Once upon a time there were three friends. A girl and two boys. The girl loved tennis and caramel popcorn and sported a head of dark curly locks. Her name was Linel. The one boy, whom was called Albie by his friends, loved to glide through the air on a board called a skateboard. The other boy, who loves travelling, lost all his hair but still retained ridiculously good looks throughout his life. This boy was called Gerrie.
One day the skateboarder, the bald yet attractive boy and the girl named Linel felt that the Lord Almighty called them to set sail to the distant islands at the end of the planet Earth. Their adventures were plentiful and blessed beyond comparison. They loved the Lord more and more everyday and did their best to be obedient to His voice. Their adventures brought them to an island in the Far East which Portuguese sailors called Formosa – the beautiful island. In recent times people started referring to it simply as Taiwan.
It was on this island, which people call Taiwan, that the three friends turned their gaze to the Almighty for divine direction. They paged through The Ancient Scriptures and turned to the book which was written by a man named Luke. The book is simply called the Gospel of Luke. In this ancient book Luke writes about an adventure of epic proportions, a trip of the unknown, a faith journey...
With this burning in their hearts, the three set out to the town that God was calling them to. God Almighty spoke to the three and told them to go to the town of Guangfu. Nestled in the high mountains on the Eastern side of the island, it was a town settled by ancient tribesmen. A town and place captured in history and troubled by flooding rain and earthquakes.
As the three started out from the big city of Taipei, they waited in Faith for God to move them to the town of Guangfu. They decided that the train station would be a good place to wait, so they walked to the station and started waiting. During this time God’s voice came and spoke to each one of the three. His voice comforted them and encouraged them mightily.
During this time of waiting, the three friends didn’t have any money and didn’t have much to eat. But God was looking after them like He looks after the sparrows and the lilies. The three friends quickly made a nice home for themselves at the station and they were befriended by people who liked to sleep on large pieces of cardboard. These new friends also provided them with some food.
On the fourth day the three adventurers were very weak and very hungry, but their spirits were strong because God Almighty continued to strengthen them. On this day God sent them a sign. The sign was a big banner in the sky, bright yellow with red letters on it that spelled out the name BETHANY. They didn’t know what it meant, but they liked it a lot. On this very same day in the very same hour that they saw the sign some friendly Christians invited them to a gathering at a local church building. The three decided that they should go to this gathering but little did they know that it would be at this specific gathering where the Lord would place it on someone’s heart to pay for their train tickets to Guangfu. Not only did this “someone” buy them train tickets to Guangfu but also return tickets back to the big city of Taipei and some extra money as a gift. This man was called Shining which was a proper name for a Chinese knight in armor like his. The three were very grateful.
After the train ride down to Guangfu, the girl and two boys decided to wait for their Lord once more. This time their mission looked a bit different. They were on a quest to find a specific person referred to in the Ancient Scriptures as a “man of peace”. After spending their last money on accommodation in a local inn, the three had nothing to fall back on but their Lord and their faith in Him.
The very next day, the friends went to the local police station to enquire about a person of peace. The police, at once, loaded them into their van and dropped them off at a church on top of a hill belonging to people from a tribe called the Amis people. The lady pastor of the church was a local tribeswoman, named Hana. Hana was very shocked to see the three adventurers and was a bit confused. But she still remained very friendly and warm because she loves God Almighty and loves to help other people.
Hana took the three into her care, providing them with food and accommodation. Hana was truly a woman of peace ordained by God. She invited them to Bible studies which were held in a language very foreign to the three African friends. They enjoyed the fellowship with the tribesmen. It almost felt like they were back home with family. The three felt extremely blessed.
Hana connected the friends with some of her friends who were in charge of a ministry in the town of Guangfu called the Woodpecker Ministry. These friends of her ran a quaint little restaurant in town serving the people with the best pizzas on that side of the island.& nbsp; The restaurant was called ‘Casa’, which means ‘home’ in the languages spoken around the Mediterranean Sea. They lived good lives and were very happy. Their leader was a lady named Bethany, just like the banner in the sky. Everyone was in awe of how God Almighty had lead the three explorers to this place.
In the days they spent in the town of Guangfu, Linel, Albie and Gerrie had the opportunity of visiting schools, attending birthday parties, talking at local youth meetings and even performing little skits and songs for the native people of the surrounding areas. They made good friends with the people at Woodpecker Ministry and at Casa Restaurant. They all shared meals together and worked together and even allowed the three to help out with the tasks that had to be done around the restaurant. Luckily for the three Africans, there were some friends called Jessica and Katie. They were from far away countries called Canada and America but they were able to speak the local language of the Western side of the Island of
Taiwan, so they were able to translate for the three when Bethany wasn’t around. They all became good friends.
Sadly the time had come for the three friends to move on to a new chapter in their adventures to the islands at the end of the planet Earth. Sad as it was, the three were very encouraged by their God’s providence and the new friends they made who are now considered family.
The three explorers took the train back to the big city of Taipei and met up with the rest of their group. Together they set sail again to their next destination, the island of Sumatra in the group of islands called Indonesia. But that is a tale for another time...
Our new family in Guangfu:
May God's Kingdom be established in Taiwan!