A Day in the Life of...Bryan

New series time. Each of us at some point in the future will update you all about what a typical day looks like. We hope that this will give you all a better idea of what we do and help you pray more specifically for us.

Morning/School

I start my day by waking up at ~7:25 and leaving the apartment by 7:45.

I walk out the building and see this...



...then I turn to the right to see the next picture.



I walk all the way down this street until a dead end. The street is surrounded by relatively new apartment buildings (that look old and disgusting because of the acid rain turning every building brownish). Along the way, I see two shacks that look hand built. I don't know how they survive the crazier typhoons, but obviously they do. In front of the shack pictured here is always an old man standing outside doing random things in the morning like fixing a bike or cleaning vegetables or stretching. I usually just smile and say hi as I walk by then I look at the sky and it makes me want to cry as I wonder why last night I didn't die then I heave a sigh and go eat some pie. Just kidding.



This is the intersection that I almost always get stuck at. It's a pretty monstrous intersection (there is another 4 way intersection just after the overpass), and the city decided to give people only ~35 seconds to cross, which is how long it takes for someone to stroll through it. So, if I don't arrive around the time when the light turns green, I have to wait until the next cycle to cross completely...



The next several pictures are all between the fatty intersection and the dead end. It takes 10-12 minutes to walk from the apartment to the dead end.





At the dead end (not really a dead end I guess, just a T-intersection), I turn left and walk up toward school on the last 1/3 of my trip.



This is the intersection I always cross at. I learned of the timing from Matt Hauck. If you walk at a normal pace from the fatty intersection, the timing works out perfectly to catch the light here at the intersection. It's brilliant.



Here is the 7-11 I buy breakfast at almost everyday.



This is what I usually buy. On the left is "pineapple bread" and a drink on the right, ~1 US dollar. The drink changes daily, but the bread is always there. I eat breakfast either in class or during the 10 minute break.



Almost to school! I keep walking up the road and pass several banks and a police station.



Here is the gate I walk into. There is a bigger, slightly more majestic gate a little further up, but since this is how I enter the campus, this is the picture you guys get.



This is the Mandarin Training Center building. Pretty sweet huh? I have class on the 9th floor from 8-10 every weekday morning.



After School

Some days, EBCT has campus evangelism at 10:30 so I head back right away. Other days, I stay on campus for maybe an hour or two and study a little. The Taiwan government is trying to crack down on foreigners working illegally so I need to clock in at least 2 hours of out-of-class studying time at the school library or language lab.

Anyway, we go out to campus to evangelize three times during the weekdays. This is the long walkway into the campus to the area where we meet called Xiao Fu.




This is Xiao Fu. It's a mini-Sproul fountain area for you Berkeley people who have never been to Taiwan.



< aside >
It's difficult to see in these pictures since my camera has such a small dynamic range, but the sky is seriously gorgeous. The background is a beautiful blue, and the clouds look super fluffy and white and are usually moving REALLY fast. Hopefully the picture with the MTC building gives you guys an idea of how the sky looks since I used photoshop to increase the contrast of the sky although that still didn't capture the blue I see. During the previous winter I was here, I used to think the air in Taipei was disgusting and the sky was gray and gloomy. I think it's the turned-brown-by-the-acid-rain buildings that give the impression of gloominess because the sky is often very beautiful.
< / aside >

After eating lunch and having devotion time, it usually places me somewhere in the early-middle afternoon. I typically to go study at the Truth Lutheran Church library at this time. The Truth Lutheran church building is gigantic and conveniently located near EBCT.

This is the library on the 8th floor. They have some good resources for Bible study right next to heretical teachings by cult leaders...

-_-



I try to take care of all the Chinese homework and studying and ET preparations as early as possible. That way I get the evenings to relax, read, and hang out or meet with EBCTers or gospel friends.

Unfortunately, a lot of days my schedule doesn't work out like this. Some days I have more Chinese work or I meet with one of my five EBCT language exchange partners in the afternoon or I have random responsibilities come up or I get lazy or some guys go exercise or we clean the apartment...so yeah, it rarely ever works out so cleanly.

After dinner I try to review the Chinese again to make sure I have it. I clean up and take a shower and get ready for bed. Before knocking out, I try to get in 20-30 minutes of whatever book I'm currently reading.

Weekends

I guess this is kind of for all of us since its so general, but here it is anyway.

The weekends are always packed with church stuff. Saturday's usual stuff is:

Evangelism Training: 10-11:15
Prayer Meeting: 1:30-2:30
Bible Study: 2:30-4:30

After Bible study, there always seems to be some sort of miscellaneous activity during some part of the evening.

Sunday we have service and then lunch. After that, several groups meet for accountability or some committees have meetings while the rest are doing their own thing (studying, talking, singing, hanging out).

Pretty much all the breaks we have and the meals we eat on the weekends is with the church. Most of the members are graduated and have full time jobs and some live far away (one travels ~5 hours to get here on the weekends) so we only see them on the weekends. The weekend is really a haven for some of them as they are without fellowship during the week, so they cherish the time they get to spend with the body. It's super encouraging to see it every week.

Then evening comes and we go out to dinner then hang out usually til ~9. People finish trickling out at this time then we get the last bit of Sunday evening to ourselves.

Then we prepare to repeat everything all over again.

Prayer Requests:
1) to love the lost and to go out with the desire to glorify God
2) for passion in all the things I do, specifically spending time with God, sharing the gospel, and studying Chinese.
3) for the ET class, both me and the students

Thank you for reading and hopefully that helps you all pray for me (us)!

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possesion who are zealous for good works.

~Titus 2:11-14

EBCT Welcome Night - "A worthless fortune, a worthy cost"

Everything began a little more than a week ago. With the extra time that the Taiwanese independence day 10/10 had afforded us, we began the work of learning how to act. Our experienced directors, Nate and Greg worked their magic.


We were shown how to express ourselves.


We were shown a lot.


After much training, the night had finally arrived.


The skit was preceded by a time of ice breakers. The game we played was called "squeeze lemons." It was of the "there is one less chair than the number of people playing" type. As a result, much chasing, catching,


laughing,


and, apparently, standoffs occured.


In the skit, the two main characters find themselves sitting in a cafe talking about life.


Flashbacks of the past from both lives occur. Main character 1 (Ed) is young and full of financial potential but has just lost all of his money in the stock market. The unpredictable fluctuations in the market caused temporary waves of sadness and happiness. Very big waves:


Main character 2 (Greg) is an aged Christian who, once also having lost a lot of his worldly fortunes, has since considered them as worthless. Naturally, this transitioned to an introduction to the gospel message and also a message by our very own pastor Matt Hauck! Two testimonies were given - one by Hardy, the other by Lisa - and the rest of the night was spent in discussion with the new visitors.

Prayer Requests!
Please pray for us to be more disciplined with our time and finances (now that all of us who have jobs are getting paid regularly) and for us to become more sacrificially loving people. Pray also for strength, resolve, and a heart to reach out to the many people we see at work/school on a regular basis.


Thank you brothers and sisters!

Interview with Kevin Liu

What is your full name?

Liu Han Ren. [sounds like sweaty man in Chinese]

How did you become a Christian?

I met the EBCB winter team in 2004. Jude and Susie shared with me. At first I thought they were telling me the same thing as the people I met before, because I’d been to my sister’s (non-Christian) church and they’d taught me some 14 lessons, but because of some bad testimonies I thought that religion wasn’t that good. I asked them (Jude and Susie) and they said real Christianity is not like that. Gradually, I wanted to know more about Christianity so I came to EBCT’s bible studies and Sunday worship services and as I learned more and more about Christianity I wanted to believe in it.

When I was young, whenever I used to feel helpless or challenged, I would just pray to God even though I didn’t know who He was or what kind of religion he was. It’s good to have that feeling back, Now that I know what it really means to know God and who He really is.

So you were led to Christ by EBCT people. Is that why you decided to come out to EBCT?

Mm. [means 'yes' in Chinese lingo]

You are our praise ministry rep [analogous to committee head]. What made you want to learn guitar and how did you become so good?

I was forced. Hahaha. At first, Dennis asked me to pray about that, because at that time, they knew that they were going to leave, and they wanted to look for another praise leader. I said I learned piano when I was young, so they asked me if I was willing to [play the guitar and lead praise]. So I prayed for it, and I saw that God really wanted me to do it, to use the gift from Him to serve the church. At first I started in the retreat, and then I became a praise member, and then the praise leader.

How come I learned so fast? I guess you could say I have a musical background. And I still practiced hard because in the beginning I didn’t realize…I couldn’t even imagine that I would be able to play the guitar. But after I practiced, it’s getting better.

You got more buff. Have you been swimming?

Yeah. It’s preparation for the military

Do you have any fears [about going in to the military]?

Actually, I’ve always expected to go to the military. Nowadays, people say that the military is getting easier.

What are you planning on doing during your military service?

During that time I want to use my free time to study and to seek for what God wants me to do. I’m still not that sure, and I hope that God will tell me more clearly. Either Nutrisci or just go to work without studying. I’m not sure because people say that it doesn’t really help if you go to graduate school. They say it’s like wasting two years, and you won’t really use them in work.

***Kevin will find out where he’ll be stationed after 5 weeks of boot camp, which starts tomorrow.***

What is a bible verse that has inspired you or challenged you and why?

Matt 6:33. Because as a Christian, we know that our most important purpose is to live for God. To see Him as our Savior and our Lord. But sometimes, we will forget about His grace and His sovereignty. So this passage will always remind me that no matter what I do, I should seek for His will and His kingdom first. And then I need not to be worried about challenges in life, because I know that He’s in control of all things. So if I seek for what He wills, I will be okay.

Do you have any plans for marriage in the near future after you get back from the military?

I’ll pray for that. Before, during the fifth year of college, I was thinking about getting married, because of examples like Jeff…. I saw Jeff’s growth in his relationship, and I thought that a relationship can really make people grow to be more mature, and also sometimes I would imagine the life after marriage. Like, it would be very peaceful and happy. And, when you’re in a relationship with someone else, there are lots of things that you have to give up, and to think about the other person. So, I was willing to do that because I want to challenge myself to see if I was willing to sacrifice like that. But, in the end, something happened, so…and because I’m going to the military, it would’ve been hard for a relationship to go on, and I also didn’t think I was prepared yet.

I want to learn more as a single person and to be more prepared, because, you know, the time was not right at that time. I hadn’t graduated, and I didn’t even know what I was going to do because the military was coming. So I think God wanted me to wait and keep praying for that.

Do you have any other specific prayer requests for EBCB to pray for?

Keep praying for my family. Also, for my heart of service towards my family. They aren’t believers. I’m so sad. Please pray for patience and love toward them.

Are you worried about your spiritual condition at all in the military? Away from the body?

I think my life will be regular and I’ll have my own time to study, so I’m not worried about that. And also, it’s not very hard there I guess. I’ll have two periods of holidays during boot camp. I’ll have holidays during the military service, too. I’m not sure when the holidays will be. If I have a break, I’ll come back to Taipei.

How has your life become different since you became a Christian?

Um, after I became a Christian…I think the HS really works in people so that you will know what’s wrong and what’s right to do. And gradually you will be more willing to not just restrict your behavior, but to have a loving heart for other people because you want to learn from Jesus Christ. Before you’re a Christian you will think that when you do good things to people you want something back from them. It’s not real love. But after you become a Christian, you know that what you do is for God. I think that’s a real challenge. It’s that it’s easy to love people who are lovable, but for some people that are very wicked or very unlovable, sometimes it’s hard to do that.

[At this point, Kevin started talking about some of the persecution he faces today as a Christian from people who misunderstand his faith, and how he has learned to be patient and to restrain himself while seeking opportunities to speak the truth in love]

Why is your English so good?

I think I love learning…when I was a child, I think my parents forced me to go to cram school, starting from age 9 or 10. After getting into senior high school, there was a classmate who always shared with me English pop songs, so I was very affected by him. I guess that’s the reason why I wanted to learn more about English. Also, in senior high school, I didn’t go to the regular cram school. I went to a teacher’s house. She always talked to us about movies, and interesting articles. And she was very funny. Because of that, I like English.

What are your last words to EBCT before you go off to the military?

“See you later.”

EBCB?

May God be with you. Love you all.

its been a while...

sorry for missing out on the web conference.

typhoon update

i live in nankang, a remote place i'd like to call the "swamp desert," it rains a lot, and since the typhoon, we've been getting a lot of blackouts, which is quite the nuisance, but bearable nonetheless. here's what the typhoon did to us:

HAHA. it looks even funnier in real life...as if they were all bowing down...x_x

besides the typhoon...we've been eating a lot. all of us.

courtesy of matt and sanny...

courtesy of brian's parents...

and we just ate again today with my parents...but forgot about picture ):

prayer requests:

1) sharing with coworkers and roomates!!! still a struggle though i'm trying to invite them out to events etc.

2) strength and energy during work. to stay a good witness in being faithful with my tasks there so that i may not be labeled as "lazy Christian"

3) priorities, stewardship of time

thank youuu

talk with me, email me, skype me! i want to know how you guys are doing!

Typhoon KROSA

This is a REAL typhoon, not like the previous two typhoons that came by Taiwan. Apparently, the previous typhoon ranked as a 7 while this one is 17 (I don't know the system they use though). As Joyce was walking to the apartment from the MRT station, she saw a bunch of glass on the ground and things falling down. Pray for the safety of EBCT and the nation and for it to die down so we can have corporate worship tomorrow!

Just Go to the Last Picture

A bunch of things happened since the last update, so here are some pictures to show you all.


Kevin is Leaving Soon

There was a going-to-the-military party for Kevin two Sundays ago. Julie graciously hosted EBCT at her apartment and made some REALLY delicious sloppy joes. Kevin enjoyed it for sure!






Dan Shui (淡水)

The Mid-Autumn Festival was last week so several of us didn't have work/school on both Monday and Tuesday. We seized the opportunity to go to Dan Shui on Monday and do the tourist thing. We had lunch when we got there and walked along the "shore" and enjoyed the stores and small food stands. Later we took the ferry and went to the other "side" and rode bikes.

Here is team one:


Here is team two:


Actually, that's the same bike we are in. We also rented 4 singles and switched in the middle. The big four person bike thing had bad brakes and was not too easy to drive. Imagine driving an elephant...yes, it's the same thing.

Also, we rented the bikes near the ferry entrance, and we wanted to bike along the path outlined in the awesome custom map I've made.



However, being the completely ignorant tourists we were, we didn't realize there were two places on the path the red bike was too wide to cross through some obstacles. So we PICKED UP THE BIKE and passed the obstacles. The families enjoying their vacations were visibly amused and did not hesitate to point and laugh. After passing through the two obstacles, we saw another place to rent bikes...

That night on the way back to the apartment we saw this...an M3 taxi...



Bipolar Weather

You never know what the weather will be like here. I took the sunny picture walking home from school and the rainy one while heading to campus to evangelize. It couldn't have been more than a 45 minute difference. Crazy!





I Hate Mosquitoes



That's John's hand after going on a ~20 minute mosquito hunting spree. MattL and I used the swatter. I don't why, but it seems like we've had an unusual amount of mosquitoes. The door is constantly opened and closed on the weekends so it's common to see a bunch in the beginning of the week, but all of last week we were getting torn up...we're trying to figure out ways to prevent mosquitoes from coming in at all...since the last post (~two weeks ago), I finished another white tiger balm container because I was CONSTANTLY applying it.


Harry Potter Male Tentmaker Style



< Rant >I don't know why I always have to be the girl. In my Chinese class this past summer, we were learning how to introduce others. Because there was only one girl in the class, I ended up having to pretend to be someone's wife TWICE...< /Rant >

Prayer Requests

Now that ya'll have gotten a slightly better idea of what's been going on here, please pray for EBCT. The gospel is going out frequently and in interesting ways. God is definitely working, and His sovereignty is constantly surprising us! There has been an increased interest in the gospel from many fronts (family members, friends, coworkers, campus students), and several people have made verbal confessions of faith! Pray that the condition of their hearts would be like fertile soil for the seed of the gospel to bear much fruit!

Additionally, please pray for us to be faithful with what God has given to us to be stewards of...and in order for us to be faithful, please pray for God to grant us strength and resolve to follow Him only and to find our greatest joy in Him alone.

One of us will try to post at least once a week from now on so this place doesn't die.

:)

Until next time...