Passing the Baton

Sitting in the preservice prayer meeting at church yesterday (Feb. 28)  it was exciting to observe how God is raising up capable leaders to serve the church. It is a confirmation that the work is not dependent on us, but rather on the leading of the Spirit.

We have also been sensing that God is encouraging us to adjust our workload and pass some of our leadership responsibilities to younger God-gifted leaders.  After discussion with regional leadership we are beginning the process of transferring the Taiwan Team Leader role to Albert and Elaine Lu.  Please pray as they meet with us many times over the next few months. to talk about the different responsibilities.  We will be encouraging Albert and Elaine to use their God-given gifts to lead the Canadian International Worker Team.

As a part of that transition, Lorne will also be assisting Albert and Elaine to recruit and train a Volunteer Field Bookkeeper.  Please pray for the interview of a potential candidate that will happen on Wednesday.  Please pray that God will help us to have the right team of people to manage field financial resources well.

And, in case your mind jumped to the wrong conclusion, we want to clarify that we are not resigning or retiring at this time.  We plan to continue to serve God in Taiwan, in Baozhong or such a place as God leads.  We are looking forward to focussing on the church work and being supportive followers of Albert and Elaine.

(Photo Credit:  “160916-F-RU983-704” y Official Travis AFB, Calif. is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Praise and Prayer

• Praise the Lord for helping us to celebrate Charlie Lin’s life and comfort his family.  Church members from Taichung who know Charlie’s sister also came and helped to share about Christ at Charlie’s funeral.  Please pray for God to comfort in the time after the funeral as they adjust to life in Charlie’s absence.
• Praise the Lord for a good start to this semester’s English classes.  The students were very engaged as they listened to the story of Jesus calling 12 disciples.
• Please pray for God to comfort our coworker whose mother went to be with the Lord on Saturday.  Because of Covid-related international travel restrictions, she is not able to travel to be with the family for the celebration of life service.

Lanterns

Traditionally the Lunar New Year celebrations are from New Year’s Day (Feb. 12) until Lantern Festival (Feb. 26).  People continue to extend new year wishes to each other during this time, especially the first time that they meet.

The main street of our town is adorned with lanterns that shine each evening during this celebration period.

The eye, and people’s attention is drawn towards the light. Our prayer is that they will also be drawn to the Light of the World, Jesus.

Praise and Prayer

• Charlie was called to his heavenly home last Tuesday morning.  Please pray for comfort for his elderly parents and family.  The church will participate in the funeral service on Feb. 27.  (The family service following traditional religious practices starts at 6:30 AM.  The church-led celebration of life will be 7:30~8:00 AM.)  
• Month-end is always a busy time for us.  In addition to church ministries, there is also the administrative work related to finances.  Please pray we stay healthy.  There is a very contagious flu going through the community.

Blank

There is more than one way to look at the picture.  It can be blank due to a lack of ideas, or it can be blank with potential for adding content.

I have been thinking about the Lamb’s Book of Life.  I believe there are still empty pages for writing the names of those who choose to believe in Christ as their Saviour.  The people could reside in Baozhong, or in the place where you live.  The only criteria is the choice to say with their mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. Then the Bible tells us that person will be saved and have their name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

We are praying and hoping for many more names to be written there before Jesus returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Praise and Prayer

• Praise the Lord that as we celebrated the Lunar New Year Holiday, the pace of life has been slower and we were able to rest and relax.  This week–it is back to work!
• The Bible stories for this semester’s English classes have been chosen.  The next step is preparing the PowerPoint slides and the English learning activities.
• Please pray for Charlie to draw near to God during this time of immense health challenges.

Greeted in an Unusual Way

The doorway to the bank has acquired the above contraption.  Everyone desiring to enter must first visit the new robot-like greeter—it takes each person’s temperature and dispenses the hand sanitizer.

The contraption means the guard does not need to manually screen everyone entering the building. The automation of this activity will allow him to focus on other duties assigned to him.  Of course, he must still deal with those who missed the automated screening.

Not recognizing this new greeter, I had to retrace my steps and fit in with the new procedures.

I think I still prefer the human greeter though!

Wishing Each of You Many Blessings at the Start of the “Year of the Ox!”

According to the Lunar Calendar, the start of the year is on Friday, February 12.

Praise and Prayer

• Praise the Lord for a successful third Ukulele Class. There will be a one-week break for the Lunar New Year Holiday before continuing classes.
• Pray for us as we prepare stories and teaching materials for elementary school English classes that start Feb. 25.
• Please pray for the effectiveness of precautions against Covid.  Two of the new measures being taken include:
  • Holiday Crowd Measures limiting the number of people at scenic areas and amusement parks.
  • Winter Vacation has been extended by four days to allow the disinfecting of school facilities before the students return to the classroom.

To Meet or not to Meet, That was the Question

The executive leadership of the Taiwan C&MA met last week.  One of the topics they had to decide was whether or not to hold the February 3-5 “Annual Lunar New Year Banquet and Pastor Family Retreat.”

If the event was held, all attending pastors would need to quarantine for two weeks after returning to their homes.  That would leave the whole nation (or almost the whole nation) without Alliance pastors to care for the church members.

After evaluating the virus threat, and the government directives for such meetings, the event has been cancelled for this year.  We are disappointed to not have fellowship with everyone, but affirm the leaders that it was the right decision.

We are surprised at how quickly those days originally designated for the retreat have been filled with other important activities.

Praise and Prayer

• Praise the Lord for a good second Ukulele Class. The students were told a 5-minute Bible story during their rest break.
• Pray for the US international worker team as they meet to discuss their Taiwan strategy on Wednesday and Thursday.  They are one of our most important partners in the work in Taiwan.
• Praise the Lord that we have been asked to continue teaching English and telling Bible stories at the two elementary schools next semester.  Pray for us as we plan the new set of classes that will begin February 25.

Organized Chaos

The first class for the ukulele students happened last Saturday (1/23).  Thirteen students is more than we initially anticipated.  

As students practiced individually, it was both lively and bustling.  The hope is that out of the chaos we heard during the first class, there will one day be the sound of heart-warming and harmonious music.

The students appeared to enjoy the experience, and parents expressed appreciation that the class was being offered.

Please pray for Pastor Joshua’s wife Ilaine as she gives oversight to the ten-class event.

Praise and Prayer

• Praise the Lord for a good start to the Ukulele Classes.
• Pray for student outreaches happening around Taiwan during the Winter Vacation that starts this week.
• Pray for protection as Taiwan is reporting its first local transmissions of COVID.  Although it is not happening in our local area, we are praying for wisdom for the decision-makers who are creating protocols to keep people safe.

Sugar Refinery Visit

We were privileged this past week to accompany the staff of Fuhsing Elementary School to tour the sugar refinery in nearby Huwei Township.  The Taisuco plant was built more than 100 years ago, and the pictured smoke stack is said to be that old.  Many years ago, Baozhong had a refinery located on the northern side of town.  When Taiwanese operations were consolidated, the original 42 factories were reduced to the 3 remaining ones.  The one in our town was one that disappeared.

On the field trip, we learned about the discovery of sugar, the development of a new strain of sugar cane, transportation of cane using rail and truck, and the complete process used in the production of both molasses and granulated sugar.  It was interesting to learn that the fibrous waste product is burned and used to generate electricity.

The process of producing cane sugar requires cutting, shredding, pressure, heat, and distilling.  The result is the desired product.  Having a pastoral heart, couldn’t help myself in thinking of spiritual parallels.  God uses a variety of environmental and experiential processes to create in each of us the likeness of His Son Jesus.  That is His desired product.

Praise and Prayer

• The Ukulele Classes begin on Saturday, January 23.  Kathy-Lu will be one of those assisting at the 10 classes for this session.  Please pray that the 11 students who registered will all come and will be faithful in attending.  During the break time in the 1 ½ hour class, the students will have a snack and hear a Bible story.  Hopefully there can also be some significant interactions with other family members.

Population Decreasing

The number of people living in Taiwan decreased in 2020.  It is a historical first.  The number of deaths exceeded the number of births.

The aging population and low birth rate are concerns for those collecting taxes and those providing societal benefits.  They are also a concern for those desiring to see the kingdom of God come and God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Winter weather has arrived.  There is a cold surge that has caused temperatures below normal across SE Asia.  Snow has fallen on some Taiwan mountains. Some roads and some schools have had safety related closures.  Like many people, we are using space heaters in our home and are hoping for milder weather to arrive soon.

There is a reported higher number of deaths among the elderly and those with heart conditions during the cold weather.  We see a number of newly erected funeral tents around our town.  Of concern is, how many had the opportunity to hear about Jesus while they were living?

Thank-you for your support and participation in helping people to hear about Christ.  Our founder, Albert B. Simpson, wrote a song to motivate believers to join those who are proclaiming the gospel to those who have never heard.  You can find it here.

Praise and Prayer

• Praise the Lord!  Registrations for the ukulele class mean we have a full class!  We may even have some on a waiting list, in case someone changes their mind.  Thanks for praying about this!
• Please pray for a friend and his family.  He has cancer and the reports from the doctor are forcing them to make difficult decisions.
• Although the semester at the elementary school concludes on January 27, we are not scheduled to teach again until next semester.  Please pray as we select Bible stories and activities for next semester.

Starting the New Year with Music

As we were asked to sing 我用信心抬起頭 (I Use Faith and Look Up) I realized how comforting the words were to my heart.  It is good to be reminded that our faith is in the God who cares about us regardless of the circumstances.

Sometimes music speaks to us in a special way.  That is one reason we are desiring to have a ukulele class for elementary students (poster).  Currently there are three registrations.  We need a minimum of five students.  Please pray for God to provide enough students, and that the students and their families will have their hearts touched by the words of some of the songs that are learned.

Here’s a translation of the lyrics of the above mentioned song for those of you who struggle to understand Chinese.  You will find it below the Chinese and Pinyin lyrics.

Praise and Prayer

This year, the President of our Taiwan C&MA is casting the vision: “Claiming Our Historical Vision, Unblocking Bottlenecks as We Advance.”  As the year begins he will be sharing with everyone how we will work together: (1) everyone preaching the gospel, (2) every pastor and elder shepherding the church members, (3) everyone waiting for Christ’s Second Coming.  May God help our church to wholeheartedly participate.  May we press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Old Ways, New Ways

Taking a tour at the New Palace Western Museum, we were surprised to see the display in the photograph.  The slides that are placed in the viewer are all Bible story pictures that were used by missionaries who wanted to tell others about the God of the Bible.

We now have computers, video projectors, and other resources that we use, but the purpose is unchanged.  We continue to want to tell people about the God of the Bible.  That God is like no other.

As we read Isaiah 57 and look around us, we see the need of people to hear the message of love from the God of the Bible.  As we look at the news, and listen to reports of the pandemic,  we are aware that people need the peace that is promised by the God of the Bible.

Thank-you for your partnership in prayer, giving, and personal participation throughout the past year.  May God help us to help people one-by-one to discover life in relationship with the God of the Bible.

Praise and Prayer

• Please pray for students to register for the new set of ukulele classes that will start January 23.
• Please pray for healing of those suffering from physical pain, including migraine headaches.  Some of our Taiwanese church leaders struggle to overcome such pain.
• We praise the Lord for faithful supporters  like you.  Your sacrificial giving means there are sufficient funds to pay all the bills.  Because you gave, people have heard about God’s love.  There is still time for a year-end gift if you are able.  Please designate it to the Global Advance Fund.  Donations as we finish the year will help support the sending of new workers to places around the world in early 2021.