Hey Aroma Extended Fam! Thank you so much for tuning in and for participating in this partnership in the gospel. These last few months, God’s been doing some great things! Your prayers are being answered! During summer camps, 51 kids gave their lives to Christ. We are breaking even in Ximen Cafe, with Dongyuan close behind. We have a renewed emphasis on the fruit and gifts of the Spirit. As we continue this emphasis, we want to trim out unnecessary administrative work. So, we

Luke 11:9-10 says “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”(NIV) On Tuesday morning we meet together as staff to pray over the week and to spiritually encourage one another. Each week, we take turns leading our prayer time. This past week, Andrew shared this passage with our team. He shared t

By Lindsey Schultz I have been officially here in Taiwan for 19 days. It’s gone so fast, but I feel like I have been here for longer than that. Honestly, living here, my life feels pretty normal. Now let me explain before you ask what could possibly be normal about living in Taiwan, compared to living in the States. My schedule everyday is a little different, but for the most part, is pretty ordinary. I’m not trying to downplay my experience at all, because Taiwan is unlike a

Envision is all about missional equipping and development. Because of this, we spend the first two days of teams' trip and the first week of an internship in orientation. We provide training on things like Taiwanese culture, 3D Gospel, Spiritual Warfare, BAM/Work as Missions, Discipleship, and others. We invest so much time and energy into these things not only because we want our Envision teams to have a firm understanding of what they're going to be facing and involved in w

Have you ever thought about how you lead others? Author Mike Breen says, “Christians could be called shepherds from behind, sheep from the front. There’s always at least one person who is following your lead.” We think discipleship, specifically leading someone who believes in Jesus to seek to follow Him in his or her daily life, is of extreme importance. We could evangelize the streets of Taipei 24/7, but this would only lead to a room full of spiritual orphans. It takes a v

As I look back at my time as an Envision intern at Aroma the last three months, I’m amazed at how much the Lord has shown me. Here are three of the biggest takeaways from my time in Taiwan. 1. I am not in control. Proverbs 16:9 – 9  The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. I never planned on going to Taiwan. I was prepared to leave for Guinea, West Africa this January. I was fully funded and ready to go! In December, I received the news Africa was n

“The Aroma had a mentor who used to frequently reference the verse: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 1:4). Our greatest joy is also to see when our friends who come to Christ through The Aroma come full circle! This happens when they go all the way from from learning who Jesus is, to begin bringing others to him. Seven years ago, when The Aroma Cafe first opened, a young high school student walked into our doors for the f

During this internship I have been having a lot of ups and downs. I have had moments where I am thankful where God has me and then there are moments when I am completely lost. In these moments I just fall on my knees and start sobbing. I start questioning why God has me here and what He is doing with me here. If you have ever felt like this, know that you are not alone. We are struggling together. Life is not going to be perfect, nor will it be easy. However, whether you are

Do you remember last year when we wrote about Andrew, a cafe employee who joined our team last summer during our Ximen shop’s transition? Andrew gave his life to Jesus almost one year ago; last April. He’s growing and learning a lot… In fact, his interest and desire to dive into his walk with Christ gave us the idea to extend an opportunity to him. Early this year Andrew officially became our church intern. What this means is that he helps us with projects and events, serves

Besides a hilarious TV show and the word we use when we want to make church sound less formal, what is community? Dictionary.com calls it a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common. At the Aroma, one of our desires is to build up a community that helps others become the Aroma of Christ. But how do we do this? Community Groups. About four months ago, we launched three brand new Community Groups with the intent of creating a space

Aroma Church is not just a church but also my support and family. Last September, I started to teach in Washington. Before I came to America, my friends from Aroma helped me connect with Victoria (She was one of Aroma church team members) or their family and even friends who also live in Washington. It gave me a sense of relief that I’ve already known someone before I came here. When I arrived in America, I was not connected with a local church. Therefore, Aroma church’s live

God is constantly growing us — and often through means that are already there. We’re currently experiencing this through our pursuit to know God’s desire for our Ximen cafe. We closed the cafe mid-September to reexamine our vision, values, and strategy, and dedicated this time as being an internal review. At the end of one month, we felt the cafe was still a viable strategy that lined up with our vision and values; but, we weren’t ready to open again. We didn’t have the right

Over a year ago when I was studying in Ecuador, I took a class about spiritual formation, where basically we learned how to develop our spiritual lives and strengthen our connection with Holy Spirit. It’s been awhile since I’ve had that course, but there are many things that I took away from it that I still learn from today. One of those things we talked about was in that first week of class; the professor noted that whether we find ourselves rising above the tallest of mount

As a new year dawns we all know that there are certain things in our lives that we would like to change, so we set “New Year, New Me” resolutions. We get ourselves a gym membership, commit to eating healthier food or working on organizing our time better. All these things are good, but I’d like to add one more thing to the top your list of New Year’s resolutions: “Get to know yourself.” You might be asking, “What’s that supposed to mean? Of course I know myself!” Well, maybe

Aroma has a history of going out to serve others through acts of kindness. This includes offering prayer, handing out food or other supplies, and sharing personalized cards of blessing. We recently participated in an outreach event at Longshan Temple, a place where large numbers of homeless people congregate. Our group bought some food items from the local supermarket and prepared them to be given to anyone in need. At the temple, we met Mr. Zhang and gave him some of our muf

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got to celebrate with their family and friends. One of Aroma’s values is to build community. Our church recently started three community groups, which meet at different locations after Sunday services. They are a way for our community to build deeper relationships and invite new friends. It’s important that each facet of Aroma (both church and cafe) demonstrates our values and overall vision. It is also fun finding unique ways

Justin and I have known Angela about as long as we’ve lived in Taipei. It’s was really fun and encouraging getting to know her even more this summer and I’m so excited to share her story with you! One day after school, Angela went to her friend’s church for an event they were having. At this event, they were also having a meal. What middle schooler is going to turn down free food?! Well, by the time they got there, the meal was done and the food was gone. Even still, the past

It’d been seven years since I’d become a Christian, but I didn’t know anything… Zion told this to me with a huge smile on his face. It wasn’t the sort of smile one has after they’re caught sneaking the last piece of candy from a jar, or even one of those smiles people have when they aren’t sure of what you’re saying but nod their head anyways. This smile was one of real joy because Zion was recalling where he’d started and how far God had brought him. Zion worked for us this

"My mom and younger brother were baptized first,”Jennifer told me. “I waited a little while longer…,” she continued. Jennifer is a young woman from Taoyuan, Taiwan. She found the Aroma Cafe in Ximen over a year ago when she and her mother were searching social media for an internship opportunity. Jennifer and her mother were so impressed with our Coffee Talk ministry that she decided to take the leap and pursue an internship here. She’s been here ever since! Now Jennifer is o