Growth Pains

Taiwan is a very new democracy. The government in the last 15 years has had to learn how to run a country and support its people. It is incredible to experience some of these things as if I were living in the US or another country 200 years ago, but with the technology and thought of the current era. Currently, there are mass protests and movements against the president in Taiwan. People are protesting the presidential term due to corruption (protest seems common worldwide with every president), but nothing has been proven. Taiwan’s infrastructure is also still growing rapidly. There are 23+ million people, 2.5 in Kaoshiung, so there is constant construction. Nothing like we are used to with road construction that would cause major delays, here the construction goes on in the next lane and traffic carries on with little delays or a road gets torn up and repaired in a day. Right now the city’s major roads are torn up due to the construction of a subway due to be completed in the next year. But daily life still moves fast around the city. People’s lives are also changing quickly. The younger generations are starting to adopt lifestyles that reflect young people around the world and discarding traditions and culture that signifies past generations. The lives of the people are very ripe to go down these worldly paths, but it is also exciting to be here and have an opportunity to influence people to the path of Jesus. Over these earlier weeks, God has been developing in me a heart for the Taiwanese people and I yearn to see them continue to grow as a country, but with a heart toward God!