The Salvation Army in Taiwan has had the privilege of supplying a number of schools with essential equipment to replace damaged or destroyed materials. Included in the shopping list has been over 2,500 books, 1,000 uniforms, 1,500 sports uniforms, 2,000 pairs of shoes, 1,500 school bags, a mountain of stationary and a few commercial grade water filters.As well as the practical stuff, which also included feeding and cleaning up in the early days, the team has conducted interviews with hundreds of victims of the typhoon and established new partnerships and bridges with government and other community organisations.
Yesterday, I was welcomed into one of the schools in Tainan like a rock star. It was very embarassing actually. 250 grade 6 and 7 kids standing and clapping as I entered a school assembly. (That never happened at my school.) I gave them some of the gifts and then I had to speak. They were told to listen carefully to some one that would "speak the English more proper than your English teacher". Talk about presssure!
This work can be taxing, it has major frustrations and complications, but the privilege of being part of a persons life when they need it the most is so amazingly humbling. To be able to share what I have with those that have lost everything reminds me of what it really means to try and be like Jesus. I have the privilege of doing what I can to rebuild and transform a life, not just physically but spiritually, (and not with the Bible and 4 spiritual laws under my arm either).
So tomorrow I'll tell you about my journey into Maolin and Duona - two villages in the mountains that were devastated by the landlsides and rain. Until then...
