February Newsletter
Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters,
Baozi before it is steamed
February brought with it the height of rain season, a break from our nine-to-five schedules at the university, and time to kick back and mentally process through some of our experiences in Taiwan thus far. The first two weeks of February were spent celebrating Chinese New Year. Jered and I had the pleasure of visiting many members in our local community at their homes with their extended families while balancing our office tasks for the school and the Bishop.
A typical Chinese New Year Feast
Some highlights from Chinese New Year included Jered receiving a cooking lesson on how to make yummy baozi (steamed buns filled either with vegetables, meat, cheese, or beans). Jered's teacher was Naomi, a woman who works at the university and who every week makes a batch of baozi by hand to share with us and our co-workers. I guess she figured "give a man a fish...."
Naomi's husband and daughter are in the foreground. Naomi is wearing yellow and is in the kitchen. Poca and Rebecah are behind the table. Jered is preparing the dough. Baozi making is apparently a spectator sport.
Jered and I also took part in a folk tradition known locally as the Sky Lantern Festival. We participated with our good friends Daniel and Julia. The festival takes place way out in the country side (which in Taiwan means, in the mountains). As we drove away from Taipei and higher into the hills, we began to pass vendors along the road all selling paper lanterns. We stopped in a small village, bought two and were given caligraphy brushes to write our dreams, wishes, and prayers on the sides of each. A wad of gasoline soaked temple money was afixed to the bottom of each lantern, and once lit, they inflated with hot air and began to rise. The big, multi-colored paper lanterns went up into the night sky like hot air balloons bearing our prayers and wishes into heaven. They looked like a school of glowing jellyfish swimming through the black night. It was beautiful seeing the sky dotted with points of light. When our paper lantern floated away I felt anything was possible. It will be a memory I won`t forget.
February 13th marked the end of our Visa extension. Jered and I had to leave the country in order to re-apply and return to Taiwan. Tickets from Taipei to Bangkok were the cheapest we could find and so we went to Thailand.
A lesson in patience...we were number 54.
We took advantage and spent a week and a half in Bangkok and Phuket both sight seeing and resting.
Tuk Tuk man taking all day nap
Wat Arun
While there we were also able to visit with Jered’s Uncle David and Aunt Sherrill in their home in Bangkok and later at a missionary retreat in Phuket.
Happy V-day with Uncle David and Aunt Sherrill in Bangkok
Often people ask us what we miss in Taiwan from the United States. It struck us when in Thailand, with its colorful mix of locals, foreigners, and tourists, that diversity is one aspect of the US that we have missed. In the backpacker district of Bangkok in particular we were almost overwhelmed by the diversity, with local vendors and grubby backpackers from literally every corner of the globe all in a two kilometer square.
As our placement in Taiwan is with a rural community outside of Taipei, the only diversity out here in Dansui is…us! We soaked in the bizarre familiarity of people of every color while enjoying tea time & feasting on the amazing Thai food.
Speaking of feasting...here Erin feeds a baby elephant.
While in Phuket, we were also able to see first hand the damage done by the tsunami to the island. It was hard for us to register that such a beautiful spot could have been the site of such a terrifying disaster.
Phuket truly is an island paradise. The sunsets on the beach were breathtaking and it was good to rest and rediscover ourselves again before returning to the hustle and bustle.
This semester our schedule remains roughly the same. As we've plunged back into work and rejoined the life of the community here, we have been reminded that there are many needs. Last Sunday in church, I was reminded (when looking as a woman showed me her wrists with various scars from suicide attempts) of the large problem of depression in Taiwan. I have been told countless times that it is a problem that affects many here, especially women. Some blame it on their husband’s oppression, some blame it on the food, some blame it on the rain season, and some blame it on spirits. To be honest, I don`t know the cause; yet, I can confirm that it indeed does exist. To be even more honest, I admit that at times it has been one of my greatest struggles here.
When confronted by stories from people young and old about years of abuse, helpless feelings, and loneliness, sometimes it's hard not to feel everything is insurmountable and that we as missionaries are truly ineffective. Isn`t that ironic? The lies we allow ourselves to believe. However, this is precisely why seeing the Christian community in action, giving and receiving love, brings me much hope. It is in this context that we see individuals encountering the risen Christ through his body the Church, and because of that encounter developing an awareness that this way of life isn`t a given or a birthright. We are witnessing as individuals here discover for the first time that they are loved for who they are and that they were not born the wrong gender or in the wrong circumstance. (Not to be confused with transgender issues) This remains my focus for our time here in Taiwan: that those we encounter will know they are loved by us and by God completely.
Thank-you for your e-mails and updates. We really do cherish them!
Erin and Jered
Baozi before it is steamed
February brought with it the height of rain season, a break from our nine-to-five schedules at the university, and time to kick back and mentally process through some of our experiences in Taiwan thus far. The first two weeks of February were spent celebrating Chinese New Year. Jered and I had the pleasure of visiting many members in our local community at their homes with their extended families while balancing our office tasks for the school and the Bishop.
A typical Chinese New Year Feast
Some highlights from Chinese New Year included Jered receiving a cooking lesson on how to make yummy baozi (steamed buns filled either with vegetables, meat, cheese, or beans). Jered's teacher was Naomi, a woman who works at the university and who every week makes a batch of baozi by hand to share with us and our co-workers. I guess she figured "give a man a fish...."
Naomi's husband and daughter are in the foreground. Naomi is wearing yellow and is in the kitchen. Poca and Rebecah are behind the table. Jered is preparing the dough. Baozi making is apparently a spectator sport.
Jered and I also took part in a folk tradition known locally as the Sky Lantern Festival. We participated with our good friends Daniel and Julia. The festival takes place way out in the country side (which in Taiwan means, in the mountains). As we drove away from Taipei and higher into the hills, we began to pass vendors along the road all selling paper lanterns. We stopped in a small village, bought two and were given caligraphy brushes to write our dreams, wishes, and prayers on the sides of each. A wad of gasoline soaked temple money was afixed to the bottom of each lantern, and once lit, they inflated with hot air and began to rise. The big, multi-colored paper lanterns went up into the night sky like hot air balloons bearing our prayers and wishes into heaven. They looked like a school of glowing jellyfish swimming through the black night. It was beautiful seeing the sky dotted with points of light. When our paper lantern floated away I felt anything was possible. It will be a memory I won`t forget.
February 13th marked the end of our Visa extension. Jered and I had to leave the country in order to re-apply and return to Taiwan. Tickets from Taipei to Bangkok were the cheapest we could find and so we went to Thailand.
A lesson in patience...we were number 54.
We took advantage and spent a week and a half in Bangkok and Phuket both sight seeing and resting.
Tuk Tuk man taking all day nap
Wat Arun
While there we were also able to visit with Jered’s Uncle David and Aunt Sherrill in their home in Bangkok and later at a missionary retreat in Phuket.
Happy V-day with Uncle David and Aunt Sherrill in Bangkok
Often people ask us what we miss in Taiwan from the United States. It struck us when in Thailand, with its colorful mix of locals, foreigners, and tourists, that diversity is one aspect of the US that we have missed. In the backpacker district of Bangkok in particular we were almost overwhelmed by the diversity, with local vendors and grubby backpackers from literally every corner of the globe all in a two kilometer square.
As our placement in Taiwan is with a rural community outside of Taipei, the only diversity out here in Dansui is…us! We soaked in the bizarre familiarity of people of every color while enjoying tea time & feasting on the amazing Thai food.
Speaking of feasting...here Erin feeds a baby elephant.
While in Phuket, we were also able to see first hand the damage done by the tsunami to the island. It was hard for us to register that such a beautiful spot could have been the site of such a terrifying disaster.
Phuket truly is an island paradise. The sunsets on the beach were breathtaking and it was good to rest and rediscover ourselves again before returning to the hustle and bustle.
This semester our schedule remains roughly the same. As we've plunged back into work and rejoined the life of the community here, we have been reminded that there are many needs. Last Sunday in church, I was reminded (when looking as a woman showed me her wrists with various scars from suicide attempts) of the large problem of depression in Taiwan. I have been told countless times that it is a problem that affects many here, especially women. Some blame it on their husband’s oppression, some blame it on the food, some blame it on the rain season, and some blame it on spirits. To be honest, I don`t know the cause; yet, I can confirm that it indeed does exist. To be even more honest, I admit that at times it has been one of my greatest struggles here.
When confronted by stories from people young and old about years of abuse, helpless feelings, and loneliness, sometimes it's hard not to feel everything is insurmountable and that we as missionaries are truly ineffective. Isn`t that ironic? The lies we allow ourselves to believe. However, this is precisely why seeing the Christian community in action, giving and receiving love, brings me much hope. It is in this context that we see individuals encountering the risen Christ through his body the Church, and because of that encounter developing an awareness that this way of life isn`t a given or a birthright. We are witnessing as individuals here discover for the first time that they are loved for who they are and that they were not born the wrong gender or in the wrong circumstance. (Not to be confused with transgender issues) This remains my focus for our time here in Taiwan: that those we encounter will know they are loved by us and by God completely.
Thank-you for your e-mails and updates. We really do cherish them!
Erin and Jered
posted by Jered & Erin Weber-Johnson | 6:48 PM
1 Comments:
Dear Jered & Erin:
how are you? we miss you very much,
I try to send you the mail,but always turn back,could you send a mail to me again?
Daniel
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