Taiwan: Preparing for ministry–studying to show ourselves approved.

 2 Timothy 2:15

As we waited for the beginning of language school, we took a brief but memorable “orientation” tour of the island, staying in the homes of our missionaries,  enjoying getting to know them and their families, seeing the sights and becoming acquainted with some of the work in which our mission was involved. Taiwan had two airlines at that time FAT (Far Eastern Air Transport) and CATS (China Air Transport Service.) I have suspicions that the American military, who had various bases on the island, had a hand in naming the airlines. (Fat Cats)
The first leg of our trip down-island was aboard one the FAT planes, a short flight from Taipei to Kaohsiung. During the flight, there appeared to be smoke emanating from the air vents, and we were a bit uneasy until we were assured that it was simply air condensation, nothing to worry about. So we arrived in Kaohsiung, the southern-most port city and enjoyed visiting with the Hogues, a missionary family with three boys. On Sunday, I traveled with Leroy to a mission point, and heard my first sermon in Mandarin. I was thrilled to be able to understand at least one word of his sermon, and afterwards asked why he spoke so much of “woman.” To my chagrin, he explained that the word which sounds like woman in English, is in fact the Chinese word for “us,” or “we.” I was to discover that learning the Chinese language was not that easy.
We worked our way back to Taipei via train, from Kaohsiung to Tainan, where we met Bob Beard, and in addition to getting acquainted with his wife Nell and three girls, we were privileged to view first hand his “beach” ministry, gaining a nice tan in the process.
From Tainan, we entrained and traveled to Taichung, where we met a number of missionaries, including the Ricketsons, our soon-to-be neighbors and the same couple who had transported us from Keelung to Taipei. This would be the beginning of a long and profitable relationship, Soon, we boarded the train again, and returned to Taipei, where we began the process of moving into our home, a two-story duplex that was almost new. Our belongings were delivered via truck, and as the crates were unloaded and opened it was almost like Christmas, re discovering the items which had been packed so many months ago. It was then that I learned my second expression in Chinese “Meiyou gwansyi.” We heard that expression several times as the workers dropped a heavy crate. Nannette asked a missionary what it meant, and after some urging the missionary replied “It means ‘never mind'” We would hear that word many times during our career in Taiwan, and often, it did really matter.
Thus we began our informal study of the Mandarin language, a difficult but not impossible task. Not long after moving in, language school officially started, and we began the daunting task of learning to communicate in another language. The Scripture verse for today expresses so clearly what the challenge was for us as foreigners. “Study to show yourselves  approved unto God”. However it was as important that we show ourselves approved unto the Chinese people we had come to serve by speaking to them intelligently and in words that they could understand and that conveyed our thoughts accurately.