Tales from Taiwan #19

Dear sisters,

The other day I woke up and realized that I couldn't open my eyes!  With much effort, I managed to pry one eye open and stumble around the room to get ready for the day, praying that my other eye would open soon.  When it still wouldn't open 30 minutes later, my teammate came to the rescue and taught my class as the school nurse tried to help me.  Long story short, I ended up in the eye doctor's office and found out that my eyes had become inflamed and irritated because I had worn contacts too long the day before!  The eye doctor finally got my eye to open after applying some medicine.

I came back to the school, feeling slightly silly at having to go to the doctor just because I wore contacts too long the day before but then I realized something - my team came to the rescue when I needed it.  I'm so thankful to have these two ladies serving with me and that day really highlighted how the body of Christ works.  We need each other!  My eye couldn't see so my one teammate used her hands to lead me to the car.  I couldn't teach my class so my other teammate stepped in and did it for me.  That day leaves me feeling grateful for how God put us together to serve and love each other.

When it's functioning properly just like a healthy body should, the body of Christ is a beautiful thing to behold.

Just like at my local church, they serve us by providing English translation for the service.  Sure, my Chinese is a lot better now but I'm still not fluent and sometimes need the extra help to understand what the pastor is preaching on.  It's something I can't do myself - I need someone else to translate for me.  This is the body of Christ.  We rely on each other and help each other.  We are there to support, pray and encourage.

So this week, I pray that God will continue to open your eyes to how you can be a working part of the body of Christ.  Not only that but how you can be open to others helping you.  Give and receive, sisters, that's the secret to joyful living.

Give and receive.

For Him in Taiwan,
Joanna