A Sad Farewell

The end of SBS was truly an emotional experience for both of us. We were actually parted before the school was over so that Natalie could be in her best friend’s wedding in Salem, so she had to say an early goodbye to the wonderful SBS family we have come to know and love. It all came and went so fast, from the last few weeks of SBS, to Christmas, to our separation. As sad as the goodbyes were, being home for Christmas was a complete blessing for both of us and we are excited for what lies ahead. We’re sorry again for not posting while we were closer to the actual end of SBS, but it was literally a roller-coaster.

Anyway, our time at home together was beautiful and full of wonderful reunions. For those of you we were able to see together, it was so great! For those I missed (Analia), I am sorry, but you can hug Natalie instead for me. This year was incredibly significant for both our lives. We grew in relationship and friendship like never before, grew in our knowledge, understanding and application of the Bible, lived away from home (again) but this time together and more than anything, we both grew in our love for God and our resolve to follow after him wherever he calls us. Now, as we are separated by oceans and continents, we know that God will continue to do his work in and through us and we pray that you at home as well as those abroad are blessed by the ways we plan to serve and walk in obedience to God’s call on both our lives.

For me (Analia) it is difficult to write this, because it even further cements the end of my time with Natalie for this season. I will always treasure the time that we had together to grow and the things we both learned along the way. I have such a love for the Bible that I did not have before and my desire to teach it and share its truth is so great now. I feel so honored to be able to continue to grow in the Word in Taiwan, have the opportunity to teach, and be a part of seeing other people go through the same process I went through this last year.

I (Natalie) am also having a hard time writing since I already miss Analia so much. Being home is amazing and the opportunities I am being given to serve in are wonderful, but I also miss my family in Taiwan. I know God has prepared this time for me so I am excited for how God will use me among my family, friends and at church and as I look to the future and where he will be taking me this next year.

It is safe to say that both of us are much LESS funny since we are separated and no longer have the constant sisterly inside jokes and familiarity going on. Please forgive us if we stare off into the distance and start laughing at ourselves uncontrollably (we know for some this has always been the norm)… we’re just learning how to deal with the social aspects of life apart from one another. Aside from our general sister-ness, the fact that our entire world was wrapped up in studying the Bible also made for some very nerdy Bible jokes and conversations. Again, please forgive us as we make the transition back into the “real world.” Actually, I (Analia) am ok on this front because I’m still surrounded by other nerdy Bible people. Sucka! All this to say, we are so very grateful for all of you who faithfully read our blog over the past year and were hopefully both informed and entertained by it. Analia will have her own blog at analiachristine.wordpress.com for the time being, so feel free to keep up with her happenings there.

Until the next sister adventure,

Analia and Natalie

The last picture together before we were separated...

P.S. THANK YOU to all who were able to make it to our dessert night! We were completely overwhelmed by the amount of support we received and all the familiar faces who came out to see us and hear about our time in Taiwan. We were truly blessed.

The End (Almost), the Future and a Shout Out!

Four weeks from today, we officially graduate from SBS. It feels like Senioritis in November, and you can definitely sense its presence in the classroom. Each day of lecture holds a new level of insanity than the last. The challenge we are all facing is to not miss out on our last few weeks, because there is still so much to learn.

We have truly fallen in love with Taiwan, our class, and this season of sisterhood. Last weekend we had a fun time going out with some Taiwanese friends to the night market, which was a great… cultural experience 🙂 The highlight was chinese doctor medicine soup, which appeared to be broth, pork bones, and a hint of herb. Also, it is apparently election time in Taiwan, which is unlike anything we’ve ever experienced in the States. One would think that by not having access to TV, radio or newspaper in one’s language, one would be able to bypass certain unpleasant and unnecessary campaign ads. Unfortunately that is not the case. Where we are spared typical American campaign tactics, we are bombarded day and night with what can best be described this way: First, imagine the most terrible radio jingle you’ve ever heard. Now, translate into Chinese. Then, blast it through a megaphone attached to a moped that if not parked directly in front of your house or place of study, circles it continuously, only to move on when the next, more annoying, longer campaign jingle-carrying-moped comes by. You’ve reached an all-time low when you find yourself sub-consciously singing the jingle you’ve been trying to escape the one time it isn’t blasting. Well, for what it’s worth, the tactic is effective. And yes, we still love Taiwan, in spite of all this.

Anyway, true to our word, we would like to give an update about what is coming next for us. Both of us are coming home for Christmas, which we are incredibly excited for!

Natalie: I am coming home to volunteer and serve with the middle school youth group at our church, Salem 1st Nazarene. I have had an amazing time working with the youth the last two years and God has really put them on my heart as a ministry target for this season. I have missed being a part of their lives this year but I feel so much more equipped and God has given me so much more to offer the youth group as a whole. The middle school group has been growing and there is a great need for discipleship and staff, which I am very excited to help fill. Along with this I will continue to pursue my ultimate goal of studying counseling and psychology. SBS has really given me a passion for education that I never had before. God has opened my eyes to the intelligence and abilities he has given me that I have doubted my whole life. Where before I was pursuing higher education out of obligation, I now have desire, motivation and confidence to go beyond what I ever thought I could do. Ph.D. what what! (We’ll cross that bridge when it comes). My prayer for this next season when I am at home is that I really find a balance between how much of myself I give to serving at the church, committing to missions, pursuing education and finding a job. I want my life to be missions no matter where I am, but I truly hope this is not my last time in YWAM.

Analia: Well, I am also coming home for Christmas, but my stay at home will be considerably shorter than Natalie’s. Over this year God has really challenged me to be willing to invest and pursue the calling that he has put on my life. Ever since my DTS in ’06, my heart was really stirred up for cross-cultural missions as well as teaching and I think people who have been around me for any extended amount of time have also seen that. With that said, I will be participating in the Titus Project here in Taiwan, which is a program designed to train and equip people to teach the Bible. It starts at the very end of December and has a three-week lecture phase followed by an outreach in a nation that is in desperate need of sound Biblical teaching. Right now the possibilities of where I may go are Indonesia, Russia, Burma, India, Mongolia and the Dominican Republic. In these nations, the gospel has continued to spread, but there is a huge need for discipleship, equipping pastors and leaders and building up the body of Christ.  I am really excited about this because it will also prepare me for the step that comes after: I will be joining the SBS staff for the 2011 school here in Taiwan. As staff, I will teach, grade work, lead a small group and one-on-ones and continue to take part in YWAM Taiwan’s vision to reach the Taiwanese with the gospel. I have had some amazing times sharing with people throughout the year and have been recently picking up Chinese in my “free time,” so I am excited to be able to stay in Taiwan and invest in relationships that have been established. This commitment will last through March 2012, so it is definitely a more long-term commitment to missions and this calling God has put on my life.

With all of that said, we would like to formally (or informally) in vite those who are in the Salem area (or feel like traveling to the Promised Land) to a dessert night at our church (Salem First Church of the Nazarene on Market St.) on December 27th. We know it’s early notice, but consider it a save-the-date, as holiday schedules seem to fill up quickly. It will be a time to share about this past year and reconnect with everyone. For Analia, this will also be a time geared towards raising support and sharing about her next step. We know the holidays are busy but we hope this will be a great time to reconnect one-on-one with as many of you as we can during the short time we will have together before Analia goes back to Taiwan (More details to follow as the date approaches).

As always, we love you and miss you.

Analia and Natalie

P.S. Shout-out to our awesome school leader, Lachlan, whose highlight of our blogs is when we mention him. Holla! Lachlan! We ❤ U.

Last minute 80's birthday dance party, complete with a delicious pumpkin pie!

Remnant of Taiwanese medicine pork soup at the night market with our Taiwanese friends!

 

This is a lame blog (better late than never)

“How did that happen?!”

This is exactly what we just did as we checked the date of our last blog update… We are deeply sorry because we know how desperately curious everyone is about the ins and outs of our lives 🙂

Well, we started with 9 months and are now down to 6 weeks. Instead of looking at all the things that will come, we are now looking at the ending of our SBS racing toward us. These last few weeks will mark the end of not only hours and hours of seemingly endless study, but time spent with wonderful new relationships and the end of a sister era… This year has truly been a gift as much as it has been a challenge. As we look over the last 8 moths, we see how this year has been so much more than simply studying a book and working. God has challenged and shaped us and certainly been refining our lives and our relationships.

Here’s a summary of what we have done since we last blogged:

– Had our second and final week break of the year, which consisted of lots of sleeping, sister sleepovers and feeling like normal human beings who have socializing time.

– Had the founders of SBS, Ron and Judy Smith come teach the wisdom literature (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes and the oh-so-steamy Song of Solomon). It was definitely an honor to be able to hear them speak and spend time learning from them and getting to know them.

– Officially are now waist-deep into the prophets, major and minor. The two “beasts” as we now fondly call them, Isaiah and Jeremiah are now completed (Mind you, these both required 50+ hours of work to complete – what an accomplishment!). Woot! It’s crazy to think we started with 66 books, and now we have 13 left…

– Had a VERY successful costume party that happened to be on the 31st of October… It was so much fun and we were very impressed with all the incredible costumes, given that there are no costume stores or Goodwills handy to inspire good costumes.

So, as we are now in the final stretch of SBS, this of course makes us very excited about the fact that we will soon be home and hopefully seeing all your wonderful smiling faces. However, our hope and prayer is that we will not miss out on these last few precious weeks studying God’s word. We will update more next week about what God is teaching us and more importantly, what comes after SBS! Today for our Sabbath, we went into the city and had a pre-birthday sister date, which was quite lovely. To finish it off, we are having an all-girls 80’s dance party tonight, so we are very excited about that!

Until next time!

Analia and Natalie

p.s. Pictures from our sister date today… we had fun with the mirror by our table at the Indian restaurant!

 

Seasons of change…

So here at SBS, we’re all about studying the Word of God, learning the original context and purpose of the writings and then after that whole process, learning how to apply it to our lives. That’s the basic foundation of SBS. For the second half of this term we finished the Pentateuch (what an accomplishment!) and moved onto the history of Israel after coming into the Promised Land… which is not as bright and shiny as it should have been. Anyway, during the book of Judges, we were… inspired… to apply a verse we found… “And she called a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head.” (Judges 16:19)*

Application:

Needless to say, it was time for them to go. They were quite fun while they lasted… to look at. I (Analia) spent the majority of the time cutting them out and brushing out the dreads saying over and over again as Natalie wailed at the pain, “It’s ok! This is the LAST time you’ll ever have to do this!” This of course is much easier for me to say as it is not MY head they are attached to 🙂

Things Natalie took for granted about “normal” hair:

– The pleasure of lathering and shampooing

– People running their fingers through my hair

– People hugging me fully without trying to avoid a load of dreads in their face

– People being afraid to hug me because they are afraid my dreads smelled (which they didn’t!… Actually, you wouldn’t believe the amount of people who have said to me, “Wow, you are the only person I’ve ever seen who can actually smell good, look clean and good AND have dreadlocks!”)

– Running with the wind in my hair

– And finally, sleeping with my head actually touching my pillow

And the list can go on… All in all, it was a fun time while it lasted, all year and three months of it, but in this season of growth and change, it only seemed appropriate.

Anyway, this is now our final week before the break, which means we’ve been here a few days shy of six months, have successfully completed the entire New Testament (minus Matthew, our last book), the Pentateuch and Joshua thru Chronicles. Wow. And we feel it. It is definitely an exhausting amount of work, but the rewards have been incredible. This term has been quite different from the first term in the New Testament as we rewound thousands of years in time to trace God’s character and faithfulness to a completely unfaithful people. The nature of these books is completely different from the Epistles found in the New Testament, which are very focused on how to live for God, exhorting, teaching and encouraging lives of holiness. With the historical narratives of the Old Testament, the lessons are not explicit, but as we study and see God’s faithfulness, grace and mercy through each and every story we are completely blown away by how little our God was in our minds.

Through this term, we have traced a people that God chose for no other reason than to show them and the world who he is and his incredible love for people. God gave everything with no benefit to himself, other than the love that they people would return, should they choose to. It is heartbreaking to see God’s continual pursuit of disobedient, rebellious and prideful people who constantly turn away from the one being who will give them what they truly desire. The more unfaithful they become, the more God is revealed as completely faithful. And it is easy to write the Israelites off and think why God would even waste his time with people who are so wicked and defiant, and then we think about ourselves. We are the same. We have become so aware of the fact that on our own, we are just like them, with nothing good finding its origin within ourselves. The only good comes from God. Where we thought we would struggle with the reality of God’s wrath and judgment that seemed to epitomize the Old Testament, we have been blown away by his infinite mercy and grace that drips from each page and each story. The verse from Job (even though we haven’t actually studied it yet) comes to mind which says, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.” (Job 42:5). There is no other way to explain the revelation we are receiving of the God that we serve. The bigger he becomes the more we realize that there is no other choice for us than to give him our lives completely and serve him no matter the cost. He is truly worthy.

So I have one more story to tell (Analia) that just happened this past week. As we spend almost all our time, save three hours of babysitting and doing ministry per week studying the Bible, it is easy to get lost in the work and lose sight of the bigger picture. This week really brought me back to the purpose of all this studying: People. My ministry is doing evangelism here in our neighborhood of Dan Shui, and each week we do different things, from building relationships, to performances at the hospital and this week, we were at the riverfront doing a small performance and sharing testimonies. Our time was actually cut short by the security guard who said we could not perform without a permit, but he graciously gave us 10 extra minutes to share, and those ten minutes were all we needed. One of my friends had started talking to a young guy named Wade and his friends. They are all freshmen and were just hanging out before their night class, but as we shared with them our stories of hope and our message of hope in Jesus, this boy had a physical change come over him and he accepted Jesus right then and there. There was no big event of it, he just heard the truth and the message of hope and decided that he wanted it. It was such an incredibly encouraging thing to see, because with all of this time spent studying, I almost feel overloaded with revelation and knowledge and it does not feel right to keep it to myself. While we didn’t give him a lesson in the Inductive Method or teach him how to read the Bible, we shared with him the God whom we serve and I realized that that is the purpose of all of this. The message IS too good to be true, which is why we cannot stay silent and cannot keep it to ourselves. Praise God!

Ok, sorry about the length, as usual, we love you all and are so grateful to have people who care to read and share with us in this incredible experience. Happy Fall and back-to-school! We sure will miss the fall in beautiful Oregon!

Love,

Analia and Natalie

* We realize the story of Samson and Delilah does not quite capture the essence of Natalie’s dread-cutting, but it was enough to inspire us and now as we live under the new covenant, we believe it has actually given her a new sense of strength 🙂

Glistening Through the Old Testament…

Here’s the promised Part 2 of last week’s blog. We are now exactly in the middle of the Pentateuch and have also just about reached the halfway mark of SBS. It’s crazy to think it has already passed so quickly, but also amazing to know that we still have so much more to learn and absorb in these next few months.

We’re trying to stay cool these days, which means planning our days so that we stay in the classroom until at least 10pm, so that by the time we get home it is ok to turn on the AC’s in our rooms.  We like to say that we’re professional “glisteners.” One really nice thing is that we have a track just up the hill from where we live (Analia… Natalie lives pretty much as far away as you can get) and study and there is also a trail along the river, so we are able to run and release some of the… study tension. Let’s just say it’s quite different than the occasional embarrassing sweat patch you find at the air-conditioned gym… it’s more like the embarrassing dry patch you find when you get home.

Anyway, true to our word, we’d like to give you a small look at what God has been teaching us and working in us recently. Sometimes it’s overwhelming just how much God is doing and because of the nature of how much work we do, it’s easy to finish a book, start the next and not really fully process what we’ve learned and been challenged with.

God has been teaching me (Natalie) so much through the Old Testament. I never really wanted to read the Old Testament because I thought that I would find a God that is different from the God that I knew in the New Testament. But I was so wrong. Our God has been the same since the beginning of time. His heart is and always has been to be in relationship with his people and that truth, once it sank in, really blew me away. After studying Genesis and learning more about the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) I came to find that these guys were not anything special. They were messed up guys that God chose. God made a promise to Abraham and even though there were many times that God could have and should have gone back on his word, because he is God and because he is faithful he stayed true to his word and still blessed Abraham. Abraham was the patriarch that blew me away the most. I never realized that before God came to him, he didn’t even know who God was. It was through a progression of God revealing himself that Abraham began to understand who God was and that God was the one and only Almighty God. God was right by Abraham’s side, showing him his faithfulness and grace, but most of all building a relationship with him. I realized how my life in a way really matches up with Abraham’s. Having given my life to God at a young age, I didn’t really know who God was until I was probably in middle and high school. Since then God has been revealing himself to me little bit my little bit and the more he reveals himself to me the deeper my relationship with him goes. These last four months have been some of the best four months of my life. I have gotten to know the character of the God that I love and have been able to go deeper with him in relationship. I have come to the realization that I will never ever become satisfied with my knowledge and understanding of who God is. He is infinitely greater than my mind can grasp and every day is a journey with him. I know that there is no end to knowing and falling in love with him. I am so excited that I have the rest of my life to honor, serve and follow my God.

….

This year has definitely been a challenge for me (Analia) on so many levels. I have been challenged in my relationships, in my trust in God’s provision, in my work ethic, in my definition of what success is and in what I want the sum of my life will be. It was an amazing thing to study the life of Paul through his letters and come to find that the man that is so glamorized by the church really had an incredibly difficult life. He was not only stoned, imprisoned, beaten numerous times, but also deserted and betrayed, left standing alone even at the end of his life. Many people would say they want the amazing ministry that Paul had, but if you really look at his life, it was marked by incredible difficulty right up to the end. As I studied through the beginning of the New Testament, many of my prayers were, “God, I want to be willing to do what Paul did, but I know in my heart I would fail. Help me be willing. “

It was the book of Revelation that really changed my heart. I think so many people are afraid of the book, and to be honest I kind of was as well, but as I went through it I realized that it was not a story of destruction and damnation as is the picture many people get from it, but one of incredible mercy, hope, and victory with the promise of life.  I used to look at life and see it as sinful man’s struggle to reach back to God, because it was we who messed up and it was we who were trying to get back to him. But then I realized that the entire story of the Bible is God reaching down to man, in spite of man, and bringing him back to himself because loves him. It has nothing to do with our merits and everything to do with his ridiculous love for us. The culminating event of history will be the day when the separation due to sin is done away with once and for all and the dwelling of God will be with man forever and there will no longer be anything that can separate us from him. When I realized this and that everything points to our union with God himself one day, I realized that I have to live my life with the perspective that whatever I do here translates into eternity. I don’t want to come to the end of my life and have to look my Savior in the eye and say that my personal comfort was worth more to me than his call on my life. He is worthy of everything. It will not be an easy road, but as I discover more and more who God is through his Word, I realize that even with the struggles, there is nothing that compares to knowing him and knowing that he is in control. I know I can trust him with whatever the future holds because he has held this crazy world together so far. He is infinitely gracious, merciful, loving, compassionate and faithful and has been since before time. I cannot wait to discover more of his character through the rest of the Bible.

Thanks for reading and supporting us. As usual, we love and miss you all. It means so much to get emails, comments, updates and any form of love. We are seeing more and more each day how everything that we learn here is not ultimately for us or about us, but is so that we can take this incredible gift of what we’ve learned and pour it out on those who are hungry for truth.

Until next time!

Love,

Analia and Natalie

A dozen “egg”cuses…

Here we sit all brokenhearted, came to blog, but only charted…

This is our official apology for the two-month hiatus we unintentionally took from blogging… it is really crazy how fast time flies. We can’t believe we’ve already been here four months and only have five months left! Since our last blog we had a week-long break, finished the New Testament and finished the first book of the Pentateuch, Genesis! No wonder “egg”hausted!

So here is short little update about our first term: We finished at the end of June and our break came at the perfect time, since our brains had been fried and scrambled… it was about time we went sunny side up! We spent the week taking it over-easy, staying up late, sleeping in, and feeling semi-normal again. We went camping on the eastern side of the island by the beach, to the zoo, saw Toy Story 3 (which was AMAZING), and explored different parts around Taipei. It was a really great week and perfectly refreshing to get us geared up for the second term.

We started the second term with the books by John, being the Gospel of John, 1, 2, & 3 John, and Revelation. Having said goodbye to Paul weeks earlier with the last of his books, it was nice to get to know another Bible Superstar like John. We think he’d be the best grandpa ever (except for ours, of course!). We love him (read his books, he’s all about love). One fun thing we got to do was instead of “charting” through 2 & 3 John, we got to prepare our own teachings on one of the books and give them to a small group from our school. Somehow we ended up in the same group, so that was fun. After a fantastic omelet breakfast (mad props to the school leader, Lachlan), we got to skype mom and dad in to listen to our teachings. We had an “egg”cellent time hanging out with mom and dad for a couple of hours. Natalie even ate mushrooms in the omelet, so we’re proud of how much she is growing up.

We are really loving Taiwan more and more every day, however every time we see pictures from summer at home, we’re reminded of summers with friends and family and no humidity and we miss you, Oregon. Oregon being everyone, everything and everywhere in Oregon. We love you all.

Today we spent our Sabbath going to see Inception, which is the best movie we could have ever dreamt of seeing… (haha), topped off with homemade spaghetti, salad and cookies.

Please “egg”cuse us for being so behind on our blogging. Both of us have some great things that God has been teaching and challenging us in and next week we will try to finish up with a “part 2.”  We love you all and miss you all!!! Till next week!

Analia and Natalie

P.S. We have no idea “egg”actly why, but these egg puns just came over-easy… 🙂

We bought hats for the beach! Mom, aren't you so proud?

Salmonella and Saint Paul

Hey everyone, all is well on the Taiwanese front!

After five nights in the hospital, I (Analia, obviously) was finally released to go home. Actually, when the doctor came that fifth day, he offered to extend my stay two more days if I felt more comfortable at the hospital instead of at home… hmm. No thanks. Especially after being stuck with an IV a grand total of ten different times. I have really really weak veins and apparently not one nurse in the entire hospital had dealt with a patient with this condition… well at least that’s what my observation was. Anyway, after the tests were finished, the official diagnosis was a fairly severe case of Salmonella. The doctor thinks it was due to some dodgy cookie dough I ate the day before my symptoms began. Whatever the culprit was, I guess in this climate Salmonella and E-coli really flourish. Now, I’m fully recovered, minus some muscles that were already depleting from all the sitting and studying. It’s ok though! It’s all worth it! I’d like to give a big shout-out to the amazing Natalie who took care of me when my mother was dying to be here. She’s quite amazing. Also to my roommate, Michaela who spent one of the nights in the hospital with me. She’s so great! (Natalie spent all the other nights with me, helping me manage my pet IV whenever I tried to go anywhere) All in all, I was totally blown away by the love and support from everyone here and at home and had visitors every day I was in the hospital, which made me feel very loved (maybe it was the air conditioned building they were all interested in…).

Anyway, having missed three books throughout the whole time I was sick (almost two weeks), I was really challenged with what the true definition of success is. One of the thoughts I had in the hospital was, “Oh no, I’ve missed these books, which means I haven’t done everything, which means when I get to the end, I really haven’t finished and I’m a failure.” But really, the point of being here in SBS is not about what I can say I’ve checked off a todo list, but about how I am and will be transformed by the Word of God. And this whole “being transformed” is not even ultimately for me, it’s so that I can use what I am gaining and being given for others and sharing with them what I have. I was completely humbled by all of the people – staff, students, sister, who took care of me and loved me, showing what it really means to serve and love another person. I hope I can do the same.

So we have just begun our 14th book (2nd Corinthians), with only 3 more weeks left in this first term. We can’t believe how quickly this time is going by! We only have one more week left of studying the letters of Saint Paul, which is very sad for us. Throughout this term and studying the life and letters of Paul, we feel like we actually know him now. We have been so challenged by his heart for the gospel and the churches he fathered and lead. Before, we often had the mentality that his letters were harsh, demanding, sexist, impersonal, legalistic and put unrealistic expectations on the churches he was writing to (if you’re not familiar with them, they are the books like Galatians, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Romans, pretty much anything ending in “ians”). Now, with a fuller understanding of the context of each letter he wrote and who he was writing to and his heart for each church, our perception is so different and completely opposite what we once thought. We are far from understanding everything we’ve read (in fact, we may have more questions), but we understand the heartbeat of the letters and by understanding the letters more fully, we understand the heart of God more fully and are being changed and challenged as a result. It truly is an amazing process to go through. And we still have 54 books left to do!

Now you might be wondering if we actually do anything other than get admitted to hospitals and study the Bible. Well, believe it or not, we had a girls night! Yes, we have only had one, but it was wonderful. About 13 of us girls went into the city last night, enjoying a meal at Chili’s (YES, they have a Chili’s!), followed by a super girly movie (Letters to Juliet… it’s a renter) and of course, Haagen Dazs ice cream. It was a night to be remembered and such a great way to unwind after a busy two months. We felt like normal people!

In conclusion, we’re both very excited to be where we are right now. Analia is especially excited to no longer be taking what had become the bane of her existence while in the hospital: Smetca, a horrible sweet chalky substance to be dissolved in water and then swallowed.

Until next time,

Analia and Natalie

Sandwiched between Tweedle Snot and Tweedle Phlegm

As many of you may or may not have heard, Analia is not feeling so well. She has been sick with a bacterial infection and a fever for 6 days. There were a handful of people from our school (myself included) that were sick this weekend with similar symptoms so we assumed it was just some bug or a bad meal.  After 2½ days of not feeling well and still having a fever, she and couple other of the sick girls went to a local clinic, where they gave her medicine to treat the symptoms. But when Analia’s symptoms didn’t get any better, our staff took her to the hospital (Wednesday).

They ran tests in the ER to try and find out what the problem was and after confirming that it was a bacterial infection, they admitted her overnight. She could end up being in the hospital up to three days at this point. The doctors are keeping her on an IV since she had lost a lot of fluid and she is on antibiotics and taking medicine to control her fever.

On a positive note, everyone in our school has been so wonderful during this time, sending notes of love and encouragement to her and while she was still at home, all her housemates took great care of her. I might win the best sister award though, having stayed the night with her in the hospital, but I don’t want to brag or anything. We’re learning many of the differences between Taiwanese hospitals and American hospitals… apparently toilet paper is not supplied in every hospital room, but luckily we looked pathetic enough they gave us some. Also, we’re in a three-person room and as the title says, sandwiched between to very loud breathers with some very… loud issues. Thankfully we are able to find the humor in some of these situations.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers and love, they are so needed and appreciated. We’ll update as we find out more. Let’s get her better!

Us livin' it up Taiwanese Hospital style, please note the amazing Jesus Band-Aid

Five down, sixty-one to go…

Analia and Natalie, SBS students in Taiwan, by the will of God,

To the saints who are in Cyberland, and are faithful readers of our blog.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ *

Please forgive us for taking such a long time to finally write another blog! We looked at each other the other day and could not believe that we have now been here over 5 weeks! Where did the time go? We know exactly where it went… into the abyss of endless studying, that’s where. It is now normal for us to spend 8 hours of continual studying after class each day. It’s like a full-time job! Without the pay… but we love it!

We have now successfully completed five books, and are starting the Book of Acts on Monday. Last week was especially challenging, being faced with our biggest book so far, and adding to the mix 3 hours of work duties and 3 hours of ministry, which is now a part of our weekly schedule. Though the extra activities challenge our scheduling, it forces us to be diligent with time management. And our work duties really are great, because both of us have the privilege of babysitting for two different families on staff here in Dan Shui. Natalie spent her “work duty” eating Tillamook cheese, Chinese takeout, drinking hot chocolate and watching American Idol, while Analia spent two hours rocking a crying baby… hmm (Analia really does love the baby).

Even with all our studying, we have been faithful to observe our Sabbath day, which means no studying at all, and has never been so needed before. Some of the fun things we’ve been able to do are: family dinners on Sunday nights with classmates, Easter Sunday breakfast, complete with pancakes and worship time, funfetti birthday cake for Natalie’s 21^st (courtesy of the best mom in the whole world), group work-outs with the amazing Jillian Michaels, and running down by the river (to avoid our bodies growing as much as our Bible knowledge).

Now to the question we’re sure you’re all dying to know… what about the guys?

Well, let us break it down for you: 1) there’s Paul – super passionate, godly man, willing to risk everything for God, has an incredible gifting in mentoring others 2) Titus – a little young, but incredibly mature spiritually, and is leading a lot of ministries around the island, roommates with Paul, so that’s a little tricky 3) Luke – a doctor by trade and very intelligent (could definitely provide when the times get tough), thinks things through thoroughly, but is very sensitive to the Holy Spirit and has a servant’s heart, which we all know is really attractive. Currently, Analia is pretty interested in Luke, Natalie totally has a crush on Titus, and Analia’s roommate has the hotts for Paul. All three of these guys are amazing and we’ve really enjoyed getting to know them.

If you’d like to know more about any of these amazing dead bachelors, please feel free to refer to the New Testament.

On a final note, we really are doing amazingly well here. Both of us have been challenged so much by the Truth we are reading and can see God working in our hearts daily. Though we are missing the comforts of home and all of you amazing people, there truly is nowhere else we would rather be. This is such a precious time that we have and we really are digging for the gold of God’s heart.

Peace be to the brothers and sisters and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our blog with love incorruptible**

Until next time, which might be quite some time,

Analia and Natalie

*Adapted from Ephesians 1:1-2,

**Adapted from Ephesians 6:23-24.

P.S. We’re pretty sure we had more fun writing this blog than any of you will have reading it, so sorry… we were told when we got here that after 9 months of studying the Bible, you lose all social skills and the ability to relate to the real world…

Color coding for hours with great new friends (Michaela, Analia’s roommate, Cathrerine in the back and Danika to the left)

Starbucks for Natalie’s birthday!

A color coded Bible!

The Easter morning feast

Natalie’s two birthday cakes! Complete with homemade frosting and apple-cented votives for candles!

Charts, Spaghetti and Qui-Gon Jinn

Analia and Brandon, a fellow Oregonian!

Bubble tea!

Natalie, Naphtalie and Analia on the MRT heading to downtown Taipei

So we did it! We made it through our first week of SBS!… and we’re still alive! It was definitely a week full of many new faces, foods and formulas. On average, our classroom is full of about 80 people, including staff, with almost 20 different nationalities represented. One exciting thing is that there are a number of students from countries that are usually the target nations for missions and here they are being trained to minister to their own people and the other nations to which God is calling them. Mongolia, Vanuatu, India, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and Korea are some, to name a few. We have met so many amazing people in the short time we’ve been here, and we are quickly becoming a new family. It is so incredible to be a part of worship services and prayer times when different languages and cultures are all lifting praises to our one awesome God.

This first week we learned “The Method” (dun dun duuuuun) through studying the book of Galatians. Natalie and I can both confidently say that even though we’ve read the book of Galatians many times before, we feel as though this is the first time.

Here’s an idea of the kind of work we do here at SBS: 1: we start out each book with an out-loud reading, no breaks 2: a second read-through with color coding (fun!), where we highlight any of up to 28 specific observations 3: third read-through we give a 4-word paragraph title (PT) of each paragraph of the book 4: insides, where we put further summaries of the PT sections into a chart picking out the key verses and then 5: outsides, which is the meat of it all, includes finally, interpretation and personal application. Oh yeah, and then between steps 2 and 3, there’s the BRI (Background Required Information), which is an in-depth research of as much context for the book as possible (culture, geography, history, authors, original readers, etc.). Whew. And this is the paraphrased version! To say the least, this year is going to be A TON of work. The great thing though, is that we are not studying just some history book, we are studying the Word of God and get to be rocked by it in the process! It’s also nice to know that we’re not alone in this beautiful madness.

So food is always a fun experience here! From street vendors, to dumplings (pot stickers), to Thai, to paninis, to bubble tea, there are many different options for food. Still, when Saturday night came, we found ourselves wandering the Wellcome supermarket, starving, until we stumbled upon something that changed everything: Prego. Spaghetti night! We thought to ourselves that this was the perfect solution, intending to sneak back home and keep the goodness a selfish secret… and then we ran into our new dear brother, Tim. While we were trying to preserve our resources, God showed us that he is our provider and it’s his spaghetti to share, not ours to hoard. So of course, Tim was invited to dinner. And let us tell you, it was not only a delicious meal, but full of wonderful fellowship and even stretched to feed five instead of two, with leftovers! (the extra two partakers were our new favorite married couple from Seattle, Brian and Ashley Diehl) A meal shared truly is a meal enjoyed. And that lesson wasn’t even from studying the Bible!

On a final note, we are trying to pick up the language little by little, learning phrases like, “wai dai” (take-out), “nee how” (hello), “Yesu eye nee” (Jesus loves you), and “shea shea” (thank you), to list a few. Impressed? We thank you. Natalie really deserves props for trying this week, for at one point, I asked her where we were going and she replied, “Qui-Gon Jinn”… who is a Star Wars character, if you weren’t aware… not exactly a location in Dan Shui…

Anyway, thank you for all the comments and reads, we love loving you all 🙂 Until next time!

Analia and Natalie

p.s. Mom is on facebook officially now, so look her up! Coolest mom in the world…wide web!