Hanging by a thread, but Alive because it is  Connected to the Vine

Our neighbour is growing loofah squash outside our back door.  It looks like it is only hanging by a thread, but it survives because it is connected to the vine.  The vine gives it life.  As long as it does not give up and cut off the supply line, it will survive and even thrive.

The picture seemed to be a reminder of Jesus’ teaching in John 15 and 16.  Jesus teaches those things so we will not give up.

I (Lorne) have been thinking a lot about these things, especially as I prepared to share from John 16 yesterday.

Praise and Prayer

• Praise the Lord for the spiritual steps forward that “Charlie” is taking.  He even attended the training session on how to share our faith.  Please pray that God will use his testimony and that of others to demonstrate Christ’s power to change lives.
• American Thanksgiving Day is a holiday we enjoy celebrating with our friends from the US.  This year we will go up the mountain and eat together with some long-time co-workers.
• Christmas is coming!  Preparations are under way for our Christmas event on December 14.  Please pray for good weather and that we will meet people interested in knowing more about following Jesus.

Not Alone

The Alliance in Canada has sent some special people to Taiwan.  In addition to career workers like us, there are some professionals who are using their work to help build God’s kingdom in Taiwan.  This includes the teachers at the missionary children school.

Last Saturday we joined the Canadian C&MA contingent for an afternoon of fun at the museum.  The photo is of those who were able to attend.  (Guess who jumped late for the camera shot.)

We are thankful that they are here.  Their ministry includes not only educating and discipling MKs, but also sharing the abundant life with the students from Taiwanese business families.

Thank-you for remembering to pray for these members of the Global Missions Taiwan Team.

Praise and Prayer

• Pray that “Charlie” who is in hospital for treatment of symptoms related to his former alcoholism will grow in his faith through Bible reading, visits from family and friends, and times of prayer.
• On Wednesday, Lorne, Kathy-Lu, and Pastor Joshua will join the teachers from Fuhsing Elementary for a trip to a Tourism Ranch and a meal at a restaurant.  We are looking forward to becoming better acquainted.

Treasure Island News

We sometimes refer to Taiwan as a “Treasure Island.”  It has wonderful fruits and vegetables, and has many people who are precious to God.

This past week we were able to connect with some of the Alliance work happening outside of our small town of Baozhong.

Monday through Wednesday, Kathy-Lu attended an annual retreat for C&MA women pastors and coworkers.   Praise the Lord for the deepening of interpersonal relationships.  There were good times of mutual encouragement and prayer.

On Saturday, we attended the annual business meeting of the C&MA in Taiwan.  It was a great opportunity to see pastors and lay leaders from almost all of the 32 Alliance churches.  They took an honest look at what what happened last year, and shared hopes for 2020.  Of course, they had to deal with the legal matter of finances, approving the financial report and next year’s budget.

Please pray for the denomination leaders who pastor churches and shoulder the additional responsibility of helping the family of churches cooperate and be unified in Christ.

A Visit to the Vietnamese Church

Lorne visited the Agape Alliance Church yesterday. It is a small church that finds it hard to have enough funds to support the large dreams they have for ministry to Vietnamese-speakers in Taiwan.

This past weekend they received the news that the landlord wants to sell the building they are renting. It is an old building, and the asking price is ten million Taiwan dollars (about $430K Canadian). That is a lot of money.  Especially so for people with low income employment.

Please pray for their pastor and leadership as they evaluate the situation and seek God’s help. The sale is not likely immanent, but it is one of the challenges that the church is facing.

Praise and Prayer

• Pray for “Charlie” who is in hospital for treatment of symptoms related to his former alcoholism.
• Pray that the Trip to the Museum with Global Alliance Professionals (teachers at the MK school that were sent from the Alliance in Canada) will be a time of encouragement to all.
• Praise the Lord for helping Kathy-Lu with the devotional at the retreat.
• Pray for wisdom as we advise regarding the new outreach in Chiayi County.  Albert and Elaine are moving this month to a house in the community where the work will be.

Welcoming Party

We had the privilege of joining with USA C&MA international workers to welcome Ligit to our Taiwan Team.  (Her shirt says Everywhere Anywhere.  Coming to Taiwan is part of her following God’s call to go where He directs. Because C&MA missionaries went to her home town and shared the good news about Jesus, her family are believers in Christ.  She has come from from Indonesia with a goal to minister to Indonesians living in Taiwan.

In recent years there has been an influx of Indonesians into Taiwan.  Some have come as brides, but many are here working or studying.  It is an opportunity to help them learn about Christ.

We are thankful that Ligit is a part of our C&MA team.  After she learns some Mandarin, she will be able to focus on the ministry to new immigrants from her home country.

Please pray for her as she adjusts to being in a new place, exposure to unfamiliar languages, and having to use English to communicate with others on the team.

Praise and Prayer

• Please pray for Mrs. Lin’s son “Charlie” to open his heart toward belief in Christ as he recovers at home.
• The strategic review mentioned last week is happening this week.  Please continue to pray.
• The Taiwan C&MA will hold a retreat for women pastors and pastors’ wives Nov. 4-6.  Kathy-Lu will lead the devotional on Nov 5.  Please pray this will be a time of encouragement for those who attend.

Evaluations

Individual international workers do an annual “Yearly Review,” It is a time to pause and reflect on the progress being made toward certain goals.  Each person evaluates him or herself, and then discusses the result with a leader.  Our desire is that each individual worker remain healthy.

Sometimes a review is done of a whole field’s ministry.  The USA-sent team will be doing one of these strategic reviews at the end of the month.

Representatives from the Taiwan team will be joined by leaders from headquarters and by leaders from other fields in the region.  The Review Team will pause and remember some of the things God is doing.  It is an opportunity to look at needs and possible new ventures.  It is the time when strategy adjustments are sometimes made.

Although it is not a time when we will formally evaluate ministry being done by the international workers sent from Canada, we will be interviewed and we will see the results of the Review Team’s work.

Please pray for the process that our coworkers will be going through.  Pray that they will be encouraged by what God is doing and will sense God’s leading toward any potential new ventures.  Pray that there will continue to be good communication between the US and Canadian groups, and that we will work well together to share Jesus Christ with the Taiwanese working class people.

Praise and Prayer

• Please continue to pray for the recovery of the son of a church member.  Pray that God will use this time to soften his heart toward Jesus.
• Our plans to host church families in our home was delayed as Lorne recovers from a kidney stone attack.  We are thankful for medical care and lots of accessible drinking water.  The doctor gave the all clear message to us today. Praise the Lord!
• Plans are being made for a Christmas outreach on Dec. 14.  Training for how to talk to those who indicate they are interested in belief in Christ will begin this Sunday.

Schedule Highlights

• Oct 24:  Bible storytelling and English games at Baozhong Primary School.  English classes and Bible storytelling at Fuhsing Elementary School.
• Oct 25:  C&MA Central Taiwan Pastor’s Prayer Meeting.
• Oct 27:  Albert Lu will speak at Baozhong Alliance Church from John 14:1-14  –  “The Way, The Truth, The Life”
• Oct 28 – Nov 2:  Strategic Review of Taiwan C&MA cross-cultural ministry being done by the USA-sent coworkers.

A Heart of Gratitude

On this Canadian Thanksgiving Day, we want to pause and give thanks:

• Thank-you for praying (Persistence in prayer is an extra special grace we receive!)
• Thank-you for speaking words of encouragement
• Thank-you for generosity in supporting the efforts to proclaim Christ
• Thank-you for sharing your lives with us as we share ours with you
• Thank-you for partnering with us no matter whether we share victories, struggles, and even when we have nothing new to share.

From this past week, we are thankful for:

• Good communication at Monday and Tuesday’s meetings
• The opportunity to read the Bible with people and talk about the meaning of what we have read
• Freedoms that we have in Taiwan, as it celebrated its national day (Oct. 10)
• Visitors from the community at church yesterday morning

Praise and Prayer

• Please pray for the recovery of the son of a church member .  He was recently hospitalized.  Pray that God will use this time to soften his heart toward Jesus.
• We are inviting individual families from the church to have a meal with us so that we become better acquainted.
• Pastor Joshua shared today about adjustments in the church meeting schedule.  Starting next year we will eat lunch together weekly after the Sunday service and there will be opportunity to stay to watch a movie, do Bible study, Couples’ Fellowship, etc.
• Plans are being made for a Christmas outreach on Dec. 14.

Our Town

Let us introduce you to our town!  The first thing you may notice is that the English spelling is different than what we usually use.  Actually, we have counted about 7 different ways of spelling the name in English.  So it is impressive that the Post Office delivers our letters to us, even when there is no Chinese writing on the envelope.

There are nine different village areas in town, with each village including farmland, residential areas, and businesses.  Baozhong Alliance Church is located in the village with the largest population.

The overall population is decreasing as people move to urban areas for work and education.  One of our prayers is that people will discover a relationship with Jesus and come back to Baozhong to share with their family and friends.  But population statistics tell us that not many people are returning here to live.

There are more than 30 temples and probably more than 100 shrines to other gods in our small town.  There is a great need for town residents to hear about Jesus’ love.

Thank-you for remembering to pray that the Taiwanese working class people will be attracted to Jesus and His love.  Your prayers make a difference in pushing back the darkness and letting the light of the gospel shine.

Praise and Prayer

• Taiwanese will work or go to school six days this week.  In order to have a long weekend for the National Day (Oct. 10), they will need a holiday on October 11.  An extra day of work or school this week means that employers do not lose one more day of productivity.  Please pray that Christians will have a good witness for Jesus even when they are more tired than usual.
• Weekly classes continue on Thursday at FuHsing Elementary with English teaching and Bible stories about Moses.
• Please pray for good weather and many visitors to join us for the outdoor service on Oct. 6.

Opportunities

We missed an event that we would have liked to attend, but we were on the other side of the world.  The reunion of people Kathy-Lu grew up with, some whom Lorne got to know when attending Tenth Avenue Alliance Church, happened last week.

We know that we are where we are supposed to be, but sometimes the emotions are sad that we cannot participate in such things.  We would much rather have listened to friends’ voices and the program than the noise of traditional worship processions that seemed to last most of our Saturday.

We missed that opportunity, and yet there are so many we are taking advantage of as we walk the road of international worker life:

• Bible Study with Carolyn
• Teaching a high schooler and her mom to crochet
• Watching the students being drawn into the Bible story on Thursday mornings
• Leading in the worship service and helping people discover the abundant life with Christ
• Seeing our coworker after Sunday Worship leading a mother to express her desire to believe in Jesus through a prayer of decision.

Yes, it is hard to miss things back in Canada.  We’d love to be there.  However there are many moments of joy as we take hold of opportunities God is giving us.

Thanks for praying for us.

Praise and Prayer

• This week Lorne and Pastor Joshua will begin telling the story of Jesus Resurrecting Lazarus at Baozhong Primary School. There is one opportunity to visit each class grade 3-6 this semester. Please pray that the students will want to know more about Jesus.
• Weekly classes continue at Fuhsing Elementary with English teaching and Bible stories about Moses.
• “Teacher’s Day” is on Saturday Sept. 28. It is an annual reminder to students to show appreciation to their teachers. Have you thanked God for the teachers in your life? Have you thanked your teacher recently?

Local Delicacies

Many of the festivals in Taiwan have special foods associated with them.  Taiwanese like to eat moon-cakes and pomello at the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This year we were given some moon-cakes packaged in a box resembling a train car, items that were made at the local farmer co-op.

The accompanying blessing 月圓人圓事事圓 translates as:  “The moon is round, people are round,  everything is round.”  Although the moon-cakes typically are very high in calories, this is not a wish for people to become fat.  In Taiwanese culture roundness symbolizes completeness and togetherness.  So this is a wish for prosperity and reunion for the whole family.

One of the blessings we receive in Christ is His peace, which brings all aspects of life into alignment with His standards.  Why not take a moment and pray for people you know and for the Taiwanese, that Christ’s presence in their lives would bring them to experience His perfect peace.

Praise and Prayer

• The first classes of the new semester, with a new classroom and new technology, went well. There were a total of 44 students that first day. Please pray that the students will experience God’s love as we serve as English teachers and story-tellers this school year.
• Thank-you for your generous giving towards our support and of others serving in many places around the globe. Thank you for your care and participation in global initiatives. Your giving to GAF allows our presence to bring access to Jesus where few or none have heard. Your prayer strengthens us in His work. We truly couldn’t do this without you.