Groundbreaking Continues
posted by on 10/25/07
“There’s a first time for everything.”
October 2 This marked another first day of school: public school teaching in Taiwan. It has been almost three and a half years since I taught public school in Russia but once again the same basic principles worked: patience, getting to know 
the students and assessing where they are in their English; foresight, visualizing where they can be; and more patience and thoroughness, walking them through the steps between. I have some excellent students from 6th-grade, 4th-grade and 2nd grade. Pray that I can be of special 
encouragement to the oldest class.
October 3 Wes worked out a time for the men on the team to spend an evening bowling and eating out. For me it was my first time bowling but I had a great first game. The score wasn’t the most important thing though as we had time to talk and get to know each other more.
October 10 On this day a few of us took a trip to the mountaintop overlooking Taoyuan. It was a good walk as well as a chance to see the city from a new perspective.
October 13 This marked the day of our first Saturday Classes. The students coming to these classes will enjoy a slower rotation through the village, spending one day focusing on each class. We took time for introductions last week and in future weeks we look forward to teaching at a new level since they are both more advanced and will be grouped in smaller numbers. 
Also, the evening before I accompanied seven others on a night ride to Taipei and went to Taipei 101, the world’s tallest building, for the first time. We enjoyed sandwiches from a Subway, took a look at the different stores and ended up spending most of our time at a huge bookstore.
October 14 First day at the small chuch which I will probably attend for the remainder of the time. It was truly a refreshment. I was also honored to meet two outstanding families there, one of which had lived in Canada for a while. Their little girl came through our two-day classes not long ago and remembered Lucas when he joined me at church last Sunday.
October 17 Our Chinese lessons were underway with this first pilot session. The curriculum is good for converstaional Chinese and NTUT provided a language teacher.
There is a lot to thank the Lord for and I can attest to the fact that it is worth the time and effort it takes to seek Him and work through the details of establishing a new work. Not only is the work prepared for future fruitfulness, but in the process the team is strengthened and matured.
Donald, it’s so neat to see the pictures of the students whose lives you are investing in and their joyful smiles. Keep up the great work!
Wow – a visit to the world’s tallest building! What an opportunity! May the Lord continue to show you life from His perspective and when your heart is overwhelmed may you climb upon that rock that is higher than you and your situations. You are in my prayers Donald!
It is sooo good to hear another report from what you are investing your life into. Thanks for taking the time to share with us what your doing in both words and pictures. It must be lots of fun working with all those young children.
Great to hear from you Donald! Keep up the good work learning Chinese!
Hi Donald! We are so glad the Lord is using you in Taiwan!
[...] light. I felt an enthusiasm for teaching and enjoyed each class. One of my highlights was seeing the 2nd-graders singing “Old MacDonald Had a Farm, A-E-I-O-U”. They loved the animal parts and they [...]
Donald is a very good person, very gentleman, and kind to all of his friends.