I look at my life over the past 22 years and it's really hard to imagine the number of places I've been able to go. The Lord has really given me a ton of opportunities to see the world he's made. Although my travels aren't anywhere near extensive, I'm slowly adding to an ever growing list of places I've been. One of these days I'll sit back and say "wow, I've been a lot of places". Right now I don't have time for it though. There's places to go and people to see. The world is a huge place and unfortunately for my family and whoever I end up marrying I've got a terminal case of the travel bug. Once you go to one place outside of your culture you just have to keep going until you've seen it all. I don't know if I'll ever get it all done but hey, I can always try.
The first place I ever went outside of the country became not only my first love, but my dearest love. Taiwan has taken a special place in my heart. I've fallen in love with the people, the culture, the language, and the country. I can see myself staying in Taiwan for a long time. Because I've fallen in love with this place it's kind of an understatement to say I've spent a long time here. I came first in 2000. My dad was looking through a newsletter for a homeschool program we worked with and he saw that they had an opportunity for students to travel to Taiwan and teach in Bible camps for about 3 weeks. It really shocked me when he up and said "Daniel, this looks really cool. You should go". I'd thought about traveling before; in fact I'd thought about it a lot but never Asia . I don't know why but I figured I'd always go to Europe . However, I was interested and so I signed up. My church and other friends helped me pay for the trip and in early 2000 I headed out for Taiwan . It was an eye opening experience for me to say the least. I had no idea what to expect and I didn't have a clue what I was really doing. But I learned the most important thing of my life on that first trip. I learned that no matter what, God cares for those who love him. If he calls you to do something he'll provide the strength for you to complete the task. No problem at all.
On that first trip I also made some of the dearest friends I have. I met the Chen family. For the past 5 years of my life they've been a great gift in their friendship, encouragement, and instruction. I've learned a lot from that family and I thank God I met them. Well, I enjoyed things so much that I went back in 01, 03, 04, and 05. It was a huge growing time for me. I saw God do amazing things and developed a deep trust in His power and might. No matter what the task, God is big enough.
