From October 1st to the 15th of 2024, I had the pleasure of leading a small team on a mission trip to Taiwan and Vietnam. I was accompanied by Angie, my mom, David, my older brother, and Israel, a good friend of ours (my younger sister, Selah, also joined us for part of the time). Below, you can read the regular updates we sent back home as we went on this journey.

October 1 (from Katee)

     Hey everyone! Some of you may have heard, but the Go Forth team’s flight has been cancelled and they are planned to leave Wednesday as of now - however there is a typhoon that is already starting to hit Taiwan right now. Please keep the team is your prayers and pray for the Typhoon to subside so they are still able to go over and take part in this mission - pray also for those in Taiwan that may be affected by the typhoon.

October 4

     After some intense days of travel, we finally made it to the Kaohsiung House of Prayer. We were greeted by Selah, Joseph, Priscilla, Becca, and all the wonderful church members. We ate together and prayed together, then we played a worship set and got a great message Joseph and Becca.

     Tomorrow we will have a second gathering for the conference, and in the evening we'll visit the Vietnamese Church. Can't wait to minister to them!

October 5

     Today was the final day of our conference at the House of Prayer. Heard some good teachings from Becca, Priscilla and Joseph. After eating with the church and relaxing in the afternoon, we went to the Vietnamese Church for a Saturday night prayer meeting. They served us Vietnamese cuisine and Pizza Hut!

     We brought several member of the House of Prayer along to the meeting, so it was conducted in English, Mandarin, AND Vietnamese. While complicated, this was such an encouraging experience, bringing three different cultures together to worship and pray. We are so glad to be connecting the Vietnamese church with some local Christians and can't wait to see what God does through this connection.

     Tomorrow morning, we will attend the church service at the Vietnamese Church. Please keep our meeting in your prayers. Thank you!

October 6

     We had such a great day with the Kaohsiung Vietnamese Church! They prepared a special meal for us, and to celebrate their Pastor Hung, who is soon returning to Vietnam after seven years serving in Khoa's churches. We prayed a blessing over him in the days to come.

     Tonight we went to the night market with the House of Prayer people (but I didn't get any pictures; maybe the others have some to share?) and we ate some delicious Taiwanese street food. Issy, David and Mom had stinky tofu for the first time. To quote David, "It's like having a vacuum cleaner in your mouth." Pretty accurate.

     Tomorrow morning, we will go to the airport and fly into Hanoi, Vietnam where we will meet brother Sang. More on that journey in the coming days.

October 7

     Today was a long day of travel, but it went about as well as it could have. We took the bullet train from Kaohsiung to the Taipei airport, where we boarded our plane to Vietnam. After landing in Hanoi, we found Sang and his assistant Kis, and we all checked into our hotel. We were able to walk around this evening and see a little bit of Hanoi. Enjoy the pictures.

     Tomorrow we will have a day to relax, do a shopping, and maybe some sightseeing. We will keep you posted!

October 8

     Today we had a wonderful time in Hanoi, experiencing the Vietnamese culture. We went shopping, had delicious food and coffee, saw some very old temples, houses and cathedrals, and watched as people prepared for an upcoming national holiday.

     Finally, we got to watch what they call "Water Puppet Theatre," a special kind of puppetry that uses underwater controls. If anyone is interested in looking up the mechanics of this, I would love to know how exactly it works. It was so funny and entertaining! Gave us a good insight into Vietnamese history and folklore.

     Tomorrow we will be heading up into the mountains. I will disclose more on this leg of the journey another time.

October 11

     What an incredible time in Vietnam! We spent most of it in a van driving through mountains, which was very bumpy, but very worthwhile. The views were breathtaking.

     After a long drive to the northernmost parts of the country, we visited the Pa Then people, a minority group with whom Simon has been working to translate the Bible into their mother tongue. They were such kind, hospitable people. What a privilege to be with them and pray together!

     We stayed in a hotel in northern Vietnam that was one of the fanciest I've seen, and was only about $10/person/night. It had spiral wooden stairs going all the way up. After that stay we traveled to Quan Ba, a village in a beautiful valley. There we met a pastor and his son of the Suong people, another minority group. It was an honor to meet him and hear about his work bringing the gospel to his people.

     That evening we walked around Hanoi and got some Pho (which was delicious). Issy barely fit in the restaurant, as pictured. Now we are resting in our hotel in Taipei, Taiwan. Thank the Lord that our journey to Vietnam was a safe and successful one! We are appreciative of all of you who are praying on our behalf.

     And Thank the Lord that we will now rest for a full day tomorrow. We won't have an update for Saturday, but we will share how the Sunday services go this weekend.

October 14

     The team split up to go to two different churches for the Sunday service. Mom, David and Selah went to Taipei (last photo) and Mom shared the message there; Issy and I went to Taichung and shared with them. We led one Vietnamese lady and one elderly Taiwanese lady to the Lord! After church, we played volleyball with the church members. They do this every week after church, and they showed us up. While we were making our way back, the Taipei team went to visit the House of Prayer in that city. Maybe one of them can share their pictures/their experience there!

     Today (Monday), we are doing a little sightseeing before we go home. We'll have some pictures of that for you tomorrow.

October 15

     What a wonderful last day in Taiwan. We got the chance to do a little sightseeing: first Taipei 101, then the Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial. Truly beautiful stuff.

     In the evening, some of the members of the Taipei Vietnamese Church gathered for a special meeting, just so Issy and I could see them before we go back home. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and worship. We also had the privilege to lead two young people to Christ! We thank the Lord that they are joining a tight-knit community in pursuit of Him.

     We are now on our way to the airport where we will say goodbye to Pastor Khoa and board our flight home. Please pray that our travels today are safe and smooth, and even restful if God can swing that.

     Lastly, I want to tell you all how grateful I am for your prayers throughout this trip. They do not go unnoticed, and we wouldn't be able to do this without you. Thank you so much! See you soon.