In this Taiwan trip, I saw the blooming of community self-reliance projects. With the new government planned policies, I am filled with hope of Taiwan’s future.

I attended RCDA (路得關懷發展協會) annual meeting, RCDA and Guogou Church has been operated since 2009.

I attended Program the World 協會成立大會 and joined as a member. Professor Alvin Su started Program the World 「兒童與少年程式教學計劃」2-years ago in Chiayi, including the youth from Guogou. “Program the World 協會” will expand the 教學計劃 which includes “3D Printing”. This article was just published recently (3/29/2016) by 遠見雜誌。走入偏鄉教程式 成為孩子生命的光 —《遠見雜誌》2016年4月號。 Most of the kids in the video were my violin class students. They had completed Suzuki Vol. 1 but now they switched to computer class with Professor Su. I don’t blame them. I may choose the same path as they did.

Professor Su also used flying -V to raise funds for his projects. flying-V service is a platform for people to raise capitals (funds) for their project in Taiwan.

I met Dr. 胡湘玲 and her husband Dr. 韋仁正 in Taiwan. They live in Germany and come back to Taiwan regularly. They are members of 台灣汗得文化協會。And they started 一人一千瓦社會企業 。We discussed the installation of Solar PV panels in Chiayi countryside.

The New Taiwan Government plan to expand “Green Energy” (綠能)。I watched this report “數字台灣HD94綠能產業新未來“。It focus on Solar Energy – – history, future, technology, and economics. 值得一看。太陽能應往地面型發展 (佔 75%)、太陽能系統可用30 – 50年 [屋頂型使用期較短]。需求是每年2位敷的成長。Another business direction – 聯結太陽能和智慧型架構、物聯網是一個關鍵技術。

I taught Evergreen Class (長春課程), a community class at Guogou Church. My topic is 『生命的四季』– How we view death and birth.

Here is a book I strongly recommend to read — The Zero Marginal Cost Society (物聯網革命) by Jeremy Rifkin. Taiwan has the potential of becoming the leader of the world on this new technology.

I-Hon, a Chinese bride married to a Taiwanese elementary school teacher, borne a  beautiful daughter and a smart son. She is a faithful church member, and a choir member. On her way to Thursday choir rehearsal, she was hit by a motorcycle a few hundred feet from the Church, broke her legs in three places and suffered a heavy bruise on her head close to her eye. We rushed her to hospital emergency for treatment several miles away. The next day, she went through a successful surgery and her eye and head were found in good conditions. (more…)

過溝福餅緣由

過溝莊位於美麗的嘉南平原最西邊，含布袋鎮的三個里，一百多年前是台灣數一數二的大莊，出了不少文人雅士，居民對過溝輝煌的歷史頗為自豪。由於社會的變遷，鄉村年輕人紛紛到都市求學就業，目前留在鄉村的居民以年長者與孩童居多。過溝臨近的村莊有東石鄉的栗子崙、塭仔、網寮、白水湖、掌潭，居民以養殖、務農、剝蚵為業。附近的鰲鼓濕地生態資源豐富，是全國最佳賞鳥景點。 (more…)

By God’s grace and blessing, the violin class was started at Guogou Church. We purchased six violins (four ¾ size and two ½ size) from Classic (經典樂器), a music shop and studio at Putze (朴子), Chiayi (嘉義). I am deeply appreciated the financial contributions from Amy and Dr. Carl Chen, Dorothy and Ed Hsia, and Mr. & Mrs. Chen (陳銀河先生和夫人) that helped this missionary work. Special thanks to Dorothy, our spiritual teacher for her praying and blessing on our mission. I am also grateful to Elder Tsai (蔡明憲長老) at SongShan Presbyterian Church (松山長老教會), who donated two violins. The last but not the least, Ruth Young and Steven Hsu from Ruth Care and Development Association (路得關懷協會) provided the classroom, the students and my teaching assistant, Ms. Fanny Liao. (more…)

Violins are delicate instruments that need good maintenance and repairs from skillful luthiers. In my childhood, my father bought a violin that was stored in a warehouse for decades. The body was separated due to the high humidity and it was without strings, bridge and the pegs. (more…)