Operation Jericho

Hi

I have been praying and researching about a possibility of leaving Taiwan again in pursuit of opportunities to reach out to Muslims, but to experience other cultures at the same time. I have a few options however I want to commit this to prayer. I am sure that God would be delighted for me to leave Taiwan and receive opportunities to reach out to Muslims, and also to live the life that I am meant to live, and use the gift that are given to me by God for the benefit of mankind. My options now is to study for a master’s degree in either Geology or Chemistry. I hope to do this in Europe because the tuition of some countries are very low and it allows me the opportunity to get to know other students, many of whom will be Muslim, in order to fulfill the goals of reaching out to them, but also developing my God-given gifts to its fullest potential. In order for me to study in Europe, I must learn their language and take a language test (similar to TOEFL, but for German, French, Danish, etc.). My options now are to get enough money for 2 months of language study tuition, which I have, and enough for the cheapest forms of accommodation that are available for a period of time (2 months) even if it means sacrificing certain comforts. I have found a language school in Berlin which only requires around 300 euros a month for intensive language studies which is enough to get a language study visa. Some have suggested studying language in Taiwan, which I will while I am still here, if a free language class is available in German, however I will attend the Spanish class next week at the rock. I do feel however in order to be most effective in learning German, I must be in an environment where using German is mandatory, and not many people speak English in Berlin which is the perfect environment for this kind of thing. My plan is to study language for around 1 year, then take language tests and apply for a university.

Now I want to request a prayer from you guys. Please pray for God to reveal to me the proper timing for this kind of thing, because I have to make the plan at least 6 months ahead of time in order to allow for things such as visa and other administrative work, and I would prefer to go during an off season in order to save on travel costs (and alleviate any possible headache from not being able to find a flight). Also pray that if God wants me to go now (I can set things into motion now, might not be able to leave tomorrow but I should be able to in 3 months) that God will provide me financially during my time there, either through donation, goodwill, work opportunities, or even something as amazing as manna (like a YWAM base in China finding over 10,000 USD inside a loaf of bread they bought with the last money they had).

Finally I ask for your forgiveness for anything that I might have said, or done that is not within the character of Christ.

Amen.

This week I did not do much until the middle of the week. I helped out Pastor Jeff of Oasis church in Taipei with materials and installation of curtains for a special ministry the church was doing. Later on I discussed about a friend I have who gave me a Gibson Les Paul Custom for repair. The guitar was well worn due to years of rock n roll lifestyle, and someone at some point had dropped the guitar causing the headstock to break. To make matters worse someone tried to “fix” it by drilling a wood screw to hold the break together, which obviously affects playability and sound, but detracts from its value as well. In short this guitar needs a lot of work and money to restore it to its former glory. I got into a discussion with someone else about the guitar owner’s inability to make a decision about his life, and I have decided that in order to motivate the owner of this guitar to take control of his life and do something, I am willing to sacrifice my plane ticket to Europe or DTS in order to invest in tools and equipments as well as supplies needed to bring this guitar back to its former glory. Basically what I will do is glue the break with epoxy, which is simple enough, but in order to prevent future breaks in that area I decided it needs reinforcements in the form of wooden splines that are inlaid into the joint, and since this inlay will not look pretty or original I decided I need to paint a burst around that area in order to hide it. After all this is said and done (will take a few months), this guitar will look as though it never broke in the first place, and it shouldn’t break in the future either. The equipments (which I had sold previously due to desperation) I need is an air compressor (at least 4CFM), a spray gun, a laminate trimmer with a 1/4″ bit, and some saws and possibly a plane for shaping the actual wooden “Popsicle stick” reinforcements. I have an estimated budget of about 10,000NT (around 300US) which is about how much it costs to have this guitar fixed by a luthier. Who knows, I may be able to fix guitars for a living from now on..