THE TREE OF LIFE
WEEK ONE SCHOOL OF BIBLICAL STUDIES
Taiwan
As I entered into this season with God in the School of Biblical Studies (SBS) in Taiwan, I
really had no idea what I was walking into. I heard many great things about this base and
the good fruit that they produced, but I was more worried about what I was leaving behind
and looking back on all the familiar and comfortable things I would miss.The first week was great! I was still buzzing off the excitement of meeting new people and the rush of going back into missions again, especially in my motherland, Taiwan. As I was surrounded by my own people and being in the midst of my own culture, God grew an appreciation for my own country. When I learned about the heart some of my classmates had for Taiwan, God opened my eyes to see how people were responding to the call to preach the gospel in this unreached country. I was very encouraged by the genuine faith of others and was challenged to pray for the Taiwanese.
Tamsui, Taiwan
Photo Credit: Raymond Wang
Qualified
After the initial adrenaline high, it slowly started to sink in that I was in Taiwan, about to
commit 9 months of my life to inductively study the word of God from 8 am till 10 pm (The
staff even scheduled in the expected amount of hours we were to study!). In no time, I was
faced with two of my weaknesses, time management and laziness. It took me about less
than 3 weeks to reach the end of my own strength. I had my first mental breakdown as we
went through the Gospel according to Mark. It was the first time I read through an entire
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through the gospel I learned about God’s love AND the suffering
of Christ. As I came to the end of my own strength, my perspective changed when I learned
about Nero persecuting Christians for their faith. I was learning about persecution in the
morning and in the afternoon I was being faced with the reality of my daily struggles of
disciplining my time. I knew that there was something wrong with this picture and I was soon
coming to the conclusions that I was:1. Not qualified
2. Not going make it (finish homework)
3. Doubting my decision in coming to Taiwan.
All my doubts and insecurities surfaced and I kept asking myself these questions:
How am I suppose to do this for the next 9 months?
Are you sure you called me to SBS Taiwan?
What am I doing here?
How can the Lord use me when I’m not even able to get to class on time!?
Hope
While we were worshiping during base meeting, I felt the Lord say, “You have arrived.” It was in that moment when I realized that learning about God’s word was everything that I’ve always wanted. Yes SBS was academically way out of my comfort zone, but God is answering my prayer of wanting to know more about him through his word. After looking around the room, I opened my heart to receive the people God had placed in my life during these next 9 months. I felt a sense of hope. A hope in knowing that through each of his strategically chosen children that he has also called into SBS, through this community, I’ll somehow receive God’s promises for me this year.A promise to mature me in the word
A promise to grow me through perseverance
A promise of freedom in expression
This hope was enough to keep me walking, one foot in front of the other. For the first time I understood what it meant to rely on God for strength.
For freedom Christ has set us free;
stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1
FREEDOM
April 2017