I had the AMAZING privilege of visiting a Christian orphanage yesterday. I went to the orphanage with a sweet girl named Sam who graduated from Christ's College a few years ago. She spent a lot of her life living at this orphanage and has an INCREDIBLE testimony. I loved getting to hear her story and share some of my own, as well.
I still don't think I've really wrapped my mind around this trip. If you know me (or my family) well, you know that there are few things that stir my heart more than orphans (especially Asian ones). I kept having to silently say to myself, "You're in an orphanage in Asia, Jamie. The Father has finally brought you to exactly where you've longed to be for years."
I was only able to stay for a few hours and actually ended up being there during nap time (as you can tell from the pictures). I only was able to hold and feed a few babies (they have a total of 17 right now), but it was enough. The home also takes care of many older kids, ranging from elementary age all the way to high school. These kids were at school while I was there, so unfortunately I wasn't able to meet them.
As I sat in an old rocking chair with a hungry and sweating child in my arms, I couldn't help but reflect on the goodness of our Father. We are all orphans--helpless and in need of care--and we've been adopted by the greatest Father ever. A Father who will never leave us and will always care for our every need. What an amazing gift!
"My whole life I thought I was an orphan. But then I found out that I have been adopted by God and he will never leave me! This gave me so much happiness!" --from Sam's testimony
I can't wait to see what opportunities the Father gives me in the future to serve in Asia. As I sat in the damp and hot nursery that smelled of baby formula and sweat, I felt a great assurance that the Lord's not done with me yet (and that Asia and I won't be separated for long) :)
For those of you not on Facebook (or at least not friends with me), here are the links to all of my photo albums (you'll be able to view them without a FB account):
The Taiwanese love their food...and I mean, LOVE. The streets are lined with independent food stands and restaurants. I think you could stand anywhere in Taipei and, at the most, have to walk 30 seconds to find food. Here's a little sample of the food I've been enjoying:
{Above: Super tall ice cream cones that cost roughly 30 cents USD.}
Hot Pot: I had heard a lot about this and was very excited to try it for myself! Basically, you have a pot of boiling water at your table, then you take your plate to a big freezer and pick out as many uncooked meats and veggies as you'd like. Throw everything in the pot and voila! A delicious Chinese meal :)
Sha bing: This is AMAZING. It's a big bowl of shaved ice milk (creamier than just shaved iced) covered with fresh fruit. I got strawberry and mango and it was fantastic. This is probably Taiwan's most famous dessert.
Fresh fruit....mango....smoothies: Taiwan is an island. It's really hot and humid. The upside to this fact: delicious fruit.
Sketchy Malaysian food: After we ordered this food at a night market, the students confessed that they'd never tried it before. Great. The rice on the left wasn't terrible, but the soup on the right...."not good," as the students would say. After finding out that the brown things in the soup were pieces of duck blood, I quietly set my spoon on the table :)
Half-eaten Korean food: For the most part, I enjoyed this meal. Korean barbecue is delicious and there were some really yummy veggies. Kimchi is a popular Korean dish that you'll find in Taiwan a lot. It's usually made from fermented cabbage and is rather spicy...I'm not a big fan. Do you see the triangle shaped bread-like things on the left side? I was breaking one of them apart (to eat it) and quickly discovered shrimp head + antennae and little tiny squid tentacles inside. Ew.
Indian food from the food court at Taipei 101: YUM. My naan and chicken curry was spectacular.
Auntie Anne's!: This was an exciting treat from the food court (also at 101.)
This past week, the senior music students here at Christ's College gave their final recitals. I was able to see seven students perform. There is some great talent here! Here are my favorite photos from this week's recitals....
It's an emotional weekend here at Christ's College. A dear couple (that I've been privileged to spend 2 weeks with,) Jim & Sandy Vargas are moving back to the States after eight years of service here at CC. It has been wonderful for me to see the students and teachers here send them off with much love and affection. They're heading back to the US on Tuesday and I'll be taking over some of their teaching and tutoring duties for the remainder of the year. On Friday in Chapel, some of the freshman class sang "Amazing Grace" for Jim & Sandy. Enjoy the video....
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