Yes, starting tomorrow for ‘freshmen’ ~ 2 x 2 days of welcome activities for new students… Fortunately the sun is out, always makes a difference, and the campus is looking great! Praying for all the new students, their families, and all our staff and students as we prepare to start classes next Monday ~ the new academic year is starting up, YES! Continue reading St. John’s University ~ New Academic Year 2015
Thought you might to see what I found chilling today at St. John’s University ~ a Batocera rubus albofasciata, otherwise known as a Mango Longhorn Beetle ~ looks kinda handsome but turns out to be a pest, as it bores into trees and munches its way through them…. Turns out to be quite common in Taiwan, but if even one turns up in Europe, it’s a mega-crisis, with special monitoring in place….. Beauty ‘n the Beast? Here they’re combined in one ~ ah, the Beauty of a Beast! Continue reading Beauty of a Beast…
This summer’s News is dominated by tragic reports of thousands and thousands of refugees and migrants, mostly from Eritrea, Syria and Afghanistan, trying to cross the Mediterranean and get into Europe, and then those already in Europe trying to get to a place that will accept them. The best comment I have come across comes from Bishop Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham, Diocese of Oxford, writing from the UK and reflecting the overwhelming feeling of my Facebook News feed…. “..We started a war in the Middle East, radicalised Iraq (which was a largely secular state), caused a flood of refugees out into … Continue reading Refugee and Migrant Crisis….
After weeks and weeks of rain, suddenly the most beautiful weather for the weekend ~ and the whole of Taipei spent yesterday on Yang-Ming Shan Mountains! Mega-long walk, 4:00am start from Sanzhi 三芝 via the graveyards – 5 hours to the top of Datun Shan 大屯山 (1092m), then 2-3 more hours to Qixing Shan 七星山 (1120m), finishing in a free foot-bath at the Lengshueikeng 冷水坑 Hot Springs and bus back at 2:00pm….. Typhoon damage on the roads and paths meant some are still closed, and vandalism to the summit pillar on Qixing Shan means that it is currently all wrapped up in plastic… … Continue reading Yang-Ming Shan Mountains 陽明山 ~ you can never have too much of a good thing!
Hakka week ~ so got ma Hakka shoes out! Wikipedia says that about 15% of Taiwan‘s 23 million people are of Hakka origin, with a worldwide population of about 80 million…. And that includes my good friends, Rev. and Mrs. Hsu, who live up the road in Shuang-Lien Elderly Care Home. September 1 was Rev. Hsu’s 91st birthday. The family had celebrated with them earlier in the summer, but they are such a lovely couple that we just had to celebrate this big day on the very day itself. Rev. Hsu totally loves Japanese sashimi, a glass of Taiwan beer and … Continue reading Hakka Week ~ Hakka Style!
This idea is just crazy! Protests after Japanese star Yui Hatano’s image is printed on Easycard travel cards which can be used on metro and bus routes Source: Porn star to be featured on Taiwan travel cards to ‘cheer commuters up’ | World news | The Guardian Continue reading Porn star to be featured on Taiwan travel cards to ‘cheer commuters up’ | World news | The Guardian
中元普渡 (Jung Yuan Pu Du) is the climax of Ghost Month… The actual day was last Friday, but many have been busy all weekend making offerings of food and drink and burning ghost money. That includes my neighbours in Sanzhi 三芝. Taken from an article in the China Post of this subject: Jung Yuan Pu Du – The China Post Pu Du (universal salvation) are sacrificial rites with the intention of appeasing ghosts with no heirs to care for them. Jung Yuan Pu Du falls on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. Similar to lunar fifteenth … Continue reading 中元普渡 Climax of Ghost Month
Yes, it’s all been happening this summer – months of prayer, preparation and packing ~ and finally they were ready for the off ~ YES! Earlier in the summer, a team of 16 young people (all young at heart, and mostly young in age too!) from St. John’s University Chaplaincy and Advent Church, led by SJU Chaplain and Advent Church Rector, Rev. Lennon Chang, spent 10 days on an overseas mission trip ~ and yesterday a very happy 14 of them gathered at Advent Church to share with the church about their experiences…. Each one had 3 minutes to speak, … Continue reading From Taiwan to the world: Advent Church Overseas Mission Trip ~ smiles all round!
Ah, my summer at Good Shepherd Church, Shilin, Taipei leading an English Bible Summer Camp for a class of primary-aged children is finally over…. oh so many blessings! And one of the excitements on the sidelines was the ongoing installation of Good Shepherd’s long-awaited and first ever lift / elevator on the outside of the main administrative building. It’s going to be just so much easier for the older people going to their classes on the second floor, and all the floors above – the church office, the rectory and everywhere in-between. So a summer of dust, drilling, smoke, scaffolding, … Continue reading Good Shepherd Church ~ New Lift Tower!
