Video from Titus South Africa!

De Wet & Marysol Blomerus lead our Titus Project in South Africa.  Our vision in Titus is "...to train up School of Biblical Studies graduates in teaching & preaching and mobilize them into areas where Bible training is greatly needed..." (from our mission statement).  They definitely mobilize their students into areas where Bible training is greatly needed: this particular Titus went to Swaziland, Tanzania, and the local townships in Cape Town, South Africa.

Here is a video from some of the local pastors they worked with, speaking about the need for solid Bible teaching & training.


Bible Teaching Need in South Africa: Local Pastors Speak from De Wet & Marysol on Vimeo.

Video credit: De Wet & Marysol Blomerus
Music credit: West African Soukous by All Star Drum Ensemble


De Wet & Marysol have a great web site -- you will be inspired if you take a minute to check it out. :-)  Recent posts from their site we have really enjoyed:
5 photos: a peek into ministry
Who gets saved from Leviticus?
Titus Project South Africa Begins!

Hot Off The Press!

Here is the latest Titus Times from Taiwan!  Enjoy! :)
A big thanks to Rachel for putting this together!

Titus Times Taiwan July 2009

A Day (well just a morning+) at the Doctor's

Pediatricians have their work cut out for them when they practice in Taiwan!

I took Anaya back for a check up this past Sat. morning to see how her pneumonia was progressing (well, hopefully regressing that is!) As we were sitting at the hospital waiting our turn (several times over ... you'll see what I mean in a minute!), I got to thinking how going to see the doctor here is a bit different to back home!

First of all, when you make an appointment, they don't give you a time to show up, they give you a number.  One has to give his best guess on what time to show up -- you could be an hour or more early if you haven't guessed correctly (or if it's taking longer than usual to see all the patients).  Or, you could be late, and in that case they might finish seeing all the other patients on the list before coming back to you.  Most of the time you just sit around and wait, trying to entertain your kids for long periods of time while the screen outside the doctor's door that lets you know whose turn it is beeps up one number at a time until it's your turn. 

On this particular morning, there were 4 pediatricians seeing patients simultaneously.  Anaya's doctor had 66 patients on his list (posted outside on the door).  We were #57.  Before arriving, we did our best to guess what time we should show up: "If the clinic opens at 9:00 and the doctor sees about 1 patient every 5 minutes, then... wait..., if we're #57, one patient every 5 minutes puts us way past lunch time... ok, how about one patient every 3 minutes... (calculating)... ahhh... let's just try showing up at 11:00 and see what happens..."

We showed up, & yes, waited an hour, then went in and saw the doctor for about... 3 minutes (if that)!  Then, on to the registration desk to pay.  Here's another thing a bit different to back home -- there's not just one desk -- there's seven desks operating full-time!  We had to take a number -- our number was behind 89 other people who were waiting in line ahead of us.  So, we sat down again...  After paying (which was much more expensive this time than usual: $15 - normally it costs us about $3 to take the kids to the doctor here, & that includes medicine, but this time Anaya's antibiotics were self-pay) we went to stand in line for her meds.  This line wasn't too bad and we only had to wait about 10 minutes -- but I did notice we were number 992 for the morning. :-P

Yes, Taiwan has lots of people!  Can you imagine being a doctor here, showing up to work & being given your list for the morning with 66 (we've seen a list with 106 names on it before!) people to see?  Then lunch break (yeah, right), and on to another set of patients for the afternoon! 

I thought describing a day at the doctor's here might be semi-amusing to all our family & friends who live in less-densely-populated areas, and also to those in the States, where going to the doctor costs a small fortune! :)  Please don't read any of this as a complaint in any way -- we really appreciate the health care we get here!

(And by the way, Anaya is getting better! :-))

Blogging Bonanza!

There's nothing like a late-afternoon cup of coffee to help oneself get caught up on a few things after the kids have gone to bed.  I've been wanting to update our Blog site for eons now, so I intentionally had 2 cups of coffee this afternoon for that very purpose!  The kids are all sleeping,  and now, several hours later -- (it's 2:34am - I'm going to be in trouble when Michael reads this in the morning!) --  I think I've done it!  6 new posts!!

I had several Drafts which have been saved for some time now, written at various times but not yet up & available for reading.  I finally uploaded some pictures & videos to go with them, changed a few words here & there, wrote a brand-new post, and got them all PUBLISHED! :-)

"New" posts start back at June 30.  Happy reading!  I'm off to bed!!

Back to School, Off to School!, & Home from School (with Pneumonia)!

Monday, Aug 31 was a big day.  It was the first day back to school.  Elise went off to 3rd grade, and Kenna to 1st grade!

BUT, that's not all!  A very BIG change for us is that we decided to start Anaya & Nathan at "preschool"!!  As we will be leading the upcoming Titus in January (and there is lots to do in preparation for that), and as Michael is still full-time on SBS staff, we felt this would help with two things: 1. allow Amy (me) to devote a good 3 hours each morning to working on Titus (both local & international) and 2. get Anaya & Nathan started on their way to understanding & speaking Chinese. :-)

I will be honest:  I was rather excited for this day to come.  Imagine 4 1/2 hours of morning all to myself, 5 days of the week!  Oh, the things I could get done!  My plans were grand!

I was really enjoying my new morning schedule -- up at 5:40, kids out of bed at 6:30, breakfast, make lunches, get everyone organized and out the door, By 8:00 I was working hard on the house & at 9:00 was on to Titus stuff for the next 3+ hours (I wanted to be a very good steward of this time!)   In the afternoon, I was then able to totally concentrate on the kids, plus get a few more things done around the house. :-)

Just 3 days later, however, Anaya was back home with a fever & sudden deep chest cough.  Next day: still had fever & cough.  Following day: Nathan gets a fever & throws up.  4th day: Anaya's fever continues.  Nathan has fever, but still lots of energy.  5th day: Take kids to doctor.  Anaya has chest x-ray which confirms she has pneumonia.  Nathan gets tested for H1N1 (comes back negative :-)).  Doctor says Anaya needs to stay home for a week, Nathan two more days.  Day 6-7: Anaya & Nathan get out every glass in the cupboard, spill water on the floor countless times, there is food on the floor, playdough mashed into the floor, toys all over the floor, and they are fighting like crazy!  So... mom goes a little crazy too...

I think first there was the excitement (After 8 years, what am I going to do with such a big chunk of time?  Lots! :-)),  a bit of guilt (are we really doing the right thing?), then, disappointment (it's only been 3 days, and already "my plans" have come to a halt).  Though a challenging week, it has been a good week too -- God is Sovereign & all things work for good. :-)

Nathan is now back to "school", Anaya is doing much better and will be back to school soon, & I will continue to learn about patience, grace, being joyful & thankful in all circumstances, and that God's ways are higher than my ways!