The Exodus

While Matt Hauck has been dilligently preparing Bible studies from the book of Exodus, Bryan, Matt and I have decided to take matters into our own hands in order to have an Exodus of our own. After we saw the summer team off, we were able to move out of the Haucks' residence on the sixth floor and move into the first floor apartment. In reality, it was more like a reverse-exodus/exile: out of the land of milk and honey and casseroles and into a land of oppression by mosquitoes and spiders.

That's about as far as this twisted analogy goes, though. The Haucks continue to shower us with generosity inviting us over frequently for meals and we really do thoroughly enjoy the extra space we have downstairs to use for studying and storage. Bryan comments that he almost died of excitement (that's an emotion) when he thought about how he was going to have his own desk, but he's still alive.

Since the initial move, we have been looking for ways to make efficient use of our closet space. After searching through a sea of pink cubbies, we realized that the color selection was scarce. So there we have it. Our very own pink, Hello Kitty cubbies.


Beats
As fellow Taiwan residents, we have also taken to buying some of their music. Bryan and I are going to review our respective purchases while Matt has decided to save his track by track commentary for a future post.

1. Jay Chou - Fantasy (Matthew Lui)
Stay tuned for the upcoming review!

2. Jay Chou - Qi Li Xiang (John Tang)
Qi Li Xiang is the fifth album release of the multi-talented Taiwanese star Jay Chou. This album, literally translated means "seven mile fragrance." I would say that besides being an avid composer, a piano player since the age of three, and a cello player since grade school, Jay Chou is just plain emo. He continues to stay on the pop charts by sympathizing with his emotional fans (admit it) through his carefully composed songs. In this album alone, there are track titles ranging from "Grandma," (really talking about his grandma), and "Chaotic Dance of Spring and Autumn" (i haven't quite figured out what this is about, but in the middle of the song, Jay stops singing and answers a cellphone call to order lunch). Highly recommended.

3. Some kind of mix (Bryan Kim)
It sucks. Seriously, this mix is horrible. Some worker said this was the most recent mix to come out but it sounds like the music from the 80's your parents would sing karaoke to. Just terrible...

4. Lee Hom - Heroes of the Earth (Bryan Kim)
This is an awesome CD. Several songs are really catchy and combine traditional Chinese instruments (the thing the old man plays at Sather Gate) and modern stuff too (synth, drums, etc). Hua Tian Cuo is my favorite track but even after reading the translation I still don't understand what he is saying. Either way, Wang Lee Hom is the man, way better than Jay "Super-emo-can't-smile-because-I'm-trying-to-be-crazy-mysterious" Chou. I bought some Lipton milk tea because it had a picture of him on the front of it. He is that good. Richard Lo, hook me up with some backstage passes man!

Matthew Lui
On July 30, we had the once-a-year opportunity to celebrate Mr. Matthew Lui's birthday! Praise God for saving this precious brother of ours! So far his gifts have included a nalgene bottle, a Wecare cake, a bottle of milk, and some drinks that tasted like bread. Not even kidding.

Since we are on the subject of Matt, let me share with you some words by none other than Matt himself. During one of our [intense] exercise runs at night, Matt jogs up next to me and Bryan all excited and tired at the same time. "Hey guys, my heart hurts," he said, "but not in the emo kind of way."

Bing with Chloe
We ate bing (literally ice, but short for shaved-ice) with Jenn/Chloe one last time before she left Taiwan. A month certainly passes by quickly.

Somewhere around this time, I single handedly converted Bryan into a bean-in-shaved-ice-eater. Believe it or not, he now likes the bing on the right better than the bing on the left. YESSSS.


Job Search?
We have heard back from the oh so close to home Happy Top school (where Gina worked), and neither of us were hired. Praise the Lord for His sovereignty. On another note, we have both receieved our certificates of completion so we can apply for a work permit as soon as we are offered a job now. We are both prepared to work even harder to find a suitable job. Please continue to pray for us to be dilligent and to trust in the Lord.

As a closing comment, Matt would like to say that he is sad that less people are checking the blog now. In fact, he's so sad that we took a picture with him and a peice of lime.

I guess if you're emo enough, you'll understand how serious this is. We would suggest that if you are aware of people that aren't checking the blog, please tell them to do so and to donate comments to increase Matt's happiness.

We mean it.


Oh, and webcam us. It is fun.

delay

i am now leaving 8/9 1:30 am.

and i found housing! (well...my dad found me housing...)

pictures of the apartment!

Leo Lin Interview

How did you come to know the Lord?

I was in graduate school getting a masters degree in EE, and I was bored of taking classes. I had taken all 8 classes for the degree in one semester, and I had just finished the second semester when I took all 8 classes needed for a masters degree in physics. I was sleeping for only four hours while studying during the rest of the day.

One day I walked by the EBCB missions team as they were handing out coffee. I walked right by wanting to go to my dorm and study. When I got to my dorm, I felt so empty and unsatisfied. I asked myself, “Why I am doing all of this? Why are those [EBCB] people so happy while I am not?” I walked back to the place where the missions team was, hoping to talk to one of them. No one was available to talk immediately so I just sat on the bench for 20 minutes by myself before Bobby came and introduced himself. It was very embarrassing, but I still sat there for 20 minutes. After talking with Bobby, I bought a Bible. That day was a big day because my thinking changed that day. I think that is when I became a Christian.

He eventually introduced me to Dennis. We had the same major so we had a lot in common. He taught me many things about Christ and connected things in the Bible with science. That stirred in me a desire to know Christ more deeply.

I brought a lot of questions to EBCB members, and they graciously answered them. God used that situation to teach me much from the Bible. I did not take as many classes for the second year and spent most of my free time reading the Bible and other Christian books.

What does your daily schedule look like?

I work from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM, but I use spare time to read the Bible. Afterwards, I often practice guitar/piano/violin and study the Bible. Before I was very boring because I didn’t like change. I guess I still don’t like change because I always want to love Jesus.

I usually spend more than three hours everyday studying the Bible. From high school, I picked up this habit. If I have no time to read, I get upset.

How do you choose what to read?

Sometimes I just read; sometimes I pick topics; sometimes I pick a book. I usually supplement my studying and reading with other commentaries. I am typically reading 5 books in parallel as I study/read through the book.

What is the last thing you do before going to sleep?

Pray, especially for those who have left the church. I get emotional after praising God through songs, and this makes me want to pray for them.

Other future plans?

This confuses me very much because the Ph.D is still there. Right now I am a Ph.D student at NTU, but school has been postponed until I finish military service. If I go back to school, I will have a lot of time to serve and be nearby but I will not be financially secure because I support my parents. If I keep working, I will have to stay here [Hsinchu]. I want to go back to Taipei to raise a family and for my children’s education. Everyday I pray for the future plans.

Regardless of what happens, I am happy that I have my church family. Knowing this gets rid of my anxieties.

One sentence can sum up my life: I don’t want to be very fancy. I just want to be a normal person before the Lord. Because of this, I have peace and joy. In the past, I was always thinking about success. But when I think about wanting to be a normal man, I am able to rejoice.

One time, I got really sick, but I remember a lot of brothers and sisters came to Hsinchu to see me. I was moved by their actions, and that is a real thing that can satisfy me, the love of Christ.

Family and children…do you have any plans for marriage?

Yes. After military service, I plan to carry though with it, after a little more than 1 year.

Any prayer requests for EBCB people reading?

My future as it draws nearer and nearer.

Anything you wish to tell EBCB?

Thank you to God who changed my life through EBCB, because you all are obedient instruments of God, and He used you guys to change my heart. And thank you for your happy smiles because that is still ringing in my brain.

How did you learn English?

A lot was through EBCB. My English was very bad, very poor. I was the worst one in the class. Almost every day, I got beat more than 50 times because for each point below 85%, you get 10 hits. I usually got 80%.

Ni Hao :)

Hong Kong a Success!
Thanks for praying for me and my trip to Hong Kong! By God's grace, I succeeded in my goal of obtaining a visitor's visa and safely making it back to Taipei. Additionally, I was bountifully blessed with an unexpected, uplifting time of fellowship with Clara's Aunt, who graciously volunteered to host me for my 1-day foray into the territory known as Hong Kong.

Initially, I was planning on sleeping at the airport, but when Clara's Aunt Vivien heard about that, she offered to take me in for the night. It turns out that she's a Christian, too! In God's providence, she is in between jobs (she had quit her previous job because they wanted her to do dishonest things) and so she was able to spare a day to help me. And how generous was her help towards me! She gave me a bed of my own to sleep on, let me use her bathroom, fed me, drove me to the consulate to apply for my visa, helped me exchange money, treated me to lunch at a dim sum restaurant, took me out for the rest of the day to look around HKG, bought me a drink, went back with me to get my visa, and then at the end of the day, she went on the bus with me all the way to the airport (it must've been over an hour each way for her) just to see me off. And we got to talk about spiritual things all day! Wow, thank you so much for your prayers!! Here are a couple pictures I snapped during the trip.


The view from Vivien's apartment. Hong Kong is just packed with people and buildings! The taller ones are the newer ones, which means that they're going to keep building higher for want of space.


In one of the malls of Hong Kong. Check out the long escalator filled with people and imagine how many people must be shopping there. Vivien told me about how Hong Kong is very materialistic and many people there are enslaved to beating their neighbors by buying expensive designer clothes. May God have mercy on them!


Work
We've all gotten many chances to share the gospel with various people who visit our church or happen to be loitering around on the NTU campus. Many seem interested in showing up, but few have been truly called by God and are willing to believe upon Jesus. We are constantly being reminded that salvation belongs to the Lord. We don't have any pictures of last week's gospel party, but here are some more details: This time, many unbelievers showed up (7 or 8?) and Jeff and Linda were the two who gave their testimonies (cute, eh?) To be honest, I teared up a little after hearing Linda's testimony because God is so brilliant. God is working out here in Taipei; thanks for your continued prayer for the work of evangelism. May we boldly preach to exalt Christ, not good works.

John and I are still looking for jobs. Please pray that we'd get hired by Dana (Happy Top Language School), Gina's former employer, because it's right next to where we live, which would enable us to save many hours, and she seems to be a good, lawful employer. We'll hear from her at the end of this month!


How are you serving the church?
Bryan and I currently serving on the praise team, and MattH started letting me lead the Saturday prayer meetings...please pray for me! And now John is serving on the finance team! He'll be in charge of reimbursement, reserving the basement, and TBM runs. Speaking of which...

Today, John and I went to the TBM building to exchange some money. Along the way, we came across a molten idol, and so I did what I had to do.




Daily Life...what do we do in our spare time?

Clara doesn't have much free time. She's really busy with her job. And she's a little shy about posting her pictures on the blog...


Bryan's been practicing his drum skills.


John's been visiting many, many relatives, designing many, many things for people, and teaching Bryan how to use Illustrator, Photoshop and Flash.



And yours truly has been learning a little Hebrew and working on memorizing Proverbs 31:10-31 in Hebrew while posting blog updates.



That's all for this time, folks. Feel free to ask us for a camera conversation. So far, no one's asked. Stay tuned for Leo's interview. :)

read, pray, then comment (in that order)

What's Been Going On

Clara's School



John and Matt went with Clara to her work to get a taste of what teaching English in Taiwan would be like. After coming back, they said their eyes were opened. English is HARD to teach, especially to little non-native speakers! The little kids have attention spans of 3 seconds so you have to be super energetic the whole time. They also said the teacher has to make the kids do something interesting for the entire time all while getting them to learn the lesson or else they distracted. Pray for them to find work and to teach well for the glory of God.

Guys Visited Leo in Hsinchu

The guys went to Hsinchu to visit Leo after he got off work. We got dinner together and spent some time talking and getting to know Leo. We have an encouraging interview with him to be posted soon. Look forward to it!

Farewell Gina





Gina left after finishing her year long service in Taiwan. A bunch of us had dinner all together then headed off to the airport to see her off. She will be missed!

Gospel Party

There was another gospel party Saturday night. A lot more people showed up so all three of us guys were able to share the gospel. There were many gospel friends interested in meeting up again with EBCT members later so please pray for future times of sharing and ministering to the lost.

Birthdays



We all celebrated Clara and Kathy's Birthday. Clara's birthday is the 16th and Kathy's is on the 22nd. Their cake had the number 43 on it signifying their combined years!

Prayer Request:



Matt is going to Hong Kong on Monday to get a visa. He will be sleeping at the airport after arriving, and applying for the visa the next morning. He will then spend the entire rest of the day in Hong Kong before picking up his visa in the evening then returning to Taipei. He has no idea what to expect while he is there so please pray for safety and for the logistics to be smooth.

Random:



Do you see the resemblence? Apparently I look like Larry because of the small mouth but others say Bob because of the fat round face.

About the title of the post, is there anything that you would be interested in seeing or finding out about life at EBCT? There are ~50 people who check the blog but only ~3-4 people comment. Is that because you think "it's okay" or because "it's boring so I don't want to comment"? If there is someway we can make the blog better/interactive, we are open to suggestions. This blog is for all of you to better know life here so you can pray for us. Let us know!

BTW, all three of the guys have webcams so if any of ya'll want to set up a time to talk to one of us, feel free to email and ask!

Made you look.

Hello, everyone. I know you’re just crying with anticipation for this update. Well, good. We’re helping you work out your tear ducts.

Matt, Bryan and I have been here for nearly three weeks! That means one thing. Matthew Lui needs to get himself exported to Hong Kong and then imported back into Taiwan with a visitor’s visa soon. He will be attempting this next week, so pray for a safe trip.

The job search continues for both me and Matt. Please pray for us to be wise with our time, balancing meeting up with people and looking for jobs. We are very thankful for our sisters Gina and Clara who have been so helpful with just practical job finding tips in Taiwan, and for Matt and Sanny who continue to go out of their way, in love, to help us and exceed our needs. Exceed = casserole. Soo good. Thank you Bethany for the casserole noodles. We are so encouraged by them/you all! =)

Speaking of being encouraged, we want to thank you for your prayers concerning love and humility. I can say, on behalf of Bryan, Matt and I that we’ve been getting along well as roommates. Feet washing sessions and everything.



There are still some things to get used to, though. Construction here is just… I mean, fork-lifting cars that are in the way? C’mon now, dawg.


In other more important news, we’ve had the pleasure of seeing Katherine’s Choir perform (amazing, really) though we weren’t allowed to take pictures during the performance.



We also had the opportunity to put together a little something for Gina over dinner because she is leaving soon. She cried, but maybe it’s the rosin dust, because I really am not capable of producing crying-caliber intonation.



And how can I forget the momentous Costco trip? Apparently, the MRT station we stopped at is my name in Chinese. I've always wondered how I got my name...

I forget, but I don’t recall seeing lines quite as long for the free samples as I did here.


One more thing. We think it’s a good idea, but let’s have some input. We want to introduce to you, one at a time, the EBCT members by interviewing them and making posts. If not, we can erase the idea. Speaking of erasing, if you EVER get an eraser in Taiwan, this is the one to get. I GUARANTEE it will erase what you write.


And to end, we have a picture of a certain Matthew Lui having mistakenly ordered the “cheap” McDonald’s meal. Unfortunately, “Cheap” = “happy,” my friend. Happy meal.


Oh yeah. Bryan says he really enjoys writing Chinese characters. We’ll see if he still says that in three months.

Grace and peace! Thanks for praying!

Brief Update

Within hours of the blog post going up, Sanny handed me some super 8 hour tylenol. The headache and pains went away! I had been taking traveler's diarrhea medicine for two days, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. I don't know if the medicine finally killed everything or if it was the tylenol, but praise God for healing me! I had a pain free afternoon and even ate a full dinner of normal food.

To top it off, I got a full night's rest last night and made it to class today!

Thank you for your prayers! God is so gracious and loving! He answered His children's prayer quickly!

Tentmaker Times - July 5, 2007

Hello!

Greetings from Tropical Taipei, Taiwan! This is an update from John, Bryan, and Matt.



Bryan

Bryan has been very sick for the last few days. He is experiencing both dull and sharp abdominal pain and is taking medication that makes it so that he can't really go out or exercise. As a result, he hasn't been able to go to class or do anything besides read and rest for the last 2 days. It's even hard for him to sleep because of the pain in his body. Please pray to God, the healer of all diseases, that He would have compassion on our brother and heal him in His right timing. We also know that the Lord is using this trial to boost Bryan's perseverance, proven character, and hope :)



Not only is his stomach experiencing affliction, but also other parts of his vessel as well. Look at Bryan's beautiful bug-bitten feet! "Just as it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!' " (Rom 10:15b). Through Bryan's suffering, we have all learned lessons of preparation, perseverance, and patience. What's really cool is that Bryan got almost all of these bites while sharing the gospel with a guy in NTU. There are a lot of mosquitoes on campus and Bryan is especially attractive to them (I was right next to him and got no bites). I think this is special because it shows the price Jesus' disciples are willing to joyfully pay in order to share the gospel. Please pray for that Jesus Christ would be magnified in Bryan's sufferings, and that he would count it all joy!



John

John wants everyone to know that Matthew Lui is a crazy laughing maniac. That's all.




Matthew

I'm going to have to fly to Hong Kong sometime within the next couple of weeks in order to get a visa. My dad is a little worried because it's very dangerous there and I'll be all by myself. Please pray that God would use this to grow our faith in and dependence on Him, and for safety for me as I go to acquire the necessary documentation in Hong Kong. I had another interview yesterday and I got to demo with a class of kindergarteners. The teacher asked me to teach them a song and I taught them "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know." Surprisingly, the teachers in the room didn't seem to care, but even joined along in the singing! What?! Hahahaha!!! Praise the Lord for the freedom we have to talk about Him in the classrooms of this country. Unfortunately, a lot of schools here, including the one I interviewed at, are kind of shady and regularly break the laws in hiring foreign teachers. It will be hard to find a legit job that I qualify for, but I am confident that the Lord will provide for me, so keep praying with me for a job!

Please also pray for reconciliation between my mom and I. I hope I will be able to talk to her soon. The Lord is greatly sanctifying me through these troubling circumstances and there is so much more for me to learn in terms of how to intensely love the sinner and hate the sin. Thank you for your prayers for us.


Miscellaneous

Last week we saw the beginnings of a budding fondness between John Tang and Matt Lui. This week we see the blossoming friendship....

It all started when I asked John and Bryan for a good "date place" near Wan Fu (to take out EBCT brothers of course). Before we knew it, we were slurping up the remains of a mango-strawberry shaved ice dish. Shortly thereafter, this photo was taken:




In other news, Sanny baked her first pizza last night. It was a smashing success. Its crust was as thin as a thumbnail and as crisp as a cracker. Its insides were as soft and chewy as a soft-baked cookie. Here is a picture of one of the slices of pizza perfection, just seconds before it was devoured by a hungry Matt Lui:




Love,




Oh, and happy 4th of July to all you Americans out there!

Update

Hello,

The weekend is coming to a close, and things around the EBCT apartment will be a bit calmer once again. Lots of people are around from Fri-Sun, and the weekends are usually packed with church events and fellowship time. Let us walk you through the past couple days:

Saturday

In the morning, we played badminton with some EBCT people and two gospel friends. I thought badminton was a pansy sport, but it was surprisingly fun! I definitely look forward to playing again!

Here is John busting a crazy on the court:



Afterwards, there was prayer meeting at 1:30 and Bible study at 2:30. We went over Genesis 45-47, answering questions in groups of three in the beginning, and MattH finishing the study with some teaching on the passage.

For dinner, John met up with his family, and MattL and I got to accompany Clara to meet with one of her gospel friend and the gospel friend's boyfriend. Have you ever tried sharing the gospel to two people at the same time? Very difficult right? But God worked it out so well! MattL and I were able to share with the guy while Clara was sharing with her friend at the same time! We were able to have two conversations about the gospel at the same table! We were praying for this to happen, and God answered it! Although they understood, they did not want to believe so pray for them to understand the treasure of Christ! Also, pray for us to be faithful always with being a witness to all people and to seize all the opportunities He gives us to proclaim His name!

Sunday

MattL and I have the privilege of being part of praise team while we are here. I will be playing the djembe drum, and MattL will either play bass (while Kevin is still here) or lead the team on acoustic/vocals. Pray for all of us to use any gift we have received to serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

MattH preached on Ephesians 5:28-33, and we learned about the importance of marriage, how a husband should love his wife, and the mystery that marriage is an illustration of Christ's relationship with His church.

Afterwards, we ate at a Taiwanese restaurant where Andy and Katherine generously taught me the Chinese characters for beef, chicken, pork, lamb, fish, meat, kimchi, vegetables, and seafood. I'm slowly learning how to order on my own!

In the evening, the three male tentmakers went out to explore, and we bought some handkerchiefs.




These are a serious necessity in the humidity and heat. In several pictures that we've taken so far, you can see our faces/necks/arms glazed in a layer of sweat. It's crazy here.

Miscellaneous

We have another addition to this blog: Clara will be joining! She will be posting her updates here also until she leaves for the States in November.

The three of us have been spending so much time together it's ridiculous (in a good way). It's at least 22 hours a day in each others's company. Forced fellowship (again in a good way) has been sweet and we've been able to meet for accountability frequently and pray for each other often. Look at how well John and MattL get along:



A big prayer request for John and MattL would be to diligently apply for jobs and to trust the Lord in the process. It is easy to get anxious because we don't know how things will work out, but God knows! He is sovereign so pray for them to commit this to the Lord.

As for me, the first day of school is tomorrow! Please continue to pray for me to learn Chinese for His glory and to be an excellent witness for Christ at ShiDa. There are LOTS of people in the language center who speak english, and there are many opportunities to share. It's so easy because everyone always ask what everyone else is doing here. I could say "I'm here to share the good news of Jesus. Say, have you heard of Him?" Pray for me to be faithful with all the open doors God gives me to share the gospel.

Finally, this is a good picture of my current haircut. I'm still learning how to style it correctly, but it's been fun messing with it:



But I'm not the only one who has been changing my image:




Thanks for praying for us!