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