The Adventure Begins

Hello All,
          I am just sending you out a preliminary blog post to give you all a better idea of how I decided to go to this Discipleship Training School (DTS) and just what God is up to with my whole situation right now as well as prayer requests. One thing before I get going, I want you all to know that I'm super blessed to have all of you in my life and that all of you are actually interested in knowing about my travels and what God is doing in Taiwan. Also I don't want you guys to think that because of the things I am writing or what I am doing, I don't see myself as having a higher calling than any of you who know Jesus. As Christians, we are all working to advance the Gospel whether it is small town or big city, in full-time ministry or at a job, in the slums or at the White House or whether it is United States or Taiwan, don't see what God has you doing or where God has you at as any less than where He has me. Lastly before I start, you all know this and I've confessed sin to  many of you that I didn't attain some high standing or I have not achieved some high level of holiness to go to Taiwan. God moved me to go and I'm going. I still struggle just as much as anyone else with sin and am in as desperate need of grace as anyone else. The fact that God is bringing me to Taiwan is evidence of his grace and I am in just as much need of a Savior as anyone I have the opportunity to share the Good News with. Now on with the letter.
          First off, for those who have not received my support letter I will tell you all the story of how I decided to go on this adventure. DTS is something I have thought about doing for awhile now but I really started to kick my decision to go into gear last October. I began praying and thinking about going on a DTS around then. I began emailing schools and asking about their programs and what they do, how big they were, as well as some other things. In November I went to the wedding of a friend of mine in Bolivia where I was encouraged all the more to go with Youth With A Mission (YWAM), on a DTS. I tried contacting multiple schools but eventually the one that stuck out was a school in Taiwan, in the city of Danshui (pronounced Dan Shway), which is just outside of Taipei, the capital city. I began a correspondence with the registrar there and eventually was able to have a Skype conversation with them. I really enjoyed the heart of the school, which seemed very Biblically based as well as they had a heart for frontier missions.As I continued my long correspondence with them and communicating with people from the school, I began to realize if I was to go to a DTS, this is where I'd be. There are two phases to DTS. The first phase is the lecture phase where I will  spend the majority of my time in class and going deeper into different aspects of the Gospel and who God is. The second phase is the outreach phase where I will use what I have learned and share the Gospel with people in another country. I will figure that country out when some time after I get there.
          There was never really one defining moment where everything just clicked and I can point back to and say, that's when I decided for sure to go, it really was just a direction I set myself in and God never changed it, although he confirmed my decision multiple times. The main confirmation for going on  DTS was while I was reading a book called Radical by David Platt. Platt stated at one point in the book, "Paul(the apostle) talks about being a debtor to the nations. He literally says, "I am in debt to Jews and Gentiles." Paul is saying he owes a debt to every lost person on the face of the planet. Because he is owned by Christ, he owes Christ to the world... He continues on talking about how we owe Christ to every lost person this side of hell and how many people will say, sorry I'm just not called to that, that missions is for some but I just don't have that calling. But then he goes on to say this. "But what if we don't need to sit back and wait for a call to foreign missions. What if the very reason we have breath is because we have been saved for a global mission? And what if anything less than passionate involvement in global mission is actually selling God short by frustrating the very purpose for which He created us?" A lot of us, myself included often wait for God to hit us over the head with a book that says exactly what we are supposed to do. The thing is, He's done it in the Bible and has called all of his people to missions in some way, whether it is going overseas, giving to missions organizations, or praying for the nations to hear the Gospel.
         Another thing that really confirmed my going to Taiwan was from a very dear brother in Christ. Very humbly one day, he came up to me and said, you don't need to worry about money, whatever you haven't made by the time you leave, you have a blank check waiting from me. What was so incredible to me about this was not that he was willing to give, the reason I was so moved by this act was to see the generosity God had put in his heart that not only did he believe in God's purpose, he so believed that God was doing a work in me, sending me to Taiwan, that he was willing to give as much as was necessary to get me there. I've been affirmed in many other ways as well, how supportive, not just my immediate family, but my family as a whole has been of me, some of the checks that have come in that were much bigger than I ever expected, and the many conversations I've had with people who have continued to encourage me to go when I've been struggling with doubts, fears, anxiety, and questioning whether or not I should go.
          It has been a wild adventure to even get this far and I've had to realize that if God is going to bring me this far, He will go with me to Taiwan. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Isaiah 43:1,2, &5 God says, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Fear not for I am with you." God has shown me and proven to me in His Word among other things that He will go with me, that He is not just here with me in Fargo, but He will go with me to Taiwan.
          I have a few prayer requests to send your way as I finish preparing to go and see all that God is going to do in Taiwan. First, that God would  prepare the students and staff at the school for this DTS. Second that God would be preparing people even now to hear the Gospel message and receive it with joy. For myself I could just use prayer that I would trust that God is going to provide, spiritually, emotionally, financially, mentally, in all areas, that I would know He will provide. I am thankful for all of you and the support you have shown me already before I have even left the country and am so thankful to know you all. Feel free to shoot me an email or facebook me anytime while I'm gone, I want to know what is going on in all of your lives as well and I'm sure I will be excited to hear back from my home country.

In His Service
Travis Kleppen