Greetings from Taiwan!
Taiwan - Day 1
After a few flight delays, I finally made it to Taipei around 1am Taiwan time! During my flight from LAX to Hong Kong, I originally got an extra leg room, exit-row seat with nobody next to me, which made it very spacious. However, about 1/3 of the way into the flight, an Indian gentleman switched seats and sat next to me. I asked him why he switched, and he said the people he was originally sitting next to complained about him and told the flight attendant to move him. Unfortunately, he had no choice and had to get up and move. I later found out this man was named Madhu.
Madhu started a conversation with me and we began by talking about our trips, which eventually led into me telling him about the "Christian Documentary" that I will be working on in Taiwan. As I said that, a smile came to his face. He proceeded to tell me that he was also a Christian and regularly attends Calvary Chapel in Santa Barbara. He even pulled out his Bible and shared a passage from Philippians on what he was studying at the moment and how it's tough to be an Indian Christian.
Madhu explained how finding Christians and/or churches in India is super rare and every times he goes home to visit family, they shame him for his faith. However, he also mentioned how after finishing his Masters at UCSB, he wants to move back to India to share the Gospel with his family and community.
The awesome thing is that last night, I prayed that God would send me the right people to talk to during the flight. I don't even know why I said it, but God led Madhu to sit next to me to help encourage, and pump me up for this missions trip. Madhu may not see our encounter the same as I did, but I saw it as God's creative and perfect timing in preparing my heart for the next couple of weeks.
I'm about to catch a train to Chiayi. More to come!
Prayer Requests:
- Pray that I will get some rest to prepare to meet the Harbours tomorrow morning (27th).
- Pray that God will prepare the hearts of 18-19 people that will be interviewed this week!
- Pray that Madhu can develop enough faith and courage to eventually evangelize to his family back in India.