O Canada

Hey everyone,

Since our time in Wheaton, we’ve ventured through Indiana, Michigan, and now, Canada!! We’ve had a blessed weekend with the fellow brothers and sisters at Chartwell Baptist at King’s in Oakville, ON, as well as those at Mountainview CRC in Grimsby, ON.

Here are some pictures from our time at Mountainview CRC:

In the next week, we’ll be playing at a couple more venues in the Greater Toronto Area. On Sunday, we’ll be making our way back to Willmar, MN, and hopefully get back by Monday afternoon.

Thank you so much for your prayers!! We really couldn’t be doing this without you lifting us up in prayer!! Here are a couple more prayer requests for the following weeks:

· Safety as we travel (we’ve got 2 days of 8+ hours of driving on Sunday and Monday as we make our way back to Willmar from Toronto)

· Servant hearts (that we would continue to want the Lord to work mightily in us and through us)

· The hearts of people that we meet (that the Lord would be working even now in their hearts... that they’ll be ready to hear the message that He has for them)

Thank you again for all your support!!

In Christ,

Eric

Heaven

We encounter many amazing people and interesting places on our travels with CTI. And just recently, we were able to get a sneak peek of a place that we could previously only imagine. According the Billy Graham Center Museum at Wheaton College in Illinois, this is what heaven looks like:
Now you know.

With love on behalf of 14:22,
Lesley.

Reflections on Overseas Ministry

CTI team 14:22 has returned safely from Taiwan! I can honestly say that the three weeks I spent overseas has changed my life, and taught me so many lessons about myself and my faith. When you're halfway around the world, and experiencing culture shock, and don't speak the language, and have spent 36 hours traveling, and you're sick with a nasty cold, and have no time to rest, and really miss people back home, and you have to be upbeat and enthusiastic about sharing God's love when you don't even feel it yourself at the moment...you reach a breaking point. About three days into our trip I just felt so...done. I had come to the end of myself, and had no more to give. I was exhausted. I felt so broken. I didn't like being in Taiwan at all. I wanted to be anywhere else than where I was. And I had more than two weeks left to get through!

It was in that weakness and complete brokenness that I learned an incredible lesson. I knew that I didn't want to waste my time in Taiwan, and that even though I wasn't feeling it, I was so blessed with the opportunity to be there. And the only way that I could really embrace that was by giving the situation to God. I was at the end of myself, and needed God to take over. I had to give up my selfish wants, give up trying to control everything, give up my expectations of the trip, and allow God to change my heart and my attitude. That was my prayer that night...for God to change me, for Him to open my eyes to the experience and opportunities that were before me in the coming weeks.

And oh my goodness, did I change. I felt like I had gotten past myself, pushed through what was holding me back, and it was only then that I was able to do what I had traveled 36 hours to do - use my voice and my words and my heart to minister to others.

I want to share with you a story of how I saw God at work in Taiwan. I wrote this as part of my written reflection to CTI right after we got back last week:

We played a concert at a medical university in Chung-Li, Taiwan, in an atrium that many students passed through on their way to classes. The show was hosted by the college's campus ministry, but was open to all students, and by having the concert in a passageway the hope was to get people's attention as they walked by and share the message with those who might not know about God. After the concert was finished, each of us on the team were asked to lead a small discussion group where the students had the chance to ask us any questions they may have about us personally, and us as a ministry.

CTI 14:22 in Chung-Li, Taiwan

In my small group all the students were Christians, except for one girl – but I didn’t know this, and I assumed everyone there was already a believer. The group asked me to share my testimony, which I did. After telling my story, I could see that this girl was a little uncomfortable, and wanted to say something. She then told me that she wasn’t a Christian, but she knew about God and had been thinking about coming to Him - but she felt that since she hadn’t known Him all her life and wasn’t baptized that she was not good enough or not worthy to. I saw this as a huge opportunity from God to share more with her – since I didn’t grow up a Christian I could completely relate to where she was, being in her early twenties and feeling that pull towards Christ, but being unsure and a little afraid of it too. God gave me this amazing opportunity to share the story of how I came to Him, to share some of the struggles I encountered along the way, and to share the story of my baptism last year. I have often felt that because I’ve only been a Christian for a few years, and because I have made so many mistakes along the way, I’m inadequate to share God with others because I don’t feel qualified to do so. I don’t feel like I have the experience, or the authority to minister to others. But at that moment, I felt like my experience and struggles and my journey towards God was a tool to help someone, instead of an obstacle to ministry. And I could see on the girl’s face she was reassured, and so encouraged by the fact that someone else had felt the same as her. I hope that her life has changed, and that she has the confidence and assurance to walk towards God now. Although I won’t ever know for sure, I feel like the seed I planted in her may have changed her life; and I trust that God is working in amazing ways.

Playing a concert at a nursing school in Taiwan, and meeting with the students afterwards

We're back in Minnesota now, and are leaving on Saturday for our USA/Canada fall tour. Bring on the adventure! There is no one like our God, and there is nowhere else I would rather be this year than serving Him.

With love on behalf of 14:22,
Lesley.

Team 14:22 Arrives Safely

Team 14:22 arrived back in the U.S. safely this evening!

After a lot of traveling and coming back across the international date
line, they are understandably tired. But, the joy of the Lord shines
through their tiredness.

From all acounts it was a wonderful trip with lots of stories of God
working in and through the team!

Check back soon for more updates from the team!

Last Day

It's our last day in Taiwan. Our journey here has been full of adventures. We've only been in country for 16 days, and we've played 20 concerts in hospitals, schools, churches, and outdoor plazas. After every concert, we received reports of God's grace being bestowed upon people's lives through our music, testimonies, and drama. Last night, after we had performed our last concert in Taipei, a girl came up to me and told me that she really sensed God's love flowing through our music, and she decided to re-dedicate her life to Him. What an amazing testament to God's work being done here through us!
The YWAM staff here has been incredible. Mayi (our main contact, translator, coordinator, and essentially, babysitter) has been very good to us and even took us to the Chiang Kai Shek memorial, Shi Lin night market, and Taipei 101 (the world's second? tallest building). A typical day in Taiwan for us usually consists of breakfast at our usual spot, perhaps a morning or afternoon concert, lunch (potstickers!), and supper and an evening concert at a University somewhere in and around Taipei. Many evenings after the concerts, we will roam the streets of Danshui, where there happens to be a bustling night market which usually consists of flying scooters, plenty of bubble milk tea, other various meat/pastry products, some strange and unknown fruits, and best of all, the 10NT store (about 30cents USD). Taipei has been a blast for all of us. We have plenty of stories and experiences to share. God has done some marvelous things in our team.
We also cannot wait to come back and share with you all the love and encouragement that we have received from the people here in Taiwan. We look forward to our return and continual touring in the States and Canada. We leave tomorrow afternoon for Minneapolis via South Korea and Chicago.
Until then,
Jeff on bealf of Team 14:22

1 more week

Greetings family, friends, and supporters,

I want to first just thank you all for your prayers over the last couple of weeks. Never before have I ever felt prayers so strongly. When I have been discouraged and felt alone, I know that I can always hold on to the prayers of the people from back at home. So thank you all, and we love you very dearly.

Please continue to pray for us during this last week here in Taiwan. Some team members are itching to get home, while others just love it here and don't want to leave. Pray that we continue to make the most out of each day, while ministering to people at every school and church we visit.

We will update once more before we depart for Minnesota this Saturday. Thanks for reading our posts!

~jeff hau, on behalf of Team 14:22

God at work in Taiwan

After a week in Taiwan, I am so amazed at how God is at work here. Despite cultural differences and the language barrier (I can still only say "hello" and "thank you" in Mandarin!), our team has really been reaching out to those we have encountered here. To see the excitement on the faces of the people at our concerts, and to hear the joy in their voices when they come to us after the shows to ask about God and our walks with Him...it just blows me away what an honour and privilege it is to be here, and to share our stories and share the love that God pours on us.

Earlier this week I got an email from Christian Harger, a former CTI full-timer, and he had this advice for me while overseas:

"Have such a fantastic time spreading the love of our savior and NEVER be afraid to tell somebody about Him."

We will, Christian. For sure.

With love on behalf of 14:22,
Lesley.