I am so grateful for the opportunity that we had as a family to visit my unsaved family overseas and share the love of Christ with them. Some verses that Jonah and I are memorizing from his My ABC Bible Verses book helped us witness to my family.
"Even a child is known by his deeds." Prov. 20:11
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
"Go unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13
"Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. . . ." John 14:6
"Keep your tongue from evil." Psalm 34:13
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matt. 5:16
"My little children, let us not love only in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." 1 John 3:18
My aunts noticed Jonah's good behavior and asked us when we started training him. I said, "since 5 months." I told my mom to tell her sister that we discipline him according to the Bible and we ask God for wisdom and guidance on how to train and discipline him, because it's not always easy and we don't always do the right thing. We discipline him out of love and with the rod of correction because the Bible tells us that is how we are to discipline. She said that I should e-mail and tell them so they won't think it's my mother saying those things and not me. Who knows how much they understood. They know more English than they can speak, so they may have understood us.
An example of lack of discipline was apparent in my 2nd cousin, Sun Wei, who's 5 yrs. old. He would not obey his parents or his grandparents or much of anyone. He did however see that he couldn't get away with that misbehavior with Greg and me, so he shaped up and didn't try things with us after he saw how we reacted. He was jealous of Jonah at times because Jonah was getting all the attention for his cute giggle and his happy behavior. But he knew that he better not hurt Jonah, because everyone loved Jonah and he'd be in big trouble if he even acted like he would hurt him. They played well together, and Jonah appreciated it when Sun Wei fed him his fried rice in the car. They were riding with my mom and her sister (their grandmothers, respectively) while Greg and I were riding in another car getting a little rest during the drive. Jonah didn't want the adults to feed him, only Sun Wei. So I made a point to thank him in Chinese (in the language he would understand) for feeding Jonah his fried rice and doing something good, since I ignored his annoying behavior. He smiled and said, "How!" Which means, "Good!" or like he understood that I was thanking him.
The trip had so many opportunities to show Christ's love in our actions, not just our words. We were definitely not perfect, though. At times we snapped at each other or argued about packing or what we were doing or whatever, but we apologized and stopped and took time to pray. When I saw myself stressing and arguing and complaining, I knew I needed to pray. I knew I wasn't focused on Christ, but on myself or on the things in front of me. He helped me to get the focus back on things above and not on things below.
Here's an excerpt from an e-mail I wrote to my friend, Celena Schnake, the night before we flew back from Taiwan.
"We've had a wonderful trip, and I was even able to share the Bible verses with Amma and pray over her. She didn't hear me pray, since I was whispering, but I know that she saw and felt me praying. Before I shared w/ her, I was sad and crying when we visited, but afterward, I had a peace and joy in my heart. The next day and each time later when I saw her, she was happy and I was always happy and not crying. It's good b/c she doesn't want to see us cry. We were praying for you and your family and I know you and others were praying for us, b/c I could feel it. when I didn't have time to read my Bible, I was stressed and worried, but when I took the time to have my QT and pray alone or w/ Jonah or w/ Greg, I could feel the prayers of everyone. "
After sharing with Amma, I knew that even though I didn't hear her speak the words aloud that she confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and believes it in her heart, I knew that the Holy Spirit would intercede where I fell short. At first we were sitting on the couch and everyone was around talking and it was distracting. I kept holding her hand and whispering to her. "San Dei ai ni." ("God loves you.") she smiled and said, "Wo ai ni." ("I love you.") to me, because she probably thought I said "I love you" to her. I knew that was not the time to share the Bible verses with her. I kept praying for the right opportunity, and I didn't know if it would be that day.
Later, Amma wanted to take a nap because she was very weak and coughing up blood, so some of my cousins and I were with her in her room just a few feet away from the couches where others were talking and playing, and we had a chance to just sit with her. I kept gently, very lightly, caressing her legs to comfort her and just prayed in my heart. I prayed for peace for her and that the pain would go away and that God would comfort her. Later I prayed over her in a whisper, and she saw me and heard me, but didn't say anything to me. Just smiled at me. My cousins were up and down giving her "holy water" from Buddha for her lips and medicine, since her mouth was dry and bleeding, and they would translate things for me at times. I asked if my eldest cousin told Amma what it was that I tried to tell her for 2 days, but it was translated wrong. I said, "I'm so glad that Jonah is able to meet Amma because she is my favorite Amma." My aunt translated to Amma something that wasn't quite right and Amma said, "It's okay." and looked sad. Later I found out from my cousin's husband that my aunt told her that I'm sorry that we can't stay because Jonah has to take a nap." It was completely different, so I was concerned about translating the verses I wanted to share with her.
I just kept sitting with her and being with her, and Amma asked me if I wanted to go sit and talk with the others out in the living room, but I said, "no, I want to be with you, I came here to see you and spend time with you." So my cousin translated. She said, "oh." and nodded and held my hand. They keep telling me that Amma is happy to see us and that everybody is here to see her. But she knows that this is the last time that she will see me. I thought, well, not necessarily, but then, agreed as more tears fell from my eyes. I asked my eldest cousin if she told Amma what I said about Jonah, that I'm so happy that Jonah can meet Amma because she is my favorite Amma and she said, "yes, I told her." and it's as if Amma understood, because she smiled and said something like she was so glad to meet Jonah too.
Then, I had the Holy Spirit's prompting, and I asked my eldest cousin if she would translate for me to Amma. I told her I want to speak to her in Mandarin, so could she please translate in Taiwanese. My two other younger cousins were there listening (they're both in college and have very good English, but don't speak it as much). I began in Mandarin, and the words, were in my voice, but they were clearer and more powerful than I've ever recited these verses before. It was definitely the Holy Spirit speaking through me. I'll write in English, here what I said in Mandarin to Amma.
"Amma, God loves the people of the world so much that he gave his only son to us that if we believe in Him, we will not die, but have life that never ends. We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose."
Amma listened as she laid back and sighed and said, "Ahh..." My eldest cousin said to her in Taiwanese, "Do you understand?" and Amma said, "Yes, I do." And all three cousins had tears in their eyes and just paused and looked at Amma.
--Mandarin is their first language and I know that at least two of them have heard about Jesus before, because the eldest one studied for 2 years at the Christian college where my mom graduated in Texas and my other cousin attends a Catholic University now. But they never asked me about it, and knew that they could. I continue to pray for them and their families. I see the despair in their faces and they're so sad that Amma is dying. I'm sad too, because I'll miss her, but I'm happy that I've had the chance to know her and that Jonah has had the chance to meet her and spend good time with her laughing and clapping hands and hugging and doing the forehead to forehead kisses.--
Then, she took my hand and just held it. I had tears in my eyes, but a smile on my face, because they were tears of joy. A few minutes later she asked if I was hungry (in Taiwanese) and I said, "no, I'm okay, thank you." and then Jonah woke up from his nap and crawled up to her bed and stood there on the side and smiled and babbled to her, she asked if Jonah needed to sleep. I said, "no, he's fine. he slept already. now he's awake." My cousin came back to the bed and translated what we just said, and she was surprised that Amma and I understood each other, and my other cousin was telling me that the way Amma and I communicate is through hearts. She was always concerned about others, not herself. That's how she's been all her life. She has such a heart for others, and I pray that she has a humble heart to know that she needs a Savior.
I've prayed for Amma for years, since I was in college and I was so worried that she wouldn't hear the gospel and that she'd die before she'd be able to accept Jesus in her heart. But now I know that it's not only up to my strength or my power. It's between her and God. He knows her heart and He can open it up for her to receive him. I won't know until heaven if she's saved, but God has granted me the peace that transcends all understanding and guards our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.
It's amazing how God used the 2 verses that I memorized in Chinese nearly 10 years ago to share the gospel with my Amma. One night when I was home from college, my mom and I stayed up late reading our Bibles, hers in Chinese and English and mine in English, both NIV, and she recorded John 3:16 and Romans 8:28 on my cell phone memo recording, so I could play it back and hear her inflection and pronunciation. Since Jonah's been born, I've told him those two verses in Chinese followed by the English for each and I hope that he'll later recognize and memorize those verses. My mom wanted to memorize Psalm 23 in Chinese so if ever she was on a plane that was about to crash, she could say it out loud so others could hear. So I read it to her in English, verse by verse and she recorded my English and her Chinese in between each verse. It was a special time reading my Bible with my mom. I'm so glad we had this opportunity to go to Taiwan together with our husbands and Jonah and spend time with her family and meet other relatives.
P.S. Jonah did so well on the flight. He had a fever the morning that we left for about 24 hours, but it helped him to sleep, though he was so hot and lethargic and didn't want anyone to hold him but his mother. It was exhausting for me at first, but later it was wonderful when everyone wanted to hold him and take pictures of him and wow, it was like the Taiwanese paparazzi. Everywhere we'd go, people were taking pictures and saying how cute he is (in Mandarin) and of course he's learned that phrase "hen ke ai" ("so cute") by now. Girls wanted to pose with him to take pictures on their cell phones and even stopped to give him a balloon in the mall, and we even saw the Taiwan President Elect, Ma Ying-jeou, on the High Speed Rail (HSR) on May 16. He and all his secret service. We were on the train first, and then these 20 men in suits with ear buds marched in and looked at us and sat down all around us. My aunt told me that that's her new president. Jonah was fussy and needed to go to the toilet, so my aunt and I went to take him, and one of the secret service men said to her, "please make your baby stop crying, the president is disturbed." She said, "He's not even the president yet, and he's already making demands." And then the man felt bad and my aunt asked me if I wanted to change his diaper there, in the seats, but I said, "No, he needs to use the toilet." I mean, the diaper was clean and dry. He held it until the toilet. So the man smiled at me and moved out of the way and kindly let us through. There was a crowd of people just outside of our car trying to catch a glimpse of the new president. It was a nice story to tell our relatives as we met them, and later when I saw him on TV on May 20 during his inaugural press conference, I recognized him. Even though I couldn't quite see his face at first, though he sat 2 rows directly in front of me. He probably wasn't bothered by Jonah's fussing at all, because he didn't say anything to the men about it. Probably that secret service man was trying to please his boss, though it was a terrible first impression on the new president of Taiwan for these Americans.
I'll try to post pictures in the days ahead. There are so many to wade through and our camera broke at the War and Peace Memorial in Kaohsiung when I dropped it on the concrete. So, I'll try to get the ones that I have online to share.
Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.
