Advice for the Day

Hold on and keep your mouth shut....

The plan for the day was for Chris and I to visit a couple of possibilities for moving the church into larger facilities. What a surprise when I went to the lobby of the hotel to find he was picking me up on a motorcycle. So on with the helmet and away we went.

You have to understand how traffic works in Taiwan; or doesn't work depending on your perspective. It is mere chaos on a good day. I am convinced that the lines for the lanes were provided just to give someone the job of painting them and that traffic lights are really more for decoration. Unlike China, at least for the most part, they basically all travel the same direction, but not if it is not convenient. And there are no rickshaws to contend with, only literally millions of scooters, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians and of course autos.

Thankfully Chris weighs in at about 110 pounds so there was room for me on the bike. I held on for dear life. Quickly I learned that unless a mouthful of bugs with a smog chaser is on your weight watchers plan, then you are well advised to keep the mouth shut. We had two close calls. On one of them the van that side swiped us actually was touching the side of my pants when it stopped. Of course Chris is accustomed to this and was not rattled in the least. But I'm a weenie. I'm clearly not ready for Taiwan traffic and equally as important; it is not ready for my artistic style of driving.

The first place we visited was a Language School that been foreclosed upon. The difficulty is that in Taiwan, the buildings are built with earthquakes and typhoons in mind. So, most buildings have multiple 4 x 4 foot posts throughout them. Such was the case for the first option. And there was no rhyme or reason to where they were located in the floor plan. So it clearly was not conducive to renovating into a sanctuary.

The second option was ideal both in terms of location and layout. The posts were appropriately stationed affording an area where a platform could be built and at least 250 chairs, if not more, could be arranged in good view of the platform. The drawback for this location is that the bank wants to sell the whole floor which is far more space than is needed. That of course hikes the price. But if a Bible College is in the works, then this might be ideal. With just one miracle, I am confident God can make a way for this location.

Chris got me back to the hotel as storm clouds loomed.....