Harvest Mission Trip to Taiwan

Back Home Again! We are home and with deep gratitude we say thank you. To the supporters who helped make our trip possible - thanks. For the people who were praying for us, the Lord used those prayers and there was much power - praise the Lord. For the people and churches we met in Taiwan - you have changed our lives! We are grateful for traveling mercies and for the rich memories and opportunity we had in serving for fifteen days in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. During two weeks in Taiwan, we had the privilege of serving in many settings with many people. Events were hosted in nine hosting churches, with approximately 37 churches represented from around the country and approximately 575 worship leaders in attendance for the training days. In addition to those events, we served as a worship team for many other worship services around the area.   Our schedule was something like this: Tuesday, January 20 - Arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and was greeted at the airport by David Clemente, Missionary and Matthew Lee, Associate Pastor at Feng Shan - we got to David's house and after visiting a bit, we went to bed. Wednesday, January 21 - After sleeping in, we met for a while to plan out the two weeks. Then we took a drive through the city to pick up the mission director, Tim Kincaid and his wife. Tim also went to Asbury Seminary. We were amazed by the number of scooters in the city - literally thousands. We had lunch at the Clemente's house and after lunch, we drove Tim back home. After a couple hours rest, we drove to meet the members of the Feng Shan Church and had supper at a traditional and historic Taiwanese Restaurant. We learned to use chopsticks really quickly and also had a great time with several people from the church - Pastor Pan, Kelly, Sophia, Matthew, and our group. Following the meal, we left to meet with members of the church to plan for the ministry at the Cigu School on Friday. Following that meeting, we all went back to the house and fell asleep. Thursday, January 22 - We left the house at 9:00 AM and headed to the High Speed Rail station. Going 227 miles per hour on the train, we made it to Taijung in about 35 minutes, normally, a two and a half hour trip by car. We were greeted by Vaughn, one of the teachers at the Morrison Christian Academy. This school is an "American" campus for missionary kids and others who want to learn in this type of setting. After lunch with Jo, the chaplain, we led the Chapel Service for the campus. There were about 250 high school students and it was an incredible afternoon. Following the chapel, we held a few workshops for their school praise band - splitting into vocals, keyboard, bass and guitar groups. After that, we took the train back home for supper at the Clementes. Friday, January 23 - We got up and left by 7:00 AM and headed to the Cigu School, about an hour away from Kaohsiung. The Cigu school is just an every day elementary school with first to sixth grade students. The church we were partnering with sends a team to teach Sunday school in this community twice a month. Because of this, they have the privilege of doing an "English Camp" for the students once a year, during regular school hours. They were really counted it a blessing to have English speaking Americans help teach and we enjoyed it. Harvest was split into teams of two and we each took two grades. The three hours included learning new words, teaching them a song in English and practicing how to do it. After school we walked to the ocean, took a drive to Salt Mountain, and then we shared supper with the principle, some of the school staff, and the church team who helped lead the day of learning. It was our first day to work with translators and it was an experience. We were so grateful they were there to help. That night, we had a concert for all the kids and parents and each of the group sang the song we showed them. It was a great day. We got home about 10:00 PM and crashed. Saturday, January 24 - left about 8:00 AM and drove to the first worship leader training. This was hosted at a nice downtown church building. What was supposed to be about 50-60 people turned out to be about 215 people in attendance. Church groups drove from all over the country and one group drove from the northern end in Taipei, a six hour trip. We started the training with music and a video that Jackson has recorded in three languages - English, Chinese and Filipino. From there, we led the opening sessions with everyone. After lunch, we split into workshops and all of the Harvest people had a translator to help lead. After the training event, Pastor Yin and his wife along with a couple translators took our group to an amazing restaurant - buffet style, but they bring it all to your table. It was good. That evening, we went back home and rested. Sunday, January 25 - we left about 7:30 with David, Sarah, Carmen and Jacob and headed to Feng Shan Free Methodist Church. The morning worship began at 9:00 AM and we enjoyed hearing the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" sung in Chinese. We led the music and shared testimonies for the service that day. The day was the Chinese New Year's eve and there was a feeling of celebration. The Chinese New Year could be compared to our Christmas Eve and Christmas Celebration. The church gave each Harvest Team member a gift and it was an incredible day. Following the service, we went to eat lunch at another restaurant and the food was great. We enjoyed getting to know the worship leader, students, Ken and Kelly and the others from the church. Following the service, we went back to the church to play ping pong. At 3:30, we left to go to Kaohsiung Community Church for the 4:30 service. This international church meets in a borrowed church building and it was a great afternoon of ministry. Monday, January 26 - we left the house about 11:00 to go tour the city. The first stop was McDonalds - just to see what it was like in Taiwan. Following that, we took the subway to the cultural center where we watched the dragon dance and shopped. It was amazing. After that, we took the subway to the famous Love River and took a boat ride. And on the way home, we stopped at the most famous night market, which due to the New Year Holiday, was packed with people -shoulder for shoulder- for four city blocks. We definitely experienced the culture and we were grateful that Cindy Lee, the pastor's daughter, came with us to help us know where to go. We were also joined by Carmen, David's daughter and enjoyed having her on our trip around the city. For supper that night, we stopped at a beef noodle shop. The stores typically have their kitchen outside and after ordering, you go inside to eat. Even though it was "winter" there, we were wearing shorts, t-shirts and no jackets. Video of the drummers at the Dragon Dance:(Click on the image to start the video) Tuesday, January 27 - On Tuesday, we left about 8:00 AM and head to Tree of Life Retreat. The Chinese New Year is a week long celebration and every thing shuts down - no one works. As a result, we were able to spend time at day long events with the churches. Tree of Life is a ministry to migrant Filipino workers that has been going since the mid 1990's. The retreat was a three day event and we joined them for one day only. During our time there, we had led the opening worship, taught some general sessions and did break out session in the afternoon. Following that, we took a tour of the dormitories where the migrant workers live and saw the factories where most of them work. Supper that night was really good - and by now, we had gotten the hang of chopsticks. Following supper, we led in the evening worship service and it was a powerful, powerful night of music, witness and prayer with the members of the church. We got back home about 10:30 PM. Wednesday, January 28 - We left around 8:00 AM and headed to the lake where another retreat was being held. This retreat was hosted by Higher Ground Church, another Filipino migrant workers church. They also were staying there, camping in tents, and we joined them for one day. It was amazing. As with the previous day, this group also spoke English and were very energetic in worship. The evening included a BBQ in our small groups and was followed by a worship service. What a privilege we had connecting and getting to know this group. We got home about 10:30 PM. Video of the Higher Ground Church singing to Jusin for his birthday: (Click on the image to start the video) Thursday, January 29 - We slept in a little bit and then headed to meet one of the Holy Light Seminary Professors for lunch at the only Mexican Restaurant in Kaohsiung. Following that lunch, we went to the eight story mall in the middle of town to walk around and buy some souvenirs. That night, we went back to Clemente's, had supper and then headed to the smaller night market near their home. It was again, jammed pack with people and Jackson got separated from the group. He walked the four blocks back to the house and amazingly met an older gentlemen who spoke English. Turns out, he had lived in the US for a while and his family daughter and son in law had also gone to school in the USA. He also played accordion and invited Jackson and the whole team to come to his house for a private concert. When the rest of us arrived back at the Clemente House, Jackson told us the news and we walked the two blocks to the guy's house. He was a great accordion player and his wife and family were very hospitable and generous. We enjoyed tea, snacks and great music! It was a blast. Video of the man playing accordian: (Click on the image to start the video) Friday, January 30 - 6:50 AM came early and were met by the van driver from another church. We drove about 50 minutes and set up in another church for another worship leader training day. This event had about 80 or 90 people in attendance from about seven different churches. The schedule was similar to the previous Saturday and the evening worship was amazing. The place was packed that night for the concert and the response to the music and message was overwhelming! We also enjoyed the seafood restaurant that night. Saturday, January 31 - We left again very early in the morning and headed to a remote area of Taiwan in the mountains, about two hours from the city. We enjoyed a day of growing and learning with a group of about 90 participants, mostly students. Again, through the use of translators, we led the sessions, workshops and worship services. Supper that night was a traditional wedding feast and then we witnessed and experienced a traditional wedding celebration. The feast we had at the church was amazing and included wild boar, fern, river fish, crawdads, banana leaves and lots more that we can't pronounce. The dance that followed was full of ritual and tradition. The wedding was between two different villages and the brides father was a county commissioner, so the event was spectacular. The dress was a huge part of the ceremony. If you didn't have the right attire, you couldn't participate. We were definitely outsiders, but the missionary was able to get us the right clothing and announce us to the village. We joined the circle which can't be broken during the entire evening. With the guys on one side and girls on the other, we did a slow line dance in a circular formation. The dance goes about two hours, of which, we did about 45 minutes. During that time, the head people (the parents of the wedding party) asked if Harvest would sing a song for the dance. We did a accapella version of Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee to a keyboard drumbeat. Sunday, February 1 - We led worship for the Nantze Higher Ground Community Church and it was a great morning - it was obvious that spirit was at work there. Following the service, we had a great lunch with the pastors and some of the church leaders. After that, we headed back to the Clemente's house for rest and relaxation. Monday, February 2 - On our last day of our trip, we rested and relaxed by going to Kenting, known as Taiwan's Hawaii. The South China Sea was really pretty and since the weeklong New Year celebration was over, it was relatively quiet. The weather and water was warm enough to swim. After a while, we went to have lunch, went to tour the lighthouse and did a little shopping. That night, we went back home and started packing. Pastor Chris and his wife Tessa stopped by to give us all gifts - and again, we were blown away by the generosity and hospitality of them, their church and each of the churches we were a part of. Tuesday, February 3 - Left the house at 5:30 AM to make it to the airport on time for the flight. We flew from Kaohsiung to Tokyo where we had a six hour layover. From there, we flew to Chicago and then into St. Louis. We got home at about 8:30 AM on Tuesday evening, the same day we left. It's going to take a little time to process and think about all that happened and all we learned and experienced. But at first thought, I have grown in an understanding of God's power. I have experienced again how lives can be changed, how people are hungry for the Lord to work, and how the church does not need to merely exist but to be fully alive with super natural power! There was a lot of life packed into those fifteen days in Taiwan, and though I missed my family and our church back home, I was grateful for the time there. It makes me want to pack lots of life into each day here - living with a kingdom view and trusting that Lord will work in people's hearts and lives - especially mine.

Here are links to some pictures of the group in Taiwan: Taiwan Ministry Taiwan Worship Training Taiwan Sunday Service Chinese New Year Taiwan Retreats Taiwan Retreats - Tree of Life More Taiwan Ministry Pictures Rukai Village Wedding Worship Leader Training Taiwan Higher Ground church At the Beach

The trip updates that were posted online while the mission team were in Taiwan can be found here - Trip Updates

We will still accept a donation help cover the cost of the trip. While we were serving on this mission, our lodging, meals and travel expenses were covered, but Harvest covered the cost of the airfare tickets for each team member. If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution for this mission trip, please either use the Donate button to pay via PayPal (either with a credit card or PayPal account), or mail your donation to the Harvest office. To donate by check, please make the check payable to "HARVEST" and mail to the following address      Harvest Ministry Teams      407 Edwardsville Rd.      Troy, IL 62294 Please mark your donation to be used as a contribution for the Harvest Taiwan Mission.   The Taiwan Harvest Mission Team: Jackson Price Justin & Abbie Aymer Theo Hardin Tim Price Willie J.

About the invitation...

Last January, David Clemente, a Free Methodist Missionary in Taiwan emailed me about bringing a group to Taiwan for music and ministry. The invitation seemed impossible at first, but then wouldn't go away - it’s all I could think about. About three months later I emailed back and said we might be interested. Things have rolled on from there, despite my some what hesitance to put together the details to make it happen. It came down to a couple key moments - one was that God gave me confirmation after confirmation that I needed to go. Additionally, I had a thoughtthat when I was 80 years old, that I would look back on this moment with one of two thoughts - 1) my life would have never been the same had I not gone or 2) I wonder if I should have gone. That’s how huge this invitation was for me... not in the sense that, "oh, Harvest is going international..." but more in a quiet sense of obedience that the Lord might do a work in my heart, in the lives of our team and our ministry by taking a moment in history to connect with the church internationally - a kingdom view. I don’t like flying, so pray for me... but "here I am Lord, send me". If you would like to contribute to our mission, please do so! If you have other questions, please email me at tim@harvestministryteams.com.