Welcome to my Taiwan Blog!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to join me in my experiences as I serve at Bethesda.

I imagine there will be both good and hard times, but regardless, I am confident that the Lord has much in store as I step “out of my comfort zone.” I hope He has wonderful works for me to do for the sake of His gospel. I am excited to grow and be challenged in my faith as I help those who are much less fortunate than me.

This blog will be the one-stop place where I will be posting pictures and updates, hopefully each week, during the duration of my 3 months as a short-term missionary at Bethesda.

My apologies in advance for not responding right away to those who privately message me, although don’t get me wrong I hope you do still message me as it’s always nice to know that people care. The schedule at Bethesda is full, and I will be pretty busy working. I want to do my assigned jobs with an undistracted heart, and as unto the Lord, so being “unplugged” from devices will be necessary.

Let me just give a bit of background to why I came to this conclusion to leave my home for 3 months (without my parents) and go to a faraway country that I know nothing about. It doesn’t seem like a me thing to do, I know, and it took some time, prayer, and wisdom from my parents before I felt peace with the decision to go.

As many of you know, I was born in China and was adopted by Canadians who were working as missionaries. I had a blood condition called Beta-Thalassemia Major (if you don’t know what that is, Google will help you!), which required me to need a blood transfusion every 2-3 weeks and a nightly needle to help get rid of excessive iron caused by transfusions. In the end, I had 311 blood transfusions and a few thousand nightly needles!

In 2021, by the grace of God, we found my biological family. Our Chinese doctor and friend said it was like finding a needle on the bottom of the ocean. This feat seemed impossible to me, but as I am often reminded, nothing is impossible with God. He knew exactly where my biological family was and led us to them. In August 2021, I had a bone-marrow transplant with donated marrow from my biological sister! It is an amazing God story; be on the lookout; my mom is working to write a book about the whole story!

We have a good friend Mirjam; she speaks fluent Mandarin, and she travelled to Canada to help us communicate with my dad and sister and take care of them during the transplant time. Mirjam is now the director of Bethesda and invited me to visit her. I didn’t give it much thought until I was done with high school and was faced with the daunting question, “What are you going to do now?” The truth was, I had no idea. I had absolutely no desire to continue schooling; I needed a break. I had wanted to take a gap year and work and save up money, but I did not want to just laze around the house the days I was not working, and I knew my parents would not be happy with me “lazing” either.

We were presented with the idea again about me going to Taiwan; at first I brushed it off; I did not want to leave my home, my parents, my work, my family, my friends, or my church, but as I thought about it more, I saw it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I could just not pass up. Each of my siblings had gone on a mission trip as young adults, and I saw this as my opportunity.

I was also excited that I would be forced to use my Mandarin; having an online class for 50 minutes once a week but speaking only English on a daily basis doesn’t give me much practice let alone retain any new words I learn. I know being immersed in the culture will help me to improve my Mandarin.

Slowly but surely everything fell into place for me to have this opportunity become a reality. I have been accepted by Liberty Corner Missions Canada, and they have agreed to send me under their board. So here I am; in a short few months I’ll be in Taiwan.

I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have any fears going to Taiwan by myself; there was one big thing that constantly plagued my mind—navigating through the airports and travelling 13+ hours alone on a plane. I told this fear to my mom, and she said she would be willing to go with me. However, as I was texting with my friend one day, she told me she was sad that I would be leaving so soon and for so long. Her mom then jokingly suggested she go with me, and that got us thinking… long story short, one of my closest friends, Kajsa, has also been accepted with Liberty Corner Missions and will be accompanying me to Taiwan to serve at Bethesda for one month. I’m super excited, and I believe that this not only will be good for both our hearts but for our friendship as well. Our flight to Taiwan is February 6th 2025. We would really appreciate your prayers as we travel on this journey together :)

In conclusion, I believe that doing something big for others and those less fortunate than myself will help me practice my Christian beliefs and also cause me to see the world and its needs. At Bethesda, I will help care for kids, teens, and adults who have special needs. They are sometimes the “unwanted” in our world, and many, including me, can feel uncomfortable relating to and interacting with those with unique needs. It is my desire to show Christ’s love to them.

I hope you will be encouraged as you follow me on this journey, and may you also be inspired to reach out in love and kindness to those less fortunate.

May God bless you all.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Hosanna