Diving back in...

This week we have officially jumped back into language study!

Elise has long passed us up, and last week we were told by Taiwanese friends that Kenna's Chinese has also surpassed ours... so it is high time for Michael & I to get back at it!

The past couple of years we have focused on running Titus and working with SBS, which has been great and which we will continue to do, but we are going to take a break and work on our language for awhile, so that we can be more effective in what we feel called to here.

We are excited to finally be able to make some progress in our speaking, reading and comprehension -- though we know we have lots of long hours and work ahead of us!!

Termite Killers

About twice a year we have an invasion of flying ants - a.k.a termites!

They come in through the windows, cracks, airconditioner vents, and anywhere else they possibly can!

Usually all the walls of the house that have a window on them are literally crawling with hundreds of termites -- and we get to have fun for a few hours swatting, stepping, wiping -- trying to exterminate them all before we go to bed.

Here are Elise and Kenna self-armed for termite battle! We lost count after awhile -- but they got an awful lot!

One year we forgot about the laundry room -- and found the bottom of a laundry basket just crawling... and one of Michael's good shirts full of eaten-through holes. :P

Getting Around...

...so, 5 was do-able, but I think we may have officially outgrown our motorbike now with 6...!??!

Flying in 15 days!!

Well, the past few weeks have been a bit crazy (as usual around here)...

We have finished teaching in DTS, Amy finished 1 Timothy in the SBS, and Michael just has 2 Corinthians to go this week!

(photo: DTS class)

Then... it's back to the States! We arrive June 18 into Seattle, and will be driving to Montana a few days later. We are so excited and can't wait to see friends and family!

April 2006

The month of April was pretty crazy as far as being busy goes... but it was a also a great month! We ran our second Titus here in Taiwan and felt very privileged to once again train up more Bible teachers to go out! :-)

We sent the Titus team out mid-April to Cambodia, where they will be teaching seminars for pastors and church leaders on Inductive Bible Study and Bible Overview.

For reports from the team, visit YWAM Taiwan's web site at : http://www.ywamtaipei.com/ and click on the "Titus Blog".

Amy was very involved in the Training time -- teaching & leading the school, while Michael's time was divided between home (taking care of the girls), helping with Titus, and beginning another year of SBS staff.

SBS started up for the year the week after Titus began... so, as just mentioned, Michael's time was very divided between Titus, SBS, and home... but he managed :-).

The SBS this year in Taiwan has 26 students! This is exciting! We are hoping for a good crop of students from this year's class to come and do Titus next year. :-) Michael just finished teaching Luke in the SBS.

Right now he is busy grading, and studying for his upcoming teachings... Up next: in DTS - Character of God, and in SBS - 2 Corinthians. Amy has spent her time post-Titus trying to catch up on the house, clean & organize! She is presently at war with the extra house-guests we have right now (she doesn't mind the lizards as much as the few roaches we have spotted & the giant spiders [the last spider was 5 inches in diameter! ... yay...]) Amy is also presently working away studying for upcoming lectures/teachings. Up next: in DTS - Character of God, and in SBS - 1 Timothy.

The girls are enjoying the warm weather -- spending much time outside playing in our apartment complex's courtyard.

There are several families that live in our complex and after school the courtyard comes alive with activity! The girls love playing with all the other kids -- and it's good Chinese practice!! :-)

Elise has been going to Chinese preschool for the past 2 months -- and is greatly enjoying it. Her Chinese has really progressed and she is already teaching us new words and phrases (sigh...).

Kenna just got a bike for her 3rd birthday (April 30) and has already spent hours riding around outside. She has always been a bit daring and a bit of a risk-taker, and is still taking several spills, falling off of tall objects she has climbed, etc. -- but at least she hasn't knocked herself out recently. :-)

Anaya is another very easy-going baby (for which we are very grateful!), she loves to smile and "talk" and giggle at her sisters' antics. At present she is into chewing on everything she can get her hands on, pulling hair, and loves her rice cereal and carrots.

Blessings to you all!

Lots of love from Taiwan,

Michael, Amy, Elise, Kenna, & Anaya

Welcome!

Hello from Taiwan & WELCOME to our blog site!

Of course the idea here is to try to do better at keeping everyone more up-to-date with our lives...

We will try to post on a regular basis, so you may all check back at your leisure to see what's happening. :-)

We'd LOVE to hear from you, so leave us a note! :-)
Michael & Amy