were in that difficult adjustment stage, but now it seems to be flying by.  We are really enjoying our time here, and want to make the most of every day.  Living here is starting to feel… quite normal (and fun!).  God is faithful.

Two interesting things we saw this week that we would like to note:

1. A furry spider in our apartment that was about the size of a post-it note (talk about an early-morning adrenaline rush!)
2. A guy wearing a Green Bay Packers hat!

Two weeks ago, we started our Mandarin language studies at the Taipei Language Institute.  It is a lot of work and sometimes exhausting with all the other activities we have going on, but we are enjoying it.  It is very exciting to be able to use Mandarin to do things like order our meals! 

Our ministries have been going quite well despite our language barrier with the people we interact with.  The English class we teach on Thursdays has been going great.  We have 5-6 boys every week, and they are so much fun to teach and spend time with.  Some bad news: the boy we mentioned in previous posts who was attending the Yi Guan Dao cult meetings has decided to switch off between the Christian kid’s club and Yi Guan Dao meetings every other week.  This is a very common problem in Taiwan- people will profess Jesus as their Savior and Lord, but they will continue to worship their old gods as well.  Please be in prayer for him and others in his position, that they would understand that Jesus is the one true God, and they do not need any other.

The park outreach on Saturday afternoons has been AWESOME!  We so much enjoy the relaxed atmosphere where there is plenty of time to play with the kids and chat with the adults.  This ministry definitely fits our personalities.  Last Saturday I (Gretchen) had the opportunity to share some pictures of life at home with some of the elderly people at the park.  A Taiwanese coworker did all the talking. :) During this time, we also got to pray for a few different ladies.  One of them said she did not know how to pray, and as we prayed with her, she started crying!  It could very well have been the first time in her life that someone ever prayed for her.  This ministry is growing through the Holy Spirit’s power, and it is so cool to see.  Relationships are being built and God’s truth is being shared.

Take some time and check out our pictures we linked to in our previous post.  We hope they can give you all a good visual of what life and ministry is like here!  

Thank you so much for partnering with us.  You all have given us such a wonderful opportunity, and we hope to make the very most of it.

Wan an!  Goodnight!

M&G

Photos thus far

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to take a minute and send some links to our photo's thus far.

We have not taken photos at all of our ministry events, so stay tuned for more coverage!

First week while settling in - Taipei - 9/25/12

Some of our ministry experiences - Taipei - 9/28/12

Weekend trip out of town - Taipei - 9/29/12

Journey south for the field conference - Taipei/Dajia - 10/14/12

A day at the zoo and kids club - Taipei - 10/22/12

M&G

Praise the Lord!

Quick update,

Two weeks ago, one of our prayers was for a young boy in our English class who has made a commitment for Christ, but has recently been going to Buddhist cult meetings.  We just learned that this past weekend he went to an OMF lead church group instead, saying that his mother would like for him to not only learn English, but to learn about Jesus as well.

Please keep this family in your prayers – the mother is involved in ancestor worship and is not a Christian.  Perhaps her son can influence her to the Lord.

Praise the Lord! Your prayers are making a difference!

M&G

Full Speed Ahead!

Hey everyone!

We hope you all are well and enjoying the beautiful fall weather (for most of you, that is).  We are definitely missing fall in Wisconsin.  All of the trees seem to stay green here, and it is still rather warm and humid.  Very pleasant though!

We’ve been here for three weeks now, and yet it seems like we have been here so much longer.  Living in a foreign country seems to take so much energy out of us; we really have to be paying close attention to EVERYTHING.  It has been a lot of fun though, and we are getting quite adjusted to everyday life.  The food here has been absolutely amazing!  There is a large night market right around the corner from our apartment, and the food is very inexpensive (we can easily get a meal for $3-$5 US).  Needless to say we have yet to cook a meal here :)

 

This past week we attended the OMF Taiwan field conference for all of the long-term missionaries.  We helped out with the teen’s program while their parents were in sessions.  What a great group of kids!  It was really cool to learn more about what it is like to be an MK (missionary kid).  We also got to meet several missionaries from different parts of the island, and hear their stories.  It was a good, yet tiring time.  The camp that we went to was in Dajia, which is about 3 hours south of Taipei.  It was wonderful to spend some time amongst the lush, green mountains and rice paddies.  

After conference, a team of five short-termers that were with us at the conference came to stay at our place; four from Australia (Maggie, Gigi, Fran, and Sylvia), one from Holland (Enneke); Jillian from Singapore and Kat our fearless leader hung out with us too.  It was such a blessing to be able to get to know these other short-termers and have fun together.  We did some fun touristy things together this past weekend- going shopping at the Shilin Night Market (largest in the city), and walking through the park and flower/jade markets.  We also went to the Taipei 101, which is the second tallest building in the world.  We were able to go up to the 89^th floor.  Would you believe the elevator ride took only about fifty seconds?  The view was, of course, absolutely incredible.  My (Gretchen’s) favorite parts was seeing the mountains from above and the river wind through the city. 

 

Our first English class went really well!  The kids were very engaged and we had a good time.  After we teach the lesson another OMF’er comes in to tell a Bible story in Chinese.  It will be a great experience to lead this class.  

Yesterday afternoon we went to the park outreach in Wanhua.  It was a great time!  We had a ton of fun with all of the kids, playing all sorts of different games.  We also sang some songs and one of the team members told a biblical story.  It was really great to see how many parents/grandparents were quite interested in what we were doing.  There is an open door to reach out not only to the children, but also to their caretakers who sit at the park.  Please pray that our team can seize these opportunities and build relationships with these people, relationships that lead to sharing the gospel.

We are so thankful for how far the Lord has brought us here.  He is faithful every step of the way.  He also has a very good plan for us being here in Taiwan.  We will keep seeking Him to figure out what that plan is. :)

What’s new at home?  We would really appreciate if you could take just a few moments to send us a note (mgdominowski@gmail.com).

Thank you all for caring and taking time to read our updates.  It is encouraging to know that people are cheering us on! 

Miles & Gretchen

Changes!

Hello friends and family! It is just over one week since we arrived safely in Taipei – although there was no particular difficulty in travel, we both had colds which made the already challenging process very draining. Jetlag has not been as troublesome as it could have been. We are now feeling mostly better.

This past week has been a whirlwind!  The first two days we had orientation, then started the various ministries that we will be involved in during our stay.  These ministries are located in the Wanhua District of Taipei, which is the most disadvantaged area in the city.  Last Wednesday we had a prayer meeting with most of the OMF missionaries working in Taipei- they are awesome people!  Later in the day we helped out with a kid’s club at an elementary school.  On Thursday, we helped out with an English class for Taiwanese children.  We will be leading this class during another missionary’s absence, so please pray that we would teach it well (neither of us have experience teaching ESL).  On Friday, we went to a youth group for 6^th-9^th graders at a private Christian school called Morrison Academy.  This school is for TCK’s (third culture kids).  This will be a nice break for us as all of these kids speak English!  On Saturday, we went to a park outreach for area kids in Wanhua.  Playing games and telling Bible stories- fun times!  Sundays and Mondays are our days off every week.  On Sunday we went to Danshui and Bali, which are two fun cities on the Northwest corner of the island.  It was nice to get away from the busyness of the city and see the beautiful river and mountains!

This past week and a half has been a whirlwind of new things.  Some exciting, some difficult and frustrating.  We are making many adjustments; from learning the logistics of living in a new “home” to finding our way around this crazy city every day.  God in His goodness helps us through each day.  Slowly things are starting to feel more normal.  :)

Thank you for all of your prayers.  It is now when we are being stretched that we understand just how much we need  them.  Please pray that we would be content right where we are, making the most of every opportunity God gives us.  

Another prayer request we have is specifically for a boy in our English class.  He asked Jesus into his life a while ago, but recently also started attending meetings with the Yi Guan Dao, which is a cult.  There are many people in Taiwan who profess Jesus as their Savior, but are still worshipping the gods of their ancestors.  Pray that they would realize that God is the only reality, the only One worthy of all of their trust and worship.

If you ever would like to chat and catch up, shoot us an email or we can even Skype! Also, please let us know if there is any way we can be praying for you.

Zai Jian (Goodbye)!

M&G