Taking Out the Garbage

Since Page and I have been married, I have always taken out the garbage. It is one of those unspoken rules we have in our house. Well, here in Taiwan, taking out the garbage is a much different experience than back in N.C. At 9:20pm each night I must walk out to the corner of two streets and wait for three trucks to come. One truck is for regular trash, one is for recycleables, and I have not yet figured out what the third truck is for. The regular garbage truck has a loud speaker that plays a song so all the neighbors can hear when it arrives. I don't really know the purpose of the music - if I heard the music and had forgotten to take the trash out, I wouldn't be able to get it out there in time anyway! Sometimes the trucks are a little late, so this time has given me a chance to practice my Chinese. I have even developed a few friendships. One of the those friends is Ricky. Ricky is a 20 year college student who is trying to learn English. Therefore, when I speak with Ricky I talk in Chinese and he speaks back to me English. Last week, I asked Ricky to go out to lunch. So on Saturday we went to Subway (I got to pick where we were going since I offered to pay). We had a great time, and the Lord even prompted me to share the gospel with him. He was very interested and said he believed everything that I told him. However, he indicated that he could not accept Jesus because his parents are Buddhists, and they would not allow this. He does want to continue to talk about Jesus and study the Bible. My prayer is that Ricky will see his need for Christ and accept Him. Please join me in prayer for Ricky. In the meantime, I am thankful for this daily "chore" that has become a unique opportunity to meet some people who live around us!