Hosanna Crowell

Warning: this blog post is super long. Life-changing. If I could describe the conference in one word, it would be that word. I had an amazing time. So much happened that I hope I can interestingly describe all that occurred without dragging on and on. I will break down each day as a whole and dive deeper into each workshop I attend. However, before I start, I hope and pray that this topic challenges you to think differently like it has caused me. Friday, March 14th: I woke up at 3:30 am, an hour early than needed, because I was[...]

Culture shock is always the big question when one comes to a new place, how and when will you adjust to the differences surrounding you? During one of our team meetings, Mirjam spoke about it, since it was Kajsa and my first time living in another nation for a long period of time. I find it very interesting to see how different Taiwan is compared to Canada, and I would be as bold to say the difference is pretty huge. I wouldn't say I have had too much of a culture shock, as I've been to China several times before[...]

Happy March! I've been here for one month; it’s crazy to think about that. I love it in Taiwan; it is beautiful here. You have the oceans, mountains, and forests all in one place! It has also been great serving the residents at Bethesda and becoming friends with them. I've had some time to myself, but I'm super busy with working, choir practices, drama practice, and watching dance practice, as well as hanging out with Kajsa and others, which leaves hardly any time to find spare time. I do still enjoy finding time to read, watch shows, shop, work on[...]

As I mentioned before, there are 110 residents living in Bethesda. It is a place that cares for kids/teens/adults who have special needs, whether physical or mental, and provides them with real-life skills while also teaching them about God. Bethesda is very well run, everything is extremely organized. This is the Monday-Friday schedule for the House of Hope residents: 7 am the residents get up. They have to make sure their area is clean and make their beds. 7:30 am is breakfast which the residents do themselves. 8 am they go to their workshops. 12 pm is lunch. 1 pm they[...]

Busy. Busy. Busy. This is the best word to describe Bethesda right now. This week was especially busy though, because we did many activities with the residents and had several guests arrive. Here is a recap of each day this week: Saturday: We took 20 Bethesda residents to an opening ceremony for baseball directed at people with special needs. The residents, who had never played baseball before, had so much fun hitting a ball with the bat, running around the bases and cheering each other on! But the biggest excitement was the McDonald’s they got afterwards haha. Every Saturday for[...]