Taiwan Bound: Moving Out

We just moved completely out of our home. It was a very sad and exciting moment. Seeing our house completely empty and lifeless was hard but knowing that we are on our way to Taiwan makes it all worth it.

Anne Marie played Sunday morning for the last time. She enjoyed this last memory with the band and close friends from our church.

We will be in Michigan for three weeks and then Ohio for two weeks before we are sent off to Taiwan!

Last Day at First Glance Skatepark

Last Tuesday we celebrated my last day with First Glance Skatepark Ministry. It was a fun relaxing time just to be with everyone one more time before I leave Akron, OH. It was definitely a bittersweet time, skating hard with everyone but knowing it was the last time I would see a lot of these faces or at least for a long time.

We had a little farewell time and all the guys prayed for me. They gave me a departing gift that had all the signatures of that skaters that were there on the bottom of the deck with my favorite brand of trucks and wheels. I'll be using the trucks and wheels but I'll hang onto that board with their signatures!

Jeremy DePace made a Farwell video for me. I didn't realize he did this but am so glad he did. It really means a lot to me seeing all these faces in this video that I have spent time with almost every week and almost every day for some of them. Thanks for the video!

FYI: There was kind of a joke that got started tonight, the kids in this video refer to me in a way that isn't very nice but its all a joke, they don't really think of me that way....I hope. :)

Normally when the park closes at 10pm I'm eager to shut the doors and leave. However this last session I didn't want to end. I stayed at the park till 11:30pm skating with one of my favorite dudes Isaiah Jones and Joe Simpson. There was one trick I really wanted to do before the night was over and they stayed there and pushed me to get it!

June 2015 Newsletter

Garage Sale

Anne Marie and I are doing a lot to prepare for moving to Taiwan. It has been an emotional process going through all our belongings and having to determine if we bring it with us, store it, or sell it. All of those questions are answered through determining if the item is sentimental, how big it is, how much money is it worth, how easily we can replace it, etc. This process would be complete different as a single guy but being married adds whole new layer to the process.

We tried to pack up everything we wanted to get rid of and even a lot of stuff that we will be taking with us. We are now living off of plastic plates and forks. Our house has a strange feel to it with its emptiness in most rooms now.

There was a flea market at our friends house. So we packed our car three times to drive stuff over. We started at 5am and went till 3pm. We didn't make a huge profit but it was still something. Everything we couldn't sell, we are donating or giving to Anne Marie's parents for their garage sale.

Long Hair, No More

Before


After

The beard has to go too...

Jake and Emily's Wedding

This last week my wife and I took a week to spend down in Florida to stand up in Jake and Emily's wedding. They are a wonderful couple that we have served in Taiwan with in the past and will again in the future. They both first met in Taiwan with a similar story to ours with some differences.

We left Wednesday driving all the way down in one day. My wife makes fun of me for this but I have a rule that we can only stop once about every 5 hours. So basically we only stop when we need gas and food at the same time, any bathroom needs must wait until those stops come up.

When we finally got down to Florida, just past Jacksonville, I heard a loud noise. Now my car makes all sorts of weird noises so I normally ignore them. However moments after I made a comment about it to my wife our tire blew. We originally were going to arrive at our stop at 11:30 but got delay until about 1am.

The next week Kyle Paradis, another groomsmen and I charged lots of tires including the Bride and Grooms honeymoon car the day of their wedding. Luckily the bride never found out...

Kyle Changing Tires

The actually wedding was at a resort at St. Pete Beach. It was a beautiful location and aloud us to have a decent amount of time at the beach.  There was lots of old friends from WOLBI (Bible College) that I got to see again and made lots of new friends.

Picture: I snapped a few pics of Jake getting a haircut for his wedding.

Both Anne Marie and I had the privilege of being in the wedding. About 30min before the wedding it was down pouring. When the wedding finally started there was still a very very light rain but it made for a beautiful ceremony with people holding umbrellas in the audience.

They wrote their own vows. Jake has an amazing way with words. Most of the time its for making jokes, but he can be really powerful and make people feel and understand his emotions. Many people were crying after he finished his vows to Emily.

The next few days we were able to meet up with friends and spend a few days with Anne Marie's relatives. We even stopped by were we got married almost 2 years ago. While we were there we took some photos of ourselves trying to re-enact the photos from our wedding day. (but I don't have those to upload at the moment)

Support Raising Bootcamp

We are in the back row second from the left

Anne Marie and I were invited to go up to Word of Life (WOL) in Schroon Lake, NY this 2 weeks ago, to partake in a support raising bootcamp. It was extremely last minute, we literally found out about it a week before going. There was a lot of homework, including a Bible study, a book to read and more. We really enjoyed the prep-work, that we were able to get done. The bootcamp gave us fresh eyes on how to support raise and Biblically what it should look like. I'm really glad we took the time to sit down and read through God's Word and his plan for us through support raising.

This is helping us better view ourselves as missionaries and the donor. Lots of times we almost view missionaries as having to be poor and begging for money from potential donors. Instead I need to be viewing myself as an investment for others to partake in what God is doing in Taiwan while I need to view the donor as someone I can minister too and pray for. As missionaries we often just see donors as dollar signs. I'm really glad Anne Marie and I took the time to go through this training, we look forward to support raising the way God intended it!

While we were at WOL we were able to connect with a best friend couple of ours who will also be returning to Taiwan to do ministry. We look forward to serving God as a team with them and being able to encourage each other as we go through struggles and with joy from ministering to others. We also met a lot of other missionaries and we able to be encouraged through them. We look forward to following their ministries and receiving prayers from them.

Through the bootcamp and meeting with WOL Directors we have decided to join the WOL team! We will have more details to come after the partnership becomes official!

Top 10 Most Exciting Things about Moving to Taiwan

Moving back to Taiwan has gotten my wife and I thinking about all the things we are really looking forward too! I took all the pictures below, these are real experiences I've had! Check out the top 10 things that I love about Taiwan!

1. Night Markets

Night Markets are the best places to find a late night snack, cheap things to buy, and just meet people or hang with friends playing carnival style games. It is generally really crowded but thats part of the fun! You can experience very cultural food here or play it safe with Taiwanese style corndogs and chicken steak.

2. Warm Weather/Beaches

Taiwan has a very warm climate. It passes through the Tropical line of Cancer. In the summer the temperatures will be 78-100 Fahrenheit. In the winter it will get down 55 Fahrenheit.

Taiwan also has some of the best beaches. If the water is calm you'll be able to see 7+ feet below.

3. Learning Chinese

Learning Chinese isn't going to be easy but its exciting. The challenge of it and joy when you start to understand something you could't before is like nothing else! Being able to listen in on a conversation and pick up parts of what they are saying is an awesome part about learning a new language. I can't wait to start studying Chinese again!

4. Beef Noodle

Taiwan has a lot of interesting foods. Lots of them are very terrifying to try. However, there is some foods that I've been craving since the day I left. Mostly Beef Noodle. Its basically just big chunks of beef and noodles, often served with some cooked vegetables in it. It only costs about $2 for a big bowl.

5. Tea Shops

Tea shops are everywhere in Taiwan. Almost every block you will run into at least one tea shop. I am not a big fan of tea but they carry a good selection of fresh fruit drinks. You can choose how cold you want it and how much sugar to put in it. In America these kind of teas would run about $5-8 but in Taiwan you can get it for $1-3.

6. Convenience

Taiwanese are all about convenience. They have special phrases in their language pertaining to how convenient things are. Taiwanese have mastered convenience. You will have any trouble finding a 7-11 or similar shop. There is a 7-11 for almost every other building in Taiwan. You can often find two or three 7-11's within a 1 block radius.

7. Scooters

There dangerous but oh so much fun. Having a scooter will almost guarantee you'll be able to find a place to park in the crowded cities of Taiwan. Without one enjoy driving around for hours trying to find a parking spot. They are an excellent mode of exploration and fun.

8. The City

I love the city! The tall buildings, the traffic, the people everywhere, its the best. Taiwan's cities are mostly all hit with a mountain in the background also. Causing for some beautiful scenery on clear days.

9. National Health Insurance

One of the best things is the cost of health care! Even without health insurance it doesn't cost you that much to go to the hospital. However when you have a Healthcare Card your set. Oh, you feel a little sick? Go to your local health care physician and get pumped with medicine for a total cost of $10 USD.

10. The People

Taiwanese are very unique, creative, and fun people. We do have our cultural differences but that's part of what is so exciting and fun about building friendships with them. There is so much you can learn from living in another culture surrounded by people who grew in another world.

April 2015 Newsletter

Life Update: We are Moving!

My wife have finally made a big decision. We have been carefully praying and seeking God's direction in our lives. We have decided to move back to Taiwan the beginning of August! 

This is a very exciting and scary time for us. We have lots to do in preparation. We don't have all the details now. However, we hope to send out a newsletter in the next month or two to inform those who are interested in praying for us and supporting us financially.