You know you live in rural Taiwan when:

• You see pigs on the way to market parked on the street near your house because the driver is getting cash from the ATM machine at the bank.
• You spend time each week sweeping up feathers that are blowing around in your house entry-way.
• You can identify the crops being grown:  peanuts, rice, garlic, leeks, etc. and the equipment used for planting and harvesting.
• Crops like rice and peanuts are spread on the road to sun-dry, and the expectation is that people will drive around them or take an alternate route.
• The nearest McDonalds is located at least 20 minutes drive from your house in a larger centre.  However local fast foods (stinky-tofu, chicken gizzards, etc.) are still readily available.
• Winds, with dust from as far away as China mixed with local particulates, are the expected meteorological phenomenon for the winter months.  (It is one reason we appreciate the rain, although the high humidity brings other challenges like mildew, easy to get chilled, etc.)
• And…we know we are adapting when none of the above bother us, or at least not very much.

We are thankful for those that have covenanted with us to pray each week as Lorne tells Bible stories in the elementary school.  In addition to this, we need people to pray for the English classes that we teach on Thursday and Friday afternoons (Your Wednesday and Thursday late evenings).   Overall it is going well, but there are some challenges as we encourage students to show respect for each other.  We need God to help us to select suitable learning activities and use them in ways that help the students to learn and make the classroom a safe learning environment.  We want the students to sense that God loves and cares for them because of their interactions with us.