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posted by Donald on 09/6/07

Early morning light filtered in the window. The sun was rising in the Far East. Having just woken up, I stood at my desk looking at my watch and thought: “One hour till showdown.”
It was September 4 and after the long but beautiful 36+ hour trip, I was in Taiwan and about to embark on the first day of a Summer Camp held on a university campus in Shinchu, Taiwan. But before starting off at 7:30 I knew that Bible-reading, journaling and organization were in order. It was then I remembered a conversation that we had with the Wilkes about prayer: Knowing that “Prayer is a time-maker, not a time-taker” is one thing; doing it is another.” Immediately I lifted a petition to the Lord. I asked God very simply for time to do these things. When I looked back down at my watch, lo and behold, it was not 6:30 at all, as I had first thought! Very clearly the hands pointed to . . . 5:30! My joy was very full at that moment because I had asked and received.
Day one was an incredible day. Since then, prayer has taken the stress out of many situations from locating my deck of lost uno cards or finding internet connections to seeing energy for teamwork and teaching provided by the Lord.

Right now, as a team of thirty, we’ve settled into our long-term location in Taoyuan. We are hosted in the west wing of a very nice school facility and some very well-remodeled classrooms serve as rooms for us. It is an incredible thing to be a part of and each day we witness new things coming together for the curriculum, facility furnishings and an overall-more-well-refined teaching technique as we learn to co-teach each class.

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On the team are several very kind and very skilled Taiwanese staff, Wes Dudley and his wife Julianna (our American leaders and co-workers), Marlin Martin and his wife (science teachers), the Lyons family of five, nine young ladies from America and Canda, and six young men from New England/PA, Washington, Ohio and West Virginia!

It’s been an honor to be here at the beginning of such an incredible work. We are nearing the conclusion of our first teaching week and asking God to show Himself strong as we choose to humble ourselves, serve Him with perfection and leave the results to Him.

My role as banker has not been one made of carboard. In our classroom we have two tellers’ counters, our own ATM, and current foreign exchange rates on display. You should see the students when they walk in. It’s great to show them the simple technique of making a withdrawal and filling out a deposit slip. Without enterpreters, no Chinese is allowed (Chinese is more commonly spoken than Taiwanese) and it’s great to see the students immersed, possibly for the first time, in a must-speak-English situation. They enjoy the experience and I don’t consider it a coincidence that I decided to bring my bank book and papers!
Evening by evening and morning by morning, the Lord’s faithfulness and His lovingkindnesses remind me that I am working on His timetable.

Almost without interruption I will awake at 5:30am, see the light of morning as it begins to sweep our earth and remember that first morning in Taiwan. It is a refreshment to know: certainly prayer is a time-maker, not a time-taker, and I am grateful to be part of a much larger team, working together by daily and incessent prayer before a gracious God!

13 Comments » | posted in Ministry Reports

posted by Daniel on 09/4/07

Recently I have been fascinated by the great composers and the music they produced. A while back Mom recommended I read an excellent book titled “The Gift of Music” which first introduced me to the lives of these great musicians from a Biblical perspective. I noticed that at the end of each chapter it had a list of recommended pieces to listen to for that particular composer, so I began searching on the internet for a way to listen to these and get a better understanding of each composer. Robert kindly introduced me to a splendid site he had found earlier which has a considerable selection of downloadable MP3′s of classical pieces (warning: however, this site is perfectly unreliable and the quality is only usually excellent, so if you ever decide to reference it be prepared to have your expectations slightly frustrated ).

I was astonished at the benefits of hearing and critiquing each composer’s music for myself. First of all, I learned to recognize the characteristics of the different musical periods and that of the great classical composers. It also helped me understand better what I had read or heard of them in the past. Often it contradicted with what I’d previously thought, so evaluating their music for myself clarified things and gave me a more concrete, personal opinion instead of relying on the conclusions of others. This is a very rewarding activity and one I recommend wholeheartedly.

From my experience so far, the top three composers on my humble list of favorites are:
1. Beethoven (mainly because of his many excellent piano sonatas, especially numbers 8, 14, 21, and 23 – not to mention his symphonies, piano concertos, and many other brilliant works)
2. Chopin (some favorites were: Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Fantaisie-Impromptu, Nocturne 19-op.72, and his 1st Piano Concerto, to name just a few)
3. Mozart (had an unbelievable output of consistently good pieces)

As you have assuredly guessed, my list is undoubtedly biased towards those great composers whose sole or favorite instrument was the piano. This is because I appreciate their music to a greater degree since this is the only instrument I have learned to play. I know there are many other favorites besides these. But at least this is a tentative beginning of a list which will most probably change as I learn more. What are your thoughts? More than ever before I am aware of how little I know, so I would gratefully welcome the suggestions and opinions of those of you who possess such greater erudition than I on this subject.

One of the outstanding principles I learned while going through Sound Foundations was that music will draw you towards its source. Music which portrays the character of God (possessing such attributes as orderliness, beauty, majesty, purpose, etc.) will glorify God and draw you closer to Him. Another concept they taught from Scripture was that God is a musical Being. Therefore, since this type of music is in harmony with His nature, all this recent research and study of “music appreciation” is not just a fun, godless hobby, but rather a fascinating learning experience on how to more skillfully glorify the Lord through music! This is especially exciting in a day when Satan is conducting an aggressive attempt to distort music and rob God of the glory due Him. God is searching for those who will use His gift of music for the purposes that He designed it for!

7 Comments » | posted in Tidbits