Toroko Gorge & Temple Musings

Friday Sept. 30th

Hello! Ni Hao!
Ted Skiles took us to Toroko National Park. Taiwan has 6 national parks and Toroko is famous for its unending beauty. The gorges along the mountainside are carved out of majestic white and gray marble. God certainly made a masterpiece here in Taiwan!

This was the first time that Chloe and I have ever been on a train and that was a really cool experience. Ted kept feeding us lots of amazing food - we all really enjoyed an egg-cooked-in-a-crepe-thing while on the train, then we ate noodles and fried rice for lunch (I still have leftovers that need to be eaten), and then he fed us these round pastry dough balls with different fillings - peanut, sesame, coconut, red bean, green bean, the list goes on...I personally thought that the food here would scare me and it turns out that it is mostly very yummy!

We stopped at the Turtle Waterfall (a.k.a. Eternal Spring Shrine) to eat our lunch. There are shrines all over the island and this was one of many. It amazes me that people have been so far led astray from the truth that they would turn to millions of false gods for comfort and protection. The Chinese literally do have millions of gods and goddesses, which are being celebrated at the hostels in the neighborhood nightly. These people desperately need the Savior! Who else can satisfy but Him? Who else can fill the void and longing of our souls? No one but the Savior!!!! These lost people need our prayers as well.

We also went to the Pacific Ocean. This was Annah's first time and she was absolutely in love with it! I always am filled with a sense of total wonder and awe when I see the expanse and fullness of the ocean. The sand is a beautiful black sand and the wind along the coast was cool and refreshing, as we had just been in a very hot car!

The 8 babies have been loads of fun, and so have the girls we have gotten to spend time with. There are 4 other girls volunteering here right now (with more girls coming) and they have been teaching us the ropes of multitask baby care.

~Kendra
P.S. Sorry there aren't any pictures, but the picture uploader isn't working. We are trying to fix it.

Note: Previous version of this entry concerning Annah's health has been modified. We aren't sure what exactly happened but it was probably heat stroke or dehydration. Thanks for all your prayers!

Sunday Oct. 3rd.

Friends,
I was supposed to write about the amazing things that we saw yesterday. However, we have just returned from hiking up to the huge temple, and I would like to share some things that are on my heart.

The Buddhist temple sits above the town of Lou Dong where the orphanage is, so we decided to hike up the trail this afternoon while the babies were napping. We stopped at the trail-head and prayed for protection and eyes to see God, then we started up the long trail of steps.

The steps gradually wound up the mountain for about 10 or 12 flights and as we climbed, dark storm clouds began to gather as lightning flashed. Taiwan is a very beautiful country, and this path was no exception. The vegetation was very green, and flashes of pink flowers could occasionally be seen among the bushes. Beside the stairs there was a small river and occasional small waterfalls, God made a masterpiece when He made Taiwan.

Once at the top, the temple stretched out before us to the very edge of a cliff. The building itself was a simple white color, but the roof was pagoda-style and was decorated in red, green, blue, and yellow tiles (I would be showing pictures, but the uploader is not working, so I am trying to create a good word picture). Brown stones and marble made up the walkways and floors, which made walking slippery as the rain increased.

We walked around to the front of the temple and just stood there for a while. The temple comes right up to the edge of a cliff and from the edge we could see Lou Dong stretched out in the valley below, a lake filled by water from the stream along the stairs, and other cities further out. Daddy began to pray for the people of the valley, that God would take back what was His and that the enemy would have no stronghold in Lou Dong. As we stood there, a crippled man on crutches walked by us supported on both sides by men as he tried to hurry towards the idols within. I think that it was at this point that my heart broke and I started to cry. The storm also began to pick up and soak me with the tears of God in the form of rain.

For a while I couldn't bring myself to go inside, so I watched the many worshipers come and go. There was one man that spun around in circles until he was dizzy in front of a huge idol. God reminded me how futile all works are without Him, they really do lead nowhere. My heart hurt for all Gods people of Asia, my people, who are blinded and bound to satan.

When I did go inside, I was faced by more bondage. One man danced in front of an idol with liquid moves and when I looked at the idol it was a snake; the man was imitating the motions of the snake. Do you remember who the snake represents in the Bible?

I wish that I could upload the picture of this next scene because I think that it was the most insightful and heartrending. I climbed up the stairs to watch the people as they were offering gifts to the idols and there was an ornate black incense burner. The worshipers would light their sticks of incense, bow before the idol and then place their sticks into the incense burner. While I watched, dozens of people placed their incense sticks carefully into the burner and continued in their idolatry. Soon, an older man came by and began to take out the sticks and toss them carelessly into a metal trashcan. I was taken about by this obvious picture. The worship of these idols was only so much trash. The prayers ascended no higher than the trashcan, yet the worshipers, oblivious to the inconsistency continued to place their incense sticks into the burner as the man yanked them out and put them into the trashcan.

I cried for Asia as we climbed back down, but I was so thankful that we have a God who hears our prayers and who we can talk to personally. He does not require burnt offerings but obedience, He does not want gifts He wants relationship.

Aren't you glad that you serve and worship the true God, Yahweh? I am.

Lovin' it here!
~ Annah